DANNG! P-90s are BRUTAL!

RushOfBlood

New member
Well, i did it. I ordered some p-90s. They're cheap ones from mighty mite, just to see:

a. how they'd fit
and
b. the overall character of the sound

I put them in my jaguar, I had to file a minute amount off the body/pickguard corners, it was routed for humbuckers, with the little tab on the end, so i had to just smooth out where the corners for the tabs were, and I also had to bend the baseplates some to fit without too much modification to the body in case i wanted to either go back or sell it. (the hum mounting rings cover all that)

The bad thing is they sent me two bridge models :smack:
So I emailed the guy and i'm waiting for a response, because i can't put the cover on the neck one yet. Oh I filed down the ears on the covers I got, too, to keep them from hanging off the edge of the pickguard.

ANYWAY, the real truth lies in the sound. OH MAN! I never thought a Jaguar could sound like this!

I've always heard 'raw' when referring to p-90s, but i always thought it was just 'middy' or 'gritty' or 'lo-fi'-ish.

It's seriously like a full frontal rock assault. ALOT of lows, it just sounds like all the chords EXPLODE out of the guitar and hit you in the face.

The neck position sounds heavy, but it's a little boomy in the bad way.
The bridge gives it the edge, but there's something about it that's too harsh on its own.
Mixed together they sound HUGE, with a little imperfection.

So I'm going to get some better ones, that aren't $12 apiece, and hope those slight problems clear up and I'll be set to go.

Just had to share :)
 
Re: DANNG! P-90s are BRUTAL!

Welcome to the P90 Brotherhood. I was pretty stunned the first time I got a guitar with P90s. My jaw was hitting the floor. Where had they been hiding all these guitars all these years. Why had no one told me how cool these dam thing were? What the heck was wrong with me.

It's like the best kept secret from new guitar players, in my opinion. :)
 
Re: DANNG! P-90s are BRUTAL!

+1 to what Scott said.. Welcome home, my friend. :dance:

I only have REAL experience with the Duncan Custom P-90 bridge model (I've played others at shops, but never really dove into em). I LOVE the midrange of that pickup.
 
Re: DANNG! P-90s are BRUTAL!

After I get my Purpleheart tele finished, I think I may build a guitar that will have P-90's or Phatcats in it.
 
Re: DANNG! P-90s are BRUTAL!

yeah all this p-90 talk is sparking major gas for one of the PRS soapbar II"s for me...i've been eyeing it for a while and i may have to pick one up to see what this p-90 stuff is about!

-Mike
 
Re: DANNG! P-90s are BRUTAL!

Xcessive, go for it! I got a soapyII three weeks ago and havent been able to put it down. I play it through an old Mesa Boogie mkIIB and a Victoria 518 and it has an edge with a fatness that makes you want to play more.

I am interested in knowing if the pups are Seymore Duncans as I know that he makes the soaps in the McCarty. It would be hard to think of what you could do to improve it.
 
Re: DANNG! P-90s are BRUTAL!

welcome to the board.

they use a vintage neck in the neck (rwrp) and a custom neck in the bridge position. weird, but it works.

I had MJ wind me a set of PHat Cats to this exact spec and they fit in my Mccarty humbucker guitar. sounded just like the originals.
 
Re: DANNG! P-90s are BRUTAL!

XSSIVE said:
yeah all this p-90 talk is sparking major gas for one of the PRS soapbar II"s for me...i've been eyeing it for a while and i may have to pick one up to see what this p-90 stuff is about!

-Mike

For what it's worth, Schecter makes a very cool P-90 guitar.. I believe it's the Tempest? (Their website is being updated right now, so no model info is available).
 
Re: DANNG! P-90s are BRUTAL!

This is very topical because I installed a set of Vintage Vibe Guitars P-90's into one of my Les Paul clones last week.

Instant tone-monster! Such warmth and clarity....and spank!

BTW...Vintage Vibe Guitars was totally cool. It ran me a whopping $100 for the two hand-wound pickups and they were very agreeable to customizing them without an upcharge (I asked about doing them in gold).
 
Re: DANNG! P-90s are BRUTAL!

P90s are amazing in high gain settings as well as clean settings... definately a favorite pickup of mine.... :32: :) :dance:
 
Re: DANNG! P-90s are BRUTAL!

All this talk.... man, I really gotta finish my SG project so I can install these P90s! I haven't played P90s in ages.
 
Re: DANNG! P-90s are BRUTAL!

I would highly recommend the Amtiquity P90's. They are really beautiful sounding PUPS. I am actually considering a Double cut LP with 2 P90's as my main slide guitar
 
Re: DANNG! P-90s are BRUTAL!

I've got Antiquities in my 56 Reissue Les Paul and those are the best P90's I've heard yet.
 
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