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I killed my neck P90. Need (cheap) replacement.

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  • I killed my neck P90. Need (cheap) replacement.

    So...

    Yesterday I went on the "big operation prochedure" of dampening/muting my P90's metal covers; that gave off a HORRIBLE squeal under mid/high gain; even at livingroom volumes.

    So, I gathered up the courage, to perform the operation, that was going to be pretty simple (I thought):

    1.Unscrew pickups
    2. Heat solder & remove with soldering "braid", to remove cover from pickup
    3. Apply silicone between pickup & cover, clamp it together, and let it dry overnight.


    Now! My bridge pickup is absolutely! squeal free. It has lost some of it's original "metallic ring", and sounds darker. Maybe the pickups were designed/intended as for the covers to "sing along"; but it made them USELESS for me, so I tried to fix it.

    But. While struggling, with a 12USD soldering iron, I had borrowed - that would NOT become hot enough to melt the darn solder, to get the cover off-

    I became agitated, and somehow managed to mash the soldering iron into my neck pickup's windings. It's completely dead now.

    So... I wonder, what are my choices, of a relatively cheap & fitting replacement? I'm afraid I can't afford a new SD; (yeah, this is the place to write that...)

    but maybe GFS has something? :/

    I'm really sorry how this turned out, but hey- **** happens;

    and DON'T start working on expensive stuff, with CHEAP tools that doesn't work (and no patience).



    any help appreciated.

    -Erlend
    Last edited by Erlend_G; 07-15-2020, 02:20 AM.
    If somethings important- send a PM. I might be offline for long periods. Rock on!!!

  • #2
    Re: I killed my neck P90. Need (cheap) replacement.

    I feel like such an idiot.

    Half the time I try to "fix something", it becomes worse than it ever was;
    and I only got myself to thank for it.

    luckily there's two beers i "forgot" to drink yesterday, while being "Mr Repairman", lol

    and I got one functioning pickup.

    -Erl
    If somethings important- send a PM. I might be offline for long periods. Rock on!!!

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: I killed my neck P90. Need (cheap) replacement.

      Single pickup guitars are awesome. You didn't ruin a pickup, you gained a mod.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: I killed my neck P90. Need (cheap) replacement.

        Originally posted by Lucius Paisley View Post
        Single pickup guitars are awesome. You didn't ruin a pickup, you gained a mod.
        Yeah, until I find a cheap & nice replacement; I'm stuck to playing "80's heavy riffs" and surf music. lol
        If somethings important- send a PM. I might be offline for long periods. Rock on!!!

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: I killed my neck P90. Need (cheap) replacement.

          Had no idea, that dampening the metal cover, would impart such a tonal difference from the pickup assembly.

          As mentioned, the functioning pickup is now much darker, the "ding, ding ding" sound it made when I hit the low E- is gone;
          it sounds "meatier" and "drier". Some of the chime and overtones are gone.

          ...but man, that squeal HAD to go. After all, I'm a heavy metal fan . I wish I could have the best of both worlds, but-

          next step: new neck pickup. AFAIK, "any" P90 should and will fit inside the dogear cover (that is custom made for this guitar model).

          or am I wrong? :o Like, if the pole pieces won't line up with the holes in the cover, and stuff... man, this is a mess.

          Unsure if I can find a brand new, Epiphone direct replacement- and if so, if it'd be really expensive (like a Gibson p/u).

          ...hmm.
          If somethings important- send a PM. I might be offline for long periods. Rock on!!!

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: I killed my neck P90. Need (cheap) replacement.

            Originally posted by Lucius Paisley View Post
            Single pickup guitars are awesome. You didn't ruin a pickup, you gained a mod.
            thanks for the post BTW.

            My mood has been really down since I realized what I'd done. You made me smile.

            \m/
            If somethings important- send a PM. I might be offline for long periods. Rock on!!!

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: I killed my neck P90. Need (cheap) replacement.

              Originally posted by Erlend_G View Post
              Had no idea, that dampening the metal cover, would impart such a tonal difference from the pickup assembly.

              As mentioned, the functioning pickup is now much darker, the "ding, ding ding" sound it made when I hit the low E- is gone;
              it sounds "meatier" and "drier". Some of the chime and overtones are gone.

              ...but man, that squeal HAD to go. After all, I'm a heavy metal fan . I wish I could have the best of both worlds, but-

              next step: new neck pickup. AFAIK, "any" P90 should and will fit inside the dogear cover (that is custom made for this guitar model).

              or am I wrong? :o Like, if the pole pieces won't line up with the holes in the cover, and stuff... man, this is a mess.

