Who makes the best P90's?

Duppy03

I've got a project build that has two Tonerider P90's. I really like the guitar overall but it can't quite stand up to my Jazzmaster with Curtis Novaks.

So i'm looking to upgrade from the Toneriders. Who makes great P90's? I see Bareknuckle get a fair bit of love round here. Any others I should look up? Mojo? Shed?

meltedbuzzbox

Mojo beyond doubt

richardhomer

P90s.... Forgive me - I'm a pedant.

Dave_Mc

^ P-90s



>:D<

benecol

So far in my experience (also numbering Bareknuckle, SD and Zhangbucker): Gibson.

Philly_Q

I've got so many guitars with P-90s, I feel a bit embarrassed that I haven't tried many replacements.

The stock Gibson ones sound pretty decent to me, to be honest. I haven't felt a strong urge to change them.

I've tried Duncans on a Hamer Special, they were a bit harsh but my memory may be deceiving me.  And I've got a Bare Knuckle BKP-91 but I wouldn't say it's vastly better than the Gibsons.

Just don't buy P-100s.

KKJale

P90-wise I think Lindy Fralin nails something very special. 

I'm not so sure Lollar does, and I like his S and T stuff a lot. 

MikkiMcMurderer

Monty's guitars do great pickups

impmann

Mojo.

I have three P90'd Gibson guitars and the pickup Marc made me for my Lap Steel is head and shoulders above the tone of the Gibson units IMHO.

I think the UK is producing the finest pickups in the world right now.

blueskunk

richardhomer;354124" said:

P90s.... Forgive me - I'm a pedant.

Yorn

JohnPerry

KKJale said:

P90-wise I think Lindy Fralin nails something very special. 

I'm not so sure Lollar does, and I like his S and T stuff a lot. 

Jason Lollar made his name from his P90s IIRC. I have some in a LP Special and they are fantastic, marginally nicer than the Bare Knuckles I have in another LP Special which is identical bar the colour. I have some Fralin P92s in LP Standard are they are nice enough without sounding very special to me. That said, I am a huge fan of Marc at Mojo and having bought a couple of sets of his pickups i doubt I'll buy further Lollars or Fralins at twice the price

tbm

P90s are my favoutie pup. Not played Mojo or Fralins. Have tried Wilkinson, Lollars, Seymore Duncan, Gibsons, Oil Citys and Epiphones own ones.

Not great - SD and Epiphone. Someone has alreay said that the SD were a bit harsh. I found them truely awfully harsh with no body. The Epiphones were the opposite, really really loud and really really dull.

Good - Loller, Wilkinson. In fact the Wilkinsons are really great becuase they are nice sounding pups, and they are cheap as chips! The Lollars were very nice as well, but IMO they don't represent great value for money.

Really good - Gibson, Oil City. Bog standard Gibson P90s are fantastic pickups becuase they sound exactly like P90s should. I've a set of Oil City Firewatch P90s on an Epiphone Casino and they completely transformed that guitar. Body and bite in spades. Insanely great sounding P90s that are insanely great value for money.

jd0272

I find my SD Antiquity a nicely balanced pickup. I wouldn't say harsh, maybe gnarley, but we play ummph stuff anyway. Certainly nicer than the CS P-90 to my ears, but then, I found nothing really wrong with that stock unit either. I find the SD 'broader', if that makes any sense?

Ultimately, the signal has still go to get through the effects (if used), to the amp, to the speaker, perhaps to the PA via all manner of quality of cables and gubbins anyway. 

p90fool

We all have our favourite brands, but bear in mind that with P-90s seemingly more than most other pickups, the distance between the bridge saddles and the polepieces is critical.

You really need to bear this in mind when choosing the characteristics of replacement pickups.

The difference between aggressively bright and an almost Stratty bridge-and-middle tone is about 8mm in my experience.


I like a softer early 50s Gibson or Lollar if the pickup is tight to the bridge, but even a cheap overwound ceramic can be the perfect choice if the pickup is a lot further away.

Sorry to throw another curveball in there!

samzadgan

i have one guitar with Gibson P90's and another with SD P90's...by comparison the gibson ones are much more lively and raw...its what you would expect from a P90...so my vote on my limited experience goes to Gibson.

mattacjones

Had a pair from wizard pickups, so did a mate. Thought they were excellent. Good price too.

Duppy03

@p90fool that makes perfect sense and something I've been overlooking. Anyone know the distance from wraparound bridge to pole pieces on 50's Les Paul Junior?

johnswiss

My favourite is a bk mississippi queen neck pup in my 76 tele. Its humbucker size though.

knuckleberryfinn

Another vote for Mojo.  Brilliant pickups at a good price.

breakstuff

blueskunk said:

richardhomer;354124" said:

P90s.... Forgive me - I'm a pedant.

Yorn

Yawn,surely?    >:D<

OilCityPickups

I do Alnico 4 for pickups near the bridge ... or even alnico 3. Alnico 5 for ones further away ...
Simples ... Squeak.