Best P90 pick-ups?

[611hfm]

The SP90-1 in this guitar is awesome.



How does it compare to rest of the range and
are any better suited in the bridge position?

 

[Laughing Kookaburra]

Re: Best P90 pick-ups?

I'm using BKP Blue Note 90s in a 1993 Hamer Special. Absolutely fantastic pups, very detailed!

https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/pickups.php?cat=p90s&sub=p90s&pickup=blue_note_90

 

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Best P90 pick-ups?

My buddy played with the Phat Cats for the longest time. Really cool, but the attack is softer and more clucky than the typical p90. But that's all I really have experience in when it comes to p90 replacements. And they aren't technically that either.

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Best P90 pick-ups?

I have the Custom P90 from SD and I have the Blues Special from Lindy Fralin. Both are great pickups.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Best P90 pick-ups?

I like Antiquity P90s in either position. I have an SP90-3n in the bridge position of a Gibson. (Idea stolen from PRS!) I have a pair of Lindy Fralin +5% overwound P90s in a PRS SE Soapbar. Generally speaking, I prefer this type of pickup on a set neck, all-mahogany guitar with a Gibson scale length.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Best P90 pick-ups?

I have tried many P90's...and, surprisingly enough, the stock Gibson ones hold their own with any aftermarket model IME. I'm not saying they're hands down the best, but if you can get a used one for $40 or $50, I'd definitely go for it and not feel as if you were missing anything.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Best P90 pick-ups?

I like Gibson P90's a lot. The ones in the SG Classic I had were great. Changed the volume pots to 500k and they really opened up and sounded like a P90 should. My only P90 guitar has a custom wound tapped Lollar dogear. I told them what I was going for and Jason was able to nail it.

 

[Laughing Kookaburra]

Re: Best P90 pick-ups?

I have tried many P90's...and, surprisingly enough, the stock Gibson ones hold their own with any aftermarket model IME. I'm not saying they're hands down the best, but if you can get a used one for $40 or $50, I'd definitely go for it and not feel as if you were missing anything.

I like Gibson P90's a lot. The ones in the SG Classic I had were great. Changed the volume pots to 500k and they really opened up and sounded like a P90 should. My only P90 guitar has a custom wound tapped Lollar dogear. I told them what I was going for and Jason was able to nail it.

I've enjoyed the Gibson P90s that I had in a LP Special and an SG Jr, for sure. Plus, if you do get them at the price itsa suggests, you can't beat it!

 

[blueman335]

Re: Best P90 pick-ups?

Duncan's SP90-2 and SP90-3 are overwound and have ceramic magnets, so they sound very different than the SP90-1. Phat Cats have A2's, which (after having owned 10 of them) I think are possibly the worst alnicos for those PU's (neck and bridge both); all my A2's got swapped out. Gibson's P-90's are held in high esteem by many players, and for good reason.

 

[elelpe]

Re: Best P90 pick-ups?

I have an SP90-3n in the bridge position of a Gibson. (Idea stolen from PRS!)

This is interesting. How does it sound compare to SP90-3b? How is the brightness?

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Best P90 pick-ups?

I love Gibson P-90's, but they tend to be a tiny bit bright (not necessarily a bad thing...they have terific clarity and bite). I also love the GFS Mean 90 which sounds a little fuller/richer to my ears, maybe a little smoother than a Gibson, but still retains that P-90 bite and clarity and typical P-90 character. Perhaps my favorite P-90 is the one in the SD P-Rails...both the regular and the hot. It's been in my #1 for 4 years and it's not going to ever leave...it's so great sounding and so versatile (4 pickups in one and each option sounds really good once you've fine tuned the magnets).

The absolute best thing about P-90 pups in general is that they have two magnets which gives you near unlimited options to fine tune the tone/character of each pup just the way you want it.

Was it Mark Twain?...who said................"I never met a P-90 that I didn't like". (I may not have that quote exact).

 

[sosomething]

Re: Best P90 pick-ups?

A Gibson P-90 with an A8/A5 magnet combo in the bridge position is about impossible to beat.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Best P90 pick-ups?

Dunno. I have never owned (or borrowed) an SP90-3b.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Best P90 pick-ups?

A Gibson P-90 with an A8/A5 magnet combo in the bridge position is about impossible to beat.

+1. It's on a par with A8/A4.

If you EQ to your neck PU, then a stock A5/A5 in the bridge is going to be kind of bright and thin. An A8 in there adds mids, shaves off the worst of the treble, and kicks up the outpt so it matches with the neck P-90 better.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Best P90 pick-ups?

I agree, an A8 in the bridge is an excellent choice to give a little more body/meat to a Gibson P-90. I prefer the A8/A5 combo because I like that bright attack that you get from the A5, especially when its coupled with an A8 (but an A4/A8 isn't a bad idea at all either).

 

[611hfm]

Re: Best P90 pick-ups?

Found this excellent link to hear all the P90's in the range.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/audio-samples/humbuckers_and/

 

[sosomething]

Re: Best P90 pick-ups?

I agree, an A8 in the bridge is an excellent choice to give a little more body/meat to a Gibson P-90. I prefer the A8/A5 combo because I like that bright attack that you get from the A5, especially when its coupled with an A8 (but an A4/A8 isn't a bad idea at all either).

A4/A8 is cool.

I actually really like A4/A5 in the neck position when you've got A5/A8 in the bridge. That's how ive had ky SG Classic set up for years.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Best P90 pick-ups?

P-90's come in many flavors these days, and the mag swap crowd has teewked them even further. There is one for everyone, just need to know what YOU need.

For pure original P-90 goodness, hard to beat Gibson, and the SD Vintage (I have one of those)

I also really dig the Duncan Custom - It is the Definition of RAWK (Blueman is scared of it, cuz he is old and frail)

Lot's of love for the Mean 90, never played one personally.

And then there are the mag combo versions that are easy enough to tweak.

I say the Phat Cat has a TON of love (again, even if Blueman has issues from his childhood where he was place d in a bag while the Sweet Child riff was played and he was beaten with a sack of A2 mags.) Played a couple, really dug them.

I am NOT a fan of the Duncan Hot. Can't say exactly why. MAybe it isn't as bad@$$ as the Custom, but it seems to have lost a little of the Vintage vibe that I dig.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Best P90 pick-ups?

I also really dig the Duncan Custom - It is the Definition of RAWK (Blueman is scared of it, cuz he is old and frail).

Old, not frail. Blueman doesn't like the sound of ceramics, too bright and stiff for his refined tastes. But then again, Blueman doesn't understand the need for PU's that are actually smoke grenades.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Best P90 pick-ups?

I'm quite happy with Gibson P-90s if you use either 2 500k pots or a 500k volume and a 250k tone but with 300k pots they are dull and lifeless IMHO and to my ears...