GFS Dream 90's and Mean 90's, they any good?

[FuelGTRX]

Re: GFS Dream 90's and Mean 90's, they any good?

I suspect the difference in character from one Mean 90 to the next is... due to the fact that when you're buying a $30-$40 import pickup, you don't get the QC you'd expect from Duncan and others. They probably vary widely in sound.QUOTE]

That's my concern with any Asian-made PU's, the lack of consistency, along with lower quality materials. While I haven't tried GFS PU's, I've had so many muddy Asian PU's that I'm gun-shy about all of them. I agree, some are better than others, but none have ever had the clarity & definition of a high-quality American PU. But then, GFS is competing on price, not tone. Their market is the guys who want a better sound in their import guitar than the stock Asian PU's, but don't want to spend the money for good ones. Like their target is a middle ground of guys willing to settle for less tonally. You may get lucky and get one that sounds as good as a Gibson or Duncan, but don't count on it.

I still think the best option is to get a used American-made P-90, so that you have some assurance of what you're getting. Not much price difference at that point. And if you happen to get a GFS that's not particularly well-made or good-sounding, what then? Buy another? Get a Duncan? Trying to get out of it cheap with a GFS may mean you end up spending more. Some guys like them, others don't. I'd rather not take the gamble myself.

Well see, I'm not about the price thing. I don't mind spending the money on Duncans or Dimarzios, but like others said, there are not many HB size P-90's that get that authentic P-90 tone. I though about the Phat Cats, but I have been hearing that they are not much different than the Alnico II Pro's I have in my LP Standard right now, just more P-90 character. I want a set SP-90 Vintage p'up in a humbucker housing and I don't have the $300 cash to get the custom shop to make a set. And as Jeremy said, even when spec'd to a true P-90, humbucker housed P-90's still don't sound dead on.

 

[wanmei1]

Re: GFS Dream 90's and Mean 90's, they any good?

I suspect the difference in character from one Mean 90 to the next is... due to the fact that when you're buying a $30-$40 import pickup, you don't get the QC you'd expect from Duncan and others. They probably vary widely in sound.QUOTE]

That's my concern with any Asian-made PU's, the lack of consistency, along with lower quality materials. While I haven't tried GFS PU's, I've had so many muddy Asian PU's that I'm gun-shy about all of them. I agree, some are better than others, but none have ever had the clarity & definition of a high-quality American PU. But then, GFS is competing on price, not tone. Their market is the guys who want a better sound in their import guitar than the stock Asian PU's, but don't want to spend the money for good ones. Like their target is a middle ground of guys willing to settle for less tonally. You may get lucky and get one that sounds as good as a Gibson or Duncan, but don't count on it.

I still think the best option is to get a used American-made P-90, so that you have some assurance of what you're getting. Not much price difference at that point. And if you happen to get a GFS that's not particularly well-made or good-sounding, what then? Buy another? Get a Duncan? Trying to get out of it cheap with a GFS may mean you end up spending more. Some guys like them, others don't. I'd rather not take the gamble myself.

What you've said makes perfect sense and I have to agree with you.

However.....( drum roll ! )......

I no longer buy "standard" pickups as they usually don't deliver what I want even after swapping mags.
I have a draw full of expensive pups that don't deliver !

These days I buy custom made pickups from different manufacturers and boutique or specialist pickup makers.

I was trying to find a Humbucker cased P90 that actually sounded like a P90 so I spoke at length with Lindy Fralin and he made me a set that I thought sounded like a good pair of single coil pups rather than P90's.

I played an LP that had a set of Gibson P94's and was very dissapointed.

I spoke with other "big name" pup makers and some admitted that they can't make a HP90 sound like the real thing.

I then bought a Phat Cat neck only to find it sounded nothing like a P90.

I then contacted a boutique pup manufacturer and had another HP90 made ....same story, sounded nothing like a P90.

Out of desperation I bought a 30 buck GFS Mean 90.
BINGO !......a humbucker cased P90 that sounded like a P90 !
I had never bought an Asian pup before, the Mean 90 was the first.
I was so impressed (not just the bang for buck...finally I had the sound) with this huge, rich, full, smooth sounding pup that I immediately ordered a GFS Dream 90.
The Dream 90 turned out to be another pretend P90.

I have now ordered yet another Mean 90.
Either GFS have an outstanding pup on their hands selling for peanuts or maybe I just got a freakishly good example of one of their pups.

When the other Mean 90 arrives I'll know how their quality control stands up.

So yes I agree with what you say, however......

 

[LtKojak]

Re: GFS Dream 90's and Mean 90's, they any good?

