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Not a Good Idea? (Changing LP Pickups)


Angelojf

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I think I'd really like the neck available in the Gibson LP 60's Tribute (I like the thinner necks). However, I think I'd be much happier with the tone of the LP Premium Studios.

 

So here's the idea ...:idea: :

 

Is this a good idea or am I creating a horrible Frankenstein:

Getting a 60s Tribute, but replacing the P90s in that to pickups that are used in the LP Premium Studio.

 

Would this combination give the sound of the Studio Premium (but with the neck of the 60's Tribute), or would I still loose a significant amount of the tone I like thats available in the Studio Premium?

 

Thanks for any input!

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P90 routs are too wide for a humbucker. You'd have to get some sort of trim ring and a router to make the cavities deeper.

Probably not a home project unless you have a shop.


EG

 

 

Not quite true. The P90 rout is exactly the same width as the hum ucker mounting ring. If the humbucker rout is centered perfectly it will work. But it is true you want a pro because if it is off by a millimeter it'll show.

 

I think it's a bad idea because the OP would be spending hundreds of dollars to the cost of the Tribute (pro routing and installation and cost of the humbuckers) while the same time ruining its resell value.

 

To the OP, I suggest adjusting to the Premuim's neck or saving and waiting for a model that has all the features you want. That $300+ in cash and value you would lose on the mod would go a long way toward just getting a different guitar.

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Mini humbuckers were designed to fit in P90 routs. They are often sold with a trim ring for that purpose. Installing full size humbuckers would require some routing and you would likely end up with a frankenlespaul.

 

I have a LP Studio 50's Tribute. I love the sound of the P90s but I hate the hum. So I bought a noise gate.

 

If, and that's a really big if, I decided to replace the pickups, they will be with either Fralin or Kinman noiseless P90s. The other option is Smits mini humbuckers.

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Mini humbuckers were designed to fit in P90 routs. They are often sold with a trim ring for that purpose. Installing full size humbuckers would require some routing and you would likely end up with a frankenlespaul.

 

 

Sure minis would fit, but you are still putting 8 holes in the maple top. Just keep in mind that cosmetically it is not reversable.

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Sure minis would fit, but you are still putting 8 holes in the maple top. Just keep in mind that cosmetically it is not reversable.

 

No.

 

Mini's mounted in Les Paul Deluxe rings mount under the PU, not to the surface.

 

mini_hb_study.jpg

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I was thinking of plain metal rings like on a Firebird

 

 

Ah, but those won't fit over a P-90 sized rout at all.

 

The only way a full-size humbucker ring fits is because those four corner screws are just barely far enough apart to go outside P-90 rout. And, I mean barely, once again, off by 1mm or so...and a screw may not have any wood to go into.

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Dimarzio sells some P90 sized humbuckers that actually sound pretty damn good considering they are a different form factor and would drop right in. I just sold a set a few weeks ago for like $70 shipped to Russia so they're out there and they can be found reasonably priced if you look.

 

This way you can get the guitar you want, the neck you want and hold onto the P90's for later or sell them if you want. Either way you end up with what you are looking for in terms of playability and tone and don't ruin the resale value of the guitar forever and don't incur a ton of cost in having it routed.

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Dimarzio sells some P90 sized humbuckers that actually sound pretty damn good considering they are a different form factor and would drop right in.

 

 

+1 The Dimarzio's P90-sized humbuckers are great. Check out the DLX Plus - these are the same model as Yamaha's famous Q100's.

 

Seymour Duncan makes these:

http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/custom-shop/specialized-1/p90_soapbar_hum/

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Dimarzio sells some P90 sized humbuckers that actually sound pretty damn good considering they are a different form factor and would drop right in. I just sold a set a few weeks ago for like $70 shipped to Russia so they're out there and they can be found reasonably priced if you look.


This way you can get the guitar you want, the neck you want and hold onto the P90's for later or sell them if you want. Either way you end up with what you are looking for in terms of playability and tone and don't ruin the resale value of the guitar forever and don't incur a ton of cost in having it routed.

 

 

Yeah, but then you are limited yourself to the handful of PU models made available in this format. There are less than a dozen (less than half dozen I know of) P-90 sized humbucker options.. If he doesn't like them, then what? As I guy who has owned a lot of guitars with proprietary PU's, it's very limiting. You guys are giving him crappy advice, why suggest to shoehorn in a solution when he doesn't yet own, or need to buy, a guitar that requires one.

 

If he wants humbuckers, he should get a model with humbuckers, and not try and force something half-ass by rushing to buy an ill-suited model.

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