Fat P90 bridge pickup for Gibson Classic

[Fuhgawz]

The title says it all! I am looking for a new pickup for my SG Classic. I find the bridge sound a little shrill and am looking for a fat sounding pickup with relatively high power for P90. I am not looking for the 'true vintage' P90 sound, so I don't mind if it sounds more modern. I just want more power and more fat.
I have been looking at the Rio Grande Bluesbar and the Bareknuckles BKP92. Has anyone compared these? Or possibly others that could fit my description. Thanks a lot in advance!!

 

[hamerfan]

Re: Fat P90 bridge pickup for Gibson Classic

Ask the forumbro Zhangliqun to do a rewind of your stock pickups. He can fine tune to your tastes. (BTW the cream plastics are sometimes very different, sometime with a pink hue. If you let do a rewind, you have an identical look). His P90's are great!!

 

[super rad stuff]

Re: Fat P90 bridge pickup for Gibson Classic

before you inquire a complete rewind, i'd reccomend some magnet swaps. p-90s are very responsive to magnet swaps, and you can get crazy with the amount of tweaking you could do. if i were you, i'd get an a8 in the neck-ward side. that should beef it up some while cutting down some of the highs.

 

[hamerfan]

Re: Fat P90 bridge pickup for Gibson Classic

before you inquire a complete rewind, i'd reccomend some magnet swaps. p-90s are very responsive to magnet swaps, and you can get crazy with the amount of tweaking you could do. if i were you, i'd get an a8 in the neck-ward side. that should beef it up some while cutting down some of the highs.

I thought of a mag swap and maybe a change of the vol pot to 300k first too. But i think he wants more beef!! Zhang could to the mag change too

 

[super rad stuff]

Re: Fat P90 bridge pickup for Gibson Classic

I thought of a mag swap and maybe a change of the vol pot to 300k first too. But i think he wants more beef!! Zhang could to the mag change too

oh yea i forgot to mention the 300k pot swap:smack: good lookin' out:fing2:

 

[Fuhgawz]

Re: Fat P90 bridge pickup for Gibson Classic

Hell yeah I want more beef! I am after the early Sabbath sound. Well, not exactly that sound to the detail, but something not too far off. Don't know if I want to go swap magnets. That seems like a hell of a lot work! The pot change looks do-able though. But yeah, I want more beef, not just less highs.

 

[super rad stuff]

Re: Fat P90 bridge pickup for Gibson Classic

Hell yeah I want more beef! I am after the early Sabbath sound. Well, not exactly that sound to the detail, but something not too far off. Don't know if I want to go swap magnets. That seems like a hell of a lot work! The pot change looks do-able though. But yeah, I want more beef, not just less highs.

mag swaps are pretty straight forward. all you've gotta do is pop off the cover, slide the magnet out halfway and check polarity with the new magnet(make sure the sides are attracting, not the top 'n' bottom) take the old one out and slide the new one in the same way. reassemble and you're good to go:bigthumb:

and a8 is definitely a "beef" magnet

 

[Fuhgawz]

Re: Fat P90 bridge pickup for Gibson Classic

Yeah but that's just the replacing the magnets part. You also have to take off the strings, take off the back plate, unsolder the pickup, take out the pickup, then replace the magnet, put the pickup back in, solder it back, put back the plate, put back the strings, adjust the bridge since the studs probably will get turned a bit, tune, intonate and then play.
If you are testing different magnets this can keep you busy for an entire day! And still there is no direct comparison between the magnets. If I send it off for someone else to do it, I won't be able to use my guitar until it returns.
So, thank you very much for the advice, but I think I'd rather just buy a pickup.

 

[super rad stuff]

Re: Fat P90 bridge pickup for Gibson Classic

Yeah but that's just the replacing the magnets part. You also have to take off the strings, take off the back plate, unsolder the pickup, take out the pickup, then replace the magnet, put the pickup back in, solder it back, put back the plate, put back the strings, adjust the bridge since the studs probably will get turned a bit, tune, intonate and then play.
If you are testing different magnets this can keep you busy for an entire day! And still there is no direct comparison between the magnets. If I send it off for someone else to do it, I won't be able to use my guitar until it returns.
So, thank you very much for the advice, but I think I'd rather just buy a pickup.

actually, you don't have to desolder anything to swap magnets i do see your point though, as i've had to deal with taking off the sg's pickguard plate and it is a huge P.I.T.A.

