Members Sheraton Posted March 23, 2011 Members Share Posted March 23, 2011 Lower output "vintage wind" plus modern versions often use A5 magnets rather than A2. That will give more bite, more grind and more honk but they don't clean up as nicely. You lose some of that piano like clarity with the hotter ones. PRS SE models use a modern high output version. EG That's the info I was looking for. So vintage wind with A2 magnets? Who makes P90s like that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Ratae Corieltauvorum Posted March 23, 2011 Moderators Share Posted March 23, 2011 Lollar, Vintage Vibe Guitars, BG, hell even Gibsons stock P90s maybe be Al II, II or V, although the current so called "Super Vintage" is Al V. Tonerider do some nice Al II/IV hybrids too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 67mike Posted March 24, 2011 Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 They are awesome. My favorite type by a mile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Minnie The Moocher Posted March 24, 2011 Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 4. I keep chasing the sound of an early 60's SG Jr I sold 30 years ago and not being completely happy with the results. Is it that I've outgrown the P90 sound? Are P90s a young man's pickup?Thoughts? Find another early sixties SG junior - they sound awesome, and no replica comes close, believe me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members noisebloom Posted March 24, 2011 Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 I love how the P-90 can be throttled. It's different from a humbucker or a Fender single. It can be sweet when turned down, and rage like a mofo when dimed. There's a beautiful variety of sounds there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members crashclc Posted March 24, 2011 Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 I love how the P-90 can be throttled. It's different from a humbucker or a Fender single. It can be sweet when turned down, and rage like a mofo when dimed. There's a beautiful variety of sounds there. Yep! They seem more responsive to the volume knob than anything else. I leave the tone dimed because rolling that off just loses the tone I like. The volume does everything I want out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jrockbridge Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 I've alway describe the P90 gain sound as 'hairy.' I love the fatness, articulation and ability to cut through a mix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pine Apple Slim Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 Ive owned 2 guitars w P90s in my life, both vintage Gibsons, a 1951 ES125 and an early 60s SG Les Paul.Both had the classic p90 sound, clean and articulate when stroked softly, and hairy as hell when you lean into em.I would consider a newer P90 guitar, but I always doubt they would measure up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GreaserMatt Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 They can be pretty aggressive, but I love that sound. +1 P90s are where its at... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members honeyiscool Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 Are there Stratty P90s out there? I would like to have a Strat sound in a P90 routed guitar. I know this sounds dumb, but I think I know what I want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sheraton Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 Find another early sixties SG junior - they sound awesome, and no replica comes close, believe me. You're right, this is the answer. Tough to find them for a reasonable price though. I'll just be patient and keep looking for a player, not a collector's piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BryanMichael Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 I'm glad to hear this. I've spent years trying to convince myself that I must be missing something in P-90 equipped guitars because I usually preferred either a nice single coil or nice humbucker sound to the P-90 "grit" or "stank" or whatever.To be honest, I did have some Lindy Fralin P-90's in a Gibson Blueshawk many years ago and thought they sounded absolutely FABULOUS! But other than those particular pickups, I've always felt that somehow P-90's were WANTING for something- couldn't quite get the clean sparkle of a Fender style single coil, and didn't have that fat HB sound either... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Ratae Corieltauvorum Posted March 25, 2011 Moderators Share Posted March 25, 2011 I would like to have a Strat sound in a P90 routed guitar. I know this sounds dumb, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members billybilly Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 Are there Stratty P90s out there? I would like to have a Strat sound in a P90 routed guitar. I know this sounds dumb, but I think I know what I want. I wouldn't mind that too, I am sure someone does it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Ratae Corieltauvorum Posted March 25, 2011 Moderators Share Posted March 25, 2011 I wouldn't mind that too, I am sure someone does it. Depends what you mean by a Strat sound? S Strat is inherently (imo) the