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What do think of P13s and Staple pups? Where should they go in a guitar?

guildguy516

New member
Joined
Apr 6, 2016
Messages
11
Hello everyone, I'm new here and I've come here looking for advice on pickup placement and suggestions from people who have more experience and knowledge than I do with Gibson P13 pickups, and staples, for that matter.

I've had a shell of a late 50’s Guild X-175 sitting in my workshop for sometime now (someone who couldn't pay me cash for working on their guitar traded it) and I've finally decided to do something with it. I have no interest restoring it to a 100% original state as I have one identical at home. I have a few 1957 and older hollow bodies and often struggle to be satisfied with versatility - which they lack. Two of them are single pickup iguitars (one bridge, the other a neck) and the other Guild sounds great but it can't bridge the gaps I need it to at a single gig.

We play everything from blues/jump blues, jazz, swing, doowop and rockabilly - pretty much all sorts of early R&B. Usually, I have to bring 2 or 3 guitars out to a show (depending on our set list) so I am going to take advantage of the naked Guild and wire something up that in hopes of it being the solo guitar I need to bring to a gig.
Stuff like this:

[url]https://youtu.be/crDJjrYgdgE?t=62[/URL]

[url]https://youtu.be/OpQuNY3XFI0[/URL]

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR8sxX0GoFo[/URL]

My initial plan is to put a Gibson staple in the bridge to cover the rockabilly and the brighter side of R&B-basically a pickup that likes to stay clean even when pushing the amp. Then, throw a Gibson P13 in the neck position for the bite of blues but can soften up a bit when the tone is rolled down. So the advice I’m looking for is:

I’ve seen a lot of videos where players have a P13 in the bridge (40’s ES-125s) and a few posts I’ve read talked about P13s being too muddy in the neck which makes me hesitant to put it there now (the lap steels had bladed P13s in the bridge). What is your input on putting either of the P13s in the neck vs bridge?

I have two different P13 pickups, one with adjustable pole pieces and one with the straight blade, will these two differ in sound from each other? I can always try them out once the guitar is wired up but just looking for input and advice from the experts before I go and carve apart a poor, innocent Guild.

Thanks in advance, I do appreciate the wisdom you all can share!
 

guildguy516

New member
Joined
Apr 6, 2016
Messages
11
and here is the poor Guild someone dismantled

open
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9-M7ADqWQjDbm5fTzJPZURLTGM
 

smgear

New member
Joined
Jul 15, 2016
Messages
1
Hey, I joined just to find out what you ended up doing and how it turned out. I'm facing the same dilemma. I'm building a guitar to be my roots/blues axe and I'm intending to use a p13 and a supro pickup to cover the bases, but i can't decide which to put where. I could use a soapbar sized roadhouse vistatone for the supro which would let me swap the pickups after installing them, but i'd prefer a full size supro. So i'm debating which way to route it. I'm leaning towards p13 in the bridge and supro in the neck, but conventional wisdom would suggest that the p13 in the neck and supro in the bridge would be more 'traditional' on both counts. Anyways, I'd love to hear what you did. Cheers
 

flatdream

New member
Joined
Mar 29, 2020
Messages
13
For good blues tone I would try a Gold foil in the neck and P90 or staple in the bridge.
The staple will be a bit more clear and bright than the P90
 
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