Gibson Magnet Types Thru The 50's

[maya29]

Greetings,,,, was it A5 or A2's that were used in a '59 LP Special & a '54 Jr.? Anyone familiar with McGlyns or Migas Touch P90's?
thnx

 

[freefrog]

Hi,
Never heard of the brands that you mention but AFAIK, P90's made in the early 50's were loaded with cobalt-less A3 magnets - and might have been mounted in more recent instruments albeit A2 and A5 became prominent in the late 50's.
That said, A2 and A5 bars from decades years ago are not necessarily similar to contemporary A2/A5 mags. Reason why I've vintage magnets in various pickups. YMMV...

 

[jeremy]

ive heard tell that it was a3 and a2 earlier, and they shifted to a4, then a5. its all hearsay and there isnt a good way to tell unless you destroy the magnet. what i do know is that if gibson couldnt get a5 bars, they sure wouldnt stop production, and would use what was available. commonly it is thought that by 1960, it was pretty much all a5. what freefrog says is also very true. a modern a2 might be quite different than what they had in 1956, same with the other grades. even today, batches of alnico arent perfectly consistent.

 

[maya29]

Lastly, are Guitar Fetishes any good? They're not for a guitar i use frequently, inexpensive, but i don't want to sacrifice any P90 goodness that I'd regret?

Basically, I want something decent, while being budget minded

Thnx guys ~

 

[Chistopher]

I like all my GFS pickups. Make sure to do your research on the models though, they don't necessarily advertise them in a way that's accurate to what they actually are.

 

[Artie]

I had a pair of Dream 90's in an (import) Iceman, and they were great. Now I have a single Dream 180 in a Peavey Rockmaster, and it's perfect for that guitar too. Those are the only GFS's I've tried.

 

[freefrog]

Yep, GFS are decent. And most cheap Asian made P90's can be improved through easy mods anyway - I've pimped up some Artec made ones by adding them the keeper bars that were missing + changing their screw poles and magnets for more vintage correct parts, for instance...

 

[Artie]

Yep, GFS are decent. And most cheap Asian made P90's can be improved through easy mods anyway - I've pimped up some Artec made ones by adding them the keeper bars that were missing + changing their screw poles and magnets for more vintage correct parts, for instance...

Details? I just found a GFS Mean-90 in my pickup drawer. I must've gotten this from a forum bro at some past time.

Maybe in a PM or new thread so we don't totally hijack this thread.

 

[freefrog]

Details? I just found a GFS Mean-90 in my pickup drawer. I must've gotten this from a forum bro at some past time.

Maybe in a PM or new thread so we don't totally hijack this thread.

Well, giving details shouldn't be long enough to hijack this thread.

I had a pair of Asian made P90's with short screw poles, generic short shiny smooth A5 bars and without keeper bars (I think that Lollar's haven't keeper bars either. It contributes to a nice tone but a bit too airy / round / polite IME / IMHO).

I've fitted them with longer unplatted low carbon steel screw poles, milled keeper bars and RC magnets - a pair of A3 for the neck, a couple of A4 for the bridge unit.

The inductance got higher and the sound got closer to that vintage voice...

That said, the most interesting mod with these pickups was to mount a large home made humbucking air coil in the Ilitch style, under a large prominent backplate: the pickups still sound like P90's but with impressively less noise.

 

[McDivit]

Do you have more details on what you're looking for in terms of tone or comparison to other P-90s?