Daniel Sorbera Posted December 16, 2004 Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 (edited) ok AS most of you know I am building a semi hollow guitar. I was wondering how yall think a P-90 would stack up compared to a humbucker. Which one do you think would work better in a hollowbody? and how do you mount the P-90? thers no mounting tabs for screws or anything. Edited January 11, 2005 by Godin SD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeR Posted December 16, 2004 Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 (edited) The P90s that I had in my SG were directly mounted to the body- the pickup actually screws straight into the body (on the front of a P90, there are 8 screws- 6 for the strings, and 2 to secure the pickup to the instrument). P90s are noted for their great tone- however, they can be a noisy pickup- especially if you use a dirty tone, effects, etc. Added to a semi may amplify the problem- my aria was a semi (PAF equiped) and it was a very noisy guitar- feedback like no tomorrow. I think P90s would have added more noise. I have heard mixed reviews about the humbucking P90s- most people seem to say that some of the majic is taken away. However, I urge you to stay away from the Semour Duncan 'Hot' Soapbar. It is a horrible pickup. It is an overwound coil on a ceramic magnet. The result is a pickup that sounds scratchy on a clean channel, but not enough drive to make a great distorted tone. It was the biggest waste of money I have ever spent. Luke EDIT- PAFs are my favorite pickup- I would check out a humbucker with Alnico magnets (I preff alnico 2), with a DC resistance less than 7. You could, of course, consider winding your own... Edited December 16, 2004 by LukeR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted December 17, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 ok lets say noise is absalutly no issue(because I know how to shield so thers NO noise, I have a guitar with singles and a humbucker and now I cant tell any difference in noise when I switch beteween the two) And I would be getting the seymour duncan Vintage P-90 Soapbar. Also my hollow body has a block down the center that the pickup is screwed into so there should be no feedback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 Definitely go for the P90s...but then I'm partial to single coils, I like the bite they give I replaced the (tame, jazzy ho hum) humbuckers in my Samick Royale with P90s from GFS (humbucker form factor and real nice design)...much better! I have no noise issues with this guitar (it has a center block), and I did nothing special with shielding...but then I don't use pedals and I keep my amp reasonably low. No feedback problems at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kings_x Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 I built a semi-hallow with P-90s and it sounds great. Great clean tone and a decent distorted (but it wasn't intended for that type of play). I have another one in the works. My P-90s didn't come with mounting screws and it took me forever to find the right sized screws. mdr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 How could anyone possibly give you a recommend without asking what kind of music you intend to play on that guitar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeR Posted December 19, 2004 Report Share Posted December 19, 2004 Yes, sorry Drak, you are 100% right. My opinions were based on my rock, heavy rock, blues and jazz type playing. Both P90s and PAFs suit me well for my type of playing, but Godin, could you please give us an idea what stlyes you plan to play in? Also, I dont mean to flame you or anything, but i do believe that noise may still be a prob with P90s- in my experience, they were alot noisier than the single coils in my strat, and that was after a lot of differnt shielding techniques, insulation, potting, shiedling tape... you name it, i tried it. The hot soapbar was the worse by far, but the other P90s were still VERY noisy. Jason Lollar makes great P90 replacements- it may be worth checking his stuff out. Luke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted December 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2004 sorry guys i've been gone for a whille. I'm also stupid and forgot to pu in what kind of music I play I plan (on this guitar) to play jazzy bluesy kinda stuff. O and about the noise, I just really dont care about noise. If its not loud enough to make my ears bleed I dont care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeR Posted December 19, 2004 Report Share Posted December 19, 2004 Hahaha, cool I am afraid now its up to you... Both pickups have pluses and minuses. If you REALLY dont mind the noise, then I would go for the P90s. Have you checked out the Seymour Duncan sound samples? They are great pickups, P90s- very underrated IMHO. I would go for it if i were you! Please tell us how you go, Good luck with it all, Luke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted December 19, 2004 Report Share Posted December 19, 2004 Well, what kind of jazz and blues are you playing right now? Both fields are quite wide, a few examples would help. This is what I mean: I think you're about 16 or 17? Most of the blues OR jazz guys