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well ,  for my 18th bday i gave myself a gibson sg special wine red , i was really into humbucker sound distorted mot of the time  , but now ive changed , an i thought of putting p90s to my sg that implies messing around with the wood and i'm not really comfortable with that , the thing is the local store owner offered me a american 50th anniversary strat in change of my sg , i tried the strat , the sound was great , the color its ok 2 color sunburst , the neck was the only thing that didn't conviced me , i'm not really that muck into maple necks , i'm really confused , and today it will be hard to sleep , so what would you do if you were in my position??? the sg is my only gibson by the way , that well transform my collection into only fenders!!! so....??

I only own Fenders, so I suppose my opinion's pretty biased...

That being said, I'd probably take the Strat over the SG.  On the other hand, I'd probably rather have a P90 SG over the Strat...Maybe Ebay the SG and find a nice P90 model?

Strats are cool, but mine is the guitar I pick up the least.  It sits in its gig bag, while I play my Teles and Jazzmasters.

Thats funny I'm looking for a p90 SG and I was just thinking of getting a 57 strat RI instead...I'm guessing p90's don't just fit into humbucker routes? They don't make modified p90's like p94's or whatever?

As long as you're not losing money I say go for it! Both guitars are equally good it's just a matter of taste.

Surfoverb wrote: Thats funny I'm looking for a p90 SG and I was just thinking of getting a 57 strat RI instead...I'm guessing p90's don't just fit into humbucker routes? They don't make modified p90's like p94's or whatever?

As long as you're not losing money I say go for it! Both guitars are equally good it's just a matter of taste.

wow didn't know about p94s , they sound like a good , choice , i'll look for prices , the thing of routing the space for p90s is that the routing is very close to the neck joint so... if the strat that i tried had a rosewood neck i would change right away  cauze the sound is incredible really vintage ... the neck makes me hesitate , i think we all get pretty special with necks after playing jags and JMs

You need to do minimal routing to fit P90s in a Special SG, just a little widening. Then purchase a new pickguard with the P90 slots like the Classic and voila. Minimal. If you like the neck and feel of the SG stick with it and get the work done. It'd look cool and might even increase the chances of selling it in the future.

I found a tutorial somewhere (maybe it was everythingsg.com?) that went through a step-by-step process of converting a current SG Special into a P-90 SG Special.  I'll see if I can't turn it up somewhere.
(What do you know - berlinbetty linked to it in Jonas's SG project thread: http://www.everythingsg.com/howto/p90conv/1.html)

The other option, of course, is to try out humbucker-sized P-90s.  There are quite a few out there: Gibson P-94s, Seymour Duncan Phat Cats (though I think they miss the mark a little, tone-wise), Lindy Fralin P92, Rio Grande makes some, Kent Armstrong, GFS Dream 90s, I'm pretty sure Vintage Vibe, Curtis Novak can probably make you some, etc...

Is it just the looks of the neck that are putting you off? Or is it the feel/tone? If it's just the looks then I reckon you'll get used to it, and get over it. Cause maple necks are totally hawt.

FireAarro wrote:   Cause maple necks are totally hawt.

+1
A Tele or a Strat should always have a maple neck...It just feels right, to me.

FireAarro wrote: Is it just the looks of the neck that are putting you off? Or is it the feel/tone? If it's just the looks then I reckon you'll get used to it, and get over it. Cause maple necks are totally hawt.

no , its not just the looks , its actually the feel , i've got maple neck in my tele amd it looks great but i really prefer rosewood necks the feel differnet , i think i'm not going to accept the deal , yesterday like 3a.m. i couldn't sleep i went to the guitar closet and played the sg for a while and remembered all the sweet moments we've had together , its actually the guitar that i've gigged the most , so i'll just take the risk and go for p90s they look incredible with p90s and the sound is lovely , and the essence of my first gibson will remain with me forever!!!! i'll save some money and buy a strat later this year !!!

Good call - you should keep a hold on that SG!

RumorsOFsurF wrote:
That being said, I'd probably take the Strat over the SG. 

Id start playing bass.. over having to play a strat..
haha

flatfiver wrote: Seymour Duncan Phat Cats (though I think they miss the mark a little, tone-wise)

Hmm, I disagree. I've just swapped out my neck pup in my SG for a Phat Cat which I've had lying around for a while. It's a lovely pickup, IMHO.

Oh, I didn't mean to say they're bad-sounding pickups, on the contrary!  I think they sound great in the Hamer Newports.  I just don't think they sound identical to a standard P-90.  They're in the ballpark though.

Yeah, I think with the size constraints on a humbucker shape you're never gonna get a true 100% p-90 tone, but it'll be close. I've always had a notion to stick a pair in my Special...