Hey GFS guys, let's talk HB size P90's...

[DRPool]

I need some new pups Schecter C-1 rehab and the only thing I don't have in my guitar arsenal is a P-90 guitar.

 

So...can someone share some knowledge on Mean 90's, Dream 90's, and Dream 180's? And how they relate to each other?

 

I already have a 2 hb git with my Reverend, and 2 strats with different HBs in the bridge position. I play mostly rock and blues stuff, some surf to Collective Soul would be a descriptive range.

 

I'm playing through a Classic 30 and matching 112e cab.

 

Please suggest away, I know there are likely better pups out there but GFS is my current price point.

[Mike Fiasco]

Mean 90's get raves about "sounding like" P90's. I had a set and I was happy. I also had Dream 90's and liked them a whole lot. Dream 90's sounded more like Tele bridge pups to me than P90's. Still nice, though.

 

I think Dream 180's are humbuckers.

[poolshark]

 

Mean 90's get raves about "sounding like" P90's. I had a set and I was happy. I also had Dream 90's and liked them a whole lot. Dream 90's sounded more like Tele bridge pups to me than P90's. Still nice, though. I think Dream 180's are humbuckers.

 

 

Sounds accurate to me. Dream 180s aren't p90-like at all, and Dream 90s, God bless 'em, are more like an overwound single coil than a p90.

[mrbrown49]

 

Sounds accurate to me. Dream 180s aren't p90-like at all, and Dream 90s, God bless 'em, are more like an overwound single coil than a p90.

 

 

I thought the same thing about the means. They were nice but they weren't really p90 sounding, they were p90-ish. Still a good sound, but responded more like a really fat strat pup.

[rocknhard]

Dream 90s are too thin, avoid them.

[twotimingpete]

I had a mean 90 for a while in a bridge. it was very bright and twangy sounding, not quite like a p90, but almost like a p90 and a tele had a love child.

[DRPool]

Okay, not to split hairs but without any sample clips on the GFS site how do you know if the Means sound much different than any decent hummer?

[bluesrock70's]

I liked and kept the neck Mean90 the bridge Mean 90 was to thin:thu:

[poolshark]

 

Dream 90s are too thin, avoid them.

 

 

Incorrect. If you can make a strat or tele pickup work, a Dream 90 is far from thin.

[bsman]

FWIW -- I think clips are way overrated. Too many variables to provide a really useful comparison...

[twotimingpete]

 

FWIW -- I think clips are way overrated. Too many variables to provide a really useful comparison...

 

 

this. it's almost impossible to learn much about what a pickup sounds like from a sound clip unless the person provides multiple pickups with the exact settings for a frame of reference. without the frame of reference it's basically useless. people will coo over the pickup's "tone" if it sounds good, while in reality just about any pickup would sound good with the same variables and in a recording. in my opinion, the only obvious difference in a sound clip without frame of reference will come from major archetype shifts. ie, a humbucker, or a tele pickup, etc. a tele bridge is generally identifiable as a tele bridge through most setups but as far as comparing one thing to another within the same archetype you can't learn much unless you actually have the AB comparison.

 

incidentally, does anyone else find the sound clips on seymour duncan's site hilarious? I honestly can't tell the difference between just about anything. I'm wondering if there's some inside joke there where they used the same clips for everything.

[diceman1000]

if you want HB sized p90's go with the h-90 or pure 90 from BG... or wait until Ken from Rsepickups gets the stuff to start winding HB sized p90's

[bsman]

 

incidentally, does anyone else find the sound clips on seymour duncan's site hilarious? I honestly can't tell the difference between just about anything. I'm wondering if there's some inside joke there where they used the same clips for everything.

 

 

+ infinity!

[DRPool]

Thanks Dice, maybe I'll just contact Ken and tell him what I'm looking for. My goal here is to do something with this guitar to set it apart from the others. Perhaps a lower gain or more classic sound HB would do the trick.

 

Retrotrons?

[diceman1000]

 

Thanks Dice, maybe I'll just contact Ken and tell him what I'm looking for. My goal here is to do something with this guitar to set it apart from the others. Perhaps a lower gain or more classic sound HB would do the trick. Retrotrons?

