P90 positioning

[Perperso74]

Hi Guys,

First time posting and newcomer here. So thanks for letting me join!

I am building a set-thru (Full 25.5" set neck) Telecaster and I am planning to only have a single Kloppmann SB62 P90 installed. Being a sucker for deeper tones I want to put it in the neck position but (!) I want to move it down a little and capture a little bit more of the "twang".

I considered the precise middle position, and it would make sense. But I tried a similar guitar and I thought it lacked quite a bit of lustre and shine. So I'm thinking to place it 1/3 of the distance between the neck and bridge.

Has anyone here tried this before? I searched and found very little on the subject so I thought here might be the best place to ask!

Best wishes and a great big hello to y'all from Rotterdam

 

[Freeman Keller]

There is a lot of theoretical discussion about the "optimum" location for any pickup based on various nodal locations on a vibrating string. Problem is the nodes move as soon you fret a string. Many people argue that the 24th fret is a good place for the neck pickup, you get more of the fundamental and less partials, but again, all that goes to pieces with you fret it.

I recently built a barn wood tele clone with P90s and basically I put them as close to the neck and as close to the bridge as was reasonable


The neck is nice and warm and seems to have a pretty good compliment of overtones, altho I have not run the spectrum analyzing software on it. Its a remarkably good sounding pickup for jazz and I find myself playing it most of the time.

I'm curious about your "set-thru" configuration. I've never heard the term, I know exactly what set neck and thru neck guitars are but I would be interested in seeing what you are building and how your geometry is laid out. Would love to see some pictures.

 

[kuch]

^^^ what FK said

as I stated in your other post, 2 P90s, 3 way switch

 

[jvin248]

.

P90s can be muddy as neck pickups.

Leo Fender built a pickup test rig:

Mounted the pickup to a small board.
Attached a neck and bridge to a board and then slid around the pickup sled under the strings to find the best tone.

Do the same then measure and locate for the actual guitar.

.

 

[guitar_paul1]

What @jvin248 said. Also, you could build a sled to hold the pickup upside down over the strings and move it around. Maybe a bit easier.

 

[Fiesta Red]

I positioned the P-90 as close towards the bridge as the factory route (rout?) would allow…it had a humbucker there originally, so that gave me more space.

That positioning took some of the muddy/boomy overtones out of the sound.

Of course, that necessitated getting an Esquire pickguard and cutting it to fit. I did it with a Dremel tool.

 

[String Tree]

Hi Guys,

First time posting and newcomer here. So thanks for letting me join!

I am building a set-thru (Full 25.5" set neck) Telecaster and I am planning to only have a single Kloppmann SB62 P90 installed. Being a sucker for deeper tones I want to put it in the neck position but (!) I want to move it down a little and capture a little bit more of the "twang".

I considered the precise middle position, and it would make sense. But I tried a similar guitar and I thought it lacked quite a bit of lustre and shine. So I'm thinking to place it 1/3 of the distance between the neck and bridge.

Has anyone here tried this before? I searched and found very little on the subject so I thought here might be the best place to ask!

Best wishes and a great big hello to y'all from Rotterdam

Gibson made a few Single P90 Hollow bodies.
The Pick-up was farther from the heck than most.
You might want to check those out as a point of reference.

 

[Boreas]

Welcome aboard!

Part of what gives the bridge pickup on a Tele its "twang" is the bridge assembly coupled with that unusual single coil pickup. I don't get much twang from my bridge P90, but more of a "squank". However the neck sounds great at the standard position. I am inclined to think that moving the neck pickup toward the bridge may not have the desired effect. It won't be terrible, but I doubt it would be as nice as simply leaving it in the standard position. If you are looking to get a little more brightness, opt for at least a 500k V pot.

 

[Moodivarius]

My youngest designed this Tele, & We built for him a few years back.

Kind of a Nashville Tele, but a P90 in the middle.

He ordered Yardbird Tele pickup set, & P90 from Bare Knuckle out of the UK. A 5-way switch, & a push-pull to add neck pickup in any position. Sound very sweet.
The P90 had to be lowered from strings to adjust levels to equal bridge & neck.
It has a lot of different sound combinations with the 3 pickups & switching options.
P90 has a warm thick sound.

Had to take a stock Tele pickguard, & route the P90 pickup into it. As well as routing a cavity into the body when we built it.


Scott

 

[Perperso74]

Gibson made a few Single P90 Hollow bodies.
The Pick-up was farther from the heck than most.
You might want to check those out as a point of reference.

Thanks man! I’ll take that into account

 

[Perperso74]

I positioned the P-90 as close towards the bridge as the factory route (rout?) would allow…it had a humbucker there originally, so that gave me more space.

That positioning took some of the muddy/boomy overtones out of the sound.

View attachment 1158608

Of course, that necessitated getting an Esquire pickguard and cutting it to fit. I did it with a Dremel tool.

