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Post by bluzpower on Apr 5, 2007 8:37:37 GMT -7
Are there any of these that come close to a real P-90 pickup?
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Post by dei305 on Apr 5, 2007 9:02:17 GMT -7
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Post by Sam A. on Apr 5, 2007 10:02:21 GMT -7
Also Try Rio Grande Pickups. They have one called the Bastard. It Smokes!!! They're all hand wound down in Houston. If you ever make it down that way, call Dave Wintz a head of time and I'm sure he'd be more than happy to give you a tour of the factory.
Sam
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Post by oldgoat on Apr 5, 2007 10:48:03 GMT -7
I used a set of Bill Lawrence L-490's in my ES-175. 2.4 Henries Neck, 3.6 Henries Bridge. When I had them put in, the tech said something like "OMG it sounds like a 50's 175 now!" And this is from a place that sells lots of old guitars with P-90s (sorry I hate the term "vintage guitar"). I really can't recommend these enough. The model number has changed to L-609. Just check out his site and give Bill a call. www.billlawrence.com951-371-1494
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Post by Joey Beverages on Apr 5, 2007 13:24:28 GMT -7
Played a late 90s Gibson L.P. Special with the P-100 pick-ups for a while. Sold it.Then bought it back. Kept it around and played for a little while more. Sold it again. And, if I saw it again ...... might buy, but would be afraid of selling it again.
It had good weight, neck was good, finish was fine, etc ..... but I just seemed to have a love-hate relation with the sound of the pick-ups.
Think the guitar would have been awesome if I could have had the sense to swap out pickups for some Frailin or the Rio Grande pickups.
edit: I should've read thread more careful - humbucker sized P90s .... in that case I would start with Phat Cats and then work my way thru the more exotic booo-teeek gear ;D
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Post by skydog958 on Apr 5, 2007 13:28:28 GMT -7
There's also the Harmonic Design Z-90 and the Bare Knuckle Pickups Mississippi Queen.
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Post by GuitarZ on Apr 5, 2007 16:15:08 GMT -7
I have a '68 Gold Top Les Paul with the original P90s. I'm mainly into recording these days in my home studio and the hum in my house stinks. So, I finally took a chance and bought the Dimarzio Virtual P90s. I went with these versus the Seymour Duncan stacked version since the Dimarzios weren't as deep and definitely wouldn't require any routing to fit them in.
I thought that they captured the character of the P90s pretty well which is saying something since it was my main guitar for something like 20 years. When the volume was wide open on the guitar, I had the best feel. They felt a little less dynamic and more so when I worked the volume knob. I wish that I could have done a more objective comparison, but I could never really tell if the differences were real or mental.
After a six month period, I pulled them out and sold them on Ebay. The final deciding factor was that I just couldn't get used to seeing the double row of pole pieces staring out of my vintage Les Paul. Plus, if I had the real deal P90s, why would I want to mess with them. As I was previewing this post, I realized my Les Paul is sitting to the left here.
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Post by BW on Apr 6, 2007 15:08:02 GMT -7
I wish it was sitting to the left..HERE. I had a '69 w/ mini-hums that went the way of all adolescent-owned cool gear. Called an ad in the paper and went to a guy's apartment with my dear ol' daddy, who paid the man 250 bucks for it. Sure was a good 'un. The guitar was too!
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Post by tele1962 on Apr 6, 2007 16:21:05 GMT -7
Ahhh yes, the oft maligned mini hums in the great Deluxe! Those allegedly anemic PU's cut like a knife, and still had sensitive response, great character, and a smoothness that single coils couldn't deliver. How many people routed perfectly good Pauls, and put boat anchor PU's of some description into them to make them a more heavy weight player? Someday we will remember the Les Paul Deluxe with original mini-hums as a fine guitar in it's own rite, and lament all the routing that went on.
Good on you, BW, for rememembering.
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Post by skydog958 on Apr 6, 2007 17:01:48 GMT -7
The neck mini hum in my Firebird still kills for slide. The bridge position on the other hand needs to be replaced to be usable.
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Post by GuitarZ on Apr 6, 2007 19:51:04 GMT -7
If you saw the blow-up of my Gold Top, you'd see the the extra screw holes and routed-out area that once house a Super Dimarzio Humbucker. It said it was 'super'.
But I really can't figure out how I let my brother pop a hole into the top for a phase switch. I still have nightmares seeing that drill slam into guitar after it broke through the wood.
Although I do like the switch now. It's a "Turn 'er Up to 10" switch which is nice since I like running both pickups.
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Post by bluzpower on Apr 6, 2007 20:02:15 GMT -7
Man I didn't realize there were so many of them! Makes for some innerstin reading. I see some fella named Red down in Austin likes those ZD-90s. Buddy, I always loved the sound of those mini hum Deluxes. I hate to admit this, but I once had a nice non-reverse Firebird with mini humbuckers. I just had to have em ripped out and put in Dimarzios and a badass bridge. (Why didn't I just go buy one of those old Gibsons they had layin around for so cheap?) I took it to the Tennyson Brothers Violin Shop on the North Side to have it done. Mr. Tennyson tried to talk me out of it. Wish I had listened.
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Post by BW on Apr 6, 2007 20:14:07 GMT -7
I remember Tennison Bros, on Azle Ave on my way to the 'Motherlode' club. Spent way too many brain cells/Saturday nights 'learning my craft'. Yeah RIGHT. (by the pitcher maybe...) I LOVED my LP Deluxe. I played it thru an Orange 120 watt head w/ BOTH 4X12's anywhere I could get away with it. Can't IMAGINE doin' it now! Mostly on the neck pickup, or with both on. The bridge pickup would cut ya in half thru that amp. I actually bought another Deluxe when I first got in the BB'ers, a '73 cherry sunburst but by then the thrill wuz gone and I had to have my ol' strat. Wish I'da hung onto 'er.
