Resonant Alien
New member
...and if so, what do you think of them compared to others by Lollar, Fralin, etc.
RockStarNick
Active member
I've done some pretty extensive P90 testing. I've had stock Gibsons, a set of Fralins, a set of Lollars, some Rio Grandes, and some Duncans. I've had them in a 1968 Gibson Firebird, a recent LP Special, and a ES135 hollowbody.
(I've since sold all my P90 guitars, but i'm in the middle of building a custom P90 tele at the moment. see pic below...)
The gibson P90s sound great, make no mistake about that. My problem with them is that they don't come in calibrated sets. Both the neck pickup at bridge pickup are wound to 8.0K.
In my opinion, you really need a calibrated pickup set to have things balance out in the best way. Have the bridge wound a little hotter than the neck. The Gibsons sound good, but when you dial in the bridge to sound good, the neck pickup is then too loud and bassy and woofy. When you dial in the neck pickup to sound good, the bridge pickup sounds weak and thin in comparison.(Fralin understands this. He reccomends the 10-15% difference in output between the pickups.)
The Fralins and Duncans are constructed in the same manner as the Gibsons. Same metal baseplate, etc.
FRALINS: The set of custom wound Fralins that I had was awesome. I went for 7.5 in the neck, and 8.5 in the bridge, or something like that. Great set, great classic Gibson tone. Very true to the original. P90s are a pretty bare-bones kinda pickup, so there's not much to mess with. The biggest advantage in the Fralins is the ability to have them wound to your EXACT specs, based on your guitar. A set of P90s that sound great in a solidbody PROBABLY won't sound great in a hollowbody, and vice versa.
LOLLARS: The Lollars are the only ones that are physically constructed differently. Lollar has eliminated the metal baseplate and metal spacer, so that the screw polepieces come in direct contact with the magnet. I recall reading that his theory is unnecessary metal creates eddy currents, and reducing them yeilds better treble response, or something like that. I believe it. The Lollars have a much more noticeable hi-fi quality to them. They're clearer than the others, a little brighter on the very top end, which some might like, and some might not.
RIO GRANDES: I tried some of their overwound selections, which all stunk. Muddy, midrangey, lots of feedback, very microphonic. Kind of a mess, in my opinion.
DUNCANS: Snagged a complete set for $35 bucks, and they're going in my next guitar. I lucked out and got a set that has a overwound bridge, and an underwound neck, so it's going to match up very nicely.
(I've since sold all my P90 guitars, but i'm in the middle of building a custom P90 tele at the moment. see pic below...)
The gibson P90s sound great, make no mistake about that. My problem with them is that they don't come in calibrated sets. Both the neck pickup at bridge pickup are wound to 8.0K.
In my opinion, you really need a calibrated pickup set to have things balance out in the best way. Have the bridge wound a little hotter than the neck. The Gibsons sound good, but when you dial in the bridge to sound good, the neck pickup is then too loud and bassy and woofy. When you dial in the neck pickup to sound good, the bridge pickup sounds weak and thin in comparison.(Fralin understands this. He reccomends the 10-15% difference in output between the pickups.)
The Fralins and Duncans are constructed in the same manner as the Gibsons. Same metal baseplate, etc.
FRALINS: The set of custom wound Fralins that I had was awesome. I went for 7.5 in the neck, and 8.5 in the bridge, or something like that. Great set, great classic Gibson tone. Very true to the original. P90s are a pretty bare-bones kinda pickup, so there's not much to mess with. The biggest advantage in the Fralins is the ability to have them wound to your EXACT specs, based on your guitar. A set of P90s that sound great in a solidbody PROBABLY won't sound great in a hollowbody, and vice versa.
LOLLARS: The Lollars are the only ones that are physically constructed differently. Lollar has eliminated the metal baseplate and metal spacer, so that the screw polepieces come in direct contact with the magnet. I recall reading that his theory is unnecessary metal creates eddy currents, and reducing them yeilds better treble response, or something like that. I believe it. The Lollars have a much more noticeable hi-fi quality to them. They're clearer than the others, a little brighter on the very top end, which some might like, and some might not.
RIO GRANDES: I tried some of their overwound selections, which all stunk. Muddy, midrangey, lots of feedback, very microphonic. Kind of a mess, in my opinion.
DUNCANS: Snagged a complete set for $35 bucks, and they're going in my next guitar. I lucked out and got a set that has a overwound bridge, and an underwound neck, so it's going to match up very nicely.
RockStarNick
Active member
This is the next guitar that I'm building.
