1950's P90 - NO hum, sounds thin - what's the problem???

Kokopelli

New member
Hi

I have an early 1950's P90 Bridge

It produces ABSOLUTELY NO HUM, but sound kinda thin with no volume loss when switch from neck to bridge

What's the problem here???

Thanks in advance!!!
 
Re: 1950's P90 - NO hum, sounds thin - what's the problem???

both neck and bridge are 50's p90's? need more info, you arent giving all that much to go on
 
Re: 1950's P90 - NO hum, sounds thin - what's the problem???

The "problem" is only from the bridge P-90, when it is on by itself - no hum, thin sounding, no volume drop when switch from neck p90 to bridge p90. Sorry for being unclear earlier.

I will have friend measure the ohm to make sure there's no wire breakage. Hope this is not the case because it's a late 40's to early 50's P-90 dog-ear with "round" cover.
 
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Re: 1950's P90 - NO hum, sounds thin - what's the problem???

dark purple/brown wire on the coil?
 
Re: 1950's P90 - NO hum, sounds thin - what's the problem???

I guess so - not sure, can't really see the copper wiring color.
 
Re: 1950's P90 - NO hum, sounds thin - what's the problem???

let us know what he finds.

no volume drop from neck to bridge doesnt sound like a bad thing. the "bridge" p90 is the same as the "neck" p90. they didnt make different ones for different positions so the neck is probably about the same (maybe even hotter) than the bridge. the fact there is no volume drop means you probably have the heights of the two pups set fairly well.

the lack of hum is a good thing if a little curious

what guitar is this in?
 
Re: 1950's P90 - NO hum, sounds thin - what's the problem???

Early 50's P90's are wound a little low compared to later 50's; not everybody's cup of tea if you want a little more bark. It is also possible that one magnet is flipped---some stock P90's made it out of the factory like that (hence Hubert Sumlin's 1/2 OOP goldtop tone on the Howlin Wolf records). I've also had some where the bobbin was crumbling and there were shorts in the coil...
 
Re: 1950's P90 - NO hum, sounds thin - what's the problem???

if you find good resistance es350's suggestion of checking the magnets is a good one.
 
Re: 1950's P90 - NO hum, sounds thin - what's the problem???

For the early stuff (as the round cover suggests, not later than around '52), a reading of 6K-7K is probably the stock wind. One solution may be to swap the bridge pu to the neck position...these pickups sound great IMHO, but they don't do Johnny Thunders or Leslie West.
 
Re: 1950's P90 - NO hum, sounds thin - what's the problem???

No ohm reading - it sounds strong but thin...

What's the problem then? Broken wire in the coil?

I'm so depressed right now!!!
 
Re: 1950's P90 - NO hum, sounds thin - what's the problem???

No ohm looks like a short. Did you check in a guitar circuit or without? so the short could also in the circuit.
If the coil is damaged, there a lot of guys who can do a vintage correct rewind. Or do a little more winding to compensate for the Bridge position - thats a chance to get a more even response on the guitar.
 
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