Chistopher
malapterurus electricus tonewood instigator
Surfguitar101? I thought that was my little Oasis, but I guess it's not as off the beaten path as I thought.
P90 on steroids?
- Thread starter '59
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Surfguitar101? I thought that was my little Oasis, but I guess it's not as off the beaten path as I thought.
Juanhanglo
Active member
The popular opinion on hbsized p90s is that they are not actual p90s. They fall short due to the bobbin size and shape. Now, some builders shave the bobbin down to fit inside an hb cover, and those could be considered a p90.
Anything that has another type or sized bobbin/form factor are p90 styled, or built like a p90. I have a set of harmonic design vintage plus that are steel poled and have dual magnets. They are wound to 5k. Their s90 is like 12 to 15k and has adjustable poles on top of that. That is very p90 like, but again, not a p90.
the MIM strat pickups from the 90s were built the same way. Steel poles and dual mags. Nobody ever accused them of sounding or being a p90, even though they are constructed like one.
You are getting hung up on semantics I think. Just because someone says it's a p90, doesn't make it so. You need to have a soapbar look with the wide, flat coil, and the dual mags to be one.
P90s can have non adjustable poles too.
staple pickups are not p90s, even though they look like it.
G&l pickups are built just like p90s as well. Nobody calls them p90s though.
anything that doesn't have the coils shape and dual mags can only be p90 style.
Coil shape is a big factor in how a pickup sounds.
It's why a tele and a strat pickup wound with the same wire to the same spec sound very different as well.
the stagmag is technically a humbucker, but is basically 2 single coils on a humbucker plate, and sounds just like that, not a PAF by any stretch.
You're saying I'M getting hung up on semantics?!
OK. Everyone is giving "opinion" on what a P-90 is, what it looks like, how it sounds, how it is constructed, what is its size/shape. That's all fine and dandy, but in the end these are all personal opinions.
Anyone have a very specific/technical definition of what a P-90 actually is? Not what any "type" of P-90 is but what actually defines what a P-90 is.
I know what a humbucker is, but if we are going to get hung up on specific details of size and shape then a minihumbucker is NOT a humbucker pickup, a Staples pup is NOT a humbucker, and unless a pup has one row of slugs and one row of screws it is NOT a humbucker (or if you want to call it a "true" humbucker, so a Rail pup is NOT a humbucker and a P-Rail is NOT a humbucker). And since humcancelling P-90s may have two or three coils, then they are NOT P-90s. And what about the JBE Black Beauty "P-90"? Is that a P-90 or a humbucker or something else?
So why is there so much lying going on from the manufacturers of such pups calling them P-90s (yes, including SD)?!
Or the other way around...since hum cancelling P-90s may have two or three coils then why aren't the actually called humbuckers instead of P-90s (regardless of size or shape)?
What actually makes a pup a P-90? And what actually makes a pup NOT a P-90?
I don't want an "opinion". I want a definition.
Juanhanglo
Active member
Good luck with that
Exactly my point!
So don't anyone tell me that a "Dream 90" is NOT a P-90 unless you can prove it, because if you do, you're not making any logical sense.
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marcello252
Well-known member
ok, no harshness here, I try to sum up
- the OP. wanted a P90 sound
- we more or less agree the construction of the dream 90 is P90 style, one steel slugs bobbin above a double magnet
- based on my personal experience it doesn't sound like a real P90, in that regard the mean 90 is (iimnsho) closer to the real one, I guess the shape of the bobbin matters?
- guitardoc thinks it sounds like a P90
let's keep this forum a quiet and friendly place
- the OP. wanted a P90 sound
- we more or less agree the construction of the dream 90 is P90 style, one steel slugs bobbin above a double magnet
- based on my personal experience it doesn't sound like a real P90, in that regard the mean 90 is (iimnsho) closer to the real one, I guess the shape of the bobbin matters?
- guitardoc thinks it sounds like a P90
let's keep this forum a quiet and friendly place
I appreciate all of what you said. Thank you. And thank you for saying that in "your personal experience it doesn't sound [to you] like a real P-90". Everyone hears things differently. That's a good thing, but it doesn't change any facts, only perception.
I DID say that the Dream 90 sounds like a P-90 (because it is a P-90), but I also admitted that the Dream 90 sounds more like a single coil than the Mean 90. That's a comparison not a definitive description.
I still agree that it sounds more like a single than the Mean 90 or many other P-90s...it doesn't have that typical midrange growl. It's a brighter sounding P-90. I just got concerned that some were saying that it WASN'T a P-90 because it didn't sound like a "P-90". That's just a silly thing to say.
I'm still really interested if there is a definition for what makes a pup a P-90, and conversely what makes a pup NOT a P-90. (I'm sincerely asking because I don't know, but would like to know). Anyone?
