P90s

[Lucius Paisley]

How noisy are P90s generally? My latest project guitar will be using a single P90, which due to placement might have to be direct to output. Apart from ensuring all grounding is done, are there any "tricks" to be done that might quiet them down a tad? Would 250K pots make them too quiet?

[Mincer]

They have more hum with more gain. Generally, make sure the cavity is shielded, and it is grounded properly. You might need a noise gate if you use lots of gain. How you stand in a room can vary the noise amount, too.

[Aceman]

I think a lot of the complaint is more due to where it is played than the pickup itself.

Sitting in a room with three amps, two gain stacked OD's 4 feet from and amp speaker pointed at the guitar - yeah, it's gonna be noisy.

[Lucius Paisley]

They have more hum with more gain. Generally, make sure the cavity is shielded, and it is grounded properly. You might need a noise gate if you use lots of gain. How you stand in a room can vary the noise amount, too.

A noise gate pedal might be ideal since I currently have other guitars with noise issues, but (of course) mostly from me standing too close to the amp.

It'd be nice to be able to stand wherever I want in my own house.

[Benjy_26]

If noise is a big issue, you could do a dummy coil or a P90 stack.

[Blille]

If noise is a big issue, you could do a dummy coil or a P90 stack.

Dummy coils are great. Just blending it a bit makes a huge difference.

[Lucius Paisley]

If noise is a big issue, you could do a dummy coil or a P90 stack.

The pickup has already been chosen, Tonerider Vintage 90. A dummy coil could fit the neck pickup so I don't have a gaping hole in the guard. Something to look into.

[ErikH]

My P90's aren't all that noisy. Good shielding and good wiring goes a long way. I have mine wired with 500k volume and 250k tone.

[Juanhanglo]

My only set of real p90s are a set of yamahas in my revstat. They are really quiet until i fire up my bogner red pedal.

Its a combo of the pedal's inherent noise, the sheer amount of gain, and the pickup itself.

Even then, it wasnt that bad. The tone is worth it IMO.

[Lucius Paisley]

My only set of real p90s are a set of yamahas in my revstat. They are really quiet until i fire up my bogner red pedal.

Its a combo of the pedal's inherent noise, the sheer amount of gain, and the pickup itself.

Even then, it wasnt that bad. The tone is worth it IMO.

I'm probably jumping the gun anyway, I've not played P90s before and I have no idea how these ones even sound. Maybe I'll be lucky.

[Clint 55]

If ur open to the form factor of the Phat Cat, it's pretty quiet. The reason is that the entire pickup is shielded. The ground is connected to the baseplate, the cover is connected to the baseplate and the pole screws contact both. Pretty good design imo.

[Lucius Paisley]

If ur open to the form factor of the Phat Cat, it's pretty quiet. The reason is that the entire pickup is shielded. The ground is connected to the baseplate, the cover is connected to the baseplate and the pole screws contact both. Pretty good design imo.

I have used a Phat Cat before, a good sound when played, but it just felt "dead" otherwise. I sold the pickup and the guitar I had it in pretty soon after.

[GuitarStv]

I have used a Phat Cat before, a good sound when played, but it just felt "dead" otherwise.

What kind of sound do you usually get out of pickups when not played??? :P

[Lucius Paisley]

What kind of sound do you usually get out of pickups when not played??? :P

Anything from hum to feedback to sustain to reverb.

This thread is concerned with hum and feedback and how to minimise them.

For now. Maybe we can do "jokes" later.

[solspirit]

I don't have any noise problems with them. Like Mincer said with high gain they'll be a bit noisier but like Ace said also it has the most to do with where you're standing. If you're directly in front of your amp of course it will be noisy but just a foot or two back and the angle of your body in relation to the amp can change that.