What I would imagine is a pretty common swap...

T

thebowl

New member
...I have a Prestige Musician Pro with an SH1-59 and an SH4-JB. It is a wonderful semi-hollow body guitar (great value, I might add), and I am thinking about trying out a pair of SP-90s in it. I'm thinking this has to be a pretty common swap, if not on this particular guitar, on others.

Based on the wiring diagrams, there appears to be clearance in all directions. Does anyone have any experience they can share? Are there brackets/spacers available to fill the voids?
 
Re: What I would imagine is a pretty common swap...

thebowl said:
...I have a Prestige Musician Pro with an SH1-59 and an SH4-JB. It is a wonderful semi-hollow body guitar (great value, I might add), and I am thinking about trying out a pair of SP-90s in it. I'm thinking this has to be a pretty common swap, if not on this particular guitar, on others.

Based on the wiring diagrams, there appears to be clearance in all directions. Does anyone have any experience they can share? Are there brackets/spacers available to fill the voids?
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In general, no because a p90 does not fit in a standard humbucker route without modification. While it can be done, it has to be done PERFECTLY to not have it to where humbuckers cannot be used again. There are specialty rings made for this, though they are often sort of pricey as well. I think most of them would leave holes that would show if you decide to go back to humbuckers.
 
Re: What I would imagine is a pretty common swap...

Thanks. It sounds like the issue is the actual mounting of the pups in the guitar, as opposed to the wiring, which looks to be pretty simple.
 
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Re: What I would imagine is a pretty common swap...

thebowl said:
Thanks. It sounds like the issue is the actual mounting of the pups in the guitar, as opposed to the wiring, which looks to be pretty simple.
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correct. You might want to try a HB sized p90 or similar. I like The Wilde l610 for a noiseless pseudo-p90. Its kind of halfway between p90 and single coil sound but noiseless. (It is part of the custom series on Wilde's pickup page) SD Phat Cats or rio grande's bastard and fat bastard might be options as well that would fit.
 
Re: What I would imagine is a pretty common swap...

Gibson 1964 said:
correct. You might want to try a HB sized p90 or similar. I like The Wilde l610 for a noiseless pseudo-p90. Its kind of halfway between p90 and single coil sound but noiseless. (It is part of the custom series on Wilde's pickup page) SD Phat Cats or rio grande's bastard and fat bastard might be options as well that would fit.
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Thanks again for the advice. I may need to try to Phat Cats.
 
Re: What I would imagine is a pretty common swap...

Gibson 1964 said:
In general, no because a p90 does not fit in a standard humbucker route without modification. While it can be done, it has to be done PERFECTLY to not have it to where humbuckers cannot be used again. There are specialty rings made for this, though they are often sort of pricey as well. I think most of them would leave holes that would show if you decide to go back to humbuckers.
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Isn't the Phat Cat essentially a P90 in a humbucker casing? I could be completely wrong about that.
 
Re: What I would imagine is a pretty common swap...

Mad-Max said:
Isn't the Phat Cat essentially a P90 in a humbucker casing? I could be completely wrong about that.
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They are, but not quite; P-90s are typically A5 magnets whereas Phat Cats are A2. I have a set in my SG Standard and they do a pretty good P-90 sound. However I generally don't like A2s, so I plan to swap them for A4/A5 in the neck and A5/A8 in the bridge which I understand is a rather common mod for them.
 
Re: What I would imagine is a pretty common swap...

dystrust said:
They are, but not quite; P-90s are typically A5 magnets whereas Phat Cats are A2. I have a set in my SG Standard and they do a pretty good P-90 sound. However I generally don't like A2s, so I plan to swap them for A4/A5 in the neck and A5/A8 in the bridge which I understand is a rather common mod for them.
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So a Phat Cat with an A5 is the true version of a P90 in a humbucker casing, Gotcha.
 
Re: What I would imagine is a pretty common swap...

Mad-Max said:
So a Phat Cat with an A5 is the true version of a P90 in a humbucker casing, Gotcha.
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Essentially. P-90s have a pair of magnets located side by side repelling each other, and the originals had a pair of A5s. Having two magnets does provide some extra flexibility in terms of swapping and tone as you can combine the EQ curves of both magnets and also determine how much influence each has by placing it on the neck or bridge side of the pickup.
 
Re: What I would imagine is a pretty common swap...

Mad-Max said:
So a Phat Cat with an A5 is the true version of a P90 in a humbucker casing
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Closer than the with the stock A2's. From what's been said by members, Duncan wanted a HB-sized single coil to retrofit into HB guitars, and wasn't looking to duplicate true P-90's. A lot players assume they'll get the classic Gibson A5 P-90 sound from Phat Cats, but they don't sound like that, nor would it seem that was their intention. Most PU manufacturers since then make their HB-sized single coils sound more like true P-90's.

Phat Cats are odd also in that they don't have screws to hold the baseplate to the bobbin (unlike every other P-90), so the cover holds the whole thing together. They also don't have a separate 3rd wire for ground, which is pretty much standard in the market these days.
 
Re: What I would imagine is a pretty common swap...

I like the Rio Grande Fat Bastard/Bastard set for a P90 that is HB sized.
 
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