WTB: Vox "Coaxe" P90-Style Pickup(s)

Masta' C

Masta' C

Well-known member
Looking to pick up one or two Vox "Coaxe" P90-style pickups.

Bonus points if you still have the stock pots/wiring to go with.

I know a lot of guys pulled these and replaced them with regular P90s, so there are probably a bunch sitting around in parts drawers, but I haven't seen any come up for sale in a couple months, so figured I'd put some feelers out.

Thanks! :)


PU.jpg
 
Very neat idea. Several different options for output level, all with full noise cancellation, in a single pickup.
Thing is, their voicing doesn't vary much, only the volume. Less versatile than it seemed at first.

Still a cool design though; hum rejection is excellent since the shield coil actually surrounds the core coil.
Very fast response and focused sound. Perhaps a bit wider and looser in their lows than Fender singlecoils.
Overall, a fairly neutral modern character, especially compared to the big vintagey personality of P90s.

I like mine; didn't pull them out of my SSC55. I can see how some would've preferred the P90s.
Especially since P90s are a known quantity - most of us have experience dialing amps in to suit them.
But for me the CoAxe are unique enough that I kept the guitar original.
 
ive not seem many of these for sale actually. cool concept, ive only played them in the vox guitar and they were kinda cool
 
Mincer said:
Not knowing much about these...what's the deal with them?
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Like Eclecticsynergy mentioned, they are very unique in terms of construction and offer multiple voicings with noiseless operation. Really cool option for a "single P90" guitar or as a matched set for lots of switching options!

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Masta' C said:
Like Eclecticsynergy mentioned, they are very unique in terms of construction and offer multiple voicings with noiseless operation. Really cool option for a "single P90" guitar or as a matched set for lots of switching options!

ltccjpr9xnzrncusyiet.jpg
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I see! Pretty strange! I guess I need to try them out.
 
larryguitar said:
People talk about thinking 'out of the box', but it's really rare in the world of guitars and guitar technology. This was an example of actually doing that.

Larry
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Yeah, I wish we would see that more, but many companies are scared to death of innovation, as their revenue stream is based on tradition.
 
I'm hoping the younger generation coming up now doesn't get too hung up on the "tradition" thing. All of these older designs that get marketed as "traditional" were cutting edge back when they were introduced and we've moved well beyond 1950s technology when it comes to materials and production capabilities.

I have specific plans for the CoAxe pickups once I get my hands on them, but I've also got a DiMarzio Fantom P90 in standard humbucker format coming that I'm quite excited to try out.

Phillip McKnight, who is a huge fan of P90s, found that the Fantoms sounded just like his vintage models and was quite impressed by them. Yet, they couldn't be further from a "traditional" P90 in construction...they use 4 small coils in a truly unique configuration and neodymium magnets, but that just goes to show how far we've come. We can recreate and improve on those "traditional" sounds and methods of construction in so many ways!
 
Masta' C said:
I'm hoping the younger generation coming up now doesn't get too hung up on the "tradition" thing. All of these older designs that get marketed as "traditional" were cutting edge back when they were introduced and we've moved well beyond 1950s technology when it comes to materials and production capabilities.
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I agree with this. We are starting to see pretty innovative guitar designs out there, and people thinking outside of the box. I don't like a lot of newer designs, but I am glad they are there.
 
Masta' C said:
I'm hoping the younger generation coming up now doesn't get too hung up on the "tradition" thing. All of these older designs that get marketed as "traditional" were cutting edge back when they were introduced and we've moved well beyond 1950s technology when it comes to materials and production capabilities.
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I hope so too, but it doesn't look like the "out of the box" thinkers are limiting themselves to the realm of guitars right now. lots of great sounds to be found elsewhere.
 
I had a friend some time back that had an SG style VOX guitar with those in it
and it sounded not so much unique but different

nice

he was looking to sell the Guitar but I couldnt value it the same as he did

I will have to check to see if he still has it
but I doubt it right now
 
so youve spent some time with his? the three modes per pup are pretty cool. clean, crunch, and lead. freefrog will enjoy that i know they are 3.1H, 5.3H, and 6.3H :D at least per spec
 
Oh you spent more time than I did just typing that

The neck dive was the thing that caught my attention

I thought the pickups were interesting but he didn't want to part it out
 
jeremy said:
so youve spent some time with his? the three modes per pup are pretty cool. clean, crunch, and lead. freefrog will enjoy that i know they are 3.1H, 5.3H, and 6.3H :D at least per spec
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Those are pretty much perfect inductance values, IMO! Granted, there are a lot of other things to consider, but that suggests versatility.

Annoyingly, they are still available new directly from Vox/Korg, but at full MSRP for non-dealers, which puts them in the range of a lot of "boutique" P90s :/

I'd love to find a gently used set with the factory switches and wiring, but I'd totally settle for just a pickup or two.
 
i havent looked into the switching in detail, im assuming there are maybe two 4pdt switches needed to get all the options
 
jeremy said:
i havent looked into the switching in detail, im assuming there are maybe two 4pdt switches needed to get all the options
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The SDC/SSC "33" series guitars had a single "mode" switch + the pickup selector:

k3vrnnilvixp0io0uol6.jpg


The "55" series and up had separate "mode" switches for each pickup + the pickup selector:

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Pretty cool! Here's an old video showing the concept in action:


At this rate, I'll probably have to buy a used Vox guitar and strip out the pickups/wiring myself!
 
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