Help with research paper. P90, esquire questions.

[Omni9X]

Hey, everyone.

I'm doing a research paper for a university class, and I've got a couple questions regarding the construction of P90s and the Esquire pickup.

What kind of magnets did the Esquire pickup use? AlNiCo2 magnets?

Also, what kind of magnets did the P90 use, what was a typical resistance for early P90s, and were they machine wound or scatterwound?

Thank you much for your help.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Help with research paper. P90, esquire questions.

Don't know for sure what mags the vintage Esquires used, but it would be either A3 or A5, most likely A5 if the Esquire came out after 1954 because A5 was invented in 1955 if I recall correctly. So the pre-'55 Tele's and Broadcasters used A3 quite a bit, maybe exclusively if I'm right about the A5 invention date. (They may have also used A2 but I have never heard of an A2 vintage Tele pu.)

Typical early P90's were 7.8 to 8.3k some higher and lower (some in the mid 9's even, and some very low 7's). The magnets could have been anything from A2/3/4/5 because Gibson used whatever was available from their magnet vendors at any given time, but prior to 1955, they would have to have been A2 or A3, maybe A4. So my best guess is the really old P90's (pre-1955) typically used A2 but I defer to the true vintage P90 fiends. (And to the vintage Tele pu fiends in the first paragraph.)