Hi, friends: I have an Epiphone Riviera P93 with a set of three stock P90 pickups. If I want to go with a new set of SD Antiquity P90 replacements, I know that I can order a pair (neck + bridge), but what pickup should I use in the middle position to match the others? I would assume that the middle pup would also need to be reverse-wound for noise cancellation, yes? (Do I need to do that myself, or does Seymour Duncan offer a reverse-wound P90 that would work in this context?) Lastly, does anyone have any advice/recommendations on how I can get that beautiful 'in between' sound--like a strat--when I wire for 2-pickup combinations between the neck/middle and bridge/middle? (Or can I expect to hear something similar to that with the normal three-pickup wiring combinations?) Thanks for your input and recommendations!
How to install 3 P90's on an Epiphone P93?
- Thread starter Gil P
- Start date
how is it wired now? typically people use neck pups in the middle, but there are no rules. if you want to get closer to a strat, then id stay with the neck. the neck and bridge models are rw/rp from each other but if you want two necks to be rw/rp, then i might ask if duncan can do it for you.
freefrog
Well-known member
Even if one follows or adapts the wiring schematic of a Strat, P90's have a too high inductance for that. But it's possible to wire a dummy coil in parallel with such pickups in order to make them thinner sounding and more Strat like.
For Strat like 2d and 4th positions, I would think about a 1 Henry Bill Lawrence Q filter (without added capacitor but probably with a tuning resistor, ideally a trim pot allowing to blend the component in parallel with the pickups).
Any Fender style cheapo single coil with a low DCR and a ceramic magnet should work too. Pull off its magnet. Wire the coil on a switch, in parallel with the P90's. Pull off one or several of its slugs in order to lower the inductance if the sound is still too thick...
There is plenty of free space to host such things in hollow or semi hollow guitars. I've one with a switchable dummy coil as mentioned above + two other dummy coils for a vintage style Varitone...
FWIW.
Thank you, all for your quick replies! To answer the question how it is currently wired, the stock configuration has three volume controls (one for each pickup) and a single tone control. I have learned that the stock three position toggle switch is wired for (1) Neck + Middle, (2) Middle/All, (3) Bridge + Middle. In short summary, you just use the volume controls to dial in the combination/blend you want. I read on a separate forum that I could install a six-position rotary switch where the remaining three switches would be dedicated to a single pickup (neck or middle, or bridge) each. . . . but I think that might be a bit more complicated since I can basically accomplish any combination with the stock wiring by just using the volume controls. Thank you again!.
