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P90 spacer for Elitist Bridge


Bunky

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Posted

Well Bunky,

 

You didn't say but I'm guessing you are talking about dog ear P-90s.

 

If you press the 1st and 6th string, one at a time, at the last fret:

Distance for a bridge humbucker is 1/16" bass and treble side from the top of the pole pieces to the bottom of the string. This is the normal "reference" or starting point.

P-90 are often set slightly lower but it is still a matter of personal taste.

 

What you might consider trying is to loosen the pickup screws and putting a couple of pieces of black high density weather stripping under the pickups near the screws. Run the stripping in the same direction as the strings. This should allow some adjustment without having to constantly remove the pickups for the sake of trying different thickness shims.

 

When you get the sound you like, measure the gap and buy or make shims that size.

Sorry, someone else will have to give the link to Allparts. (their website just doesn't load on my computer)

 

Link for weather stripping. (In case you decide to try it and are not sure what I'm talking about):

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?keyword=weather+stripping&selectedCatgry=SEARCH+ALL&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053&Ntpc=1&Ntpr=1

 

Willy

Posted

Just wondering what size to get, and what the link would be to allparts to order one.

Bunky, I've done several posts on this subject, all containing the following warning. As far as I know, there are only a couple of people that sell the correct spacers (shape and size-wise) for P-90s. The others, including Allparts, sell a spacer that is bigger than the pickup cover, which looks "wrong". I know that the spacers that Vintage Vibe, Lollar and Fralin sell are made to be the same shape as a cover, and I would think that they get theirs fromthe same supplier and are available in cream or black. There may be several more that supply the correct one, but I'm not aware of who they are. As far as thickness, that will depend on how much you want to raise it. My suggestion would be to loosen the mounting screws, and shim the pickup with something like matchbook cardboard, until you get the sound you want. Then contact one of the suppliers and tell them what you need for shims. I recently read an interview with Jason Lollar, in which he stated that in adjusting a P-90 for height, you should get it as close as possible with shims. His contention was that you want to adjust the poles out as little as possible, as they lose their effectiveness, the further they are backed out. Something else, the thinner, flexible shims work best, even if you jave to stack them, as they conform to the curved body shape better than some of the 1/4" thick, and more rigid ones. Jason Lollars website has some pretty good info on all of this. Check it out, and good luck.

Posted

Looks like I took too long to write, WW beat me to it.

 

So any of those other suppliers apart from allparts.com would be good to contact?

 

Is it easy to playaround with the pick up with cardboard/weatherstripping?

Posted

Any of the 3 that I mentioned have them. Lollar is my favorite, but then he's local for me (Seattle area).

Posted

Any of the 3 that I mentioned have them. Lollar is my favorite, but then he's local for me (Seattle area).

 

Did you get some on an elitist? If so, what size?

Posted

No, a standard Casino. I've gone through several different P-90 pickups on mine, so I've had the opportunity to do this several times, with several different colors (chrome, black and cream). The pickup housing should be the same. What could be different is your bridge height, so knowing what I installed may not help you (but it was 3/16"), Here's the link to Lollars shim page. Check it out.

http://www.lollarguitars.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=LGP&Product_Code=301&Category_Code=pickup-accessories

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