Can I drop P90's into a LP special?

2

2taall

New member
I love the P90, so naturally I am now looking for a guitar that has them. I was thinking of picking up the single P90 equiped LP Junior, but I noticed there is also a guitar called the LP Special that has a neck humbucker and a bridge humbucker. To me, the configuration of the LP Special seems to offer more versatility than the one pickup Junior. My question is, can I install P90s into the LP SPecial without modification?

thanks.
 
Re: Can I drop P90's into a LP special?

the guy who invented fire said:
A P-90 will not simply drop into a cavity that a bucker came out of
Click to expand...
But will a bucker drop into the cavity a P90 came out of (SG Classic)?
 
Re: Can I drop P90's into a LP special?

With the original naming scheme meant that a LP Special had two P-90s (or soapbar sized pickups- like a P-100 or a mini-hum would fit. As I've noticed, the Special name has been used for a slab bodied LP style guitar with humbuckers.

IF you mean by "humbuckers" you mean P-100s, yes, you can drop the P-90s into those slots, but you may need a shim to raise the pickup to the correct height. However, if you mean regular sized humbuckers, you'll either need to live with a big ugly hole and rout out a quarter inch on either side of the cavity to get the P-90 to fit. The other option is a P-90 style single coil that's in a humbucker sized ring.

A Humbucker will not fit into a P-90 rout unless it's a P-100 (and the rout may need to be deepend for a P100) or a Mini-Hum... A P-90 rout is wider from left to right, and a regular humbucker is wider from bridge to nut.
 
Re: Can I drop P90's into a LP special?

Thanks for the info everyone. I'm thinking about buying a Jr. I just started another thread to get everyone's opinion on them. Feel free to chime in!
 
Re: Can I drop P90's into a LP special?

umm, no one mentioned the Phat Cats???? P-90 in a Humbucker housing and a direct drop in for humbuckers.
 
Re: Can I drop P90's into a LP special?

skyydogg01 said:
umm, no one mentioned the Phat Cats???? P-90 in a Humbucker housing and a direct drop in for humbuckers.
Click to expand...

Just what I was gonna say.
 
Re: Can I drop P90's into a LP special?

drop it lyke it's hot
 
Re: Can I drop P90's into a LP special?

I'm sure there has to still be Gibson Les Paul Specials with P90s factory stock, I'd look for one of those. One of my favorite guitars is a R0 LP Special DC w/ Lollar P90s.
 
Re: Can I drop P90's into a LP special?

2taall said:
I love the P90, so naturally I am now looking for a guitar that has them. I was thinking of picking up the single P90 equiped LP Junior, but I noticed there is also a guitar called the LP Special that has a neck humbucker and a bridge humbucker. To me, the configuration of the LP Special seems to offer more versatility than the one pickup Junior. My question is, can I install P90s into the LP SPecial without modification?

thanks.
Click to expand...

http://www.harmonicdesign.net/

This company makes a P90 thet drops into a HB cavity. I have a friend who has one in an archtop and it is a fine sounding pickup. I don't know what it would sound like in a LP.
 
Re: Can I drop P90's into a LP special?

Just for clarification, if the Les Paul is equiped with 2 P100's the P90's should drop right in provided I have to shim it?
 
Re: Can I drop P90's into a LP special?

Gibson made a P90 Special in the 90's with a tunomatic...you can pick one up for 600-800$. Yeah, it had P100's, but the rout is pretty much the same except for depth (P90's went in mine with no problem). The P90 Special (w/ stop bar) is now a Historic and mucho $$$.
 
Re: Can I drop P90's into a LP special?

Thanks for the responses. Knowing that the P100's can be swapped out for P90's opens me up for more buying options.
 
Check out the location of the neck pickup...

Check out the location of the neck pickup...

Uncle Unborn said:
Check this out:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gibson-Les-Paul...ryZ38086QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

The same as I have, I think. The color looks a bit funny, maybe it's just the camera. The one I have is much darker. Well, you have to replace pickups in that one, though, I think it's the P-100. I replaced mine with some Fralins, and am very satisfied.
Click to expand...

That also looks like my Gibson Les Paul Special Junior (or is that a Junior Special??? :smack: ) One caveat: the neck pickup is not mounted right next to the neck like it should be (IMO the sweet spot at the virtual 24th fret).

Someone here posted a different ebay auction from 5/30/06, which is an older guitar with the neck pickup mounted where it should be:

http://cgi.ebay.com/1996-Gibson-Les...ryZ38086QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

In any case, I couldn't figure out why this guitar never sounded right and I finally noticed the big gap between the neck and the pickup. :(
 
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