P-90's in a '72 Tele Deluxe RI?

[backtoblue]

I'm thinking of putting in some GFS brand "Mean 90s" to replace the stock humbuckers in my 72 Deluxe. The stock pickups are just kinda of muddy and aren't really doing it for me. I want more string separation and clarity and just want to cut through the mix a little more....Been reading up on the GFS's and seem like quality pups for the money. The Mean 90's seem to fit the bill for what I'm looking for in particular. Any thoughts? Any other recommendations for pickups? Or am I just plain crazy????

Thanks!

 

[mistermullens]

I had a Mean 90 in a Squier '51 I used to own. I really liked it, but it was a tad too hot for me. Sounded awesome for slide. I'm going for the Dream 90 in my next '51.

 

[backtoblue]

I might check out the Dreams as well....so they are lower output, I take it?

 

[aram]

have you tried changing the pots on the guitar?

that really changed the sound and opened it up for me.

 

[echale iii]

I had Mean 90s in an Epi Les Paul that sounded great, but the guitar didn't play near as well as it sounded, especially compared to my Gibson Les Paul.

I dropped a set of Mean 90s into a Gibson SG, and ran that head-to-head against the P-90s in my Gibson LP Double Cut Special, just for grins. The SG had a little more bottom end than the P-90s, at least for that comparison. The SG had all the Live at Leeds tone with the Mean 90s in it that you could hope for.

I stuck the stock 490s back in my SG, yanked out the ceramic pickups in my Gibson Flying V, and dropped the Mean 90s in the V...

It made a night and day difference to the V, that's for sure... Very full and clear sound, lots of string definition, very sensitive to picking dynamics... The tone I'm getting from it is good enough that I'm considering getting a replacement guard on the V set up for triple P-90s, and doing a little routing/rewiring....

 

[backtoblue]

have you tried changing the pots on the guitar?

that really changed the sound and opened it up for me.

No, they're still stock, which I think is 250k's. I'm not too knowledgeable about pots and what they contribute to the sound...Is it the higher the frequency the wider the range of tone it adjusts?

Sorry, I don't really know too much about this stuff works, I just play them

BTW, I'm glad I found this forum and thanks for the help so far!

 

[echale iii]

Go here if you'd like to read my comparison between Mean 90s and P-90s in the SG/LP DC Special

 

[backtoblue]

Go here if you'd like to read my comparison between Mean 90s and P-90s in the SG/LP DC Special

nice review, echale....I think that pretty much seals the deal. And heck, at $35 a pop for GFS, I can afford to change my mind later!

 

[The String King]

My hands are tied... Both of my favourite pick ups are on the line. The Fender Humbuckers, and P90's... Well, my '72 Thinline, with the right amp settings, sound EXACTLY like my Gibson SG Classic (P90's)... But louder... Also, the added bonus is it's a Tele.


Edit:

Realising my previous post was utterly useless, I will just state a few points:

The P90's will have much better gain, as they are, by design, loud pick ups. The Fender Wide Range Humbuckers, on the other hand, are an extremely versatile pick up which covers the whole variety of P90 sounds. This is just from my experience... Which is limited, although I have tried a wide range of pick ups...

Also, if you are having a problem with so called 'Muddiness' then I would suggest changing the Pot's to 500k's. This is the cheaper option (about £12) so I would definetly suggest trying this first! Also, with the WR Humbuckers, amp settings are very important. I would suggest playing around with it a bit... These are just my idle rantings, you don't have to listen, by the way.

Hope these things help...

 

[RumorsofsurF]

No, they're still stock, which I think is 250k's. I'm not too knowledgeable about pots and what they contribute to the sound...Is it the higher the frequency the wider the range of tone it adjusts?

Sorry, I don't really know too much about this stuff works, I just play them

BTW, I'm glad I found this forum and thanks for the help so far!

I thought the 72 Deluxes would have 1 Meg pots...

I'll find out...

 

[fungusyoung]

Also, if you are having a problem with so called 'Muddiness' then I would suggest changing the Pot's to 500k's. This is the cheaper option (about £12) so I would definetly suggest trying this first! Also, with the WR Humbuckers, amp settings are very important. I would suggest playing around with it a bit...

+ 1

I'm a huge P90 guy, but you should give those pups a chance. You certainly won't hurt yourself by keeping the 500 K pots in there if you later decide to switch to P90's, but I've also found the wide range reissues can get fairly close to P90 terrain with some knob tweaking... and definitely upgraded pots.

 

[The String King]

Ahh! Another Thinline fan I see...

If you really find that the pick ups are weak, then you could get them overwound. The neck pick up in mine is overwound, and sounds... Well, amazing.

I would suggest changing to 500k pots first. Besides, if you want that 'Gibson' sound, 500k pots will be neccessary.

 

[jivetrain]

i also suggest you change the pots, it'll only cost a few dollars and take half an hour to change them at most. if you like the sound afterwards, you'll have saved yourself a lot of money.

500k will open the sound up and brighten it to the level of an average humbucker, still a little dark but pleasantly so, rather than muffled and dull as it had been before. i'd be happy to provide you some samples of my guitar if you want to hear how this sounds, i think it's perfect.

if you want to completely clear the muddiness up you'll have to use 1 meg pots, which i assume would often become too bright with the tone controls all the way open. the sound may also be thinner with 1 megs in, but it will probably sound more like a fender.

the wide range humbuckers are very good pickups, in my opinion the best humbuckers i've ever heard. don't hold it against them that fender chose to pair them with an absurd choice of parts.

 

[mistermullens]

have you tried changing the pots on the guitar?

that really changed the sound and opened it up for me.

Can you elaborate?

 

[jivetrain]

Can you elaborate?

you may want to read my post above, i may have said what you wanted to hear

 

[backtoblue]

Thanks for the advice on the pots guys...
I just stumbled upon this thread here and it looks like the stock pots are indeed
250k:
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/just-pickups/48808-fender-wide-range-humbucking-pickups.html

I went ahead and ordered the GFS pups last night (I hope they fit!), like I said before, at less than $35 a piece, I can afford to experiment a bit. Even if I just upgraded to 500k pots, I would still have the issue with the string definition, I think. It could be my amp. I dunno, the WR's sound great clean, but really lose string definition when overdriven a bit, at least to my ears....

I'll get them installed and report back to you guys

Thanks for the help!

 

[jivetrain]

Thanks for the advice on the pots guys...

I went ahead and ordered the GFS pups last night (I hope they fit!)

they may not; were you aware that the wide ranges are slightly larger than normal humbuckers? be prepared for some work in order to get them in

 

[echale iii]

The Mean 90s come with their own pickup trim rings, so it might not be too difficult to get them set in.

 

[backtoblue]

they may not; were you aware that the wide ranges are slightly larger than normal humbuckers? be prepared for some work in order to get them in

No, I was not aware they are different sizes....damn, nothing is easy is it? Hopefully it will work out. So if I wanted to go ahead and get the 500k pots would I need to replace all four tone and volume or just the tone pots?

 

[jivetrain]

all four, unless you intend to alter the control scheme. for instance, i disconnected the tone controls entirely and only replaced the neck volume pot; i only had to pay $3 and replace one pot, so it was cheap and easy for me. unless you intend to do something like that, all four should be replaced.

also don't be surprised if you hear an increased amount of hum after changing the pots, the wide ranges have a lot of high frequency noise that is cut off when using 250k pots. with the increased frequency range of 500k pots, that noise will become audible. since you intend to replace the pickups anyway, it shouldn't bother you, just know that if by chance you like the wide ranges enough to keep them you can get rid of the noise by shielding the guitar.