ScottR Posted October 28, 2010 Report Posted October 28, 2010 I intend to use a pair a P-90s in my next build. It seems like everybody builds them. I read a thread from a few years ago on this subject....but I'm asking again anyway. I want to see what the current opionions are. Would the Gibsons be considered the standard....or the best? Thanks Scott Quote
WezV Posted October 28, 2010 Report Posted October 28, 2010 Would the Gibsons be considered the standard....or the best? definately not! my favorite is the BKP-91 closely followed by a lollar. I also like the BKP manhattan - but thats an underwound humbucker sized P-90 built for jazzier moments Quote
ScottR Posted October 28, 2010 Author Report Posted October 28, 2010 What is it about these that make them your favorites and superior to Gibson's? The one's I'll be using will be used mostly for blues and will likely be played through a Blues Junior. SR Quote
WezV Posted October 28, 2010 Report Posted October 28, 2010 i dont rate gibson pickups too highly. Often they are ok but they rarely blow me away. also, they tend to cost more than most makes people would consider an upgrade to the factory pickups so i dont think they offer value for money for us builders the absolute best P-90 i have played was a 1960 junior pickup that got rewound by lindy fralin quite a while ago. It was pure leslie west which means its about as p-90 as a p-90 gets THe BKP-90/91's i have used capture a lot of that. Quote
ScottR Posted October 31, 2010 Author Report Posted October 31, 2010 Soooo, The Bare Knuckle Stands uncontested as the best sounding make of P-90? I must admit, I kind of expected one or two builders to chime in with an "I do". If BKs are the best, how do Seymour Duncan, DeMarzio and some of the others stack up, or what are they lacking? SR Quote
WezV Posted October 31, 2010 Report Posted October 31, 2010 sorry scott - i thought you would get more replies too! Seymour duncan custom shop stuff is awesome. The standard range isnt too bad either, definately better than Dimarzio, comparable to stock gibsons but offering differet flavours. Not tried the SD antiquity P-90's - but the other pickups i have had from that range have been great. I dont rate Dimarzio's that highly as i think you get close to what they offer from some of the budget ranges. I have never really even considered a p-90 from them, they do do a few decent humbuckers though. i did have a P-90 sized humbucker from them years ago but it just wasnt for me. It lost all characteristic p-90 flavour but wasnt quite humbuckery enough either one i really do want to try at some point is kinman's noiseless p-90. they took an age to develop it and i was always impressed by their noisless strat pickups. As close to a strat sound as you can get without hum! lots of other options out there though, P-90's are an easier design to do right Quote
RestorationAD Posted November 1, 2010 Report Posted November 1, 2010 Soooo, The Bare Knuckle Stands uncontested as the best sounding make of P-90? I must admit, I kind of expected one or two builders to chime in with an "I do". If BKs are the best, how do Seymour Duncan, DeMarzio and some of the others stack up, or what are they lacking? SR First up - How good a pickup is is a very biased question. From builder to builder you get completely different answers. It is probably a good idea to get one guitar and get some samples and start swapping them to get a base of what you think is a good p90 pickup. Second - I make P90s. But I didn't think it was polite to say "I do" and very few people from this forum have shown interest in my pickups so I don't really chime in on these types of things. Also I haven't used any of the other manufacturers pickups in a few years now so I really don't know some of the builders. Seymours, Dimarzios, and others are just ok nothing special. Lollar and Kent Armstrong make nice P90s. In my opinion making a good P90 is not that hard. As far as pickups go the design is conducive to good pickups. Making a great P90 takes good parts, practice, and skill. Quote
Drak Posted November 1, 2010 Report Posted November 1, 2010 I just yesterday scored a matched pair of THESE P-90's (used but like new) for $120.00, new they're $150.00 a piece. Found them over at The Gear Page in the Buy-N-Sell Dept., that and Harmony Central are good places to shop for 'discounted like new' pickups. Quote
Drak Posted November 1, 2010 Report Posted November 1, 2010 And Res, I'm very much looking forward to trying your pickups one day ( ) , that was just a great deal I stumbled across and figured I'd better strike when I did, they were less than half-price 'boutique' 90's, I don't run across that every day. Quote
ScottR Posted November 1, 2010 Author Report Posted November 1, 2010 First up - How good a pickup is is a very biased question. From builder to builder you get completely different answers. Exactly. I am very interested in those completely different answers from builders and players as well. I know very little about them other than I know I like the way they sound. I don't know why one sounds better or worse or different....well, I have a general understanding of what the various components are and that changes there will change the sound. But I don't know who thinks what sounds best or why. Second - I make P90s. But I didn't think it was polite to say "I do" and very few people from this forum have shown interest in my pickups so I don't really chime in on these types of things. The ones that do and comment on them praise them very highly indeed though. Something to explore for sure. SR Quote
