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How Do the Infamous P-90s Sound?


Uze Soap

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I've yet to hear a P-90 up close and personal, and I'm quite interested in throwing one in an Epi G400.

Pretty much the only description I can find on these is "wild and open".

 

I play a lot of heavy rock among a lot of other styles like jazzy {censored} and whatever but a whole lot of my music consists of galloping, rhthymic power chords. I like a fairly punchy sound for distorted tones, but I wouldn't be disappointed in something more open. I have an open mind for any sound.

 

If I put one of these in, I;d probably put it in the bridge and keep the humbucker in the neck.

 

So I was wondering exactly how these pups sound? Like I said, I keep an open mind, but I want to be able to keep a tight enough sound.

And clarity is also important.

 

Any comments?

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they sound


awesome



but put in 2 p-90's, the neck is just as awesome as the bridge, and when they're both engaged it sounds even better, especially for clean


P-90's are very popular now, you can prolly go to any guitar store and find some

GC carries SG Classics now

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They sound nuthin like humbuckers. When distorted with loads of beautiful high gain, they get real fuzzy and wide open -- totally inarticulate in a great way. My cliche response is like Sabbath Vol. 4 tone, early Pumpkins and Soundgarden tone, and some Kyuss tone thrown in for good measure. Not what most metal players are looking for though. I am into playing stoner rock and doom and they are great for that. I have decided to take my SG Classic into the shop this weekend and get a pro setup on it and set up to play tuned down a full step. I usually do the setups myself, but since this is my baby, gonna do her right!

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Originally posted by curseoftruth

They sound nuthin like humbuckers. When distorted with loads of beautiful high gain, they get real fuzzy and wide open -- totally inarticulate in a great way. My cliche response is like Sabbath Vol. 4 tone, early Pumpkins and Soundgarden tone, and some Kyuss tone thrown in for good measure. Not what most metal players are looking for though. I am into playing stoner rock and doom and they are great for that. I have decided to take my SG Classic into the shop this weekend and get a pro setup on it and set up to play tuned down a full step. I usually do the setups myself, but since this is my baby, gonna do her right!

 

 

Well, I love stoner rock. In fact, my music is the unltimate in stoner rock. I don't know why, maybe my short attention span.

 

I think I wanna get a couple anyway. They sound too good to pass up. I've been in dire need of some amazing tone lately.

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I ventured to two SoCal GCs over the weekend (Brea and Cerritos) and there were no P90 guitars to be had in either store. No SG Jr., SG Classic, or anything else either.

I think the P90 revolution is bigger on this board than in the real world, but then again that's the real world's fault. :cool:

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I found p90s into my driven Fender Deluxe Reverb to be very punchy and tight with instant attack when hit a little aggressively. Yet can also be really mellow, clear and sweet when rolled back and picked softly. I think the 'open' reference has to do with EQ range, as in wide. {censored}load of every spectrum from bass to treble in there. And 'wild' must be referring to the way they can smack the front of a tube preamp at will. WHACK!

 

They get more mileage from adjusting the guitar's volume and tone knobs than other single coils I've used, and they seem to wake-up a tubescreamer pedal into this amp, in fact I could never get a tubescreamer to sound 'right' till I hit one with p90s. Loves every overdrive pedal I have. Loves fuzz too (well, near as I can tell by my big muff).

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P-90's are great. They're not made for super high gain, tight, articulate metal playing.

But if you wanna play some fuzzed up or overdriven raunchy riffs you'll love 'em.

And as mentioned...go with a full set. Neck & Bridge. :thu:

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Originally posted by id-man

I found p90s into my driven Fender Deluxe Reverb to be very punchy and tight with instant attack when hit a little aggressively. Yet can also be really mellow, clear and sweet when rolled back and picked softly. I think the 'open' reference has to do with EQ range, as in wide. {censored}load of every spectrum from bass to treble in there. And 'wild' must be referring to the way they can smack the front of a tube preamp at will. WHACK!


