For those who like P90's and Tele's ...

.. and don't like the 60 cycle humbuzz, your relief ship is on the way.

I've been working with Kent Armstrong on a new design noiseless dog ear HP90 and it's freakin' killer - all that luscious, thick, deep single coil tone without the humbuzz. Same exact pickup dimensions, too.

Dog ear? And a Tele? Don't be concerned about the pickup's format - or the guitar I used in testing, for that matter - please read on ...

I have two modern issue Melody Makers, a yellow '03 and a cherry '04. Both have stock Gibson dog ear P90's. Both have that same great P90 tone - and LOTS of humbuzz. I replaced the cherry MM's P90 with the HP90 prototype - it was a simple and easy drop-in replacement, just screw in and solder up. This has always been an issue for noiseless dog ear P90's, where the pickup base had to be increased in depth to accommodate the larger and deeper magnet coils - I'll say it again, the dog ear HP90 pickup has the ALMOST *exact* dimensions of a dog ear Gibson P90, cover and base.

I did an A/B comparison of the Kent HP90 and the Gibson P90 using a 15 watt Li'l Dawg Champster Special tube combo amp with Weber 12F150 speaker.

Overall, the HP90 was very slightly lower in output than the P90 - but at any volume level, the HP90 exhibited great single coil tone ... clear and thick at low volume without overdrive, and thick harmonic overdriven distortion as the amp's volume was increased - all, without any 60 cycle humbuzz.

The HP90 is as close to true P90 tone as can be had, IMHO - it has the pick dynamics and thick single coil tone that most of us like ... all that's lacking is the "smoke tone" from the 60 cycle buzz.

The Kent Armstrong HP90 will be available in both dog ear and soapbar formats - perfect for a Tele neck position.

Anyone wanna buy a Gibson dog ear P90? :mrgreen:

Rob, very cool. The slightly lower output appeals to me too. Any idea when these might be available?

Doggone it, I feel another guitar project coming on.

Right now they're hand made by Kent in his Vermont shop, and they're $160 each (yikes!). The offshore version will be precisely the same - same design and materials - but at a far lower price tag (my best guess is half price) and I have no idea when they'll be offered.

How does it compare, height-wise, with the original P-90? I once installed a P-100 (stacked humbucker) in a friend's Mosrite Avenger, and it worked nicely (although the polepieces were noticeably smaller), but when we got one to put in the neck position, we found out that it was too tall to go in without cutting down the neck tenon (which is thin enough on a Mosrite, IMO!), so we never installed it. He really only used the bridge pickup anyway (so it wasn't that great of an issue), but when you clicked them both on, zowee! What a buzz! It sounded like that "Ramones Live" album, which was exactly what we were trying to get away from!

If it's short enough in height profile, it might be worth revisiting this repair to see if it'd fit.

Soap bar time - it's been a loooong time since I had a Gibson P100 in my shop, but if memory serves me reasonably well, there isn't much of a pup depth difference 'tween the Gibson P100 and the Gibson P90. There IS a considerable difference between the Duncan P100 and the Gibson P90 - enuf of a difference to warrant some guitar body routing, in some instances.

Doggy time - Gibson P90 on left, Kent Armstrong HP90 on right. The HP90 pole screws are a tad smaller in head size and about 3/16" shorter in length (as you see in the photo just below). Remember, too, that these are dog ear P90's and not soap bars - the guitar body routs are different. A dog ear body rout is shallow, with a "trough" cut through the middle to accommodate the pup wires.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/rfdee/frettech/hp90a.jpg

The P90 digitally mic's out a total height (pickup and cover) of .629", and the HP90 mic's to .641" - the very slight difference is due to the slightly higher HP90 cover (.456" vs. .446") and the HP90 is fully wax potted within the plastic cover, and the inside of the cover is lined with a full copper foil shield. The HP90 was a drop-in, no-rout replacement for the Gibson P90.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/rfdee/frettech/hp90b.jpg

Bottom's up - the length and width of both pickups is within a few hundredths of an inch. You can see the potting wax along the edge of the HP90 cover and brass base plate.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/rfdee/frettech/hp90c.jpg

Alright, so what is it that makes the DiStefano/Armstrong version humcancelling? I know it might be a trade secret, but ya never know... sidewinder? stack? shielded?

Alright, so what is it that makes the DiStefano/Armstrong version humcancelling? I know it might be a trade secret, but ya never know... sidewinder? stack? shielded?

NOTE: This pup design and manufacture totally belongs to Kent Armstrong and I have nothing to do with it's design, manufacture or sales. I was just the instigator that bugged Kent to make it, and thus I got to play with the prototypes.

Flipped sidewinder air coils. Full shielded and wax potted.

Super cool Rob! Thanks for filling me in. I LOVE this stuff!

Thanks for the states, I'll see if I can get that P100 and measure the height (I keep telling him he oughta put that thing on Ebay, he paid about $100 for it!). Maybe it was the protruding polepieces that were the problem? And if so, why didn't I just think of grinding them off or something?


So, 'scuse my ignorance, but, "sidewinder?" Something akin to a P-bass pickup (but as an all-in-one unit), I presume?

... So, 'scuse my ignorance, but, "sidewinder?" Something akin to a P-bass pickup (but as an all-in-one unit), I presume?

Look at yer typical dual coil humbucker, now flip each coil 90 degrees on its side.

Look at yer typical dual coil humbucker, now flip each coil 90 degrees on its side.

Well, ya learn somethin' every DAY, dontcha?! That's a new one on ME!!! :lol:

Flipped coils have been around for a very long time, nothing at all new or innovative.

Hmm ... I'm really surprised I haven't run across them earlier (I tend to be a bit of a gear-head with equipment -- I like to think maybe it compensates for a general lack of musical ability!). I mean, it had occurred to me that you could flip the coils, I just didnt know there might be any benefit to it.

Not to plead my ignorance further still, but who (besides Kent) makes them? BTW, I've got a set of his pickups in my Phantom VI, it's got a sound to it that my Strat aspires to ...

... Not to plead my ignorance further still, but who (besides Kent) makes them? ...

Bill Lawrence. :mrgreen:

Right now they're hand made by Kent in his Vermont shop, and they're $160 each (yikes!). The offshore version will be precisely the same - same design and materials - but at a far lower price tag (my best guess is half price) and I have no idea when they'll be offered.

The Kent Armstrong HP 90 soap bar and Casino dog ear sets are available in hand wound and Kent's factory wound versions.These are not on our website,yet,but you can contact me directly for availability.