alnico II P-90's

[the guy who invented fire]

Anybody use alnico II P-90s of any kind?

[blueman335]

Not after the disappointment of the stock A2's in Phat Cats. In my guitars, the necks were muffled and bridge's puny. That soured me on the whole thing. I have an assortment of different alnicos in my P-90's, but not a single A2. Maybe with the right winding in the right guitars they'd work; I'd think the neck would have to be fairly underwound, and the bridge pretty hot. But it's so easy to get good tones from P-90's with other alnicos, I just don't see the point in screwing around with A2's.

[Push to Shuv]

I've got Antiquity P-90s (A2) in my Goldtop Les Paul and love them. Much better than the current Gibson P-90s.

[gibson175]

lol...rick and his never ending sad story about phatties and a2.

question...what magnets did gibson use in those old p90s from the 40s and 50s? anyone know?

[stratneck2]

I had a set of Phat Cats on one of my SG fron the 90's and they did sound good... Dishing out some real P-90's tone
I traded the guitar because the neck was F***t up, and got a 60's Tribute w/ 90's other wise the PH_Cts were doing the job...
Maybe is the wood ?... My ears ?....

[blueman335]

I had a set of Phat Cats on one of my SG fron the 90's and they did sound good... Dishing out some real P-90's tone
I traded the guitar because the neck was F***t up, and got a 60's Tribute w/ 90's other wise the PH_Cts were doing the job...
Maybe is the wood ?... My ears ?....

I think Phat Cats or A2's in P-90's in general can work, in the right woods and guitar designs. But in mahogany it's a case-by-case basis and not across the board. SG's would fare better than LP's. For me, a Phat Cat in the neck of an LP sounded like it was underwater. Just no treble. But, there are bright LP's that wouldn't have that problem.

I assume Ants are wound differently than Phat Cats, and that might bring out more clarity in the neck.

[the guy who invented fire]

lol...rick and his never ending sad story about phatties and a2.

question...what magnets did gibson use in those old p90s from the 40s and 50s? anyone know?

I know...I knew he'd answer and I knew what his answer would be.

40's and 50's P-90's as far as I know had various magnets in them A2, A3, A4 and A5...

[G0lden]

Funny that you ask this question, because I just swapped the magnets to A2 in my P-90's last night. It's a Gibson LP Studio 50's Tribute (currently my sig picture).

I love the sound of A2's. I have a Phat Cat in the neck of my 335 (epi dot actually) and I love it.

It only took me about 20 minutes to swap them. I just loosened the strings a little and slid the pups out. I did install the magnets backwards (south in the middle), but I did them both the same way, so it doesn't matter.

Anyways... on to the results. The neck sounds exactly what I was looking for. In stock form, they just sounded too stale to me. But the neck isn't quite there yet. I'm not sure exactly how to describe it, but it just needs more. So I think I will throw in the UOA5's that I purchased at the same time.

Sorry for not being the best at describing the sounds, but I can say that I do like the sound of it in my neck pup. The neck pup does sound a lot like my Phat Cat, which is what I was after.

I like to play my electrics in the clean to "on the edge of distortion" type sound.

[switchman]

A long time ago, I had an Antiquity P-90 bridge in a an All Warmoth maple neck/swamp ash Thinline Telecaster. They were offering a crazy deal on that body at the time. The guitar was bright and scooped unplugged. The Antiquity really tamed that. I don't think it would have worked well in a naturally dark or mellow sounding guitar.

[dr. ad]

A2's nice in a neck P90, but you don't want a hot wind with it. even paired with an A5, A2's still a bit underpowered in a bridge P90 IMO
A3 and A4 is an interesting neck mix, a bit harder-sounding than i'd expected (it'd be great for jazz)
A2 and A3 is what i'll try in the neck next.

A5 and A8 in the bridge is pretty damn cool, but that's not what you asked. still haven't tried ceramic and A8, i imagine that pair under a metal cover (ie phat cat) would make quite a beast of itself

[DesertRat]

I think A2 Phat Cats are great in brighter, snappier woods like my swamp ash/maple neck tele. They give some really warm singing mids to the tone like A2's do in any pickup. If you need more bite in a Les Paul or darker guitar, just swap one or both mags to a different magnet.

[Laughing Kookaburra]

I have BKP Blue Note 90s in a Hamer Special. I love them, perfect for blues and classic rock sounds, although not limited to that. They aren't hot at all, and just have a really clear (in a good way) and musical quality to them, even when overdriven.

https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/mai...p=blue_note_90

[Frogman]

Blahhhh.....if you want lower output and/or less treble, I think you'd be much better off with an A4/A4 or A4/UOA5 combo..

[blueman335]

Blahhhh.....if you want lower output and/or less treble, I think you'd be much better off with an A4/A4 or A4/UOA5 combo..

+1. Odds are you'll get better tones going that route instead of A2's. Lindy Fralin's P-90's come with A4's. UOA5's have a lot of the A2 feel and texture, but with a little more treble and output.

[the guy who invented fire]

Interesting stuff guys...

The P-90 I have is a recent dog ear pulled form a VOS LP Jr, stock A5 mags and I've got it wired up like a 50's Jr (500k vol, 250k tone, .05 cap) and it's stuffed in my Melody Maker.

I really dig it overall but it is a little strident at times, the tone control can smooth it out but I'm thinking about a mag swap just to give me a slightly wider range of use on the tone control.

I know that a lot of 50's P-90's were A2 and I think I have a nice set of matched A2 magnets in the parts cave but pulling the Melody Maker apart is no easy task so I'm reading a bit and thinking about it...

[Funkfingers]

Digging A2 magnets in SD Antiquity P90s. Thank you very much. Also digging the A500 Vol, A250 Tone control pot value idea. Gonna try that in a Hamer XT Series.

[Funkfingers]

lol...rick and his never ending sad story about phatties and a2.

Can't the Moderators turn that story into a Sticky and save him from having to post it any more?

[Andrew Lamprecht]

I have never heard of a 50s P90 that has A2 mags in it.

Gibsons website:

Earlier pickups (around 1946-1952) had Alnico 3 magnets, but in 1957 Gibson switched to Alnico 5.

[the guy who invented fire]

Digging A2 magnets in SD Antiquity P90s. Thank you very much. Also digging the A500 Vol, A250 Tone control pot value idea. Gonna try that in a Hamer XT Series.

I've tried various pot values with P-90's and in slab mahogany guitars I like that one best...

[the guy who invented fire]

Can't the Moderators turn that story into a Sticky and save him from having to post it any more?

One would think...