P90s on a budget

Adam_MD

I'm terribly missing p90s in my life after selling my SG a few years ago. I loved the pickups and just couldn't bond with the guitar. My gas fund should have a small injection in the next week or so and I'm trying to decide what I should be looking at.
My budget will be around £300 tops so I'm looking second hand. The main two Ive been looking at are an Epi 56 goldtop and the fender mp thinline deluxe tele
http://www.epiphone.com/Products/Les-Paul/Les-Paul-1956-Goldtop.aspx
http://www.fender.com/en-GB/series/modern-player/modern-player-telecaster-thinline-deluxe-maple-fingerboard-3-color-sunburst/

I've played loads of epi les Pauls but never one with p90s. I played the Fender yesterday in a local store and really liked it, the pickups were surprisingly decent through the blues deluxe I was using in the store.

Anything else I should be looking at that I can pick up for under 300 used?

ThePrettyDamned

Yamaha 611. Bloody brilliant, with neck p90.

You could probably get a used gibbo for that money...

Rich

That Modern Player Tele is really good for the price. There's also an MP Jaguar with P90s, but I don't think it can do as much as the Tele.

I'd also recommend seeing if you can find one of the Blacktop Jaguars for that price. Played one of them briefly, and it was awesome. Felt better quality than the MP Jag, but not the Tele. One went for £280 on eBay recently.

Also, you could try holding out for a Fender Jim Adkins Tele, maybe. They're very nice. There's one on eBay at the moment (not mine, or anything to do with me), and I reckon it'll come in around £300.

Finally, I saw that a Black Dove Tele went for £300 the other week, although they come up pretty infrequently.

Oh yes, and for about £150 you could probably get one of the Vintage V100 gold tops. If you get a good one, I reckon they give the Epiphones a run for their money.

p90fool

£300 quid? Just get a handful of P90s and some nails!

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/9016/p1010034mz.jpg

Seriously, though, those Epis sound very nice, with none of the muddiness associated with their humbucker LPs, and they make a pretty good upgrade platform when you feel the need for better electrics.

GuitarMonkey

There was a run a few years ago of the Epiphone 56 Les Paul with solid mahogany backs. The ones I have played sounded very good indeed.

OilCityPickups

Steer clear of the Squiers that use the 'Duncan Designed' P90s (unless you plan on a pickup upgrade) ... I have a Tele that was originally fitted with those and they really were characterless hunks of 'trash can fodder'.

crunchman

I have the Modern Player Tele.  It's absolutely brilliant for the price.  I'm just as happy playing that as my US or Japanese built guitars.

JayGee

PRS SE Soapbar. I've got the "Singlecut" version and it's an absolute peach...

geepers0677

I have something similar to this in a natural gloss finish - awesome guitar for the money - has the G&L version of the P90, sounds beauuuutiful.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/G-L-Tribute-Asat-Special-Guitar-/300964495688?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4612e1c148

spaceman_inorbit

I've got a Washburn P290 thats surplus to requirements.

shuikit

I also really liked the MP tele thinline with the P90s.  Was really impressed when I tried one and almost walked out of Dawsons with it and probably would have done if the salesman hadn't been so pushy!

Adam_MD

That's for the suggestions. It was in dawsons in Belfast i tried the modern player. Unlike Shuikits experience i found it difficult to get a salesman interested in helping me at all. They had 4 guys on and 3 of them were helping 1 customer to buy a Roland cube.

I think I'm leaning towards the Epi at the minute I quite fancy another goldtop, this time with p90s and dare I say it a Bigsby using a vibramate :-)

ThePrettyDamned

Just had a search, and I reckon you could get a les paul junior for that money used, but you'd need patience.

Epi do some semi hollows that are very nice, too. Especially if you're interested in Wang bar work.

EricTheWeary

JayGee said:

PRS SE Soapbar. I've got the "Singlecut" version and it's an absolute peach...

I have looked at those from time to time and been a bit shocked by the rough old planks used for the board on some. However, the good ones are just total bargains - a friend of mine uses his interchangeably with a guitar that cost ten times as much. Guitarist did a long term test on a PRS SE One fitted out with a Bare Knuckle P90 which, IIRC, was a much loved thing.

Adam_MD

I had a tremonti se for a while and really liked it but it was just too damn light.  I prefer something with a bit of weight.

EricTheWeary

Adam_MD said:

 I prefer something with a bit of weight.

Oddly enough, one of my favourite chat up lines.
X_X

blueskunk

Vintage av6. Amazing guitar with well good p90s

Adam_MD

I've honestly never played a vintage I liked. I was intrigued when the av6 came out but wasn't very impressed when I tried one. In fairness though I didn't like the shop I tried it in either. They tended to take guitars out of the boxes when they arrived and put them straight out without any kind of setup being done. That shops now closed.

Edit
Just realised it was an AV3 I played and didn't like, not the AV6.

guitarfishbay

Look for a Godin LG SP 90.

It is the P90 guitar I had and it cost me £300 s/h about 7 years ago.  No idea what they go for now, I sold mine on at the same price 2 or 3 years ago and that was still the going rate then.  Mine was 24 frets, mahogany body, bolt on mahogany neck and rosewood board.  Pretty weighty guitar that looked like a cross between a Tele and Les Paul.  They eventually did 22 fret models and maple topped models too IIRC, but I never tried those.

They have proper duncan P90s which are ceramic and super loud, especially the bridge.  But changing magnets on them is seriously easy, you just slide them out and slide different ones in.  Personally I really loved the bridge pickup despite usually hating high output bridge pickups, the neck was a bit muddy but much better with A5 magnets in.  Definitely worth a look, mine felt much sturdier than the SE P90 guitar I compared it to in the store.

Bucket

I once picked up a PRS SE Soapbar for £160.

Should not have sold that. Should. Not. Have. Fucking. Sold. That. Guitar. You. Stupid. Boy.

Chuffola

Dawsons in Belfast have an Epi Riviera with 3 P90s that looks superb and has a Bigsby - or they did last time I was in. Think it was around £350. Very versatile, I'd imagine, but maybe a bit light since its effectively a Dot.

I played that MP Tele too and it was very nice.  Again, very versatile.