What is the best P90 guitar?

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PhilKing said:

I'm a big P-90 fan obsessive and have a lot of guitars with P-90's...Here's a picture of some of my P-90 guitars:

Only SOME of?!  I've FTFY above Phil :-)

AK99

CavemanGrogg said:

For me what puts the SG Jnr below the LP Jnr is two things, ergomomics, SG's have the whole neck dive and balane on a strap issue, and to me at least, the SG Jnr doesn't sound as meaty and gritty as the LP Jnr.  The funny thing is, I actually like the look of the SG Jnr much more than I do the LP Jnr

I'm pretty much on the same page - love the look of the SG Jnr, but with the difference in how the mass is distributed have to accept it's realistically never going to handle like its brother. 


I suspect deep down if I ever woke up to the fact, the LPJ I've already got is probably the perfect guitar for me

edit - since we're on the subject of p90 equipped stuff at the moment anyway..

- Apart from the obvious - Is there much difference between the LP Juniors and Specials ? If, you stick the Special onto the bridge pickup, is there any difference between it and a Junior ?

ICBM

AK99 said:

- Apart from the obvious - Is there much difference between the LP Juniors and Specials ? If, you stick the Special onto the bridge pickup, is there any difference between it and a Junior ?

Yes, although the reasons for it are subject to debate... but basically there are three:

Wood removal for the neck pickup on the Special
Magnetic pull of the neck pickup on the strings on the Special
Different pickup mounting - screwed hard down on the Junior vs springs/foam on the Special

Having owned both at the same time - original '57 ones no less, when these weren't worth the sort of money they are today - the Junior had a more powerful, aggressive sound than the Special on the bridge pickup.

Philly_Q

AK99 said:

I'm pretty much on the same page - love the look of the SG Jnr, but with the difference in how the mass is distributed have to accept it's realistically never going to handle like its brother. 

Interesting in that comparison that the SG is only slightly longer, top to tail, than the LP.  It feels like more - there's such a vast expanse of empty body-top below the bridge on the SG, and the neck feels really long.

ICBM

Philly_Q said:

Interesting in that comparison that the SG is only slightly longer, top to tail, than the LP.  It feels like more - there's such a vast expanse of empty body-top below the bridge on the SG, and the neck feels really long.

It does. But it does show clearly that the causes of the neck dive are the position of the front strap button (on a strap) and the waist (sitting down). The whole playing area is shifted several inches to the left compared to the Les Paul.

AK99

ICBM said:

Having owned both at the same time - original '57 ones no less, when these weren't worth the sort of money they are today - the Junior had a more powerful, aggressive sound than the Special on the bridge pickup.

That snarly aggressive sound is why I'm so taken with the Junior. I should probably park thoughts of that TV Yellow Special indefinitely.. 

TTBZ

How do LP Specials/Juniors balance on a strap? Never seem to see people moaning about neck heaviness on them but the body shape and strap button is very similar to an SG. Or does the extra weight from the thicker body counter it better?

Edit - doublecuts that is!

AK99

The LP Jnr is fine on a strap - there's more total body area, which means the CoG isn't as far forward as on the SG, and it doesn't want to nose-dive the whole time.

Philly_Q

TTBZ said:

How do LP Specials/Juniors balance on a strap? Never seem to see people moaning about neck heaviness on them but the body shape and strap button is very similar to an SG. Or does the extra weight from the thicker body counter it better?

Since you asked, I had to go and try it out!

My doublecut LP Junior, which has the strap button in the usual place behind the neck joint.... is neck heavy, just like an SG. 

It is extremely lightweight, maybe if the body was a little heavier it would help.  Moving the strap button to the upper horn might help also.  The tuners are little white-button Klusons so they're not adding a lot of weight at the headstock.

musicegbdf

FastEddie said:

Martyn Booth Special is my P90 guitar. I had a LP with P90's but it was nowt compared to the MB.
They come at a price new and are hard to find second hand. 

If one does come up then I'd recommend it.
My one has the BK Martyn Booth pups.

Ditto. He knows how to make a guitar sing. Not exciting to look at , but can really feel it. 
Mine is no 83 from 2009 in red.

NelsonP

Say it quietly. I REALLY like my 2019 Gibson LP tribute DC jr

RaymondLin

Say it even more quietly, I really like my LP Jr knock off by PRS.

p90fool

NelsonP said:

Say it quietly. I REALLY like my 2019 Gibson LP tribute DC jr

I came so close to buying one of those but an SG Special turned up cheap, but I still love the look of those, despite usually being a traditionalist. 

TTBZ

RaymondLin said:

Say it even more quietly, I really my LP Jr knock off by PRS.

Love these, they're one of the coolest looking PRS for sure! Did you have to route anything out to fit the tone control in?

RaymondLin

TTBZ said:

RaymondLin said:

Say it even more quietly, I really my LP Jr knock off by PRS.

Love these, they're one of the coolest looking PRS for sure! Did you have to route anything out to fit the tone control in?

No routing, there is just enough space for 2 pots underneath.  It's a rectangular-shaped cavity, more space than required for just 1 pot so just fine with 2.

HAL9000

From the YouTube demos, the P90 version of the Yamaha Revstar seems to sound pretty excellent. I know it’s difficult to really tell from a YT video but it looks to be better than I’d expect from a £600ish guitar.

menamestom

HAL9000 said:

From the YouTube demos, the P90 version of the Yamaha Revstar seems to sound pretty excellent. I know it’s difficult to really tell from a YT video but it looks to be better than I’d expect from a £600ish guitar.

I do fancy trying one.  They are supposed to have slim necks that put me off a little, but I'd like to try one and decide myself.

menamestom

RaymondLin said:

Say it even more quietly, I really my LP Jr knock off by PRS.

That's nice.  Pity PRS don't do any P90 guitars at the moment.

BowynMadley

After recently picking one up I can't recommend daniels guitars stuff. He mainly doesn't vintage accurate but also stuff with a twist. At a glance mine looks like a 56 les paul  junior but with a different headstock. However it has done modern twists which make it infinitely more playable. 

Philly_Q

BowynMadley said:

After recently picking one up I can't recommend daniels guitars stuff. He mainly doesn't vintage accurate but also stuff with a twist. At a glance mine looks like a 56 les paul  junior but with a different headstock. However it has done modern twists which make it infinitely more playable. 

I'm assuming you meant you can recommend it!