Chistopher
malapterurus electricus tonewood instigator
Then how did P90s get their name?
Oh so you know everything about pickups?
- Thread starter Chistopher
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Original part number was PU-90, shortened to P90. It's predecessor was the blade style Charlie Christian pickup. Which is still made by Lollar.
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DavidRavenMoon
New member
Well they had the P-13 in 1941. P obviously means “pickup.”
Why “90”? I have no idea.
But here’s an interesting bit of P-90 trivia; when the humbucker was introduced Gibson switched many of their models over to it. That left them with a bunch of gold top Les Pauls routed for P-90s.
So they took P-90 pickup covers and cut an opening to fit the new mini humbucker, which was a replacement for the Epiphone NY pickups, and the Les Paul Deluxe was born!
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Why “90”? I have no idea.
But here’s an interesting bit of P-90 trivia; when the humbucker was introduced Gibson switched many of their models over to it. That left them with a bunch of gold top Les Pauls routed for P-90s.
So they took P-90 pickup covers and cut an opening to fit the new mini humbucker, which was a replacement for the Epiphone NY pickups, and the Les Paul Deluxe was born!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
ToneFiddler
New member
charlie christians were made by gibson?
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ToneFiddler
New member
eclecticsynergy
Well-known member
The P90's magnets are at a 90° angle compared to other pickups of the time.
Previous designs (except the Rickenbacker horseshoe) employed vertical magnets acting directly on the string.
The P90 took advantage of the new, more powerful permanent magnets - putting them under the coil instead of inside, with adjustable pole screws to conduct magnetism up to the string.
I don't know for a fact that this is how it got that name but I can see it being called the 90 degree pickup in the beginning.
And I doubt it was a situation like WD-40, which was preceded by 39 failures.
AFAIK the P90 was also the first pickup to see widespread use that featured individually adjustable poles.
Gibson considered this an important selling point, enough so that that they added it to humbuckers too when those appeared.
Seth Lover's original humbucker design did not have the row of adjustable pole screws that's so familiar today.
Previous designs (except the Rickenbacker horseshoe) employed vertical magnets acting directly on the string.
The P90 took advantage of the new, more powerful permanent magnets - putting them under the coil instead of inside, with adjustable pole screws to conduct magnetism up to the string.
I don't know for a fact that this is how it got that name but I can see it being called the 90 degree pickup in the beginning.
And I doubt it was a situation like WD-40, which was preceded by 39 failures.
AFAIK the P90 was also the first pickup to see widespread use that featured individually adjustable poles.
Gibson considered this an important selling point, enough so that that they added it to humbuckers too when those appeared.
Seth Lover's original humbucker design did not have the row of adjustable pole screws that's so familiar today.
ThreeChordWonder
New member
Okay, but why do all Boeing's jets have a number beginning with 7, whilst Scarebus use 3?
The Custom Shop still makes Charlie Christian pickups.
Chistopher
malapterurus electricus tonewood instigator
Charlie's are extremely underrated pickups. One one of the few pickup designs where you can describe them with "clarity" and "warmth" in the same breath.
Blille
New member
I’ve seen teles with CC become a bit of a cult thing the last few years. Very nice tone.
eclecticsynergy
Well-known member
I'd love to have a Charlie Chrstian at the neck in a Tele someday.
Requires a large rout and an odd-shaped pickguard cutout though.
Never been a big fan of the traditional vintage-styleTele neck
Perhaps because I turned on to Teles fairly late, after my tastes were already pretty firmly established.
My T-types all have alternative neck pickups: a Twisted Tele, a Muy Grande, a P90, a Chromedome, and a Quarter Pound.
Requires a large rout and an odd-shaped pickguard cutout though.
Never been a big fan of the traditional vintage-styleTele neck
Perhaps because I turned on to Teles fairly late, after my tastes were already pretty firmly established.
My T-types all have alternative neck pickups: a Twisted Tele, a Muy Grande, a P90, a Chromedome, and a Quarter Pound.
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I have to say, I have absolutely no experience with them.
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