They get more mileage from adjusting the guitar's volume and tone knobs than other single coils I've used, and they seem to wake-up a tubescreamer pedal into this amp, in fact I could never get a tubescreamer to sound 'right' till I hit one with p90s. Loves every overdrive pedal I have. Loves fuzz too (well, near as I can tell by my big muff).

 

 

sounds like what i want, great description, thanks

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you'll find that a p-90 doesnt retrofit into a humbucker slot. it is possible to put them into a humbucker guitar. i've done it a few times, but it requires some routing and the making of a ring to go around the p90 to cover the humbucker route.

like this... link

this way, if you decide to go back to humbuckers, you can put them back in without any signs of modding the guitar.

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Originally posted by leftyjay

you'll find that a p-90 doesnt retrofit into a humbucker slot. it is possible to put them into a humbucker guitar. i've done it a few times, but it requires some routing and the making of a ring to go around the p90 to cover the humbucker route.


like this...
link


this way, if you decide to go back to humbuckers, you can put them back in without any signs of modding the guitar.



They make HB sized P-90's. This is a pic of a Seymour Duncan SPH90-1 Phat Cat.

phat_cat_gc.jpg

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Originally posted by Chairborne

I ventured to two SoCal GCs over the weekend (Brea and Cerritos) and there were no P90 guitars to be had in either store. No SG Jr., SG Classic, or anything else either.

 

 

Hollywood GC had an SG Classic and an LP DC Faded last week. Think I saw a PRS SE Soapbar too.

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P-90's are great. Listen to any Social D alblum if you want to hear what they sound like. I don't know if they exclusively use them, but I know they use them a lot.

Piano like is one way I've heard to describe them.

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i've tried quite a few humbucker sized p-90s. they all lack the snotty sound of a real p-90. humbucker retrofits seem duller to my ears. i even changed the pot value to try to brighten them up. still nothing sounds like a good p-90.



sstp902.jpg



these aren't sg guitars, but it is possible to put p-90s in any guitar if you really want them. :D


sst62p903.jpg

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Originally posted by bdecorsey



Are these warmoth jobs? They look super cool. I've always thought a strat w/ P-90's would be sortof the ultimate in the comfort/tone department.

 

 

 

look in his sig

 

they're SX's a 57 and a 62

 

prolly cost him about $500 for the 2 guitars, pickups, and new pickguards

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Originally posted by leftyjay

you'll find that a p-90 doesnt retrofit into a humbucker slot. it is possible to put them into a humbucker guitar. i've done it a few times, but it requires some routing and the making of a ring to go around the p90 to cover the humbucker route.


like this...


this way, if you decide to go back to humbuckers, you can put them back in without any signs of modding the guitar.

 

 

If you do decide to go this route, I'd like to mention Pete Biltoft of Vintage Vibe pickups. He made me a hum-sized P-90 that made the "perfect tone" I was hearing in my head come out of my guitar.

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Originally posted by bdecorsey



If you do decide to go this route, I'd like to mention Pete Biltoft of Vintage Vibe pickups. He made me a hum-sized P-90 that made the "perfect tone" I was hearing in my head come out of my guitar.



I also have a set of these from Pete...excellent! :cool:

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My SG Classic quickly became my main axe after i bought it. I use it into a 6505 with a lot of gain and the stock pickups got fairly muddy, i repaced them with Duncan Custom P-90's and that gave me the extra punch and clarity i wanted. Keep in mind that most of my observations for P-90 are in high gain (6505 preamp on 7).

P-90's are a strange animal. The sound utterly giagantic. Single coil's in general pick-up a wider frequency range than humbuckers, this coupled with the P-90's higher output give it that open sound. Pinch harmonics are a bit trickier to get out of my guitar, not too hard.

They feedback quicker than HB's, hum a lot and chords dont have all the articulation of a good HB.

Simply put, humbuckers sound like chainsaws, P-90's sound like diesel engines.

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