Help Me Sort Some Soapbar Issues?

E

Elias Graves

New member
I recently finished (literally) a little prs Soapbar project. A buddy hooked me up with a pair of Duncans for it; a vintage neck and hot bridge. Sp90-2.

DB3B18EE-2F69-41F1-B027-33EF610C7D8D-5696-0000070A31847614.jpg


I've been the last couple of weeks tweaking the setup, especially pot and cap values and pickup height. I think I have me dialed in about as good as they're gonna get but the bridge pickup is not what I had in mind. The pickups were a good deal, so..,

Anyway, it appears as though the hot p90 has ceramic magnets? Would a change to alnico soften up the overwhelming midrange?


Next question, is a magnet a magnet? I have several old cheap humbuckers around with a2 and a5 magnets. Will these work as well as anything else or do I need to buy something from the magic magnet fairy somewhere?
 
Re: Help Me Sort Some Soapbar Issues?

Nice axe.

Yeah you can put humbucker magnets into the soapbars but you need two.

How well Alnico with the hotter coils does is a different matter.
 
Re: Help Me Sort Some Soapbar Issues?

uOpt said:
Nice axe.

Yeah you can put humbucker magnets into the soapbars but you need two.

How well Alnico with the hotter coils does is a different matter.
Click to expand...

I have several.
Suppose that's the question, then. How well will the alnico work with the hotter coil?
 
Re: Help Me Sort Some Soapbar Issues?

Throw a couple A5 bars in it ,I wound a soapbar close the those specs a while back
& it sounded good with 2 A5's
 
Re: Help Me Sort Some Soapbar Issues?

Yep A5s. If you end up liking a dash more mids in the bridge, you could try a A5 and a A8 as mix and match. This is my current fav combo.
 
Re: Help Me Sort Some Soapbar Issues?

That is an absolutely stunning guitar, man. Nice work.
 
Re: Help Me Sort Some Soapbar Issues?

I have a SP90-2 set and SP90-3 set; since I don't like the harshness of ceramics (being a blues player and all) I replaced them with alnicos. Much better. Twin A5's are what Gibson uses in their P-90's, but I find them to be a little bright and thin in the bridge slot, so I use my own pairs. My favorite is an A8/A4. Warm, rich, & full mids. A8/A5 is a little brighter.

An A5/A2 would also work well, as the A2 would moderate the treble and add mids. Should have a nice vintage sound with the A2's dynamics. The A5 will add clarity and output.

HB's and P-90's use the exact same magnets. In P-90's the mags are positioned so that they repel. Loosen the strings, lift the PU's. Switch the mags out one at a time. To orient: pull the old mag out halfway, hold the new one up to it, so that the ends repel and sides attract.

On the two attachments screws that hold the soap bar to the body, I plug the holes with toothpicks, so when I rescrew them in the body, I get a snug fit. I also like to use screws on them (HB screws) so that it's easier to adjust their height and get them closer to the strings.
 
Re: Help Me Sort Some Soapbar Issues?

Changing magnet material type will not help if the real problem is an overly hot coil.

For my Gibson LP Jnr/Spl, I stole the PRS idea of employing the SD SP90-3n as my bridge/Treble position pickup.

On my PRS SE Soapbar, have Lindy Fralin 5% overwound Alnico P-90s.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top