who used P-90's, I sort of doubt you've ever even listened to the majority of them, so I kinda doubt you really know what a P-90 sounds like in a blues or jazz setting (unless you've played one in a guitar store). And in that case, I would recommend -against- you putting them in your guitar. P-90's are usually an acquired taste, and I doubt you've been playing or listening to blues and/or jazz long enough to acquire the taste. I'm not downing you, I'm trying to help you avoid putting something in your guitar you don't want. The way I see it, P-90's are probably sort of like a shopping cart item for you, you just see it as sort of an exotic option for your guitar. Am I getting warm yet? And as I've said a million times, keep your first guitar easy and straightforward, which would mean NOT using something like a P-90 in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted December 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2004 ok this might sound weird but I dont really listen to any jazz or blues And I just kinda play my own stuff. But it does have that mellow smooth overdriven jazzy type of sound to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted December 19, 2004 Report Share Posted December 19, 2004 ok this might sound weird but I dont really listen to any jazz or blues huh.gif And I just kinda play my own stuff. That's not weird at all, it's actually quite normal for someone your age. And that's fine, but P-90's are neither mellow or smooth, usually they are quite the opposite, brash and raw. They can be sweet under the right circumstances tho. And I'll second the Jason Lollar recommend. Jason is a top-notch guy, AND he started out as a custom guitar builder, and a -very- good one at that. They can be tamed for jazz, but not the way you're thinking. If you want some sort of jazzy thing, consider either a SD Jazz neck, or a mini-humbucker. Both of those are more what you're describing. Personally, I would recommend a dual HB setup on the guitar and use the SD neck Jazz, so you can swap it out with other things and do some experimenting later on. Routing for a P-90 is driving yourself into a corner. And a corner you may not like at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted December 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2004 (edited) ok thanks a lot. I think I decided on a jazz in the neck and some sort of PAF in the bridge. (o and thank you for not acting like i'm a total idiot, and your right about my age) Edited December 19, 2004 by Godin SD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted December 19, 2004 Report Share Posted December 19, 2004 ...and thank you for not calling me a snotty old fart! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeR Posted December 19, 2004 Report Share Posted December 19, 2004 Hahaha, Drak beats me again . I was talking about the earlyish Wes Montgomery jazz, and the George Thoroughgood (sp, sorry) at the blues/rock extremity. It IS hard to give advise over the internet on things such as tone, but again, as Drak says, you are still fairly young, and the P90 is an acquired taste (like a single malt whiskey as apposed to house wine). The PAF (or similar alnico equipt humbucker) is a GREAT starting point for a great sound- P90s ARE great for what I THOUGHT you meant though. Surprise, surprise, I second the what Drak said about P90s being raw sounding (but in a VERY good way) Again, I was thinking aboiut the bassy Wes mkontgomery sound (using the tone rolled down- Wes Montgomery used his thumb)- P90s are a very 'rock'n'roll' (in the original sense of the music) pickup- GREAT pickup, but one of the hardest to make versitile (not inversitile, just alot more work). I should have added that apart from using all the shieling/grounding techniques known to man, I also have tried no less then 15 different caps on the tone to find the best tonal variation for me. Sorry for the confusiuon though! Luke PS- Drak, can you guess my age? Hope you both are are well- goodnight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted December 19, 2004 Report Share Posted December 19, 2004 No idea about your age, but if you're saying goodnight and I just got up awhile ago, you either work a night shift or you must be on the other side of the globe from me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeR Posted December 19, 2004 Report Share Posted December 19, 2004 HAHAHA, got in one-the other side of the globe! (And 23) Drak's right again!! Take care man, Luke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted December 19, 2004 Report Share Posted December 19, 2004 I love this big green and blue planet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted December 20, 2004 Report Share Posted December 20, 2004 I love P-90s, but it's true that they're pretty raw! That's why I love'em. I suspect you've made the right choice with the Jazz and PAF, anyhow. BUT-- when you DO decide to go with P-90s in a guitar, remember that you have another option-- P-100s or the "Virtual P-90" by... Duncan? Which are hum-cancelling. Some people claim there's a loss of bite, but it's a worthwhile trade-off in my opinion. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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