coilz Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Hey all :) I own a 50s tribute goldtop studio with p90s and basically what I want to know is can I get humbuckers to fit as I want to pop the p90s out. Any advice or pickup choice will be very helpful indeed. I play rock and love my soft conpressed cleans and I also like instrumentals with squealing squeals and all that jazz. This is the guitar I want so saying get a new one is not an answer I'm looking for. Also how much do these p90s pickups sell for? It is a limited edition 50s tribute studio goldtop. Thanks in advance guys n' gals :) Thanks guys 'n girls :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlashPerryBurst Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Pictures would help to identify your guitar. You can have the guitar modified to fit humbuckers, but it's a one way road. The humbuckers are much larger than the p90's, so if you replace one with a humbucker, you won't be able to go back. The best solution is to get a set of mini humbuckers. they will fit in the cavity and shouldn't require any extensive modification to your guitar. Not sure how much a P90 is worth, but I doubt they'll be worth much. Due to their unusual size, you won't find many people in the market for a second hand one. As for the P90's themselves. Give them time. I used to own a Les Paul standard with p90's. At first I hated them and wanted to replace the bridge pickup with a humbucker. After a while, I realized it was a bad idea. Now I'm a big fan of p90s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coilz Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 Thankyou very much for your reply an yes I guess your right. I will give them more time and don't ge me wrong I do love the sound but I just want a but more tightness on the overdrive or distortion settings I use a 120w laney head and a 4x12 ashdown engineering cab. I also use an ax3000g effects processor. It's a great sound but a tad muddy. Just needs slight adjustment to something but I can figure out what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Yeah, what he says.................The best place I've found for new Gibson pickups is " AmplifiedParts." Check out the "GuitarFetish" site as well...........( I'll be interested in your pickups if you switch them out....)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlashPerryBurst Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Well fiddling with amp settings has always been my weakness, so I can't really help you there. But I would suggest that you don't change the pickups on the guitar. If it doesn't grow on you eventually, then try and find a p90 fan to sell it to. I know from experience that fans of P90's will pay more than the average second hand buyer as it's impossible to add p90s to a regular les paul. It may take a little time, but some people will pay great prices for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coilz Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 Would a tube screamer help to tighten up the tone a bit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brantobrien Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 You may just need a good eq on the front end to help tweak what is heading into your amp. Not sure on the specifics of your AX3000G, but check and see what it offers. Could be a simple fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Yes Id also say give them some time.. I used to be a Humbucker person until I got a DC faded.. Now I love them.. Or you could always try and trade yours for a 50s Tribute humbcker and save the work and cost of re routing your guitar... http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Les-Paul/Gibson-USA/Les-Paul-Studio-50s-Tribute-Humbucker.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvar Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Dimarzio makes several of their Humbuckers in a soapbar (P90) configuration- Super Distortion, Tone Zone, PAF, etc. you won't have to cut up your guitar, and you can always go back to the stock P90s. If you want to put regular size humbuckers on it, you'll have to so do some routing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Gibson, Duncan (or other's) "Mini-Humbuckers" will drop in. The holes are the same size. Mini's have great tone, and are a great alternative, if you (for some odd reason) don't like P-90s'. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainNemo68 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Also, Gibson used to make P-100 pickups which are stacked humbuckers the same size as a P-90 similar to the Dimarzios mentioned above. They should be available on E-bay. Just another option for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Thankyou very much for your reply an yes I guess your right. I will give them more time and don't ge me wrong I do love the sound but I just want a but more tightness on the overdrive or distortion settings I use a 120w laney head and a 4x12 ashdown engineering cab. I also use an ax3000g effects processor. It's a great sound but a tad muddy. Just needs slight adjustment to something but I can figure out what? You could try adjusting the pup height up and down. P-90 is pretty high output, and it seems to retain a lot of it's character when it is too close to the strings, so a lot end up adjusted that way. But when you are too close, it can tend to make the tone muddy and sort of choke out the dynamics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackflag Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 1) It's a lot easier to find a Les Paul with HB's than P-90's. 2) P-90's are the best pickup there is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiamondJig Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I have a a 50's trib GT that I turned into a 70's trib by dropping in some min's I picked up 3 pair from Guitar Fetish mini 59's (bright), Fat with Alnico V mags (Hot and warm) and the dream 180's (also hot and warm, my least fav). My fav is the Fat mini with the Alnico V. As you can see the cream doesn't fully match the orig pickguard. For the price these are some great ones to try. The 50's trib has a metal mounting plate at the bottom of the pickup cavity that is pre drilled to accept the different side mounting postion so the change is easy, just need to drill a little hole under the side screw holes so the screws pass thru, I put my bit into the orig holes marked it with some tape and drilled, just double check the depth on both the neck and bridge, see bottom pix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jemaine Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Dimarzio make a few alternatives for replacing p-90s, you can check them out here. There's plenty of tone options between these as well. Definitely worth looking into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CajunBlues Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Also, Gibson used to make P-100 pickups which are stacked humbuckers the same size as a P-90 similar to the Dimarzios mentioned above. They should be available on E-bay. Just another option for you. +1 P100's or mini buckers... I prefer the mini buckers sound... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coilz Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 Thankyou very much for the info an the pictures! that's exactly the pups I'm looking for and something with a bite. it looks far more attractive for some reason, I think I made a mistake buying the goldtop with p90s in the first plae. It's my first ever Gibson and I may have rushed my choice just because I get the name for a cheaper price. but my love is always with les Pauls either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CajunBlues Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 My 1980 les paul deluxe... Has excellent tone with the mini buckers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanH Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Also try experimenting with your volume and tone controls. I find (on my Wildkat) that I can fatten the sound up by using the middle position and dialling in full volume on the treble pickup and around 1/3 to 1/2 volume on the rhythm pickup. You might miss the grit and growl (with distortion) and the jangle (with cleans) if you're too hasty in swapping out the pups. Another alternative is to go for a mini humbucker in the bridge and keep the P90 in the neck to give you some choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coilz Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 I'll give it a try and see how that goes. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlashPerryBurst Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 My 1980 les paul deluxe... Has excellent tone with the mini buckers... Your deluxe is a beauty. Always wanted one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CajunBlues Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Ive had some P90 guitars and my favorite one had P94's, which are humbucker sized P90's... However, what I didn't like about them was the hum I got a high volumes... I could play the guitar in my practice room at home, but the hum was too bad for other band members to tolerate... If your hum is not an issue, maybe a pickup change would not be the best thing ? But I guess it doesn't hurt to at least try to swap them out... I do all my pickup changes myself, so I don't have to pay for swap outs... not sure what your situation is.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CajunBlues Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Your deluxe is a beauty. Always wanted one. Thank you... currently this one is my favorite les paul have owned... But I guess I go through phases... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coilz Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 Ive decided I'm not happy and I'm going to sell the Gibson studio 2011 limited edition goldtop. any buyers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackflag Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Don't be daft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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