Question about P-90s

[ledzepp29]

I have been interested in getting a strat for a while until I started looking at sgs and double cut les pauls with P-90s. I played a gibson custom shop sg with a tremelo and p-90s about 8 months ago and I really liked it but I havent played a p-90 guitar since and my memories a bit lacking, what are the clean tones closest sounding to? With the right p-90s could you get somewhere close to a little wing/wind cries mary tone? I really wanted a strat for the clean tones but if I can get a gibson that can somewhat touch those tones than I would go with that because I prefer the feel of gibsons over fenders.

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Question about P-90s

IICRC, they are bright and thin clean and have an aggressive "bite" to them. Some people absolutely love P90s and I've considered them myself, but I've realized I'm the kind of guy that likes my clean and slightly overdriven tones with single coils and distortion with humbuckers.

 

[Fatty]

Re: Question about P-90s

IICRC, they are bright and thin clean and have an aggressive "bite" to them. Some people absolutely love P90s and I've considered them myself, but I've realized I'm the kind of guy that likes my clean and slightly overdriven tones with single coils and distortion with humbuckers.

Spot-on description.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Question about P-90s

I have a pair of Phat Cats in an Epi Sheraton and they sound very good clean. The neck is big and juicy sounding by itself and the bridge is pretty tight, bright, and toothy, even when clean. The combined position in is almost acoustic sounding when clean and great for slide when dirty.

When dirty, the set is very aggressive. Lots of bite and grind is present and, surprisingly, there's a ton of chunk on hand for heavier rythm styles.

If you have a guitar routed for humbuckers, give the Phat Cats a try. :burnout:

 

[FireBros.]

Re: Question about P-90s

I have A Les Paul Special double cutaway with P-90's. The clean tones are amazing. They seem to have just the right amount of muscle and sparkle.

 

[TattooedCarrot]

Re: Question about P-90s

I agree with the bite, but IMO they are not thin, they are fat. Fatter than some hummers. Also depends on the P90, my Gibson P90's are way fatter and more aggressive than my Fralin P90's which are brighter and clearer.

I've used P90's in SG's, Les Paul Specials (no maple cap), and Strats (Phat Cats). IMO P90's work best in a slab of mahogany with a 24.75 scale neck.

 

[theboatcandream]

Re: Question about P-90s

P90s are bright but unlike with some fender pickups, if you crank your mids then they'll have mids and fill out. They lack bass, which is a plus in my opinion.

Personally I think P94s are the way to go though... they seem to have more character to them than gibson P90s. The only seymour duncan P90s I've played however are the ones on the godin lg series which are very bad examples.

 

[TattooedCarrot]

Re: Question about P-90s

I haven't noticed a lack of bass, but definitely middy pickups.

 

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: Question about P-90s

I've got the SD P90-3 Customs in the Goldtop in my avatar....they rip! They're not a plinky single coil sound, they flat out rock. They're like a cross between George Thorogood and Malcolm Young. They cut through everything.

If you roll off the volume, they clean up nice & smooth....volume to 10 & they friggin' SCREAM!!!

I think they're actually the best of both worlds...single coil tone to humbucker tone gets covered very nicely !

 

[Hellion]

Re: Question about P-90s

I like P-90s in certain guitars. In LP Juniors for instance, they're absolutely great. They've got some of the warmth of a humbucker, and the clarity of a single coil.

 

[Wattage]

Re: Question about P-90s

Puckboy's description of the SP90-3's is dead-on.

Thin P-90's? Not from SD anyway, SD does not make a bad P-90. The new Gibsons are a bit thinner than the SD's but not to be taken as a negative. They just have a little more top end focus where as the SD's are a bit more mid-focused. I too like them best in mahogany based guitars, preferably Gibson scale but I have played some Teles with them and they've smoked.

I use P-90's for a lot of different sounds. I rarely play clean but a vintage P-90 neck is a beautiful Jazzer, Thorogood blues, Little Charlie honkin and snortin' to flat out totally mayhem Rockin'.

 

[kaknight]

Re: Question about P-90s

i love my p-90 guitar for both cleans and crunch! It has an amazing full bluesy tone with a lot of mids.