Members Woody_in_MN Posted November 1, 2009 Members Share Posted November 1, 2009 First Act offers these single cuts with P90 Alnico's from time to time at $49. I got this one on Friday, and played it a few times, I thought I would list my impressions. THE GOOD: The guitar is light (I like this). It is a decent player. The setup was not bad, but I did do a truss adjustment of about 1/2 a turn that has improved play-ability. It plays about as well as a PRS SE I played this morning at GC (gasps from the cork sniffers.) The PUP's are OK - but not great. After bringing the bridge PUP up as close as possible to the strings - I started getting decent sustain. The guitar itself has good sustan - the weak link is the PUP's. A good word for FA customer service. The first one I got in "Surf Green" was damaged in shipment. FA sent a replacment right away, but they did ask for the damaged guitar back. THE BAD: The PUP's are fairly noisy. The also sound treble-ey thru my Kustom HV65. The PUP's are OK for messing around - but if you want to do anything more serious plan on a PUP swap. THE VERDICT: As a knock around guitar - after minor setup work - this one will work. It is a pretty good player. If 10 is the best playing guitar ever - this is a 7 - maybe even an 8. For any serious work - plan on at least a PUP swap. - W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the_bleeding Posted November 1, 2009 Members Share Posted November 1, 2009 But but but... p90's are SUPPOSED to be trebley and noisy. Theyre single coils after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PunkKitty Posted November 1, 2009 Members Share Posted November 1, 2009 So is it safe to say that the P90's in this FA are not the same as the ones in a Sheena? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Orange Jackson Posted November 1, 2009 Members Share Posted November 1, 2009 an 8 out of 10, really? that is pretty nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Woody_in_MN Posted November 1, 2009 Author Members Share Posted November 1, 2009 But but but... p90's are SUPPOSED to be trebley and noisy. Theyre single coils after all. Good point. Yes - P90's are noisy. I think I'll compare them to the P90's in my SX. Play them side by side - then post an update tomorrow. - w Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChineseKnockoff Posted November 1, 2009 Members Share Posted November 1, 2009 Let me know if you pull the pickups. I may have a home for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Woody_in_MN Posted November 1, 2009 Author Members Share Posted November 1, 2009 So is it safe to say that the P90's in this FA are not the same as the ones in a Sheena? The PUP's in the $49 special are "Vintage Voiced Alnico's" - I think the Sheena has Alnico V's. My thought was to swap in the Sheena P90's you sold me. (I KNEW I would find a place for them.) - W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Woody_in_MN Posted November 1, 2009 Author Members Share Posted November 1, 2009 Let me know if you pull the pickups. I may have a home for them. Sure - we can work a deal. Give me a couple weeks. I have a couple other projects to finish. - W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vintage clubber Posted November 1, 2009 Members Share Posted November 1, 2009 are the pole pieces alnico on those pickups? they don't look like adjustable screws like on a P-90. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Woody_in_MN Posted November 1, 2009 Author Members Share Posted November 1, 2009 an 8 out of 10, really?that is pretty nice. Yeah - you know it plays pretty nice! The first day I played it - I thought it was OK. But when I played it for a while tonight - it plays pretty nice. Between a 7 and 8. Close to my Gibson SG for playability (?). - W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members caveman Posted November 1, 2009 Members Share Posted November 1, 2009 are the pole pieces alnico on those pickups? they don't look like adjustable screws like on a P-90. I saw saw that as well, might not be real P90s. They may be more like the Gibson Blues P-90s. That would explain the "treble-ey". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elias Graves Posted November 1, 2009 Members Share Posted November 1, 2009 Happy new guitar day Woody. Glad you like it. Cheapies aren't what they used to be. EG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Orange Jackson Posted November 1, 2009 Members Share Posted November 1, 2009 Yeah - you know it plays pretty nice! The first day I played it - I thought it was OK. But when I played it for a while tonight - it plays pretty nice. Between a 7 and 8. Close to my Gibson SG for playability (?). - W well it's not the first time a cheep fa guitar ended up being really sweet. my lola for example. and of course (o)(o)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Woody_in_MN Posted November 1, 2009 Author Members Share Posted November 1, 2009 are the pole pieces alnico on those pickups? they don't look like adjustable screws like on a P-90. I'm not sure what "pole pieces" are. They are adjustable. The are described as "vintage voiced Alnico P90's" - w Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vintage clubber Posted November 1, 2009 Members Share Posted November 1, 2009 I'm not sure what "pole pieces" are. They are adjustable. The are described as "vintage voiced Alnico P90's" - w pole pieces are those little thingies under each string that send the signal to your controls and amp...:poke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members outtahear Posted November 1, 2009 Members Share Posted November 1, 2009 I'm not sure what "pole pieces" are. They are adjustable. The are described as "vintage voiced Alnico P90's" - w Nope (They're the "dots" under the string)and they're rod magnets, like a Fender (Jag) pickup. P-90s are two bar magnets, coil on top, screw polepieces. Get rid of the .047 cap on the tone control-try an .o22. 250k tone control warms 'em up a bit. (My Westerberg has an old telecom .022 tone cap on the tone control, sounds humbuckerish w/the tone rolled off. w/the tone on "10", rolling the vol down gets some rick jangle, up to acoustic-like tones.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the_bleeding Posted November 1, 2009 Members Share Posted November 1, 2009 Nope (They're the "dots" under the string)and they're rod magnets, like a Fender (Jag) pickup. P-90s are two bar magnets, coil on top, screw polepieces. Get rid of the .047 cap on the tone control-try an .o22. 250k tone control warms 'em up a bit. (My Westerberg has an old telecom .022 tone cap on the tone control, sounds humbuckerish w/the tone rolled off. w/the tone on "10", rolling the vol down gets some rick jangle, up to acoustic-like tones.) changing the cap will only change the amount of bass that the tone knob has when set to '0'. So a bigger cap = more bass when tone rolled off. i'd say try 300's or 250's for a volume knob. That will help oodles. Oh, and have you done the p90 comparison yet? i wanna hear your results Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dougie.Douglas Posted November 1, 2009 Members Share Posted November 1, 2009 Nice one Woody They look like pretty sweet guitars, and by the sound of things, they play nice too! Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Woody_in_MN Posted November 1, 2009 Author Members Share Posted November 1, 2009 changing the cap will only change the amount of bass that the tone knob has when set to '0'. So a bigger cap = more bass when tone rolled off. i'd say try 300's or 250's for a volume knob. That will help oodles. Oh, and have you done the p90 comparison yet? i wanna hear your results Give me a day or so - been kind of busy. Thanks, - W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Woody_in_MN Posted November 1, 2009 Author Members Share Posted November 1, 2009 ^^^ OK. With my Kustom HV65 on medium volume, and low gain - I strummed a couple chords from my SX then my FA then my SX then my FA. My Impression: The FA is a lot noisier. The FA PUP's are more trebble-ey, in fact the frequency reponse on the FA PUP's just seems narrower. So although these may be Alnicos - they are not very good ones. The SX just has much superior P90's. - W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChineseKnockoff Posted November 1, 2009 Members Share Posted November 1, 2009 Just 'cause I'm curious, how do you think these two guitars would sound compared to the Melody Maker? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Woody_in_MN Posted November 1, 2009 Author Members Share Posted November 1, 2009 ^^^ I have not played the MM for quite awhile, but the MM has a piercing quality. That is what I remember about the MM - it has great tone - a piercing quality that cuts thru. The P90's have a fuller quality. Someone described the P90 sound as "Live at Leeds" - that is a great way to describe it. - W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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