Humbucker under P90 - Pearly Gates voiced vs. Other?

[Mjh36]

So I'm looking to replace a bridge P90 on my 2018 Les Paul Classic and of course Seymour Duncan has the perfect solution.
I bought the guitar for the P90's but I want to change it up, I want a little more from the bridge plus reduce the hum. I want to keep the neck a P90.

Other bridge pickups I have in guitars:

'78 model
Screamin' Demon
'59/Custom Hybrid
Full Shred
Gibson Custombuckers
Gibson '57 Classics
Wolfetone Marshallhead

I like all of them. Especially the Marshallhead and Custombuckers. PAF with a little extra is what I'm looking for. Pearly Gates looks like it could match well with a ~8k neck P90 tone-wise as well.
I've never had or played the Pearly Gates, nor have I ordered from the CS. But I'm leaning towards that one.
I've looked at all the other brands/solutions for P90 replacements that I could choose, and I like the "Humbucker under P90" look the best, so I'm set on getting one.
But since options are endless and you can choose any humbucker, I don't want to miss out on something else? What say y'all? Anyone else have these humbucker under P90's?

 

[beaubrummels]

The minute you go Custom Shop, I'd advise having a set of recordings (YouTube, MP3s, CDs/WAVs, something they can hear clearly) that have the sound you want it to sound like, and clearly and accurately describe the specs of your guitar (wood, weight, what it sounds like acoustically, etc.) and they will make a humbucker under a P90 cover that will sound like that. If you focus on an existing model name, they will make it, but then it might not get the exact sound you needed in your guitar once installed. I guess model names are fine as a reference point, they know what to do, but if they can also hear what you want it to sound like and they know what guitar it's going in, they know how to wind coils to get that sound, regardless of model name.

 

[zionstrat]

Ohh, ohh, ohh (simulating a fourth grader raising hand and shaking it all over the place).

I would have recommended the PG in the past.. it is a marvelous pickup, but I have found a better pickup for what you're looking for.. at least in my humble opinion and quite a few customers

https://railhammer.com/products/humbucker/hyper-vintage-bridge/

I first bumped into this in a reverend double agent OG which has a p90 in the neck and the hypervintage in the bridge... It's completely changed my way of thinking about a bridge pickup for rock and things crunchier and things that are clear and clean.

Yes it looks different... But think of a killer, slightly hot PAF, however, the big slug pole pieces on the treble strings give them a warm sustained singing sound, yet retain plenty of highs for clean sounds,
​​and the rails on the bass strings give them a tight, but fat tone.

And if you split it or parallel it you also get gorgeous single tones.

In general, it's just got more than a PG while completely filling the space at the PG is so good at.

And it pairs incredibly well with a p90 neck. Because of its extra mojo, the middle position is kind of like a humbucker and a p90 had a baby that's bigger than a regular humbucker and a p90.. I know that made no sense.

And it's extremely good with a bass roll off if you've got a thick guitar.

And as a pup lover, I like the fact that I understand why it sounds like it sounds!

 

[Mjh36]

Ohh, ohh, ohh (simulating a fourth grader raising hand and shaking it all over the place).

I would have recommended the PG in the past.. it is a marvelous pickup, but I have found a better pickup for what you're looking for.. at least in my humble opinion and quite a few customers

https://railhammer.com/products/humb...intage-bridge/

I checked out the site those are some sweet looking pickups. I don't think they have my option though atleast I didn't see. This is for a dual P90 guitar so I have to get a P90 sized pickup.

 

[Mjh36]

The minute you go Custom Shop, I'd advise having a set of recordings (YouTube, MP3s, CDs/WAVs, something they can hear clearly) that have the sound you want it to sound like, and clearly and accurately describe the specs of your guitar (wood, weight, what it sounds like acoustically, etc.) and they will make a humbucker under a P90 cover that will sound like that. If you focus on an existing model name, they will make it, but then it might not get the exact sound you needed in your guitar once installed. I guess model names are fine as a reference point, they know what to do, but if they can also hear what you want it to sound like and they know what guitar it's going in, they know how to wind coils to get that sound, regardless of model name.

You know I've been doing some more reading. And there used to be a Custom Shop Pearly Gates right? Wound how Billy likes them a little hotter. 8.6k roughcast A2? I think I'm gonna order that.

 

[Mincer]

You know I've been doing some more reading. And there used to be a Custom Shop Pearly Gates right? Wound how Billy likes them a little hotter. 8.6k roughcast A2? I think I'm gonna order that.

Yeah, you can still order that, or tell MJ what sound you are going for, and she will come up with a formula that works.

 

[Mjh36]

Yeah, you can still order that, or tell MJ what sound you are going for, and she will come up with a formula that works.

It's hard because I'll probably like just about anything! But that one sounds good to me on paper. I'm thinking less heat than a '78 model... but was left a little unsure about stock PG specs. The custom shop version looks like what I would want. Good balance with a neck P90 I would think.