result of having three single coils arranged equidistant btween neck butt and bridge, and with inbetween position ie 2 and 4 giving that phasey quack sound Now the answer is to try a guitar in the first instance with 3 P90s arranged in a similar fashion, but it maybe that what you want is a P90 where the poles are the magnets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members groovmongrel Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 Having used my Les Paul Junior as my number 1 guitar, (and both playing it extensively in a band context and listening to it recorded), it has gradually dawned on me that there is one aspect of the typical P90 sound (at least on the Juniors as I can tell), that I am not sure is always particularly desirable, yet somehow inescapable.Listening back to a quick recording we did of a couple of numbers at our last rehearsal, I was struck by how 'grainy' or 'gritty' the sound was with just a modicum amount of overdrive. At first I wondered whether it was the quality of mike, and recording, but listening to lots of other Juniors online, this seems to be an inescapable feature of the sound... curiously I hadn't really remarked upon it before. I guess I would define it like this: a tight overdrive sound, that almost sounds as though there is a small amount of 'fuzz' in it. A humbucker with a similar amount of gain sounds smoother to my ear. Now, a lot of people I guess love this aspect of the P90... but I'm beginning to wonder whether it could be a bit of a pain in the arse, in the sense that your driven sounds come to be coloured by it one way or the other.Of course, when clean, they sound better than most humbuckers to my ear.Is it just me, or is there this inherent fuzz to the typical P90 sound? Yes, there is that grainy, fuzzy type sound. I had the same with an SG I had with it. Ultra bold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members curseoftruth Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 I love the way my 60s Tribute SG with P90s sounds, even better than the SG Classic I I used to have. Fuzzes up my Orange and Sunns better than any guitar I have. Gets its first gig tomorrow night, so I'll try to report back how it does at show volume with the 60 cycle hum. Should be fine, hell - I run more and louder in band practice than I do for gigs (2 100 watt halfstacks at practice lol! stupid loud but fun)... I love the P90 tone, its gritty, fuzzy, dirty, and nasty. They are powerful pups. They don't really do clean (with my amps) very well. But I don't do much clean so I really don't care... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elias Graves Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 I had the pleasure of playing a 1948 model ES125 yesterday. Most of what is discussed here doesn't apply. The vintage P90 is a whole different beast. Yes, it was still kinda gritty overdriven, but the out of control mids wasn't there at all and it was by far the most musical P90 I've ever heard. It literally sounded like bells playing. The modern P90s, in response to people demanding higher output pickups, are not what made the P90 great. A 6k A2 is where it's at. EG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pine Apple Slim Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 I had the pleasure of playing a 1948 model ES125 yesterday. Most of what is discussed here doesn't apply. The vintage P90 is a whole different beast. Yes, it was still kinda gritty overdriven, but the out of control mids wasn't there at all and it was by far the most musical P90 I've ever heard. It literally sounded like bells playing. The modern P90s, in response to people demanding higher output pickups, are not what made the P90 great. A 6k A2 is where it's at. EG I had a 51 for several years. Sold it at a profit to get other gear.Absolutley, that old Gibson P90s are great. If someone can clone that, Id get me a Dot or Artcore to stick em in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheFigurehead Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 I love p90s, but I hate Gibson style guitars. I also think that, for me at least, p90's are a bit too much of a one trick pony to play exclusively. I have one in my strat, between the bridge and middle pu's, though, and I love it. It compliments the strat pu's nicely... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BeanoBoy Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 My favorite P90 tones are: Leslie West's fat overdriven Blues-Rock tone; Live at Leeds/ Tommy era Pete Townshend. Pete obtained so many tones by manipulating his volume pot or stepping on a fuzz box for his solos; Beatle's Revolver tones which are much cleaner and chimier but are some of the coolest tones from the Lads. Always felt P-90s were real versatile. I don't just play a single coil guitar, a 'bucker guitar or a P-90 guitar exclusively. I use what feels good at any given moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members etawful Posted March 25, 2011 Members Share Posted March 25, 2011 For some reason, when I think P90, I think: 8JryQXilMj4 And through a solid state amp no less. I LIKE that tone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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