p90 sized humbuckers?

Supernautilus

New member
Does anyone here have experience with P90 sized humbuckers? I’m looking for recommendations.

A few months back I posted about my new Epiphone Les Paul Custom P90. As I’m not a big fan of P90s, my plan was to switch them out for mini humbuckers. Now I’m reconsidering, as I think I want more modern high gain tone.

I know SD makes custom shop ones, but those are a little pricey. Dimarzio makes a few models, but I know very little about them. At the low end of the spectrum, I found some cheap Artec ones on eBay.

Anyways, just wondering if anyone here can offer any other advice or suggestions. Any info is welcome, thanks. :)
 
SD Phat Cats are humbucker-sized P-90s that are not custom shop. That said they're more of a vintage spec.

SD P-Rails are another option and are much higher output.
 
FWIW, if you're into active pickups, the P-90-sized EMG 81 and 85 could be worth taking a look at as they should sound as close to the full-size EMG's because, inside those epoxy'd covers, the EMG 81 and 85 are actually narrower coils, kinda like a mini humbucker, just not as mini.

Other than that, no experience with Artec P90-sized humbuckers, but I have a couple Artec neck humbuckers in my Les Pauls, and they're pretty alright. Not noisy, not bad-sounding. Not standout, but quite honestly, I tend to feel that way about most neck pickups anyway, regardless of brand. So they do make some good pickups if the specs appeal to you.
 
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I have here a few P90 sized DiMarzio's like DLX+, Tone Zone, Super Distortion. The DLX+ has no equivalent among full sized humbuckers. I use it as a neck pickup. The Tone Zone and Super Distortion have the same kind of DCR and inductance than their full sized models but the Tone Zone has a ceramic bar instead of the A5 mounted in a "big" TZ. The Super Distortion is technically the closest to its full size version.

I don't find them very exciting, TBH: when I want to hear more power than harmonic complexity, they simply do the job with "that" DiMarzio sound, as much as allowed by the different comb filtering due to their narrowed frame...

I'd certainly consider GFS equivalents as a decent alternative.

If I wanted a "classic" full-sized HB tone in a mini-hum frame for a low price, maybe I'd search a nickel covered Epi mini-hum like those mounted in Epi Wilshire's. At 10.5k, they have the same kind of inductance than P.A.F. clones and do a surprisingly good job when it comes to EVH1 or Angus Young kinds of tone (even if they have still the different comb filtering evoked above)...

For more beef, I'd keep P90's and would add a large Ilitch style air coil to the instrument: if properly designed / made / installed, that kind of hum-cancelling device cuts most of the noise with the slightest possible effect on tone. That's what I currently use to play hi-gain with real P90's, for the record (a P90 having the same kind of inductance than many hi-gain humbuckers, BTW).

YMMV. FWIW. HTH.
 
I have here a few P90 sized DiMarzio's like DLX+, Tone Zone, Super Distortion. The DLX+ has no equivalent among full sized humbuckers. I use it as a neck pickup. The Tone Zone and Super Distortion have the same kind of DCR and inductance than their full sized models but the Tone Zone has a ceramic bar instead of the A5 mounted in a "big" TZ. The Super Distortion is technically the closest to its full size version.

I don't find them very exciting, TBH: when I want to hear more power than harmonic complexity, they simply do the job with "that" DiMarzio sound, as much as allowed by the different comb filtering due to their narrowed frame...

I'd certainly consider GFS equivalents as a decent alternative.

If I wanted a "classic" full-sized HB tone in a mini-hum frame for a low price, maybe I'd search a nickel covered Epi mini-hum like those mounted in Epi Wilshire's. At 10.5k, they have the same kind of inductance than P.A.F. clones and do a surprisingly good job when it comes to EVH1 or Angus Young kinds of tone (even if they have still the different comb filtering evoked above)...

For more beef, I'd keep P90's and would add a large Ilitch style air coil to the instrument: if properly designed / made / installed, that kind of hum-cancelling device cuts most of the noise with the slightest possible effect on tone. That's what I currently use to play hi-gain with real P90's, for the record (a P90 having the same kind of inductance than many hi-gain humbuckers, BTW).

YMMV. FWIW. HTH.

Thanks for the break down.

Unfortunately, I do not have much experience with DiMarzio so I don't really know what their "sound" is. What I would like is something with a definite Seymour Duncan flavor, closer to a high gain pup like the JB or Custom.

The issue is I don't really like P90s that much. I've given this guitar a few months, hoping they would grow on me. But I find that I prefer the more compressed sound a traditional humbucker rather that the more brash sound of a P90. Which I find is better for the metal tones I like.

Of the Tone Zone and Super Distortion, which do you think is closest to a high gain Seymour Duncan in tone?
 
I have here a few P90 sized DiMarzio's like DLX+, Tone Zone, Super Distortion. The DLX+ has no equivalent among full sized humbuckers. I use it as a neck pickup. The Tone Zone and Super Distortion have the same kind of DCR and inductance than their full sized models but the Tone Zone has a ceramic bar instead of the A5 mounted in a "big" TZ. The Super Distortion is technically the closest to its full size version.

That's a shame about the mini-sized Tone Zone. The regular one is one of my favorite pickups.
 
That's a shame about the mini-sized Tone Zone. The regular one is one of my favorite pickups.

There's nothing shameful in the P90 sized Tone Zone, IMHO. Its design makes sense to me: as DM has put in it core materials (magnetic poles) giving more inductance and eddy currents, a more neutral magnet than A5 has been selected to compensate that.
The result is not a fail to me: it has still the comb filtered high harmonics of the "big" TZ...

Experiences and opinions may vary, of course. Such things depend so much on the guitar used... :-)
 
Of the Tone Zone and Super Distortion, which do you think is closest to a high gain Seymour Duncan in tone?

Forgive me to reply that I don't know what to answer. :-)

The TZ concretizes the Dual-Resonance recipe and sounds accordingly, with comb filtered high harmonics.

The SD sounds close to a full sized SD, built on a specific design and that I don't find to be sonically close to any Duncan HB...

Maybe other members with other opinions and experiences will chime in but I can't help to hear and feel things like that.
 
i really like the duncan sm1/2/3 models, but they dont have the weight of a fullsize bucker like a tz or sd. how hot are the p90s in your guitar?
 
i really like the duncan sm1/2/3 models, but they dont have the weight of a fullsize bucker like a tz or sd. how hot are the p90s in your guitar?

I haven’t measured them but they are decently hot. It’s mainly the dynamics. They just don’t bring the chug like my JB or Custom. :(
 
By the way, has anyone here actually tried the SD custom shop ones? I tried looking around but I can’t find any feedback on these.
 

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The only P90 sized humbucker I’ve tried is the Dimarzio Super Distortion. I like the regular Super D. I found the P90 size model to be a bit dull or murky. Not horrible, just disappointing. And I’ve used the regular Super D in . close to identical guitar. Both early/mid 90s Hamer Specials.

After I sold it, I followed with the guy I sold it to. He absolutely loved it…
 
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