Gibson LP Special: Replace P90 with '59 for more bass & treble. Your thoughts

E

eggman

New member
Howdy,

My Gibson Les Paul Special is wonderful, but the P90 in the bridge doesn't seem to be the optimum fit with my Dr.Z Carmen Ghia amp and it's Celestion Blue. It's mid-heavy and I play often with just keyboards and a drummer. I'm considering replacing my Duncan vintage soapbar bridge with an old Duncan '59(b) I have laying around. It would add some treble/bass when played with the P90 in the neck; seemingly more versatile. It would also allow me to play hum-free using just the bridge. Please weigh in.
 
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Re: Gibson LP Special: Replace P90 with '59 for more bass & treble. Your thoughts

You will need to route the guitar.
 
Re: Gibson LP Special: Replace P90 with '59 for more bass & treble. Your thoughts

Howdy,

Obviously, Gibson 1964; routing would be necessary. Please weigh in with your thoughts on what kind of a tonal match the vintage soapbar neck and '59 in the bridge would sound be in an all Mahogany LP Special and how it would "sit in the mix" playing live compared to it's current two P90s. Thanks!
 
Re: Gibson LP Special: Replace P90 with '59 for more bass & treble. Your thoughts

the 59 will balance fine with the p90 in the neck. youll get a different tone when the pups are mixed but i cant tell ya what itll sound like since i havent mixed those two pups. the 59b sounds great in the bridge though
 
Re: Gibson LP Special: Replace P90 with '59 for more bass & treble. Your thoughts

eggman said:
Howdy,

Obviously, Gibson 1964; routing would be necessary. Please weigh in with your thoughts on what kind of a tonal match the vintage soapbar neck and '59 in the bridge would sound be in an all Mahogany LP Special and how it would "sit in the mix" playing live compared to it's current two P90s. Thanks!
Click to expand...

It has not been so obvious to many who have gone before. IMO, when directly compared, the 59 might sound a little thin next to the p90. Especially when you have the 59 in the bridge which is naturally a thinner position. However, this sounds like what you want. I would imagine that the difference would make dialing in a tone for both somewhat difficult. It will cut quite nicely.
 
Re: Gibson LP Special: Replace P90 with '59 for more bass & treble. Your thoughts

A Pearly Gates would give you more bass and treble.
 
Re: Gibson LP Special: Replace P90 with '59 for more bass & treble. Your thoughts

Not trying to discourage you from the '59b; it's still one of my all time favorite pickups. But in case you might prefer not to rout out the guitar, a couple of alternatives spring to mind.

First, have you considered a mini humbucker or a Firebird type pickup? Both fit in a smaller space than a regular humbucker and tend to have less midrange than a P90, while also giving the hum reduction of twin coils.

Second, there's the Novak NarrowRange. It looks just like a P90 but has threaded magnetic poles through the coil instead of twin magnets underneath. Designed to give a more Fenderish tone- to me that would seem to imply more sparkle and less lower-midrange grunt that regular P90s.

http://curtisnovak.com/pickups/NarrowRange.shtml
 
Re: Gibson LP Special: Replace P90 with '59 for more bass & treble. Your thoughts

Also take a look at the Dimarzio DLX Plus, it' a humbucker, fits in a soapbar P90 rout, and will give you less mids/more bass and treble and the only permanent mod you have to do is make holes for the mounting screws, which will be covered by the P90 if you decide to switch it back later on
 
Re: Gibson LP Special: Replace P90 with '59 for more bass & treble. Your thoughts

eclecticsynergy said:
First, have you considered a mini humbucker or a Firebird type pickup? Both fit in a smaller space than a regular humbucker and tend to have less midrange than a P90, while also giving the hum reduction of twin coils.
Click to expand...


Excellent suggestion. Those PU's get overlooked too often. He'd probably be best off with a bridge mini-HB that isn't wound too hot.
 
Re: Gibson LP Special: Replace P90 with '59 for more bass & treble. Your thoughts

I have a manlius pickups hot rod 59 p90 bucker in the bridge of my studio, a full sized, double black bobbin 9k paf style on a p90 baseplate. Excellent no route option. (Also currently for sale, due to a future purchase of a pair of antiquity p-90's)
 
Re: Gibson LP Special: Replace P90 with '59 for more bass & treble. Your thoughts

Mark Cearlock said:
I have a manlius pickups hot rod 59 p90 bucker in the bridge of my studio, a full sized, double black bobbin 9k paf style on a p90 baseplate. Excellent no route option. (Also currently for sale, due to a future purchase of a pair of antiquity p-90's)
Click to expand...

I didn't know anybody made a full sized humbucker to fit a P90 baseplate. Saw your other post about it:

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/sho...t-p90-bucker&p=3785325&viewfull=1#post3785325

I've heard nothing but good things about Manlius pickups, and about his customer service.
 
Re: Gibson LP Special: Replace P90 with '59 for more bass & treble. Your thoughts

They aren't listed on his website anymore, it may be more like a special request. He can make just about all of his regular hb offerings in a p90 bucker format. Too bad he will only do them in double black..
 
Re: Gibson LP Special: Replace P90 with '59 for more bass & treble. Your thoughts

Pete Biltoft of vintage vibe guitars makes a pretty decent paf for soap bar route. I believe I have seen Zhangbucker state he can do it, or something similar.
 
Re: Gibson LP Special: Replace P90 with '59 for more bass & treble. Your thoughts

Don't route the guitar. DiMarzio makes a number of P90 format humbuckers that work great. The DLX90 (not DLX plus) sounds quite like a '59b, still available through special order.
 
Re: Gibson LP Special: Replace P90 with '59 for more bass & treble. Your thoughts

RayBarbeeMusic said:
Don't route the guitar. DiMarzio makes a number of P90 format humbuckers that work great. The DLX90 (not DLX plus) sounds quite like a '59b, still available through special order.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I would have recommended the DLX90, but I didn't see it on the site so I didn't know it still available
 
Re: Gibson LP Special: Replace P90 with '59 for more bass & treble. Your thoughts

GFS also has a wide variety of soapbar/mini hums for a low price. I've never used these particular ones, but I've tried the dream 90 and loved it, and I think the crunchy (or maybe fat) PAT, which while not as good as Duncans, was far better than the stock Epi pickups in a G400 I used to have
 
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