Quarter Posted November 2, 2010 Report Posted November 2, 2010 There are lots of good P90's out there and one of my favorites is BG-Pups. For me, a great P90 needs to be clear and articulate with great pick response. It should have angelic cleans when played with a lite touch and get rude with an attitude when you dig in. Quote
ScottR Posted November 3, 2010 Author Report Posted November 3, 2010 There are lots of good P90's out there and one of my favorites is BG-Pups. For me, a great P90 needs to be clear and articulate with great pick response. It should have angelic cleans when played with a lite touch and get rude with an attitude when you dig in. I checked out his web site and to my unschooled eye and ear, his stuff is quite good. Oddly enough (or not) I liked the hot bridge and the vintage neck best. I wonder how close to pure Leslie West those are. SR Quote
Quarter Posted November 3, 2010 Report Posted November 3, 2010 (edited) Oddly enough (or not) I liked the hot bridge and the vintage neck best Yea, Bryan is a talented winder and his gear is top shelf. And your selection its not odd at all really, hotter wound pickups in general will have a bit less highs which can work in a bridge position. Vintage wound in the neck will retain a bit more highs and tend to be a little more airy, a good thing in a neck. Cool thing about Bryan is he will custom wind them to taste too, just tell him what your looking for and he can dial you in ... bonus points for having realistic prices and being a good guy to deal with. Edited November 3, 2010 by Quarter Quote
Geo Posted November 8, 2010 Report Posted November 8, 2010 I was just checking out his page... this is hilarious. http://www.bgpickups.com/about.html Quote
ScottR Posted November 10, 2010 Author Report Posted November 10, 2010 Am I correct in thinking that these will need 250K pots? SR Quote
WezV Posted November 10, 2010 Report Posted November 10, 2010 gibson traditionally used 500 or 300k - but its a preference thing really Quote
Helldunkel Posted November 13, 2010 Report Posted November 13, 2010 Another option... I highly recommend Kent Armstrong pickups! Kent Armstrong® P90 Family Quote
Crusader Posted November 28, 2010 Report Posted November 28, 2010 I just loved that page posted by GEO... good laughs In this neck of the woods I know Perry makes P90's Seen them at Mega and Kosmics Have often been tempted to see what they're all about but always steer toward Humbuckers because of their versatility Its also a case of having time to do things. Which I don't have lately because I've been working 7 days It raises the question, do they have an advantage over split Humbuckers? Quote
SwedishLuthier Posted November 29, 2010 Report Posted November 29, 2010 Brian (of BG Pickups) made that page to counter (and make fun of) some of the more outrageous "self-hyping" boutique winders of wannabe winders that use more of less that type of language. We had a similar laughter (together with Brian) over at the pickup winder forum. Advantage over HBs would be... the sound. A P90 doesn't sound like anything else. P90, DynaSonics, Fender Wide Range HBs, Filtertrons (and possible a few more models) are very distinct and have their own character and personality compared to the usual Fender/Gibson vein most producer of pickup caters to Personally I think my P90s are pretty nice... Quote
ScottR Posted December 1, 2010 Author Report Posted December 1, 2010 It raises the question, do they have an advantage over split Humbuckers? Additionally to SwedishLuthier's response, they would have an even bigger advantage over split humbuckers in that using only one coil out of the pair in an HB has considerably less output than the full HB and than a P-90 or most single coils as I understand it. RAD or SL (and many others I'm sure) can expand on the why's and wherefore's of that, but yeah, I'd say that is an advantage over a split humbucker. SR Quote
Crusader Posted December 5, 2010 Report Posted December 5, 2010 I shall have to try some one day About a couple of months ago I was drooling over a Gary Moore LP but it had a combination of a bridge HB and a neck SC and I didn't like the asthetics very much I have this expensive habit of buying a guitar before I copy it...lol Quote
Kammo1 Posted December 6, 2010 Report Posted December 6, 2010 Another option... I highly recommend Kent Armstrong pickups! Kent Armstrong® P90 Family Absolutely 100% agree your search for the P90 should stop here, Kents stuff is amazing and I have used his stuff many,many times and not had 1 bad pick-up from him truly in my eyes "THE" master Quote
SwedishLuthier Posted December 6, 2010 Report Posted December 6, 2010 I had to rewind the only P90s I have ever tried from Kent Armstrong to get a clear, open and warm P90 sound in the vein of original Gibbo P90s. But that is of cause my personal, biased opinion... Quote
ansil Posted December 7, 2010 Report Posted December 7, 2010 Fralin all the way man. i put a set of his in a Paul some time ago and it is sick sounding Quote
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