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Les Paul Special Bridge P90 Sound/Height

pjisaacs

Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2017
Messages
39
Hi

I have one of those Gibson 'glitches' a Les Paul Special DC from 1962.

Lovely guitar, looks amazing - but I'm finding the bridge pickup increasingly frustrating.

The neck (more like a middle pickup, it's so far back) pickup is wonderful. The bridge pickup has always been for my ears the poor relation, lacking power and very ice pick like.

I played a similar guitar and it had much more of what I expected from a P90, that had the pickup much higher.

Mine had the polepieces almost all the way out of the pickup, screwing them in has got halfway there - for chords the sound is more powerful, but not as strong as I would like. But single notes are still all treble and lacking power.

I'm thinking of shimming the pickup, since it's very low (way over 1/2 inch below the strings) but this will need a luthier since one of the mounting screws is completely fouled Before I do this, does this sound like a too low pickup?

Thanks!
 

latestarter

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 9, 2009
Messages
4,173
Yes it does.

We've talked about using long screws here before but I cannot find the link. You may need those. You can shim yourself - I use hobby balsa wood. Lift that P90 right up...with palm muting going on you want hose pole pieces to be within 3mm of the strings.
 

pjisaacs

Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2017
Messages
39
Yes it does.

We've talked about using long screws here before but I cannot find the link. You may need those. You can shim yourself - I use hobby balsa wood. Lift that P90 right up...with palm muting going on you want hose pole pieces to be within 3mm of the strings.

Thanks - that's given me the confidence!
 

Big Al

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 24, 2002
Messages
14,537
I've used p90's since the late 60's. You must shim the bridge p90. You need to raise the entire pickup and lower the screws so they just barely rise above the cover. The higher the pickup and lower the polepieces the better the tone.
 

renderit

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 19, 2009
Messages
10,951
I've used p90's since the late 60's. You must shim the bridge p90. You need to raise the entire pickup and lower the screws so they just barely rise above the cover. The higher the pickup and lower the polepieces the better the tone.

+127.325!

I always use(d) maple or other hardwood (oak on a few) to shim. That said I'm not 100% sure it makes a difference, it's just what I've always done and I've been happy happy!
 

Big Al

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 24, 2002
Messages
14,537
+127.325!

I always use(d) maple or other hardwood (oak on a few) to shim. That said I'm not 100% sure it makes a difference, it's just what I've always done and I've been happy happy!

Yup. It was a real issue on my Goldtops. A 52 I had just killed every other Les Paul and I found it was partly because of the deep sunk pickups and low neck pitch which had the pickups closer to the strings than later issues. I used two mahogany or maple flat shims under the pickup on each side of the pole piece screws. I wanted the pickups to sit solidly on wood, not just stuck up on a rocking teeter totter. I also used four maple dowels one in each corner of the cavity and that works well too. The big problem was the covers, as they were so shallow they didn't cover the pickup when raised up. I use to modify newer deeper covers to fit better.

With the pickup closer to the strings and the pole pieces more flush with the cove the p90 really fattens up and just sounds perfect!!!! It is night and day and well worth the effort to do.
 

pjisaacs

Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2017
Messages
39
Got the pickups moved today, what a difference!

It's still not as fat as my '60 Junior, but few things in life are!

Thanks for the advice!
 

springhead

Member
Joined
Feb 12, 2016
Messages
262
Glad you got it sorted - we'll have to do that comparison now!

I think the Juniors tend to have more balls partly due to the lack of neck pickup route. Single vs Double cut makes less of a difference, at least in examples I've been able to compare.
 
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