Oh my, P90’s...where have you been all my life?

TremoloFan

Inspired
I’ve owned a lot of Stratocasters, Telecasters and Les Pauls, but never had any with P90s. Then last week I was about to sell a les Paul Traditional because I just never liked the tone from the 57 classic humbuckers, but an idea hit me to try a set of Duncan Phatcat P90s. They are made to fit in a humbucker route without any mods.
It’s like I’ve found a new religion, I can’t put this guitar down now, it sounds so damn good. The P90s are a perfect middle ground beteen a single coil and a humbucker...play lightly and you get the crisp single coil sound and then dig in and you’ve got thick creamy humbucker tone...glorious. Play normally and there’s a hint of growl like nothing I’ve experienced. And of course running 11.2 makes it even more fun to go from clean to mean without touching a single dial on the guitar or the axe, it’s all in the pick attack applied. I love the ways these sound through a tweed twin with a drive in front. I’ve been playing for 30 years and really regret not making this discovery a long time ago. Now I’m wondering if filtertrons should be my next discovery, but that’ll have to wait until this honeymoon passes. Anyone have any other amp/cab suggestions for glorious P90s?
 
I've also spent all my life playing without P90's. Last month I bought a Schecter Solo II Custom to install a Harmonic Design Z90 at the neck position, and I am very pleased with it.

Here is my first recording and the preset:

https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/david-gilmour-5am-with-preset.157123/
That tone is glorious as well...I actually saw that thread, may have subconsciously led me to my own discovery! I’ll be grabbing that preset this afternoon, I’m also a huge Gilmour fan.
 
P90s are a unique sound. They aren’t as husky as humbuckers, but don’t give you the ice pick edge some single coil guitars do. I was turned on to that sound years ago by Leslie West in the group Mountain (Mississippi Queen) and was astounded he got that raging tone from a “single coil.” His tone then came from a Sunn Coliseum head that was actually designed as a PA head. He ran, turned way up, that into a bunch of Marshall 4x12 cabs, and his tone was blistering.

I’d suggest something with a little power and KT88 tubes like the Sunn used (the Carol Ann Tucana 3 is a beast of a beautiful example) into some old 4x12 Greenback loaded Marshall 4x12s. Turn the master up with the gain to get some power section grind and let it loose!
 
Been playing for 50+ years, and I've been mostly a humbucker guy most of my life. I didn't really jell with single coils until 6 or 7 years ago when I got my first Strat. (Now I have 5 of them, so I guess you could say I like them, lol.) I was gigging with a combination of humbucker guitars and SSS Strats. I didn't really get a chance to play with P90s until last year when a buddy brought his new Epiphone Blues Hawk to one of my gigs and let me play it. I was hooked, and that started my hunt for a P90 guitar.

A few months ago I found a used PRS SE Custom 22 semi-hollowbody with Phat Cats on Craigslist. It was in like new shape and it played great. I snagged it and absolutely love it. I still bring SSS Strats and one humbucker guitar to gigs, but the Phat Cat axe is getting the most stage time these days. Like the OP mentioned, when combined with the Axe-Fx, they are very responsive to volume knob changes.
 
P-90's absolutely rule.
I have a '59 LP jr, a '63 SG jr, R6 and ES-330 and just love love those.
The '59 is just perfect for Missisipi Queen, Midnight Rambler, Stones and blues / blues rock, the '63 is just like the biggest meanest tele you have ever tried, can be clean and snappy with a 100 metric ton footprint or raunchy as --censored--.
P-90's are just truly magical and work in so many different contexts.
They have their own unique thing going on, fatter than other single coils, better defined attach than humbuggers, complex, great voice clean, pushed and driven.

They sound great with many different amps, IMO best with "vintage flavored" NMV amps.
I really love them into vintage Marshalls, tweeds, black- and Brownface Fenders, Swarts/Valco/Supro, HiWatts, Komet 60, TrainWrecks
 
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I just used my Reverb paypal proceeds from seliing my Axe Fx IIxl to purchase a 1992 Hamer USA special with P90s!
...I went to High school with Paul Hamer , he was a senior when I was freshman (1968) but he was already becoming legendary..(he fought back against being expelled for exceedingly long hair and won. This will be my First Hamer , had to get one from the Kaman era when I had several school cronies working there...
 
Life long humbucker user, but intrigued enough to have a missippi queen hsp90 on the way. Fingers crossed that I'll fall in love.
 
Is there such a thing as noise "free" P90s? I've never owned a guitar with P90s but I really dig them, it's just that I'm on a quest to love my tone - without interference. (EJ strat here...)
 
Life long humbucker user, but intrigued enough to have a missippi queen hsp90 on the way. Fingers crossed that I'll fall in love.

had one in the neck of an LP Standard after I had my "fall in love" moment with single coils. I don't know if I expected it to be closer to a single coil, but it felt really really stiff, and didn't have any of the grease or squish I was looking for. I hope your experience goes better. I'll be revisiting p90's again for sure.

Is there such a thing as noise "free" P90s? I've never owned a guitar with P90s but I really dig them, it's just that I'm on a quest to love my tone - without interference. (EJ strat here...)

I'm 90% sure it's just marketing speak, but supposedly the Dimarzio Bluesbucker is supposed to take some cues from the p90 but it uses a dummy coil to remove the hum. I can say it's very chimey in a way that doesn't get nasty with bright guitars, and does seem to have the bounce a single coil lover is used to. Damn thing sounds fantastic playing metal with the IIc's or Uberschall too, it's been full of fun surprises.
 
I have a Bluesbucker at the neck position of a RG550LTD. I forgot that it is P90'sh :grinning: When I have time I will compare it side by side with the Z90 at the Schecter Solo II Custom. They are different guitars, but it could give an idea
 
Phat Cat set on the way. Never played P90s. Should be a treat. Putting them in a LP style gold top. If all goes well, I'll try a set in a 335 style too.
 
yeah, I get the sense that it's kind of "Like a p90" in an aural pareidolia sense, more than any kind of fidelity to the original design. It's in the ballpark tho for someone who wants it noiseless. If you would call a p90 50/50 between humbucker and single, then I'd call the bluesbucker 70/30.

How much bass response are you getting from the z90? more or less than the bluesbucker?
 
How much bass response are you getting from the z90? more or less than the bluesbucker?

I've made a comparison with a quick recording of the same song.

Here is the Dimarzio Bluesbucker DP163 at the neck position of the RG550LTD


And the Z90 at the neck of a Schecter Solo II Custom


The difference is not day and night. The Z90 has a rounder body at the bass, but perhaps the Dimarzio could be compensated bumping a bit of EQ around 100Hz. The Z90 is more "woody" or "smooth" (I don't know how to describe) but that could be product of the very different guitars, pickup height, etc. I have the feeling that the harmonics come easier with the Dimarzio but that could be the product of my crappy and inconstant playing.

I will have to make another comparison with a tone that doesn't have so much compressor
 
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Is there such a thing as noise "free" P90s? I've never owned a guitar with P90s but I really dig them, it's just that I'm on a quest to love my tone - without interference. (EJ strat here...)

The idea of the original PAF pickup was to sound like a P90 without the hum. So there's an answer... of a sort.
 
The idea of the original PAF pickup was to sound like a P90 without the hum. So there's an answer... of a sort.

If that was the idea, they failed big time! HBs cut the hum but sound nothing like P90s.

I love my P90s too but was also a late adopter. I think the fact that there are at least 100 HB guitars for every one you find with P90s might be a factor. And a hundred more Strats and Teles. It’s cool that we can get HB size P90s these days.
 
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