Humbucker size P-90 pickups

andrenighthound · June 16th, 2008, 02:41 PM

Hello,

Can you guys share your opinions? I'm looking vintage authentic sounding P90s to fit in a humbucker. I've tried harmonic design's, and p94s, both sound good, but really don't have a real p90 sound.

e-merlin · June 16th, 2008, 06:34 PM

I had a Rio Grande, can't remember the model. It was a bit hot. It sounded good but it was in the wrong guitar and the pickup eventually went when I sold it. If I was looking for a humbucker sized P-90, that's where I'd start. Rio Grande pretty much carved that niche out, if not totally originating it.

Graeme · June 16th, 2008, 07:00 PM

I have Seymour Duncan Phat Cats in an Ibanez 335 copy, and like them a lot. I haven't used P90's long enough to know how close these sound, but they get favourable reviews at HC here:
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/r...Phat+Cats/10/1
and I agree with comments on good note articulation and clarity. They're single coils of course, but also hum-cancelling if you use neck + bridge together.

Telenator · June 16th, 2008, 08:04 PM

I have the new SD P-Rails in one of my guitars and they just plain sound terrific! Not true vintage, but one of the best pickups I've ever heard!

iansmitchell · June 17th, 2008, 09:09 PM

Try GFS mean 90 or dream 90.
Mean 90 is closest to vintage P90 pickup sound I've ever heard.
guitarfetish.com

andrenighthound · June 17th, 2008, 11:56 PM

i'm looking for vintage so i ordered a set of mean 90s and a set of the their soap bars too! the prices are great i got 4 pickups for the price of one custom pickup!

iansmitchell · June 18th, 2008, 12:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andrenighthound

i'm looking for vintage so i ordered a set of mean 90s and a set of the their soap bars too! the prices are great i got 4 pickups for the price of one custom pickup!

Yeah!
GFS is a godsend, I'd have to say.

What are ya gonna put the soapbars in?

andrenighthound · June 18th, 2008, 12:44 AM

the soapbars are going in one of my prs se, and the the mean 90s are going in a epiphone lespaul ultra. If i like the mean 90s in the epiphone, i'm going to replace my burstbucker pros out my gibson vintage mahogany. Same goes with the rest of my prs se's they will get new soap bars too.

Thanks for the GFS tip!

hatecrew · June 18th, 2008, 04:41 AM

I had (and still have, just not being used) a harmonic design Z90 set in my les paul (sold) and it sounded incredibly good, especially the bridge pickup.

Stewart Ward · June 18th, 2008, 06:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andrenighthound

Hello,

Can you guys share your opinions? I'm looking vintage authentic sounding P90s to fit in a humbucker. I've tried harmonic design's, and p94s, both sound good, but really don't have a real p90 sound.

Hi,

There is one small problem about fitting these HB P90s. They are all P90s in design, but the flaw is this... when they are in place, the pole pieces are not in the same position as a real P90 fitted to a guitar routed for P90s! The pole pieces have moved by about 5-6mm closer to the bridge on the neck PU and about 5-6mmm away from the bridge in the bridge position. This small change will significantly alter the harmonics picked up off the strings.

They will not and cannot sound the same as an instrument designed to take P90s.

For example: A Strat and Tele neck PU's are in different places too. The Strat is about 3mm closer to the bridge, so that's why those two guitars sound slightly different at the neck position.

The bridge PU on a Strat has an angle of about 8 degrees but the Tele has an 18 degree angle, although both have the PU centres in the same place. Hence the difference in sound there too.

So from this, I hope you can see that you can only expect to get close... not exactly the same.

Hope this is helpful.

iansmitchell · June 18th, 2008, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andrenighthound

the soapbars are going in one of my prs se, and the the mean 90s are going in a epiphone lespaul ultra. If i like the mean 90s in the epiphone, i'm going to replace my burstbucker pros out my gibson vintage mahogany. Same goes with the rest of my prs se's they will get new soap bars too.

Thanks for the GFS tip!

Can I have the burstbucker pros when you're done?
Lol jk, good luck on the mods man.
The vintage mahogany is a great guitar to fit with P90s, because its very close in design to the les paul special, junior, and early SGs, all of which were the best P90 guitars.

andrenighthound · June 18th, 2008, 08:08 AM

thanks for the info! i'll be happy if i get it close to a p90 sound. As long as it sounds good! My main concern is that I don't want them p90 humbuckers too hot.

iansmitchell · June 18th, 2008, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andrenighthound

thanks for the info! i'll be happy if i get it close to a p90 sound. As long as it sounds good! My main concern is that I don't want them p90 humbuckers too hot.