 

[Mincer]

It's hard because I'll probably like just about anything! But that one sounds good to me on paper. I'm thinking less heat than a '78 model... but was left a little unsure about stock PG specs. The custom shop version looks like what I would want. Good balance with a neck P90 I would think.

If you get something from the Custom Shop, start with that description, and she can build it.

 

[Aceman]

Not feeling the PG bridge with a P90. That might just be me, but I love P90's and PG's.

Maybe two great tastes that WON'T taste great together.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Aren't Gibbo P90's Alnico 5? I'd grab a matching A5 bridge pickup, personally. Like a '59B.

 

[zionstrat]

I checked out the site those are some sweet looking pickups. I don't think they have my option though atleast I didn't see. This is for a dual P90 guitar so I have to get a P90 sized pickup.

Sorry missed the sizing issue... So heads up for anybody got a humbucker bridge with a p90

 

[Mjh36]

Sorry missed the sizing issue... So heads up for anybody got a humbucker bridge with a p90

Oh no worries, thank you for showing me that brand, I bookmarked it for the future. I like hybrid ideas like that and they'd look cool on a Goldtop.

I definitely painted myself into a corner with P90 routing. Not a lot of options. Noiseless P90's, Mini humbuckers, or Full size humbuckers in P90 form a la Dimarzio etc...

I love the cream plastics and the P90 look though. I think I'm having a hard time getting along with the core P90 tone. I mean I like it, it rocks.

I'm still thinking of trying just a hotter set of P90's from Wolfetone too before I give up on them.

 

[Mjh36]

Not feeling the PG bridge with a P90. That might just be me, but I love P90's and PG's.

Maybe two great tastes that WON'T taste great together.

Yeah I'm trying to like these P90's, maybe I need more time with them or perhaps a hotter set of P90's before I go humbucker.

To be honest if I could have found a SlimTaper neck Goldtop with humbuckers in my budget I would have gone that route, rather than going with P90's and swapping for something else.

I wouldn't say I needed a P90 guitar but I love the look and vibe and yeah the classic sounds I like etc...

I thought I'd like the P90's enough and I knew there were options for other pickups, so I went with this guitar.

But now my dilemma is ordering Custom Shop prices for very specific humbuckers that'll only go in other P90 spaces.

I thought about ordering the set of these humbucker-under-P90 pickups but then I never can use these in my other humbucker guitars. And how many P90 guitars am I going to buy?

Not many more than this I don't think LOL!

I haven't decided just yet and I'm gonna play it some more this weekend to try and jive with the P90 tones.

 

[zionstrat]

Oh no worries, thank you for showing me that brand, I bookmarked it for the future. I like hybrid ideas like that and they'd look cool on a Goldtop.

I definitely painted myself into a corner with P90 routing. Not a lot of options. Noiseless P90's, Mini humbuckers, or Full size humbuckers in P90 form a la Dimarzio etc...

I love the cream plastics and the P90 look though. I think I'm having a hard time getting along with the core P90 tone. I mean I like it, it rocks.

I'm still thinking of trying just a hotter set of P90's from Wolfetone too before I give up on them.

Okay now that I've tuned into a p90 route, have you thought about going totally left field and considering a Firebird bridge? They definitely aren't PAFish.. they bite pretty hard but they are not a high output pickup and it will balance well with a P90.

They have a beautiful clean sound and it's kind of like a single coil on steroids.. of course it is humbucking...

I'm not a big Neil Young fan, but I think his bridge pup is formidable and the balance is great with his p90.

 

[Mjh36]

Okay now that I've tuned into a p90 route, have you thought about going totally left field and considering a Firebird bridge? They definitely aren't PAFish.. they bite pretty hard but they are not a high output pickup and it will balance well with a P90.

They have a beautiful clean sound and it's kind of like a single coil on steroids.. of course it is humbucking...

I'm not a big Neil Young fan, but I think his bridge pup is formidable and the balance is great with his p90.

Along the way while looking at mini's I briefly checked out the Firebird thing. I've never had/played a mini or Firebird pickup, though I'm sure they'd do fine. They were my first thought, just turn it into a Les Paul Deluxe. But since I've seen the humbucker-under-P90 thing that the Custom Shop does, that propels it to #1 over other things because of the pickup choices plus aesthetics, keeping the soapbar look yet with a familiar-ish PAF underneath. Either that or another P90 set perhaps

However as of right this moment, I'm now inclined to try a Wolfetone Mean/Meanest set maybe first. A set is less than one Custom Shop pickup. If I don't like the heat on the those, I can always move them and then order a custom P90 Pearly Gates, etc.

 

[Ascension]

Not feeling the PG bridge with a P90. That might just be me, but I love P90's and PG's.

Maybe two great tastes that WON'T taste great together.

Agree it's a big time tonal mismatch with that bright crunchy PG vs the warn round P90 tone. IMO those 2 won't play well together.

 

[Aceman]

I wouldn't say I needed a P90 guitar but I love the look and vibe and yeah the classic sounds I like etc...

everyone needs a P90 guitar. They just don't all know it.