 

[RockStarNick]

Re: Fat P90 bridge pickup for Gibson Classic

Magnet swaps aren't really gonna help here. If these Gibson P90s are like the ones that I have had experience with, they're exactly the same output, and non calibrated. Probably both around 8K.

That means if you get the neck sounding good, the bridge sounds thin. And if you get the bridge sounding good, the neck sounds too loud and woofy.

Having the pickup rewound with the same guage wire, 42AWG, to about 9.5K, would keep the same vibe and tone, but with less highs, more mids, and more output.

With that being said, the Duncan Custom Soapbar sounds ROCKIN, and more modern.

The Rio Grand Bluesbar, to me, sounded like total mud.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Fat P90 bridge pickup for Gibson Classic

Magnet swaps aren't really gonna help here. If these Gibson P90s are like the ones that I have had experience with, they're exactly the same output, and non calibrated. Probably both around 8K.

That means if you get the neck sounding good, the bridge sounds thin. And if you get the bridge sounding good, the neck sounds too loud and woofy.

You need to trust in mag swaps Rock Star. I've done some pretty neat stuff with P-90's and Phat Cats, where the tones were poor, and have made them very good. An A8/A4 on the bridge will give you plenty of "beef" and high output, especially with 250K's. For the neck, an A5/A2, A5/A3, or A5/A5 take away woofiness, and give a combination of warmth, bite, & sparkle. I've taken stock Epi/Asian P-90's and made them sound very good with replacement magnets. Changing magnets in a P-90 is even easier than a HB, which is pretty simple too. There's usually no soldering covers with P-90's, so you're looking at 10 minutes max, including re-tuning. Most guys can fit this in their "busy" schedules.

Fuhgawz: I was reluctant at first too, but if you're serious about having great sounding guitars, you need to learn to do this stuff yourself. Most guitar store techs don't know much more than you do, and they charge too much anyways. You'll go broke paying them. This is simple low-tech stuff any 12-year old can do, so the 'too hard" excuses don't fly here. We're the most helpful people around and we'll teach you how to do this. We all were newbies once too.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Fat P90 bridge pickup for Gibson Classic

Having the pickup rewound with the same guage wire, 42AWG, to about 9.5K, would keep the same vibe and tone, but with less highs, more mids, and more output.

Probably about right, but it wouldn't hurt to try some magnet swaps first. It's a lot cheaper.

 

[ratkent]

Re: Fat P90 bridge pickup for Gibson Classic

The Dimarzio DLX Plus is s great sounding bridge pickup. They make some other soapbar types that are based on the Tone Zone and Super Distortion but I've never heard those. The DLX plus is certainly fatter and more powerful than a standard P90. I'm not a huge Dimarzio fan but I stumbled on to this pickup for a project guitar and I like it.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Fat P90 bridge pickup for Gibson Classic

I've got a Duncan Hot in my Mutt axe and it's both fat and great for metal.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Fat P90 bridge pickup for Gibson Classic

Probably about right, but it wouldn't hurt to try some magnet swaps first. It's a lot cheaper.

+1. Getting one A8 in the bridge gives you more warmth & output. May just solve the problem right there. 10 minutes & $8, can't beat that. Why make it more complicated & expensive?

 

[Fuhgawz]

Re: Fat P90 bridge pickup for Gibson Classic

Alright, you've convinced me. So where is the best place to buy P90 A8 magnets? I found wymoreguitars.com, but are there any places in Europe where one can buy pickup magnets? Shipping would make this rather for me. Also, for P90, do I use humbucker magnets or single coil magnets?

 

[blueman335]

Re: Fat P90 bridge pickup for Gibson Classic

Alright, you've convinced me. So where is the best place to buy P90 A8 magnets? I found wymoreguitars.com, but are there any places in Europe where one can buy pickup magnets? Shipping would make this rather for me. Also, for P90, do I use humbucker magnets or single coil magnets?

Same mags for HB's, P-90's, and Phat Cats. Wymore ships overseas; don't know what you have in Europe for suppliers.