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P90 suggestions?

Bluefinger

New member
Joined
Oct 16, 2006
Messages
912
I am planning to replace the P90s in my Goldtop. The ones I have are pretty hot and aggressive sounding. Which aftermarket P90s would give me a fat punchy that has bite but without any harshness? I play west coast style blues BTW.
Any other mods suggested? 300k pots, different caps, ... ?

thanks!
 

ptrickamp222

New member
Joined
Aug 22, 2007
Messages
879
Call Lindy Fralin and ask him what you are looking for. I use his PAF''s and P-90's. Screamers without the harsh bite. I use stock neck and 10% over bridge on a TV Special/Single Cut. If I did it again I would use a 5% under neck. Didn't listen. Learned the hard way like everything else. The 15% difference would be perfect for the middle position for phase cancel. My 2 Cents.......
 

rockabilly69

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 29, 2001
Messages
2,872
SHED Pickups made by Spencer Mumford. Great vintage P90's, great guy. I also agree about the -5% neck/+10% bridge!
 

Trennasol

Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2002
Messages
895
Also consider Jason Lollar's 50's Wind pups. I don't think they're on his website, but email him. I've got them in my R4 and I'm very happy with them.
 

Goldtop_GAS

Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2007
Messages
57
Also consider Jason Lollar's 50's Wind pups. I don't think they're on his website, but email him. I've got them in my R4 and I'm very happy with them.
+1. I've got them in my R6 and love 'em. As for pots and caps, I've got RS/CTS pots and Luxe Grey Tigers in the same guitar. Also a huge improvement.
 

Bluefinger

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Joined
Oct 16, 2006
Messages
912
Thanks for the suggestions! It seems like Lollars and Fralins are the popular choices.

I'll check them out ...
 

Goldtop_GAS

Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2007
Messages
57
Thanks for the suggestions! It seems like Lollars and Fralins are the popular choices.

I'll check them out ...

I have tried both. Both pickups are good stuff. I think it comes down to what you're looking for in a pickup. The Fralins I had, had stock bridge and 10% under. I found that they sounded somewhat similar to the stock pickups in my stock '58 es-225, which are a bit too hot for my taste. The Lollars 50s wind sounded a bit sweeter than the Fralins. I didn't have the Fralins in the guitar long enough to get them dialed in, so this may not be a fair comparison. The first thing I noticed about the Lollars were the overtones that I had not heard from the guitar with the stock pickups. The Lollars are the "it" pickups for me. These pickups are never going to leave this guitar!

I've got a Historic '54 Black Beauty on the way. If I don't like the stock bridge pickup, I am thinking of sending it to Shed pickups for a rewind..
 

straightblues

Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2004
Messages
954
Be careful of what you get because the Gibson P90's are really shallow and most aftermarkets will require a little bit of routing. It is really minor routing, but many people are afraid of pulling out any wood from their guitar. If I had to do it over again, I would have just sent in the stock pickups for a rewind instead of buying aftermarket pickups.
 

Don

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 1, 2001
Messages
5,732
Call Lindy Fralin and ask him what you are looking for. I use his PAF''s and P-90's. Screamers without the harsh bite. I use stock neck and 10% over bridge on a TV Special/Single Cut. If I did it again I would use a 5% under neck. Didn't listen. Learned the hard way like everything else. The 15% difference would be perfect for the middle position for phase cancel. My 2 Cents.......

You can have Fralin (or anyone who's good with pickups) take some windings off of your neck pickup.
Hell, I took a bunch of windings off of my Fralin Strat pickups myself!
 
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