Pickup suggestions - Twangier than a P90 in a P90 shaped hole

davros

I'm looking for pickups for a build I'm working on. It will have a P90 rout, but looking for something that is more Tele-ish, but maybe a little beefier.

Thoughts so far - your opinions on these or other alternatives I should try.
- Firebird pickups in Mini-hum rings like a LP deluxe.
- P90 with alnico poles - supposedly they sound like a Jazzmaster, I don't know if that's too close to stratty for my liking.
- Lower output P90 or coil-tapped P90

Cheers!

elstoof

Firebirds man

floeighty2

A Dynasonic or is that a bit hot? https://www.mojopickups.co.uk/product/p90-soapbar-dynasonic/

Funkfingers

SHORT ANSWER - Filter'Tron with plastic surround to hide the gaps at each end.

TV Jones builds Trons into P90 soapbar housings but at a premium.

LONGER ANSWER
DiMarzio, Seymour Duncan and Oil City Pickups offer assorted P90-sized humbuckers. 

I reckon that, with a revised lower fibreboard plate, a Telecaster bridge position single coil would fit under a soapbar P90 cover.

Alegree has definitely built a Stratocaster single coil into a humbucker cover.

In theory, it ought to be possible to wind an inner coil to Tele specs, solder the finish end to an eyelet, then continue winding to a hotter P90-ish coil configuration.

One problem is that a Fendery single coil needs to be narrower and taller than a P90 or, say, a Jazzmaster coil.

I shall leave it the pickup builders on this forum to explain how to build such a beast.

RickLucas

If you already have p90s, try alnico v magnets.

TheMarlin

floeighty2 said:

A Dynasonic or is that a bit hot? https://www.mojopickups.co.uk/product/p90-soapbar-dynasonic/

Absolutely this!!!!

davros

I just sold a Gretsch Duo Jet as I couldn't get on with the dynasonics, bridge pickup too thin and spiky, neck pickup too boomy. Sounded lovely together but no amount of messing with the pickup and polepiece heights would give me anything usable.

meltedbuzzbox

I would drop Marc at Mojo a message to see what he can do for you. That way you will get exactly what you want

davros

RickLucas said:

If you already have p90s, try alnico v magnets.

I do like an alnico V, I have Oil City firewatches in a couple of guitars, but not quite twangy enough for this occasion.

I'm after twangy but not thin. Filtertrons might be a possibility, I liked the blacktops I had in an Electromatic Jet, but supposedly they're not very typical for filtertrons, and I've not tried any others. Probably not an easy drop in for a P90 route either.

davros

I could probably fit an actual tele bridge pickup under a P90 cover, glue gun it in there and drill the holes to align. 

p90fool

Either a Gibson P90ST/R, or an Entwistle AL90 with the baseplate removed and the magnets pushed through so they're level. 

https://entwistlepickups.myshopify.com/products/al-90

timmypix

Filtertron is twang central, make it work one way or another!

Corvus

Staple type P90?

Whitecat

Mojo does P90-sized Filtertrons. Do that.  

earwighoney

Boot Strap make neck and bridge Tele pickups for P90 routes, good price for a US wound pickup too.

https://bootstrappickups.com/products/bootstrap-usa-t-90-for-gibson®-p90?variant=12671375048789

Edit - I forgot to mention I have a Mojo Staple Bucker in my Daniels Pugilist. Even though it's a HB, it acts a lot like a Tele Bridge. It's a fantastic pickup.  The other pickup in the guitar is a Firebird, I don't think it is like a fat single coil like some others mention, but YMMV (your mileage may vary).

nacnudnai

Corvus said:

Staple type P90?

Having crammed loads of different pickups into different shaped routes, I would actually say the Staple P90 is the closest I've got to a Broadcaster sound in a non-Telecaster guitar. 

I have a set of Sunbear Staples in a Les Paul Special, and they sound killer. Super clear, ballsy and twangy in the bridge. Doesn't sound much like a P90 to me, which is good because I'm not a huge fan of the P90 sound.

Other suggestions such as Dynas and Filtertrons are also good, but I really do like the Staples.

Corvus

^ I haven't tried a bridge staple yet, that I can remember, but the neck ones seem pretty 'Tele on steroids'. Got that nice clear bottom end. To me that's an essential part of 'twang' and where Firebirds & trons have a softer bottom end. Though you can tighten Filtertrons with boost/eq/preamp a la Setzer.
A more twangy tron-type is the Magnatron, rod mag Filtertrons. TVJ does P90-size versions though to me they're not majorly pretty to look at.

p90fool

Here's my Gibson P90ST, it's pretty Tele-like, not as much midrange as a regular P90. Usually available for about £35 from people who took them out of 2015 models.

lovestrat74

p90fool said:

Here's my Gibson P90ST, it's pretty Tele-like, not as much midrange as a regular P90. Usually available for about £35 from people who took them out of 2015 models.

That sounds great @p90fool ;- great playing too

Are these the ones with fixed slugs?

p90fool

Yes @lovestrat74 ;
The S in P90S is supposed to stand for slug. 

davros

So,
- Firebirds
- Alnico slug P90s
- Dynasonics
- Filtertrons
- Staple P90s

Plenty more things to research now!

But one further question - why are firebirds not what I'm looking for? That was my original thought but open to being educated!