Humbucker-sized P90s

longjaw · November 2020

So many to choose from on the budget market!

I've had good experiences with Vanson and Artec pick-ups in the past, but see @Alegree has some fine looking examples for sale.

There's also a lot of no-name models out there for less than £25 (which may be the same as the Vanson or Artec ones!).

Anyone have any recommendations for a medium output vintage tone bridge pick-up?

abw1989 · November 2020

I have a set of the Iron Gear Alchemist P90s in a Jazzmaster style guitar that I built which is basically a Les Paul in Jazzmaster clothes.

I find them fantastic, very articulate and can even handle some high gain playing which was a pleasant surprise. A bit of hum on their own but they are single coil so to be expected, they do cancel in the middle position nicely.

Definitely worth a look.

dogload · November 2020

Yes I've got a couple of the Iron Gear ones - one at the neck in an SG and one at the bridge in a Hofner Verythin. Basically I agree with what @abw1989 says. Very nice pickups for what they cost.

Ben_McCarthy · November 2020

I played a bare knuckle Mississippi queen in a @FelineGuitars build and it sounded fantastic

Funkfingers · November 2020

longjaw said:
Anyone have any recommendations for a medium output vintage tone bridge pick-up?

Seymour Duncan Antiquity

Alex335 · November 2020

I have bare knuckles in my ES359 and they've transformed it.. blue note in the neck and nantucket in the bridge.
from muddy and dead sounding with humbuckers to a really dynamic open sounding guitar.
really surprised how much ground they cover..
the neck can get close to strat, and the bridge from tele into PAF territory.

the thing that stands out for me is the dynamic range of these and.. how open they sound

longjaw · November 2020

Would love to try a Bare Knuckles pick-up but the price of them seems to have sky-rocketed since the last time I looked a couple of years ago.

rossi · November 2020

I put a set of Donliss in a Bullet Mustang .Very good .Are there any bad ones?

SteveF · November 2020

I have a set of @OilCityPickups in my PRS at the moment. Mighty 90, Smooth 90 combo. They’re pretty great sounding and fairly unusual looking (in a good way)

ToneControl · November 2020

I had Mississippi Queens
They were lovely
The guitar weighed about the same as 2 Les Pauls though, so had to go in the end

I think all decent P90s in HB size should be good, but there is an issue apparently with the fact that the bobbin is not as wide, so needs some skill to get the best results

boogieman · November 2020

I’ve got an SG fitted with a set of Mojo’s humbucker size P90s. They really nail the Live at Leeds tone which is my go-to reference for a good P90. Not that cheap, but a great set of pickups.

Andy79 · November 2020

Just today I hacked out a space for an Alegree dog ear P90 alnico 2 in a Telecaster. The bridge Humbucker I had sounded awful but this P90 at the neck sounds bloody lovely. A bit dark so bear that in mind but smooth Jazzy all the way up to filth. All for 17 quid

It’s given me new reasons to play the dam thing

The point being, Alegree old Timer pickups are great

joetele · November 2020

I've taken my Affinity Jazzmaster to the local shop to get some Irongear Alchemist HB sized P90s in, really looking forward to hearing the result because it'll be an improvement on the stock HBs for sure. And it'll look much nicer with the chrome pickups.

@rossi I've also got a Bullet Mustang and have been pondering what pickups to put in - how do the P90s sound with the relatively thin body? I was considering going for a proper HB (maybe Irongear Hot Slags) as it's quite a fun guitar for riffs...

p90fool · November 2020

Andy79 said:

Just today I hacked out a space for an Alegree dog ear P90 alnico 2 in a Telecaster. The bridge Humbucker I had sounded awful but this P90 at the neck sounds bloody lovely. A bit dark so bear that in mind but smooth Jazzy all the way up to filth. All for 17 quid

It’s given me new reasons to play the dam thing

The point being, Alegree old Timer pickups are great

I've just put one of these in the bridge position of a Loar archtop and it sounds fantastic.

I don't see much point in spending any more these days to be honest, the spec is right and it works.

menamestom · November 2020

I played a guitar in Sounds Great years ago, the pickups were ace. Nearly bought the guitar, they though they were BKP but turns out they were tonerider rebel 90’s.

TTBZ · November 2020

Not quite a budget option but has anyone tried an Oil City Critical Mass 90? Got a neck Mississippi Queen in my SG which I love and want to try a bridge P90, but their new prices are a bit silly now + think I might benefit from something a bit hotter like the Critical Mass. The oil city ones look great with the black open cover!

Dodge · November 2020

I've had Phat Cats, P94s, GFS Mean 90 and the Tonerider ones.

The nicest sounding were the Toneriders, surprisingly the GFS sounded most like a P90.

I'm sure @OilCityPickups went much closer to proper P90 construction in a HB size, I've never tried them though. Perhaps Ash will send me some for Xmas. ;-)

Rowby1 · November 2020

I have Phat Cats in my Eastman and Oil City Mighty 90s in a Les Paul, both sound great in those guitars, love ‘em!

chillidoggy · November 2020

I bought a pair of Bareknuckle Warpig 90’s for an SG a few years ago. Did exactly what they said on the tin, although I sold it on, and probably shouldn’t have. And I have a set of 3 specially wound Riff Raff’s in my SG Custom, which I like, too.

I don’t think the prices are extortionate for a quality bit of kit, but they’ve certainly risen a bit over the years.

chrisj1602 · November 2020

longjaw said:

Would love to try a Bare Knuckles pick-up but the price of them seems to have sky-rocketed since the last time I looked a couple of years ago.

Just configured an aged Blue Note out of interest, to potentially try in place of my SD Antiquity neck humbucker, £168.. I think I will stick with the SD, which is a very nice sounding pickup to be fair...just like the idea of a HB/P90 combination.

cbilly22 · November 2020

TTBZ said:

Not quite a budget option but has anyone tried an Oil City Critical Mass 90? Got a neck Mississippi Queen in my SG which I love and want to try a bridge P90, but their new prices are a bit silly now + think I might benefit from something a bit hotter like the Critical Mass. The oil city ones look great with the black open cover!

I may be corrected by Ash on this, but I think I had the first one, though it wasn't called that at the time. I fitted it in a Gibson Melody Maker and it sounded utterly fantastic.

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Humbucker-sized P90s

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