Very nice guitar man! I was thinking to use the humbucker position as a guide and looking at yours now I think I’ll go with that option

Thanks a lot!

 

[Perperso74]

There is a lot of theoretical discussion about the "optimum" location for any pickup based on various nodal locations on a vibrating string. Problem is the nodes move as soon you fret a string. Many people argue that the 24th fret is a good place for the neck pickup, you get more of the fundamental and less partials, but again, all that goes to pieces with you fret it.

I recently built a barn wood tele clone with P90s and basically I put them as close to the neck and as close to the bridge as was reasonable
View attachment 1158547

The neck is nice and warm and seems to have a pretty good compliment of overtones, altho I have not run the spectrum analyzing software on it. Its a remarkably good sounding pickup for jazz and I find myself playing it most of the time.

I'm curious about your "set-thru" configuration. I've never heard the term, I know exactly what set neck and thru neck guitars are but I would be interested in seeing what you are building and how your geometry is laid out. Would love to see some pictures.

Hi man!

Thanks for the pic and your suggestion. The guitar looks great!!!

I'm still in the planning/drawing stage of the build. What I am doing is basically a set neck but extended and glued all the way to the natural end of the 25.5" scale.

The body and neck are both mahogany from the same piece of wood and I think/hope it'll bring out more sustain and resonance from the instrument. I've done some studies in the matter and, I've spoken to a couple of luthiers here in Holland and they both think I'm on the right track.

The pick underneath shows a version of it but mine is going to be shorter and finish just under the bridge.

 

[Perperso74]

My youngest designed this Tele, & We built for him a few years back.

Kind of a Nashville Tele, but a P90 in the middle.

View attachment 1158610

He ordered Yardbird Tele pickup set, & P90 from Bare Knuckle out of the UK. A 5-way switch, & a push-pull to add neck pickup in any position. Sound very sweet.
The P90 had to be lowered from strings to adjust levels to equal bridge & neck.
It has a lot of different sound combinations with the 3 pickups & switching options.
P90 has a warm thick sound.

Had to take a stock Tele pickguard, & route the P90 pickup into it. As well as routing a cavity into the body when we built it.


Scott

Nice guitar man!

Interesting set up! I dig it

 

[Orpheum]

But these are not the most sought-after models...

 

[bullfrogblues]

1960 ES 330T

 

[Geo]

If you want more clarity get a P90 with lower out resistance like 7.5k or lower. You will still have to set it low
but it will still have strong volume output.

 

[crazydave911]

If you want more clarity get a P90 with lower out resistance like 7.5k or lower. You will still have to set it low
but it will still have strong volume output.

Very true, my Guild S50 Jetstar clone has a single P90 in the middle like the original. About 7.0k (barely) if memory serves. Picking style and position are VERY important on a single pickup guitar. Good luck

 

[Perperso74]

If you want more clarity get a P90 with lower out resistance like 7.5k or lower. You will still have to set it low
but it will still have strong volume output.

Thanks man! Didn't think of that. Will take that into consideration

 

[Perperso74]

Very true, my Guild S50 Jetstar clone has a single P90 in the middle like the original. About 7.0k (barely) if memory serves. Picking style and position are VERY important on a single pickup guitar. Good luck

Thanks! I think I'm going to need a lot of luck for this one -

 

[Elwood Telly]

Hi! For Cabronita-style build seen in my avatar I used T90's from TV Jones. As body was routed for Filtertron sized pickups (had a pair of modern Gretsch Filtertrons at first), these pickups were quite natural choice. Neck is 6,1 and bridge 7,6 k. I recently updated my Squier CV '70 (Custom '72-style) with Duesenberg P90 (German) in humbucker size. Original WRH-mounting is covered by using standard humbucker ring on the pickquard... I really wanted "4-pot-Custom-layout" - but not WRH (even a genuine CuNiFe) - so at first I put Wilkinson's PAF-replica (about 7,2 k) in neck position. It wasn't bad, but not great either. With good 2-piece swamp-ash body and Gotoh In-tune bridge it has a great sustain and "snap" to it.

Like "Geo" said, low output works in Tele's neck position - this one has only 5,9 k. It reminds Wilkinsons soap-bar neck version (not stacked version), which has same resistance. I've tried lots of P90-variations, like PhatCat (S. Duncan), Surf90 (with bit of DeArmond-spirit) etc. This Duesenberg Domino came to stay!
Someday, I will ask my luthier frend to cut a custom-Custom pickquard with standard humbucker routing, so I could get rid of this "frame over pickquard"-thing. Lollars '50s Wind could be fine too (especially with Gibson-style setup), I had a soap-bar pair in my B&G Little Sister and dog-ear version in LesPaulJr-copy. Neck-version of '50s Wind at 7,1 k could really work too.