Silencer P-90

Not sure why it's paywalling. I can see the whole thing and I don't have a subscription? Here's what it does say:

“All the tone of the classic P-90 pickup without the hum”: Is Seymour Duncan’s new Silencer range the perfect modern P-90 platform?

By Matt Owen published 1 day ago

The new hum-resistant P-90 launch is headlined by a signature single-coil for Jared James Nichols, which the blues-rock maestro calls his “dream pickup”

Seymour Duncan has debuted its all-new range of Silencer P-90 pickups – a fresh catalog of P-90s that is headlined by a new Jared James Nichols signature single-coil.

However, while the arrival of a new Nichols pup is note-worthy in itself, the wider lineup in general will no doubt pique the interest of P-90 players all over owing to the particular tonal performance it promises to provide.

The clue is in the name: the P90 Silencer pickups vow to deliver a completely silent tone that bears all the visual and sonic hallmarks of a classic P-90 without any of the irksome 60-cycle hum that plagues vintage units.

It’s a pitch that will appeal to many. After all, the best P-90s on the market are considered some of the most well-rounded and versatile pickups available, though the hum – resulting from the single-coil design – is enough to put many potential players off.

It’s important to note hum-canceling P-90s are not a new innovation, and other brands (Seymour Duncan included) have already made efforts in harnessing the true authentic tone of vintage P-90s while eradicating the hum conundrum.

Examples include the DiMarzio Fantom P90, Mojotone 56 Quiet Coils and Lindy Fralin’s Hum Cancelling P-90s, among others.

Nevertheless, while not alone in the hum-canceling P-90 camp, Seymour Duncan’s Silencer range looks to be a genuinely noteworthy addition to the market, boasting a newly innovated design that “retains all the tone and appearance of the classic P90 pickup without the 60-cycle hum”.

Not only that, its generous quartet of options – JJN, Neck, Hot and Vintage – paired with its commitment to faithful P-90 appearances and sounds (there’s no active wiring here, unlike some other close comparisons) will likely strike a chord with traditionalists.

As mentioned, the lone JJN Silencer is the highlight here. “Simply put, the Seymour Duncan Jared James Nichols P90 Silencer is my dream pickup,” the Gibson artist said of his new pup, which has been voiced to “cover everything from sparkling cleans to barking dirty tones”.

In perhaps one of the most extravagant tonal summaries you’ll ever read, the JJN P-90 Silencer is described by its master as “delicate and strong, like a grizzly bear and a paper airplane landing”.

The rest of the range is completed with a sole Neck unit (which can be paired with any other Silencer pickups) as well as Hot and Vintage options. For those latter two categories, full sets or lone bridge pickups can be obtained.

As an added bonus, each of the Silencer pickups – JJN P-90 included – arrives in both Dogear or Soapbar formats, and Cream or Black covers, depending on player preference.

In terms of tone, the Hot units are, unsurprisingly, the hottest set of the lot, “offering a more aggressive sound” that will probably counteract the low output issues of other hum-canceling P-90s.

The Vintage pickups are equally self-explanatory, and are matched to vintage specs for old-school tones. Handily, all Silencers are drop-in replacements for “most” standard P-90 routes.

In terms of price, the sole JJN P90 weighs in at $149, while the rest of the lot come in at $139 for one unit. Vintage and Hot sets are priced at $278.

Visit Seymour Duncan to find out more.

https://www.seymourduncan.com/press...tage-hot-jared-james-nichols-signature-models
 
I had heard about them, but I know about as much as in the article. We will have to see when the demos come out to see what the deal is. If I hear anything else, I can post it here.
 
Yeah, I looked for videos on the Duncan website and YT. Nothing yet. The Duncan stacked P-90's are pretty nice already, but I'm always open to different flavors of pickups. Variety with no single coil hum is the spice of life for me.
 
They talked about them and showed examples (without covers) on the recent Premier Guitar visit to SD. Main larger coil sandwiched between two smaller ones.
 
I've seen triple coil pickups in the past from a couple makers, but I'll have to preorder a couple - one for my Dean Leslie West Mountain and one for my Harley Benton Double Cut Fat. - dogear style mounting.
 
They talked about them and showed examples (without covers) on the recent Premier Guitar visit to SD. Main larger coil sandwiched between two smaller ones.

Thanks for posting that! So they are a cross-breed of something like a P-Rail and something like Vox CoAxe pickups. He mentioned you don't lose low end like with a Stack design. Very interesting.
 
Thanks for posting that! So they are a cross-breed of something like a P-Rail and something like Vox CoAxe pickups. He mentioned you don't lose low end like with a Stack design. Very interesting.

OMG, this is so funny! When I discovered the Vox Coaxe, I went kind of crazy with them and went as far calling SD r&d to explain the benefits... I knew there could be patent issues but they outright dismissed it. They said Duncan had all of the noise reduction and multi timber pickups they needed and this wouldn't fit Seymour Duncan customer needs.

