P90 strat

J

jclampitt

New member
I'm thinking about putting P90s in my MIM strat. I can get a pickguard from warmoth easily enough, but I'm concerned about the string spacing and whether or not it makes enough of a difference to matter, and also about routing the guitar. Its routed for HSH and I kinda doubt I'll be able to fit those soapbars into the H spots without at least a little bit of routing... and then there is the fact that the p90s need to mount to the body and not the pickguard, with the tremolo cavity behind them. I don't mind doing a little bit of routing if necessary as long as everything else works out. If anyone has tried this or has any advice it would be much appreciated.
 
Re: P90 strat

I have 2 Strats (MIM) with P90 style pups -- one with SD Phat Cats, and the other one with Lollar's version of the P90 in the humbucker size/shape..
no routing required
you'll dig it
 
Re: P90 strat

jclampitt said:
Awesome. So maybe I should just go with a humbucker sized p90 and save a lot of trouble?
Click to expand...
Absolutely! So long as you're not worried about not having the traditional soap bar look - I actually like the look and the option of maintaining the humbucker shape
Some may say the traditional soap bars sound "better", but I've yet to experience that myself
The Phat Cat is one of my favorite pups for the neck position - I have one in my V, and one in an LP Std. as well
 
Re: P90 strat

Don't forget to give the GFS Mean 90 a shot. I have one and its highly regarded on this forum as one of the best if you're looking for true P90 tone in a humbucker housing
 
Re: P90 strat

A friend of mine has a MIM Strat with 3 Gibson P-90s installed. You'll need to route slightly and modify the pickguard, but it works well and sounds great. The only issue was that he had to move the volume knob down one hole and eliminate one of the tone controls since P-90s are a bit wide for the 'stock' volume knob position. In addition to the SD & GFS options already mentioned, I've heard that Fralin P-92s are an excellent alternative.

Full disclosure, I have Phat Cats in my SG and I'm pretty happy with them. I really dislike A2s, so I'm planning to mag swap them to A5/A4 (neck) / A5/A8 (bridge) in the near-ish future.
 
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Re: P90 strat

I've been checking out inexpensive P90 Guitars as I have a set of Rio Grandes Jazz Bar/Blues Bar that I'm dying to get into something.
 
Re: P90 strat

Do it! P90's sound awesome in pretty much anything. And +1 on the mean 90's, they do sound great especially for what they cost.




Sent from my butt using last night's tacos
 
Re: P90 strat

Oh yeah www.porterpickups.com (apparently I'm not smart enough to post links on my phone) makes Strat shaped p90's that sound great, but they're kinda spendy.


Sent from my butt using last night's tacos
 
Re: P90 strat

I've got a lot to think about now... I was originally gonna put the p90s in the strat because besides my epi goldtop that already has them, its the only one where it would be possible, even if difficult, to fit them in there. But now that I'm considering humbucker sized p90s, that changes things a little. I have two other guitars I could put humbucker sized p90s in, which would displace either my jb or invader pickup, which could then go back in the strat... I don't know, I'm just making it way more complicated than it needs to be, I've had the jb in five different guitars since I got it and it has sounded different in all of them. The simplest thing would just be to put the p90s, whether humbucker or singlecoil sized in the strat and be done with it, but ever since I learned to solder I've had trouble leaving things alone.
 
Re: P90 strat

The string spacing thing doesn't matter.

If your guitar is routed for HSH, then it's likely that no routing will be necessary to fit P90 soap bars in. The only time you would need to modify a humbucker cavity to fit a P90 would be on a guitar on which the cavities were routed for a humbucker that mounts with pickup ring, as opposed to a pickguard. Humbucker routs for pickup ring mounting have the "ears" into which the pickup ring hold down screws go. Humbucker routs on guitars that use the pickguard for mounting the pickups are usually just simple rectangles.

For example, when I installed soap bar P90's in my Les Paul Custom, the only thing I needed to do was to shave down those ears a bit. The pickup rout did not need to be lengthened at all.
 
Re: P90 strat

ItsaBass said:
The string spacing thing doesn't matter.

If your guitar is routed for HSH, then it's likely that no routing will be necessary to fit P90 soap bars in. The only time you would need to modify a humbucker cavity to fit a P90 would be on a guitar on which the cavities were routed for a humbucker that mounts with pickup ring, as opposed to a pickguard. Humbucker routs for pickup ring mounting have the "ears" into which the pickup ring hold down screws go. Humbucker routs on guitars that use the pickguard for mounting the pickups are usually just simple rectangles.

For example, when I installed soap bar P90's in my Les Paul Custom, the only thing I needed to do was to shave down those ears a bit. The pickup rout did not need to be lengthened at all.
Click to expand...

That's good to know. I didn't think it was possible to put soapbars in a les paul routed for humbuckers. Is there a gap from the p90s being narrower?
 
Re: P90 strat

Yes, there is of course a gap, but not a big one. I left the gaps for years, but I eventually made plastic trim rings similar to the Gibson goof rings from the '70's. Very little wood had to be removed, so restoring the guitar before I sold it was not a huge hassle either. I had it for about 14 years, 10 of which were with the P90's.
 
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Re: P90 strat

That's cool. I got to looking at the p90s in my epi and the humbuckers in my other guitars and it doesn't look like the gap would be nearly as big as I had imagined. Glad to know it can be done.
 
Re: P90 strat

I went with a P-Rails in my MIM HSH Strat. It sounds great.

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Re: P90 strat

Have it routed like this and then purchase your pick guard from Warmoth

Seymour Duncan make excellent sounding P-90’s
 
Re: P90 strat

You need a Strat-o-sonic

MAhog body w/ 2 P-90's.

Highly under-rated strat
 
Re: P90 strat

My guitar is already routed like that, I just need the pickguard and pickups. Still trying to decide on the between Toneriders, Duncans, or Gibsons. I'll probably cheap out and get the toneriders since this guitar is gonna need a refret soon as well. That Strat-o-Sonic looks awesome, if I had the money and could find one I'd be all over that.
 
Re: P90 strat

ItsaBass said:
The string spacing thing doesn't matter.

If your guitar is routed for HSH, then it's likely that no routing will be necessary to fit P90 soap bars in. The only time you would need to modify a humbucker cavity to fit a P90 would be on a guitar on which the cavities were routed for a humbucker that mounts with pickup ring, as opposed to a pickguard. Humbucker routs for pickup ring mounting have the "ears" into which the pickup ring hold down screws go. Humbucker routs on guitars that use the pickguard for mounting the pickups are usually just simple rectangles.

For example, when I installed soap bar P90's in my Les Paul Custom, the only thing I needed to do was to shave down those ears a bit. The pickup rout did not need to be lengthened at all.
Click to expand...

I was really skeptical after that first sentence but you brought me around nicely... well played sir
 
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