 

 

no prob sir... Ken or Bryan either one will special wind them to your tone preference and they both do forum discounts...

[Rex Machete]

I currently use a set of Mean 90s and, like someone else pointed out, the neck pickup is loud and bassy compared to the thinner bridge pickup. You have to mess with the pickup height to balance their outputs. Even after adjusting, the neck on mine is louder.

[jkay]

aren't growly like real p90's, but they crunch like a bastard and are pretty damn good sounding.

 

I agree that they sound like a real fat single coil, and they are perfectly powered, you are not left wanting more, if you push on the gas pedal there's plenty there.

 

I think the description of a combo of a tele single and a p90 is a pretty good one, it has some twang in there.

 

I think the dream is better than the mean, and probably as good as the 180.

[vintage clubber]

I still love the Kent Armstrongs I put in this guitar 5 or 6 years ago...I do wish BG would add chrome covers as an available option on his Pure 90's...

 

 

[rocknhard]

Incorrect. If you can make a strat or tele pickup work, a Dream 90 is far from thin.

 

Incorrect, in my opinion - they are horrible - unless you like a cheap thin sound.

 

Hear is a picture of mine, can I see or hear yours, perhaps it will change my mind and it is my les paul giving it that sound.

 

 

[cratz2]

Pretty much what's been said. Mean 90s are mean and nasty with gain. The Dream 90s are more jangly and polite.

 

I had a neck Dream 90 pickup in the bridge position and I would call it thin, but it was still usable. Not as thin as a bridge strat pickup at all. I wouldn't call the Mean 90s thin by any stretch. In fact, I never could get the neck Mean 90 quite thinned out as much as I would have liked.

 

I had two sets of Dream 180s. They were... what they were. Sort of a 80% PAF, 20% Filtertron sort of vibe. They were very quiet and could actually bring teh brootz.

 

If I was set on ordering some combination of these pickups, I'd either get two Mean 90s or I'd get a Mean 90 neck and a Dream 180 bridge.

[m90guy]

So if I want strat neck tones in a hb sized single coil pickup what would everyone suggest?

[poolshark]

 

Incorrect, in my opinion - they are horrible - unless you like a cheap thin sound. Hear is a picture of mine, can I see or hear yours, perhaps it will change my mind and it is my les paul giving it that sound.

 

 

Ask and you shall receive. The mic steals a lot of the thumpy bass, but you get the idea:

 

[YOUTUBE]nbeJs547JKI[/YOUTUBE]

 

Not sure I'll be playing Metallica with it any time soon, but played through a good amp, I'd hardly call my Dream 90 thin-sounding; frankly, the snappy bass, snorty mids and piercing highs have sold me on the thing so far. It's a single coil, yeah, so br0otz might be out, but it'll do anything a hot Tele can, which, to be fair, is pretty much anything.

 

Anyway, let's hear some of the terrible sounds you're getting out of yours. I know it's not a pickup for everybody, and certainly not a traditional Les Paul sound, but your characterization strikes me as unfair.

[cratz2]

So if I want strat neck tones in a hb sized single coil pickup what would everyone suggest?

 

If you really want strat tones and not P90s tones, I'd just get a good strat pickup and a pickup adapter that lets you put a true strat pickup in an HB hole.

 

[tlbonehead]

Not sure I'll be playing Metallica with it any time soon, but played through a good amp, I'd hardly call my Dream 90 thin-sounding; frankly, the snappy bass, snorty mids and piercing highs have sold me on the thing so far. It's a single coil, yeah, so br0otz might be out, but it'll do anything a hot Tele can, which, to be fair, is pretty much anything. Anyway, let's hear some of the terrible sounds you're getting out of yours. I know it's not a pickup for everybody, and certainly not a traditional Les Paul sound, but your characterization strikes me as unfair.

I have Dream 90s in a guitar. Not bad sounding at all, but they certainly don't satisfy my P90 craving.

[twofoolsaminute]

I have Dream 90's. I like them okay, but they don't sound like what I expected. mean 90's are the p90 flavored ones.