They're right between a fender single coil and a humbucker, where a 90 should be.
8.6K in bridge last time I checked.

OaklandA · June 18th, 2008, 09:00 PM

The Harmonic Design Z-90's have no equal, IMO. They sound tremendous on their own merit, but really capture the P90 thing better than anyone else.

I've tried the GFS version, and while they're way cheaper, IMO they don't come close.

Just another $0.02

Daddy Elmis · June 20th, 2008, 10:30 AM

+1 on the Z90's. These things just sound fantastic. I put them in my Epi LP -- I had SD JB and Jazz HB's in there, but it was just too dark (I'm mostly a single coil kind of guy). The Z90's hit exactly the right balance of fullness and bite. Expensive, but it solved my P90 quest and I've done no further looking since then.

andrenighthound · June 20th, 2008, 11:40 AM

i HAD Z90s in a 335 copy a few years ago and it sounded pretty good, but wasn't bright enough for me. maybe it was the fact that it was in a semi hollow body. I'm using different amps now days too so i can't say that they wouldn't be what i'm looking for.

anyways i got some GFS mean 90s and will try them out. they really make some nice pickups. i have a 50s tele and there wid range pickups. they are made very well! If them GFS fails, maybe i'll try some z90s again.

superbadj · June 20th, 2008, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andrenighthound

the soapbars are going in one of my prs se, and the the mean 90s are going in a epiphone lespaul ultra. If i like the mean 90s in the epiphone, i'm going to replace my burstbucker pros out my gibson vintage mahogany. Same goes with the rest of my prs se's they will get new soap bars too.

Thanks for the GFS tip!

You're taking OUT the burstbuckers?

Man, I love those!

andrenighthound · June 20th, 2008, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by superbadj

You're taking OUT the burstbuckers?

Man, I love those!

i know the burstbuckers really sound great in that guitar and i have plenty of soapbar style guitars so i probally will leave the burstbucker pros in...but thanks for the concern!

Yoni · June 21st, 2008, 04:07 PM

When I get my weird guild strat back I'm planning on throwing two of these in there. I don't need the humbucker sound but want something a little creamy.

Scott V · June 22nd, 2008, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iansmitchell

Try GFS mean 90 or dream 90.
Mean 90 is closest to vintage P90 pickup sound I've ever heard.
guitarfetish.com

I have a set neck HH Tele I'm going to try a pair of GFS Mean 90's in.

forensicdoc · June 23rd, 2008, 01:21 AM

I've got a pair of GFS Dream 90's in an Ibanez Talman, and I bloody love them. Bought the Talman because I liked the Jaguarish look of it, but the stock Ibanez Super 58's were muddy (I confess, I always struggle to like humbuckers). I have a Tele, Strat, and Epi LP, but I never put the Talman down for long because I love the sound of those Dream 90's more than just about everything else (except maybe the Keystone Tele bridge).

June 16th, 2008, 02:41 PM	#1 (permalink)
andrenighthound Tele-Meister Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bronx NY Age: 32 Posts: 231	Humbucker size P-90 pickups Hello, Can you guys share your opinions? I'm looking vintage authentic sounding P90s to fit in a humbucker. I've tried harmonic design's, and p94s, both sound good, but really don't have a real p90 sound. __________________ "Blues in a doggy bag, is what I got to eat!" www.andreandthenighthounds.com

June 16th, 2008, 08:04 PM	#4 (permalink)
Telenator Friend of Leo's Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Connecticut Posts: 4,476	I have the new SD P-Rails in one of my guitars and they just plain sound terrific! Not true vintage, but one of the best pickups I've ever heard! __________________ Dogs have the right idea!

June 17th, 2008, 09:09 PM	#5 (permalink)
iansmitchell TDPRI Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Gainesville, Florida Posts: 93	Try GFS mean 90 or dream 90. Mean 90 is closest to vintage P90 pickup sound I've ever heard. guitarfetish.com __________________ ... Please do not insinuate anything sexual from that.

