P90s in series?

[ThreeChordWonder]

SG Special with twin P90s, specifically, but also generally.

The standard connection is via a 3-way toggle switch with the middle setting being both in parallel.

How does both in series sound? Good or no good?

Asking for a friend:naughty:

 

[ICTGoober]

Usually the volume increases and the bottom end is boosted at the expense of treble. However, it's a cool sound in a power trio for leads.

 

[freefrog]

A P90 alone is already more powerful than two Fender SC's in series... TWO P90's in series should reach +/- 15H of inductance, promising a very thick and dark tone.

That said, the sound of PU's in series depends partly on their respective positions and on the acoustic resonance of the guitar so the only way to know is... to try.

If I had to put two P90's in series, I'd tend to do what I've already done when using one of these pickups as a dummy coil for two of its counterparts: I'd try an inductor+ resistor in parallel with the series pickups. Or I'd pair them with a series capacitor trimming the bass just before the output. Or I'd consider a series + OOP wiring: there's a world to explore, there (and it might be the very best solution in this case, with all the power of coils in series but without excessive bass, and with a humbucker FX if the two pickups have the same wiring direction + polarity). YMMV...

 

[Chistopher]

and on the acoustic resonance of the guitar

Unrelated, but this got me wondering about experimenting with adding a switching position on a guitar such that you can tune the electrical resonance of your circuit to pick up radio stations and the tone control could be used to pick stations.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Yep, thick & dark. I found it pretty much unusable (but as always, YMMV).

A cap inline could ease the bloated bass but I suspect it'd still be way midrangey.
Might be okay for single-note lines.

IMO series out-of-phase is a much better option.
Or a simple phase switch for in standard (parallel) middle position.

 

[freefrog]

Unrelated, but this got me wondering about experimenting with adding a switching position on a guitar such that you can tune the electrical resonance of your circuit to pick up radio stations and the tone control could be used to pick stations.

LOL. I've heard the radio through my guitar amp more than once these last decades... i wish I could control that, so I'm all ears if you find a way.

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

Thanks.:friday:

I'll tell my friend.

If he can fit a push pull in the cavity (it's an SG, which is thinner than a LP, remember), I expect he'll give it a go.

 

[Chistopher]

LOL. I've heard the radio through my guitar amp more than once these last decades... i wish I could control that, so I'm all ears if you find a way.

I made a BYOC Laney/Rangemaster and one of my solder joints just barely made it to the wrong pad and as you turned the gain up it blended a country station into your sound.

 

[freefrog]

I made a BYOC Laney/Rangemaster and one of my solder joints just barely made it to the wrong pad and as you turned the gain up it blended a country station into your sound.

Yes, treble boosters are terrible for that. I've "obtained" the same thing from such circuits that I honestly think to have soldered correctly. It can be solved... until the next session in another place. During the last concert, me and the other guitar player both had a "whinning" noise due to the lights above the stage, despite of multiple filtering stages for our pedalboards. :-/ Fortunately, I made enough noise with my Fryer style treble booster to leave people with ringing ears, hiding the HF noise...

ThreeChordWonder : if you lack of place for a push-pull in the SG, aren't the CTS PP pots with black PCB shorter than regular ones? I haven't any of them at disposal now but I vaguely recall a difference of 3 or 4mm, if it can help. Depends on the depth of the cavity, of course.

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

ThreeChordWonder[/USER] : if you lack of place for a push-pull in the SG, aren't the CTS PP pots with black PCB shorter than regular ones? I haven't any of them at disposal now but I vaguely recall a difference of 3 or 4mm, if it can help. Depends on the depth of the cavity, of course.

Even the CTS ones were just a nudge too long for my Gibson SG.

Gibson push-pulls fit. My 2015 Gibson SG Standard came with dual coil splits that I've since junked. Those are simple two pole on-offs that only allow coil splits, however, nothing more fancy. Even then you have to flatten the terminals against the casings so the cover sits flat. If the Epi body is a tad thinner, and the control cavity isn't deepened to compensate, I fear the rear cover won't fit without a spacer ring to push it outwards a touch. We'll see when "my friend" gets his new toy, hopefully later today.

First order of business will be a setup, then junking the original wiring for pukka CTS pots and orange drop caps, no push connects. If the Epi P90s are good enough, the mods will stop there. If not, it's getting a set of SD P90s.

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

Images I found.

27.7 mm vs 0.93 in / 23.6 mm. I found that if you break the ground tabs off the Alphas and solder to the casings instead, the net heights work out to be a lot closer.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

A mini DPDT will fit where push-pulls wont.
Not too obtrusive if you use a black one (unless the guitar is white).

 

[Gstring]

I have P90s with both Series and OOP. options, .All very usable sounds, especially combined Series and OOP ( a favorite of mine ) For OOP alone possibly better to have vol pots wired "independent" as you can blend. ,

 

[jeremy]

id go further and say if im going to use the oop option, i need individual volume controls. rolling one back a touch makes a huge difference in the tone

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

Well, "my friend" has decided not to fit any fancy wiring for now. The control cavity isn't deep enough for a push pull, and he doesn't want to drill any extra holes for separate DPDTs.

 

[Gstring]

id go further and say if im going to use the oop option, i need individual volume controls. rolling one back a touch makes a huge difference in the tone

Thoroughly agree. That is was what I actually said in my post. Perhaps I was unclear in some way