Gibson P-100 Question

[tomVatkinson]

This may not be the place to post this, but I have a question about the P-100 pickups. I want to change my P-90 pickup (bridge pickup) to P-100. Can these pickups be bought somewhere? Most of the ones I have online are used and I'm wondering if they only came with certain model LP Jr' or other models. Also, it is my understanding that the P-100 does not have the hum that the P-90s have. I like the P-90 but do not like using noise gates and they seem to take away from the sustain and interfer with the natural sound of the instrument. Thus, the switch.

 

Any input would be appreciated.

[stein]

I don't have the exact dates, but when Gibson was using the P-100, they were using it in all the guitars instead of the P-90. It wasn't just a particular model.

 

When they started to use the P-90 again, they stopped using the P-100. Aftermarket P-90's were selling quite well because there were many that wanted to replace the P-100 with the P-90.

 

There are scads and scads of P-100's out there to be had used. I think there are still lots that aren't for sale being used as paperweights, because they were hard to get rid of. I personally had 5 (I'd gladly give you some if I had them...my storage was robbed).

 

The P-100 IS a quiet pup, but it does not have the color and harminics and clarity of a P-90. It takes 2 coils would twice as hot, and combines them out-of-phase for a standard output. It cancels out a lot of tonal qualities that way. It does have about the same tonal "eq" as a P-90 and the same output, it just sounds very lifeless and dead by comparism to a P-90.

 

Fralin has recently made a stacked humbucker that is meant to be a quiet P-90, but I have no idea how good it is.

[Versatile]

Agreed the P 100 has few aficionados...

 

Personal 0.02, P90's are not that obtrusive...I have several in various configurations

 

Another option if there are 2 on the guitar is to purchase 'RW/RP' matched P 90's from somewhere like BareKnuckle...

 

These are 'Reverse Wound/Reverse Polarity' designed to cancel out hum when selected as such....

 

V

 

[tomVatkinson]

Thanks for the reply Stein! When I wa a young man, I played all the time, was in several bands, owned Les Paul's, SGs and had several Strats. I quit playing for almost 30 years (even though I had a guitar around at times, and even collected them for a few years, mostly the old stuff that I was familar with). Now that I'm retired, a couple of years back I decided I wanted to play again (actually have time to practice now). However, since it had been so many years since I had shopped for equipment I was shocked and somewhat discouraged at the high cost of quality instruments. It seems that Gibson and Fender both make their quality stuff for the professionals and people like myself can't aford them. Anyway, I ended up buying a Korean made guitar (A Dillon) which is a knok off of an LP Jr. Interestintg thing is it is a solid Maghoney body, Maghoney neck, Grover tuners, Wilkinson wrap around bridge, etc., The one flaw in the guitar is the pickup. It is a Dillon made P-90. It just does not sound like a geninue Gibson P-90 (or at leat to my ears). I'm wanting to put a better pickup in the guitar and hope to sell it in the near future and get an actually Gibson LP Jr. (Which is what I would much rather have, but at the current prices just can't afford it).

 

Shopping for pickups is just as bad as looking for guitars. Too many choices, everything changed so much from the old days when all I needed was a Marshall Stack, and whatever instrument I was playing (which were American made, Gibsons and Fenders-all good quality and affordable to average players at that time).

 

Oh well, on my soap box again, but your input (along with some I've gotten on other boards) has about led to me to conclude I'm better off just buying a Gibson P-90 or finding a humless P-90 from another developer.

 

Thanks again,

 

Tom