Tell me about P90s

DiscoStu

Lovely things. My Yamaha SA503 TVL has 3 P90s in it - yes, 3! - and sounds lush.
I put a Bare Knuckle P91 in the neck of my Mirrortop self-build and a Seymour Duncan P-Rails in the bridge of my Godin Exit-22.

DiscoStu

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shaunm

Rowby1 said:

Anyone any thoughts on P90s in a hollow or semi btw?

Yes indeed, a fantastic combination this is what my Epiphone Sheraton with Mississippi Queens sounded like this week in the studio through an MJW 18 watt Tweed. 

P90's are in my opinion the best pickups available. Like a clear less middy Humbucker or a really fat and chunky single coil. They work brilliantly in my LP and my semi. 

Rowby1

@shaunm That sounds great, mind you, an MJW helps 

shaunm

@Rowby1 as a fellow MJW fan I thought you'd appreciate that. 

In all honesty P90's are my favourite pickup. I use Oil City in my LP and they are brilliant, highly recommended.

Chalky

I must have a dozen with P90s in them and there isn't a bad one amongst them. The only thing I'd suggest is clean sounds tend to be better with low wind P90s, while overdriven sounds better with hot P90s, and the lack of easy height adjustment on a dogear mount can spoil a good guitar.

armitaan

I find more and more if I want a blues blues/rock tone from a single cut type guitar I reach for my guitar with Arcane p90s rather than something with humbuckers, so easy to get all the tones you need. For anything other than metal reckon id go with p90s now in a les Paul - type 

meltedbuzzbox

I don't get why people moan about hum, if you are playing the guitar you don't hear it and if you stop you can use the volume dial to get rid of it

Bridgehouse

What sort of output do modern p90s have? The two in my '62 LP Special are 8.2 and 8.6

Chalky

7k is very low and I think my hottest are about 12k or more on the bridge.

Rowby1

@meltedbuzzbox  I'm used to a Tele so I doubt I'll find it an issue and yes, quite right, that's another thing the volume control is there for.

TTBZ

Bridgehouse said:

What sort of output do modern p90s have? The two in my '62 LP Special are 8.2 and 8.6

My Bare Knuckle Pig 90 was about 20k  think that's an exception rather than the rule though haha. Was an absolute tank of a pickup!

Bridgehouse

TTBZ said:

Bridgehouse said:

What sort of output do modern p90s have? The two in my '62 LP Special are 8.2 and 8.6

My Bare Knuckle Pig 90 was about 20k  think that's an exception rather than the rule though haha. Was an absolute tank of a pickup!

I'm not sure I'd want these to be any hotter - great balance and nice cleans. 20k sounds like you'd hear them through the amp with the cable an inch from the socket!

Danielsguitars

I think the mojo bridge was something like 8.2 or 8.4
Neck 7 ish I think

Sounds good to me

Aidanspaghetti

Used to have a PRS Soapie McCarty that sounded fantastic. Great pickups.

olafgarten

Please excuse the hijack but does anyone have experience with Stacked P90's, I have some in my new guitar but I don't know how they compare to normal ones. 

My guitar has the Wilkinson Stacked ones and while they do sound really good, I don't want to be missing out. 

stimpsonslostson

olafgarten said:

Please excuse the hijack but does anyone have experience with Stacked P90's, I have some in my new guitar but I don't know how they compare to normal ones. 

My guitar has the Wilkinson Stacked ones and while they do sound really good, I don't want to be missing out. 

Doesn't sound like you're missing out at all. 

Chalky

olafgarten said:

Please excuse the hijack but does anyone have experience with Stacked P90's, I have some in my new guitar but I don't know how they compare to normal ones. 

My guitar has the Wilkinson Stacked ones and while they do sound really good, I don't want to be missing out. 

They can usually be coil tapped to get lower wind output, though this feature is not used in many of the Vintage brand guitars in which they are installed! Try it and see if you like it.