Put GFS Mean 90s in my 61 SG :-(

Dr. Lo

Dr. Lo

New member
All I can say is "blech!!!" I don't know if P90s are supposed to sound like this, but compared to the 57 Classics that were in there before, the Mean 90s sound small and constricted. I lost all my sizzle and fullness. It just sounds anemic. Don't get me wrong, I can love single coils. These are coming out.

Would the stock Phat Cats sound any different?
 
Re: Put GFS Mean 90s in my 61 SG :-(

Try jacking the bridge pickup way up towards the strings, and keep the neck pickup fairly low. It takes some tweaking with the Mean 90s, I had the same first impression as you.
 
Re: Put GFS Mean 90s in my 61 SG :-(

Dr. Lo said:
Would the stock Phat Cats sound any different?
Click to expand...

Worse, they have A2's, which make the neck very dark, and the bridge weak and thin. Magnets are very important in P-90's: HB's have 1/2 mag per coil; P-90's have 2 mags per coil, four times the influence. You can pair up any two mags in a P-90, so you can dial in your EQ more accurately.
 
Re: Put GFS Mean 90s in my 61 SG :-(

ex-250 said:
Try jacking the bridge pickup way up towards the strings, and keep the neck pickup fairly low. It takes some tweaking with the Mean 90s, I had the same first impression as you.
Click to expand...
Thanks but I tried that already.
 
Re: Put GFS Mean 90s in my 61 SG :-(

blueman335 said:
Worse, they have A2's, which make the neck very dark, and the bridge weak and thin. Magnets are very important in P-90's: HB's have 1/2 mag per coil; P-90's have 2 mags per coil, four times the influence. You can pair up any two mags in a P-90, so you can dial in your EQ more accurately.
Click to expand...
Then why are so many people going ga-ga over these things??? I guess my taste is very different.
 
Re: Put GFS Mean 90s in my 61 SG :-(

Your experience with those P-90s is certainly in the minority.

"Anemic"? Not what I would say at all. But if you are comparing to a hummer, well I guess any P-90 COULD be considered anemic...it's only one coil compared to two. But IMHO P-90s are anything but anemic. The Mean 90s are big and bold with lots of mids and a nice bite. WAY bigger than a single coil (fuller than a Gibson P-90), more bite than a hummer, somewhere in between the two.

P-90 is my favorite pup.
 
Re: Put GFS Mean 90s in my 61 SG :-(

I have installed one set of them for a local guy. I thought they were ballsy and in the ballpark for that early zztop vibe.

Are you confident the wiring is spot on? Sounds like they might be out of phase maybe? They should rock in that guitar. SG + p-90s = slabs of kick assss
 
Re: Put GFS Mean 90s in my 61 SG :-(

Dr. Lo said:
the Mean 90s sound small and constricted. I lost all my sizzle and fullness. It just sounds anemic.
Click to expand...

My former bandmate got a Squier Jag II as a gift, but he didn't like the DD HB103s, so he asked me for some P-90 advice and I got him a Mean 90 set.

That was three years ago and it's still to this day his go-to blues axe.

The sound he's got is just exactly the opposite you're describing, so I guess something might be wrong with your wiring... you DO have 500K pots, right? P-90s request'em.

HTH,
 
Re: Put GFS Mean 90s in my 61 SG :-(

According to some sources, GFS does not make their own pickups, they're made in Asia to specs.

Personally, I stopped worrying about where something was made a long time ago. *shrug*

If it works, it works.
 
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