              Unsure if I can find a brand new, Epiphone direct replacement- and if so, if it'd be really expensive (like a Gibson p/u).

              ...hmm.
              Look there:

              Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Original Epiphone P90 Single Coil Pickups Silver Cover Fits Gibson LP Casino Ne at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!


              Or there:



              GFS P90's might come from the same factory than Epi ones, anyway.

              And if it's still too expensive, there's a boatload of cheap MIC P90's to sell on websites like Amazon...

              Good luck in your repair. :-)
              Last edited by freefrog; 07-15-2020, 02:57 AM.
              Duncan user since the 80's...

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: I killed my neck P90. Need (cheap) replacement.

                Thanks

                I've owned a GFS pickup before (A Dream 180), and really liked it.

                what I need to know, is if it will fit (my guitar has custom radiused metal dogear covers).
                If somethings important- send a PM. I might be offline for long periods. Rock on!!!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: I killed my neck P90. Need (cheap) replacement.

                  If you take the cover off a P90- (the "earless" variant, usually mounted into the body of the guitar with screws)

                  and then put it inside a "dogear" cover-

                  will it fit? :o
                  If somethings important- send a PM. I might be offline for long periods. Rock on!!!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: I killed my neck P90. Need (cheap) replacement.

                    Originally posted by Erlend_G View Post
                    Thanks

                    I've owned a GFS pickup before (A Dream 180), and really liked it.

                    what I need to know, is if it will fit (my guitar has custom radiused metal dogear covers).
                    It should fit:

                    To all - I'm considering swapping out the neck pickup on my Epi WildKat. Can anyone tell me if it is a 2-wire conductor or a 4-wire? I want to make sure the replacement one will be compatible with the existing wiring. Thanks in advance!



                    And if ever it doesn"t fit and requires some parts to be swapped, tinkering with P90's is still not a big deal once we have a clear view of the structure involved. Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyId_04_4V8
                    Last edited by freefrog; 07-15-2020, 03:36 AM.
                    Duncan user since the 80's...

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: I killed my neck P90. Need (cheap) replacement.

                      Okay.

                      Thanks alot for replies and help.

                      I think a GFS pickup is what I'll get- and try to use the "stock" dogear metal cover. (since it's radiused , not flat bottom, for the arched top guitar).

                      While I wait for it to arrive, I'll rock out on my "new, 100% squeal free" bridge pickup .

                      My "silicone" idea did actually work really well.

                      and - before I buy a new pickup- I'm gonna buy a real functioning soldering iron. That (and my poor patience) was the reason, for the death of my stock neck pickup.

                      -Erl \m/
                      If somethings important- send a PM. I might be offline for long periods. Rock on!!!

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: I killed my neck P90. Need (cheap) replacement.

                        really diggin' the tone, now that the metal cover is "dampened"-

                        the tone is darker, pick attack is much more present and focused-
                        and the "ice picky" high end and "fizziness" is gone. Now the highs are much rounder.

                        If somethings important- send a PM. I might be offline for long periods. Rock on!!!

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: I killed my neck P90. Need (cheap) replacement.

                          A good soldering iron is absolutely worth it. And hey, sometimes projects don't turn out- you learned something for the next time. I am sure the bottom of my closet is full of failed experiments, half-built pedals, etc. It happens to everyone who loves to tinker....and for every Stratocaster and Telecaster, Leo Fender invented a bunch of crap, too.
                          Administrator of the SDUGF

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                          • #14
                            Re: I killed my neck P90. Need (cheap) replacement.

                            The building blocks of experience

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                            • #15
                              Re: I killed my neck P90. Need (cheap) replacement.

                              A GFS P90, it is, then.

                              I'll mail and ask them, which model will (or can) fit inside my stock gold-covered metal cover.

                              (if everything fails, i hope the plastic dogear covers are "arched" beneath, to fit my guitar).

                              ...

                              and well, if I could afford it- I'd send the guitar to a luthier, and route the lid for a neck humbucker; a Dimarzio "HFH" with series/parallell/split wiring.

                              But that's like 6 times the expense, of a new GFS P90.



                              Must order tomorrow... before I get too saddened, with a "half-working" guitar.

                              and also a soldering iron, dammit!

                              -Erl
                              If somethings important- send a PM. I might be offline for long periods. Rock on!!!

                              Comment

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