Finding the twang in a P-90

[St_Genesius]

Seems like everyone makes a P-90. Gibson, Duncan, DiMarzio, Fralin, Kent Armstrong, Jason Lollar, Harmonic Design, Bareknuckle, GFS, Mighty Mite..hell, I even saw a Lace Sensor P-90 (but I've played enough of their products not to be too tempted there) and I tend to love the sound of them under drive, but I've never been that taken with the clean sound. I'm always looking for something snappier, brighter, twangier...

So which P-90 manufacturer and model would you reccomend for that?

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Finding the twang in a P-90

I like the -10% or -15% Fralin neck P-90 if you want to add more twang to the neck pickup.

I like Lindy's +5% or +10% bridge P-90...but if maximum twang is critical you'd probably like the Fralin Stock P-90.

I'm sorry to say that I haven't tried many of Seymour's P90's...I no longer have a P-90 guitar.

But I liked Seymour's Vintage P-90 and Custom P-90 when I tried them in my Hamer Gold Top...very bluesy in a ZZ Top kinda way, though. Not particularly "twangy" in that guitar...more snarly!

 

[cheezemaster]

Re: Finding the twang in a P-90

The Duncan Vintage P-90 (bridge) has some twang to it. Not like a Tele or anything, but I was able to get some good twangy tones from it. Unfortunately, I didn't like how it sounded with high gain... just my opinion though.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Finding the twang in a P-90

The Phat Cats definately twang in a semi-hollow. If they're close in tone to Seymour's Vintage P-90's, then you'd be set, especially since the Vintage P-90's have an alnico V mag instead of the PC's alnico II.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Finding the twang in a P-90

I think the answer may be a tapped P90. Your normal 8.5-9k bridge P90 with a tap at about 7.5 maybe?

Speaking of that, Lew, do you have a line on any cheap but really good P90 guitars?

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Finding the twang in a P-90

I think the answer may be a tapped P90. Your normal 8.5-9k bridge P90 with a tap at about 7.5 maybe?

Speaking of that, Lew, do you have a line on any cheap but really good P90 guitars?

I'd look for a used Hamer. My gold top was a really nice guitar.

But I'm really not a huge P90 fan...

Humbuckers or Tele/Strat single coils...those are the pickups that do it for me.

Lew

 

[St_Genesius]

Re: Finding the twang in a P-90

Yeah, I'm suspecting that an underwound A5 is the way to go.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Finding the twang in a P-90

You might also try something a little hotter with a good scatter and Alnico 3's...

 

[St_Genesius]

Re: Finding the twang in a P-90

I'm not familiar with the sound of the A3, but more importantly, who makes such a pickup?

You might also try something a little hotter with a good scatter and Alnico 3's...

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Finding the twang in a P-90

Don't know of anyone who makes that specifically but there are several options:

1) You could take a regular P90 at about 8.0 to 8.5k, one that you like the overall tone of and hear some potential in, and put some Alnico 3's in it. If that's a little hot, you could take a few turns off the coil and bring it down into the 7's and see if that floats your boat.

2) If you're not that much of a DIY kind of guy, seriously consider Duncan's Custom Shop. A little pricey but they could wind you something like that, though they probably wouldn't be able to help you with Alnico 3's. They would do Alnico 2's though, and it could be that you would like Alnico 2's better.

3) There are also plenty of boutique winders who could do a custom order like that, Alnico 3's included. SK Guitars I'm pretty sure wouldn't hesitate.

4) If all these other options fail, I know someone who might be able to help you out.

 

[ES350]

Re: Finding the twang in a P-90

Two P90 variants come to mind as pretty twang heavy---the Gibson Alnico V (ala LP Custom/Super 400 neck pu), and the old Guild/Franz built P90's used in the 50's Guild archtops and the M65 Aristocrat/Bluesbird. The first has a big bunch of magnet sensing the string (like the Fralin solid alnico slug pu's), the other uses small magnets and is wound pretty light (<7K). Both are pretty popular with people who make a living off of twang...

 

[sufferinrewind]

Re: Finding the twang in a P-90

What about the Gretsch Filtertron pickups? TV Jones makes some that'll fit a guitar routed for soapbars. They even have a hotter bridge model if you want a hotter bridge pickup.

 

[St_Genesius]

Re: Finding the twang in a P-90

I've already got a 'tron guitar, so I want to stay relatively true to the P-90 with this one, but if I can nudge it towards the pluck and twang that I know I prefer, all the better. I don't need it to be a Tele -- got one of those too -- I just want it to be a bit less mellow when clean. Just a bit.

What about the Gretsch Filtertron pickups? TV Jones makes some that'll fit a guitar routed for soapbars. They even have a hotter bridge model if you want a hotter bridge pickup.

 

[WGTP]

Re: Finding the twang in a P-90

Several guys make P-90's with fender type magnets in them rather than the bar magnet/screw arrangement. For twang, a longer scale maple neck and 500/1meg pot might also help. Didn't Fender make a tele with P-90 type pickups in it? :laugh2:

 

[ES350]

Re: Finding the twang in a P-90

Just put some old 50's Gibson made P13's in a LP Special knockoff for goofs...those are the metal covered P90's that Harmony used for awhile; kinda dark and not as powerful as typical P90's, but the tone is pretty unique. Used a 1 meg pot and those things sound great; plenty of twang now, like a big Tele.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Finding the twang in a P-90

At UGD Scott made an underwound neck P90, so you might want to ask him how that turned out.

Luke