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1959 Melody Maker P90 Conversion

DANELECTRO

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 24, 2003
Messages
6,318
This is something I've had on my list of things to do and I finally got around to it. I picked up this 1959 Melody Maker from a fellow forum member back in the fall. Its a great playing guitar, however the stock pickup just didn't cut it. I wanted a P90 in it, however a standard P90 will not fit and however routing was out of the question. Jason Lollar makes a P90 with a narrow baseplate that fits within the cavity of the Melody Maker. I've had regular Lollar P90s before so I knew the pickup would sound great, however I wasn't crazy about the looks of its open bobbin design. I was pretty sure that I could adapt a P90 cover to it, so I went ahead and ordered the pickup. As it turns out, the pickup fits inside a standard P90 cover just fine, although the polepiece spacing is wider on the Lollar. Anyway, here's a pictorial of the installation:

Guitar before mods
GibsonMelodyMaker59004800.jpg


I didn't want to modify the original pickguard, so I made a new one. I had cut the outer profile prior to receiving the pickup in the mail, so I didn't cut the hole for the pickup until I was sure what size to make it.
GibsonMelodyMaker59wLollarpup12.jpg


Lollar P90 and a '60's vintage P90 cover.
GibsonMelodyMaker59wLollarpup.jpg


I elongated the outer holes to accommodate the wider polepiece spacing of the Lollar
GibsonMelodyMaker59wLollarpup13.jpg



Cutout is laid out for routing.
GibsonMelodyMaker59wLollarpup1.jpg


This is a fixture I made to rout the cutout
GibsonMelodyMaker59.jpg


Cutout routed. Note that I countersunk the pickup mounting screws for a flush mount because the P90 cover partially overlaps the screws.
GibsonMelodyMaker59wLollarpup3.jpg


The cover was too tall to fit under the strings. I determined what height the pickup would be, then cut the cover down to match the height of the pickup bobbin above the pickguard (an unmodified cover is in the back)
GibsonMelodyMaker59wLollarpup5.jpg


Lollar P90 resting in the cavity
GibsonMelodyMaker59wLollarpup2.jpg


Pickup mounted in the guard. I used 6-32 flathead machine screws which have a hex drive for an Allen wrench. Even though the cover partially covers the screws, I can still get to the drive to adjust the height if necessary.
GibsonMelodyMaker59wLollarpup4.jpg
 

DANELECTRO

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 24, 2003
Messages
6,318
I considered drilling a pair of mounting holes into the pickup bobbin, but instead opted for the easy solution; doubleback tape on the bobbin
GibsonMelodyMaker59wLollarpup6.jpg


Pickguard wired and ready for installation
GibsonMelodyMaker59wLollarpup7.jpg


Guard installed on the guitar
GibsonMelodyMaker59wLollarpup9.jpg


GibsonMelodyMaker59wLollarpup10.jpg


GibsonMelodyMaker59wLollarpup8.jpg
 

DANELECTRO

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 24, 2003
Messages
6,318
I guess I forgot to mention how it sounds. As expected, GREAT! Jason's website specs the pickup at 8.4K, however this one came in a little hotter at 9K. A-Bing the MM against my '57 Junior, they're very similar, with the Junior being just a little darker sounding. I've compared my '57 with other vintage Juniors in the past and its always had a darker tone than others. To my ears, the Lollar sounds pretty much typical of an average 50's Junior. It picks up 60 Hz hum just like a vintage P90, although its much less susceptible to microphonic feedback with high gain. All in all, I think it sounds great. I've been taking my Junior out to gigs lately and I've been a little nervous about it. I believe the MM is going to become my new gig-buddy.

GibsonMelodyMaker59wLollarpup11.jpg
 

latestarter

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 9, 2009
Messages
4,173
Very nice work - I really appreciate it when people take the the time to post the photo's and descriptions of the work done. Thank you!
 

Jim Jones

New member
Joined
Jan 5, 2006
Messages
500
Looks great! Whenever you have time for a quick Youtube vid fire it up! :)
 
L

loufed52

Guest
Great job.

Looks great, likely sounds even better.

I've wanted to do one of these for a while.
 

oldflame

Active member
Joined
Jan 11, 2004
Messages
1,142
The MM looks great Dano. Neat and tidy work.

As a matter of interest, had you already done the measurements to try and fit an original P90 and then decided against it because of the non-original outcome?

It's just that I too have a 59 MM and want to fit a P90 and I'm still stuck on using an original P90 with either a shaved down Dog-Ear cover or the SG/Firebird type cover like you went with. I really prefer the dog-ear look.

considering all that, using an original P90 with a shaved down dog-ear set up, do you have any idea how much routing you would needed to have done to get the pole pieces an 1/8" below the strings on both sides of the pickup plus the additional routing needed for the width of an original P90. I'm just worried about digging my way through the bottom of the guitar. It's all guess work this end at the moment.

Thanks
 

JR.Deluxe

New member
Joined
May 4, 2003
Messages
570
I guess I forgot to mention how it sounds. As expected, GREAT! Jason's website specs the pickup at 8.4K, however this one came in a little hotter at 9K. A-Bing the MM against my '57 Junior, they're very similar, with the Junior being just a little darker sounding. I've compared my '57 with other vintage Juniors in the past and its always had a darker tone than others. To my ears, the Lollar sounds pretty much typical of an average 50's Junior. It picks up 60 Hz hum just like a vintage P90, although its much less susceptible to microphonic feedback with high gain. All in all, I think it sounds great. I've been taking my Junior out to gigs lately and I've been a little nervous about it. I believe the MM is going to become my new gig-buddy.

Yes its an oooooold thread. But it is the exact thing i was going to say.
Melody Makers RULE!
 

Tom Wittrock

Les Paul Forum Co-Owner
Joined
Aug 2, 2001
Messages
42,567
I've heard that the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop has a nice replacement for the 59 [larger] Melody Maker pickup. :)
 

JR.Deluxe

New member
Joined
May 4, 2003
Messages
570
I've heard that the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop has a nice replacement for the 59 [larger] Melody Maker pickup. :)

Its hard to imagine that a smaller seymour pickup in the stock size would be as transformative in changing the MM into a Junior as the Lollar does. But if the stock look is more important than sound then the seymour would be cool. Based on my recent experience im abouut to swap out a seymour antiquity dogear for a lollar in my 2003 gib usa jr. I think the lollar p90 just sounds bigger. The antiquity does sound good though. Its been in this guitar for a decade and a half.
 

JR.Deluxe

New member
Joined
May 4, 2003
Messages
570
Don't forget to add more wood to the back. :ganz
Its true that the sound is not as deep. But you would be suprised how full the sound is. I had a seymour quarter pounder in the MM previous. It still sounded thin. The Lollar fattened up the sound . Im going to try one in my 71 deluxe.
 

toneville

New member
Joined
Apr 3, 2019
Messages
20
Great job done in a smart way. The neck and fingerboard of these early MM are a joy but as you said the pickup doesn't do it justice. I wish I had thought of this when I had one.
 
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