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Post by Lefty on Apr 6, 2007 21:35:45 GMT -7
If you saw the blow-up of my Gold Top, you'd see the the extra screw holes and routed-out area that once house a Super Dimarzio Humbucker. It said it was 'super'. But I really can't figure out how I let my brother pop a hole into the top for a phase switch. I still have nightmares seeing that drill slam into guitar after it broke through the wood. Although I do like the switch now. It's a "Turn 'er Up to 10" switch which is nice since I like running both pickups.
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Post by BW on Apr 7, 2007 4:46:44 GMT -7
I'm lusting in my heart.
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Post by tele1962 on Apr 7, 2007 11:05:31 GMT -7
The bridge position with the original mini-hum was favorite for a lot of players who did country licks...perhaps more Tele type applications, and still wanted that smooth playability or that lovely Deluxe neck...with the option of going instantly to neck PU and a round warm tone that still cut through a mix. Some of the Standards and Customs bogged down a bit in the mix and sounded too growly. The mini-hums almost sounded chimey at points. Very desirable in live situations. A lot of Stratocasters were sold because the Gibsons with full on humbuckers could blast and growl, but didn't have the finesse and chime of the Fenders.
I'd also like to make a point here that maybe BW can relate to as well. There seems to me a guitar was created, even the the early days, for a lot of different applications. A Gibson ES-355 was never meant to be a Gretch Nashville, and a Fender Strat never wanted to be a humbucking Les Paul Custom. The problem was guys wanted to have one guitar that " did everything...sort of " By the time they turned a Tele into a Les Paul, and have it do half the job or nothing at all, they could have bought a Les Paul and had two perfectly suitable guitars. Nevermind the hundreds of ruined and de-valued pieces that went by the wayside, as a result of someone's brilliant plan of butchery.
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Post by GuitarZ on Apr 7, 2007 11:41:19 GMT -7
That is a pretty picture of my Les Paul above.
BluzPower - If you're messing with a real Gibson Gold Top that you've had for a while, I would say that it's not worth the trouble if you have real P90s in there. I've found that now that I've gone back to my P90s, I find a way to deal with the hum when recording and playing.
I put Kinman's in my Strat. But they replaced the Fender Noiseless guys and I've never really compared my sound & feel to single coils. So, I'm pretty happy with them, but I could see why someone that has been playing good single coils would have trouble making the transition.
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Post by Dana {aka gp} on Apr 7, 2007 21:39:24 GMT -7
I love the HS-90 pickups from Vintage Vibe Guitars I installed in my PRS McCarty rosewood. www.vintagevibeguitars.com/pickup_sc.html#Through my Ghia, they can put out anything from sweet cream butter to hot screaming nastyness depending only on the settings of the pickup selector and volume knob. I also had Pete Biltoft (the proprietor) include coil taps which I select using the pull-out tone knob. Two thumbs up from me. -Dana
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Post by skydog958 on Apr 8, 2007 9:21:46 GMT -7
Oh yeah, and Seymour Duncan makes one called the Phat Cat.
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Post by GuitarZ on Apr 9, 2007 16:24:58 GMT -7
Note to self: Read forum topic, understand, and then respond. Hmmm. This one is titled "Humbucker Sized P-90s" not "P-90 Sized Humbuckers".
The picture of the HS-90s in the PRS guitar really looked sweet to me. I was thinking that they would look nice in my Les Paul, but I had a hard time thinking that they would fit.
Duh! I missed the point of the post. But, I'm glad I read through it, because those pickups really do look nice in that guitar.
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Post by bookmobile on Apr 11, 2007 19:47:43 GMT -7
Also Try Rio Grande Pickups. They have one called the Bastard. It Smokes!!! They're all hand wound down in Houston. If you ever make it down that way, call Dave Wintz a head of time and I'm sure he'd be more than happy to give you a tour of the factory. Sam I had those Fat Bastards and thought they sucked. Gibson P-94's sucked. Niether sounded like a P90. So far, the best I've heard is the Duncan Phat Cat. I'd love to hear a Fralin P-92. I love his pickups but they're too expensive. Good luck.
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Post by bluzpower on Apr 13, 2007 9:07:59 GMT -7
GuitarZ - If I had your Goldtop, I'd consider my P-90 search over. That is a beautiful guitar. gp- Those Vintage Vibes really look good in your McCarty. I'd like to try some of those. With all these different pickup choices, what I think I really need to get is a soldering iron!
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Post by bks on Apr 13, 2007 15:43:51 GMT -7
I had Fralin P-92s in a PRS. Loved 'em. Got rid of the guitar, kept the pickups. I've got Fralin P-90s in another, and the tone's spot on....but they're quiet.
The P-92s are staggered (he calls 'em "Split Singles"), like P-bass pickups, so they're technically humbuckers.
Brian
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2007 17:11:28 GMT -7
I've got the Fralin P-92's in my big Stonetree. They are really great pickups
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Post by GuitarZ on May 18, 2007 19:15:36 GMT -7
Yea! Cool looking guitar and cool picture!
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2007 20:06:36 GMT -7
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Post by skydog958 on May 18, 2007 20:11:12 GMT -7
Those Stonetree teles look so killer...
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