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Recommend some P90s!

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 6:36 pm
by Stereordinary
I'm gonna pickup* some P90s for one of my custom builds, so I'm just wondering what peoples think are some good ones.

*Pun intended.

Re: Recommend some P90s!

Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 4:56 am
by djetz
DiMarzio Virtual P-90

I have one in one of my guitars. I did a lot of research before I bought it, looking for a silent P-90, and I wasn't disappointed. DiMarzio have a rep as a metal/shred pickup company, but their newer "virtual vintage" range of pickups get a lot of positive reviews from non-metal/shred players. And they're not too expensive if you shop around online.

Anyhoo: does it sound like a P-90? Does to me, and I've owned several P-90 guitars over the years. Plus it's silent.

Does it sound like a real P-90? No, because real P-90s hum. 

Does it sound great? Yes, in my opinion.

Re: Recommend some P90s!

Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 5:03 am
by Naturality
By Silent, do you mean humbucking?

Re: Recommend some P90s!

Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 5:53 am
by luau
I have two recent Gibsons with stock P90s and I'm pleased with them.

Re: Recommend some P90s!

Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 10:29 am
by Sauerkraut
Novak and Lollar make P90's, can't go wrong with either of 'em.

Re: Recommend some P90s!

Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 4:15 am
by djetz
Naturality wrote: By Silent, do you mean humbucking?
Yes, it's a humbucker. It even has two rows of polepieces, so it doesn't look "vintage" either.

DiMarzio use a kind of dummy coil on their virtual vintage designs: one coil has very little output, and they're designed so that the sound from the dummy coil is (theoretically) inaudible. In practice, it seems to work, it really does sound like a P-90 to me. Not just like a P-90 but like a really nice P-90.

I used to be a single-coil only kind of guy, I hate the "clunkiness" of humbuckers, they sound "dead" to me. But since I've been playing and recording solo the noise factor just got too annoying. I decided "It's the 21st century, surely someone can make humbucker that sounds as good as a single coil by now." So I did a lot of research, spent many hours reading about the possibilities online, and have tried a few different brands.

For P-90s, I decided on the DiMarzio. Well, it sounds warm and funky to me. It's in the neck position of my Eastwood Delta 6 electric resonator, so it's not being used in a "regular" guitar. I usually use it and the bridge piezo pickup together, and the DiMarzio adds warmth and "growl" to the piezo, which would be useless on it's own, since piezos sound so "plunky" and plastic to me. The best setting is about 2/3 DiMarzio, 1/3 piezo for top end.

Anyway, the DiMarzio sounds so good it's tempting me to get a regular P-90 guitar again, just so I can put a couple more of these pickups in it. If I could afford it, I would. I probably will, sometime.

I know it sounds like I'm the CEO of DiMarzio by this stage, but I really do love the pickup. I'd say try one and see what you think. Don't let the "not vintage" thing put you off, it really is a sweet pickup. If you try it and hate it, you can sell it on... I might even be interested in buying a slightly used one myself... seriously.

Re: Recommend some P90s!

Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 1:40 pm
by Vinkie
My suggestion is to check out the Bare Knuckle Pickups in the UK. They offer three types and a HB sized one.
They rewound the P90's in my Epi Casino and used different magnets and I love how they turned out. Also great customer service / email contact.

Re: Recommend some P90s!

Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 1:51 pm
by JazzBlaster
Sauerkraut wrote: Novak and Lollar make P90's, can't go wrong with either of 'em.
+1 both are experts im my opinion

Re: Recommend some P90s!

Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 2:00 pm
by TheMilford
I just put those GFS p-90s in my Casino.... they sound great... and they're CHEAP!