Let's talk about P90 options (71 les paul deluxe)

[rumblebox]

Im considering P90s to replace my mini-humbuckers. Before you go bashing me for degrading originality, i can always put them back in if i want.

i know humbuckers like the back of my hand, but I dont have any experience with P90s, so share your opinions and experiences with me.

[jeremy]

my favorite p90s are the antiquity versions. the only trick is that they arent alnico V which is the classic p90 tone but mag swaps are easy and magnets are cheap.

gibsons p90s are good for vintage tones. the duncan vintage neck p90 is good too. the bridge version is great but is over wound compared to an old p90, not a bad thing at all just not vintage correct. the hotter duncans are good too if you want more horsepower. lollar makes a cool p90 but again, its not vintage sounding. a little more hi-fi

i had a gibson r6 that i really loved but had a hard time balancing the two similar wound gibson p90s, a hotter bridge or underwound neck would have been nice.

[chris_tw21]

I saw a guy playing a tele with two p 90's so this guitar isn't that crazy.I remember playing a 56 les paul though a fender amp and it was great.But I liked the the 59 better so I got an lp and put 59's w/ 50's wiring in the guitar.

[blueman335]

I'd go with P-90's instead of mini-HB's. Don't feel guilty.

Look for American-made P-90's online, you can get deals on used ones. Twin A5's are the standard, and in my experience, that's pretty bright and thin in the bridge slot. Mag swap may be in your future. The only bridge P-90's that I haven't had to do a mag swap on are Rio Grande's, which are naturally warm. I wouldn't set your heart on any make or model, just look for a great deal on some high quality ones. The only criterea would be whether you want them vintage wind or hot.

[rumblebox]

am i correct in assuming P90s use a pair of humbucker magnets??

so maybe a UOA5 neck and A8 bridge?? that combo seems to be seckxz on humbuckers.

[lazyfinger]

Whichever p90 you pick, you'll love it. I wouldn't go with A5/A5 option either if the guitar naturally sounds thin. I am in process of changing it myself.

[blueman335]

am i correct in assuming P90s use a pair of humbucker magnets??

so maybe a UOA5 neck and A8 bridge?? that combo seems to be seckxz on humbuckers.

Yes, exact same magnets; makes life easy.

My bridge pairs are:
A8/A4 (the Blueman signature, a personal favorite)
A8/A5 (slightly brighter)
UOA5/UOA5 (the warmest, another Blueman original)
A4/A4 (the preferred Fralin pairing)

You're not limited to these, experiment!

[jeremy]

yes, p90s use a pair of bar magnets.

people can say what they want but lots of people got amazing tones with gibson p90s with two alnico V magnets

[rumblebox]

would any american gibsons be fine to start with?

[PoorMan]

would any american gibsons be fine to start with?

Yes and no. My experience with modern Gibbo P-90s has been very hit and miss. I've had some that sounded excellent and others that were garbage. You'd get better consistency elsewhere.

[rumblebox]

i may as well get some antiquities then. it's not a cheapo LTD we're talking about. lol

[ErikH]

My P-90 experience is pretty limited to the modern Gibson offerings and Lollar. The Gibson's have that classic P-90 sound. I haven't done anything to them and don't plan to. They sound great as-is to me. They are in a SG Classic.

The Lollar I have is custom wound that I called and ordered. It's tapped at the output similar to his 50's wind and full output is slightly more than the overwound, but not by much. It's an amazing sounding pickup to me. It's in my Precision Guitar Kits SG Jr. with a hidden tap switch.

[Aceman]

As with ErikH, I'm Gibson and Duncan.

Gibson makes a right fine P-90! THE P-90, in fact. Or, for a little less money and all the tone, Duncan Vintage P-90's.

I personally have an LP with a Custom in the bridge and vintage in the neck. PRS used to do that. It's classic cool jazz uptown, and pure rawk downtown!

[GuitarDoc]

I love P-90's, but I find the modern Gibsons to be a bit bright with two A5's. But that is easily corrected. For bridge, I find a UOA5/A8 a great mag combo in a Gibbo P-90, but an A4/A8 would be good too.

[rumblebox]

At this point i really cant decide between duncans and gibbyz. It will probably boil down to whatever i find cheapest on ebay.

[chris_tw21]

I would go with duncan's and 50's wiring.

[Aceman]

I would go with duncan's and 50's wiring.

This is NEVER bad advice...

[GuitarDoc]

I would go with duncan's and 50's wiring.

+1. My recommendation too.

[chris_tw21]

Have you ever thought of using tayor mini humbuckers.

[ItsaBass]

IME, Gibson still makes a damned good P90. You can try to find some on E-Bay which someone has replaced with boutique pickups or something. I'll not change my Gibson P90's out of my guitars for any other brand's P90's.

Just to confuse the matter more, Firebird pickups will also fit in there.

And you could also mix and match. P90 neck and mini or Firebird bridge, for instance.