June 17th, 2008, 11:56 PM	#6 (permalink)
andrenighthound Tele-Meister Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bronx NY Age: 32 Posts: 231	i'm looking for vintage so i ordered a set of mean 90s and a set of the their soap bars too! the prices are great i got 4 pickups for the price of one custom pickup! __________________ "Blues in a doggy bag, is what I got to eat!" www.andreandthenighthounds.com

June 18th, 2008, 12:44 AM	#8 (permalink)
andrenighthound Tele-Meister Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bronx NY Age: 32 Posts: 231	the soapbars are going in one of my prs se, and the the mean 90s are going in a epiphone lespaul ultra. If i like the mean 90s in the epiphone, i'm going to replace my burstbucker pros out my gibson vintage mahogany. Same goes with the rest of my prs se's they will get new soap bars too. Thanks for the GFS tip! __________________ "Blues in a doggy bag, is what I got to eat!" www.andreandthenighthounds.com

June 16th, 2008, 07:00 PM	#3 (permalink)
Graeme TDPRI Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Adelaide, Australia Posts: 34	I have Seymour Duncan Phat Cats in an Ibanez 335 copy, and like them a lot. I haven't used P90's long enough to know how close these sound, but they get favourable reviews at HC here: http://reviews.harmony-central.com/r...Phat+Cats/10/1 and I agree with comments on good note articulation and clarity. They're single coils of course, but also hum-cancelling if you use neck + bridge together.

June 18th, 2008, 04:41 AM	#9 (permalink)
hatecrew TDPRI Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Singapore Age: 17 Posts: 24	I had (and still have, just not being used) a harmonic design Z90 set in my les paul (sold) and it sounded incredibly good, especially the bridge pickup.

June 18th, 2008, 08:08 AM	#12 (permalink)
andrenighthound Tele-Meister Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bronx NY Age: 32 Posts: 231	thanks for the info! i'll be happy if i get it close to a p90 sound. As long as it sounds good! My main concern is that I don't want them p90 humbuckers too hot. __________________ "Blues in a doggy bag, is what I got to eat!" www.andreandthenighthounds.com

June 18th, 2008, 09:00 PM	#14 (permalink)
OaklandA Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Arizona Posts: 1,569 28 Photos	The Harmonic Design Z-90's have no equal, IMO. They sound tremendous on their own merit, but really capture the P90 thing better than anyone else. I've tried the GFS version, and while they're way cheaper, IMO they don't come close. Just another $0.02 __________________ ________________________ _________________ ___________ That's what she said.

June 20th, 2008, 10:30 AM	#15 (permalink)
Daddy Elmis Tele-Holic Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: USA Posts: 961	+1 on the Z90's. These things just sound fantastic. I put them in my Epi LP -- I had SD JB and Jazz HB's in there, but it was just too dark (I'm mostly a single coil kind of guy). The Z90's hit exactly the right balance of fullness and bite. Expensive, but it solved my P90 quest and I've done no further looking since then. __________________ Elwood: Good evening ladies and gentlemen, we're sure glad to be here in Cocomo tonight. We're the Good Ole' Blues Brothers Boys Band from Chicago. I sure hope you like our show. I'm Elwood, this here's my brother Jake.

June 20th, 2008, 11:40 AM	#16 (permalink)
andrenighthound Tele-Meister Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bronx NY Age: 32 Posts: 231	i HAD Z90s in a 335 copy a few years ago and it sounded pretty good, but wasn't bright enough for me. maybe it was the fact that it was in a semi hollow body. I'm using different amps now days too so i can't say that they wouldn't be what i'm looking for. anyways i got some GFS mean 90s and will try them out. they really make some nice pickups. i have a 50s tele and there wid range pickups. they are made very well! If them GFS fails, maybe i'll try some z90s again. __________________ "Blues in a doggy bag, is what I got to eat!" www.andreandthenighthounds.com

June 21st, 2008, 04:07 PM	#19 (permalink)
Yoni Tele-Meister Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Arizona Age: 25 Posts: 421	When I get my weird guild strat back I'm planning on throwing two of these in there. I don't need the humbucker sound but want something a little creamy. __________________ Fall in Love it's Fun-EV Check out my band at www.myspace.com/agent355

June 23rd, 2008, 01:21 AM	#21 (permalink)
forensicdoc TDPRI Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 32	I've got a pair of GFS Dream 90's in an Ibanez Talman, and I bloody love them. Bought the Talman because I liked the Jaguarish look of it, but the stock Ibanez Super 58's were muddy (I confess, I always struggle to like humbuckers). I have a Tele, Strat, and Epi LP, but I never put the Talman down for long because I love the sound of those Dream 90's more than just about everything else (except maybe the Keystone Tele bridge).