Resonant Alien
New member
Thanks Nick. You are kind of validating what I was starting to think in my head - I put the Lollars in my TCM last year, and although they sound great, and I have been mostly happy with them, the longer I play them, the more I feel like something is missing, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Hi-Fi might be a good term. I think in my mind, I want something a little dirtier - not necessary in the sense of gain, but in the sense of, well...dirt - if that makes any sense - "organic" maybe?. For cleans, they are awesome, but when I try to dial in some classic P90 dirt, it's just not quite there. That's why I started thinking about the Gibbys, but the Fralins just might be the way to go.
I guess you probably haven't tried the Fralin hum cancelling? I haven't been too interested because from what I've heard, they sound great, but they are not a true blue P90 sound - they gravitate more towards a PAF HB tone, and that is not what I want in this guitar.
I also have Lollar Blackface/Vintage T in my Anderson, and have been thinking about swapping them for Fralin Blues Specials. Again, the Lollars sound great, but I had Fralin Blues Specials in a Tele I no longer have and really liked them - they seemed not to have as much ping/ice-pick in them.
I guess you probably haven't tried the Fralin hum cancelling? I haven't been too interested because from what I've heard, they sound great, but they are not a true blue P90 sound - they gravitate more towards a PAF HB tone, and that is not what I want in this guitar.
I also have Lollar Blackface/Vintage T in my Anderson, and have been thinking about swapping them for Fralin Blues Specials. Again, the Lollars sound great, but I had Fralin Blues Specials in a Tele I no longer have and really liked them - they seemed not to have as much ping/ice-pick in them.
RockStarNick
Active member
Yeah, one man's "hi-fi" and "clear" is another man's "sterile". Lollar "improved" upon the original design, whereas Fralin kept it real.
Fralins most definitely have more grunt and classic Gibson P90 bark.
That being said, the lollars SING in a hollowbody, because the extra clarity offsets the honky mids of the hollow guitar.
Fralins most definitely have more grunt and classic Gibson P90 bark.
That being said, the lollars SING in a hollowbody, because the extra clarity offsets the honky mids of the hollow guitar.
F
Flump
New member
I don't have extensive knowledge of P90's, but I have used Gibson P90's, and then in the last guitar I built I used Bare Knuckle Mississippi Queen P90's. The BN pickups sound incredible. They have incredibly chimey clean tones, but they don't get harsh like a fender single coil does when distorted and have a lot more chunk to them. I would reccomend these pickups to anyone. They are pretty expensive though.
Darklight
New member
I've used Gibsons and they are generally great - especially older ones. Duncans are a little muddy, Lollars a little chimey. I've not tried Fralins. I actually really like Gotoh ones which are made in Japan - they are a super deal. I have one on a Tokai and it totally smokes. Besides the Bare Nuckles, people also seem to like WB, Sheptones and JS Moores.
There are some bargain priced ones that are intriguing that I've never checked out: GFS, Mitey Mites, ToneRiders, Wilkinson.
There are some bargain priced ones that are intriguing that I've never checked out: GFS, Mitey Mites, ToneRiders, Wilkinson.
M
MichaelG
Member
Don't forget about MotorCityPickups Pitbull and Motormouth. My next guitar will be a korina (I think) tele body with a set of MCP P-90s. I've had such good fortune with the humbuckers that the MCP P-90s will be the first thing I try.
RockStarNick
Active member
Darklight":hbi1fz5t said:
The specs on the GFS P90s look right... I'd definitely like to try them out.
Darklight, what kind of guitar did you try your duncans in? You saying that they are muddy kinda scares me, since I have a set ready to go.
One of these days, I'm definitely going to try some motor city pickups - just got to save up some cash, because I know I'm the type of person who will want to replace ALL my pickups in ALL my guitars. hahaha. Honestly though, my only complaint about the MCP's is that the website really needs a side-by-side comparison chart, listing outputs, K readings, magnets, EQ curves, and AWG. I think that would really help me decide alot better.
aeroic
Active member
RockStarNick":1hhw2gas said:
I have had MCPs, BKPs, Suhrs ,etc. Getting MCP's or BKPs didn't make me want to change everything. If a guitar has a great vibe...leave it alone.
Not all duncans are bad.I think in a couple of guitars MCPs, BKPs, or Suhrs are great choices!
I'm OCD like you nick..and I didn't change out my EMGs for MCP's BKPs or Suhrs. All pickups have their place.
Call Wade up and tell him what you are looking for. That's the best way of getting the pickups right. If you don't like a set of pickups in a guitar, Wade will do you right. That's what he did for me. If a pickup doesn't strike your fancy, he'll work with you to get the right pickups. The same usually isn't said for Duncan, Dimarzio, etc.
Eric
Darklight
New member
The Duncans aren't really bad, just a little less clear than some of the others. I play them in my PRS McCarty, RockstarNick.