Clearly they didn't understand what I was explaining, but I guess the good news is that they finally figured it out :-)

The biggest problem with the Coaxe is it's out of production and people had no clue that Vox had designed something that had introduced an entirely new way to reduce noise.. if this series does what the Coaxe did, it could be an incredible seller. On the other hand they're going to need to make a strong case that this really is different.

I don't think Vox got the Coaxe into enough hands for people to understand that it was truly unique design that yielded remarkable tone and complete noise reduction. If these new pups are anywhere near as good, they should be handing them out to get as much visibility as fast as possible. It would be a true shame if they went the way of the Coaxe
 
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OMG, this is so funny! When I discovered the Vox Coaxe, I went kind of crazy with them and went as far calling SD r&d to explain the benefits... I knew there could be patent issues but they outright dismissed it. They said Duncan had all of the noise reduction and multi timber pickups they needed and this wouldn't fit Seymour Duncan customer needs.

Clearly they didn't understand what I was explaining, but I guess the good news is that they finally figured it out :-)

The biggest problem with the Coaxe is it's out of production and people had no clue that Vox had designed something out of left field.. if this series does what the Coaxe did, it could be an incredible seller. On the other hand they're going to need to make a strong case that this really is different.

I don't think Vox got the Coaxe into enough hands for people to understand that it was truly unique design that yielded remarkable tone and complete noise reduction. If these new pups are anywhere near as good, they should be handing them out to get as much visibility as fast as possible. It would be a true shame if they went the way of the Coaxe

I think they avoided patent issues by having two coils linked in some kind of configuration (series, I suppose?) instead of going all the way around the outside with less turns like the Vox. But, yeah, I need to find a way to get these. The PhatCats were the best sound I ever got out of my Les Paul, but couldn't take the noise. That'll be my next task is: can they fit this under a humbucker cover?
 
In perhaps one of the most extravagant tonal summaries you’ll ever read, the JJN P-90 Silencer is described by its master as “delicate and strong, like a grizzly bear and a paper airplane landing”.

Man, that's right up there with Vai's "thundering cloud of ice cream."
 
I am looking forward to trying these. The noise is why I don't gel with regular P90s, and I don't like regular stacks at all.
 
Mincer Any other news, specs, information (not contained in the article) about these? How does the tech differ from stacks? Would it be possible to fit these in a PhatCat format?

https://www.guitarworld.com/news/seymour-duncan-silencer-p-90

Really cool looking Pickup!

I wonder how it would compare to say, the Mojotone Quiet Coil 90's or the Yamaha quiet filter 90's. I will be getting my hands on Jared James signature p90 bridge pickup soon, which is made for blues music mainly.

Are you getting this set?
 
The JJN isn't sold as a set, only bridge.
The neck P-90 Silencer can be purchased alone or as part of a set of Vintage or Hot, at 9.74k for all neck models.
Vintage bridge = 10.23k.
Hot bridge = 11.76k.
JJN (bridge) = 12.31k. That's even hotter than Hot.
 
Yes, they look very interesting. Since P-90s are my favs, these just might be worth a try, even though I really am not bothered by any regular P-90 hum.
 
Really cool looking Pickup!

I wonder how it would compare to say, the Mojotone Quiet Coil 90's or the Yamaha quiet filter 90's. I will be getting my hands on Jared James signature p90 bridge pickup soon, which is made for blues music mainly.

Are you getting this set?

I'm looking at it. Money is tight for me right now. What I really need is this set in a humbucker cover/profile. My only P-90 guitar at the moment is my Casino, which I kind of don't want to modify. I'd have to get a guitar to put them in, since I just sold my SG Classic. Which is why for me the purchase involves more money than I have available right now.
 
Thanks for posting that! So they are a cross-breed of something like a P-Rail and something like Vox CoAxe pickups. He mentioned you don't lose low end like with a Stack design. Very interesting.

Yes, my first thought was also whether what was learned from designing the P-Rails constituted a departure point for this design.

Hm, good shout re. the Vox ones, forgot about those. They are a tad different in that the coils are concentric, so the inner one is high impedance and the outer one low for hum cancelling and ceramic mags: https://www.planetz.com/vox-coaxe-interview-with-vox-rd/.

The reason stacks sound beefier and darker is because both coils are high impedance, having the same/similar amount of winds, like a regular hb. So to mitigate this, one way of doing it is having additional, smaller 'phantom coils', as it were, which act to cancel the noise but alter the pu timbre less. That's my understanding of it, anyway. So it's, you know, stuff that Les Paul himself was doing since the late 40s :D.
 
curious how they are wired. are the two outside coils in parallel then wired in series with the main coil or ?
 
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