I bought a 30 buck GFS Mean 90.
BINGO !......a humbucker cased P90 that sounded like a P90 !
I had never bought an Asian pup before, the Mean 90 was the first.
I was so impressed (not just the bang for buck...finally I had the sound) with this huge, rich, full, smooth sounding pup

I've bought a set of Gibson P-94s from a friend's guitar, so I've bought a set of Mean 90s to replace'em.

As both have'em installed in similar guitars we made a A-B comparison, and to my surprise I like the Mean 90s better than the P-94s.

Most probably it's a fluke, but nonetheless this time GFS seems to have gotten the recipe right for a darn good p'up. Let's see if the Asian factory can consistently deliver the same quality in time to come.

HTH,

 

[merseymale]

Re: GFS Dream 90's and Mean 90's, they any good?

However.....( drum roll ! )......

I no longer buy "standard" pickups as they usually don't deliver what I want even
I have now ordered yet another Mean 90.
Either GFS have an outstanding pup on their hands selling for peanuts or maybe I just got a freakishly good example of one of their pups.

When the other Mean 90 arrives I'll know how their quality control stands up.

So yes I agree with what you say, however......

My twiddling thumbs are getting blisters! ;-)
ANY news on this comparison..?

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: GFS Dream 90's and Mean 90's, they any good?

I've got a Mean 90 (black plastic cover). It weighs in at about 8.5k and sounds pretty thin and twangy for that spec. The top is pretty clear, pretty good for such a cheap pu, but there's very little mid and no bottom at all.

Wow, that's not my experience at all. Almost just the opposite. I've got several Mean 90s in different guitars and they all sound very full and rich tonally...not lacking in bass at all and certainly not in the mids. In fact if I were to fault the Mean 90 it would be that it has too much mids. I've got them in neck and bridge positions and have them in a semi-hollow Les Paul, a very thick and heavy traditional solid Les Paul and in a thin bodied SG. They sound great in all of them. I like them better than the genuine Gibson P-90s I have in my Gibby SG, and my double cut Gibby LP (which sound a bit thin and trebly and very closely fit your description of the Mean 90). That's not to say that I don't like the tone of the genuine Gibby P-90, it's just different.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: GFS Dream 90's and Mean 90's, they any good?

If it's got a black plastic cover top then you've got a DREAM 90 not a MEAN 90.

MEAN 90's don't come with plastic cover tops, only DREAM 90'S.

Dream 90's were released in 2005 and like P94's, Phat Cats and most of the other wanna be P90's in a humbucker case, got it wrong.

Late 2007 GFS released another humbucker sized P90 and this time they got it right.

Thin and twangy.....that's a DREAM 90.

A MEAN 90 is Fat, rich, full, creamy, smooth....nothing at all like a DREAM 90.

I totally agree!
Except that the Mean 90 is available in a "gloss black cover" (http://www.guitarfetish.com/KP--Mea...-Loud-Gloss-Black-Kwikplug-Ready_p_21846.html). Not sure if this is plastic or metal though. Also GFS says the Dream 90s were available in 2004. I'm not sure the release date of the Mean 90s, but I've had some for about 10 years, since they were first offered, so 2007 would be about right.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: GFS Dream 90's and Mean 90's, they any good?

What you've said makes perfect sense and I have to agree with you.

However.....( drum roll ! )......

I no longer buy "standard" pickups as they usually don't deliver what I want even after swapping mags.
I have a draw full of expensive pups that don't deliver !

These days I buy custom made pickups from different manufacturers and boutique or specialist pickup makers.

I was trying to find a Humbucker cased P90 that actually sounded like a P90 so I spoke at length with Lindy Fralin and he made me a set that I thought sounded like a good pair of single coil pups rather than P90's.

I played an LP that had a set of Gibson P94's and was very dissapointed.

I spoke with other "big name" pup makers and some admitted that they can't make a HP90 sound like the real thing.

I then bought a Phat Cat neck only to find it sounded nothing like a P90.

I then contacted a boutique pup manufacturer and had another HP90 made ....same story, sounded nothing like a P90.

Out of desperation I bought a 30 buck GFS Mean 90.
BINGO !......a humbucker cased P90 that sounded like a P90 !
I had never bought an Asian pup before, the Mean 90 was the first.
I was so impressed (not just the bang for buck...finally I had the sound) with this huge, rich, full, smooth sounding pup that I immediately ordered a GFS Dream 90.
The Dream 90 turned out to be another pretend P90.

I have now ordered yet another Mean 90.
Either GFS have an outstanding pup on their hands selling for peanuts or maybe I just got a freakishly good example of one of their pups.

When the other Mean 90 arrives I'll know how their quality control stands up.

So yes I agree with what you say, however......

Like I said in another post here, I've got at least 3 Mean-90s and they all sound the same. Appears to me to be pretty good QC. I usually buy Duncans, or DMZ, but I've yet to find a better P-90 in a bucker case.