School me on P90s

Patzag

Patzag

Fractal Fanatic
I recently got a set of P90s installed in my Parker Fly Deluxe.
Of course this totally changes the instrument, but as I have a couple, I'm happy with the variety.

Now the questions:
How do you tame the top end crush?
Best amps?
Any settings on the guitar that optimize the response of these pickups?

Share your experiences please.
 
I really like P90s and have them on a few guitars. Generally, they are described as sort of a middle ground between single coil and mini-humbucker tones. My favorites (so far) are the Lollar stable top models, which I have on a gold top LP. The tone is smooth and responsive, and they retain the nice "woody" sound that I associate with P90s. They pair well with just about any amp from low-"almost high" gain. They get a little strident with modern high gain amps, but that's probably not why a person would have P90s in the first place. The Carol Ann models are lovely, as are the classic Marshalls, Boogies, and Fenders. As for guitar settings, like any single coil pickup, you'll find the volume control will really open up some tonal range in them. I like to run the preamp gain on the amp reasonably hot, then back down the guitar's volume. That will give you a nice warm tone for rhythm, and if you roll up the volume on the guitar, you'll get great breakup and snarl. The Parker is such a responsive and resonant guitar that you'll probably notice more of a "guitar body" sound coming through with P90s, which I like. Please post an image of your guitar; I bet that's a pretty unique mod, and very cool one.
 
Sleestak said:
I really like P90s and have them on a few guitars. Generally, they are described as sort of a middle ground between single coil and mini-humbucker tones. My favorites (so far) are the Lollar stable top models, which I have on a gold top LP. The tone is smooth and responsive, and they retain the nice "woody" sound that I associate with P90s. They pair well with just about any amp from low-"almost high" gain. They get a little strident with modern high gain amps, but that's probably not why a person would have P90s in the first place. The Carol Ann models are lovely, as are the classic Marshalls, Boogies, and Fenders. As for guitar settings, like any single coil pickup, you'll find the volume control will really open up some tonal range in them. I like to run the preamp gain on the amp reasonably hot, then back down the guitar's volume. That will give you a nice warm tone for rhythm, and if you roll up the volume on the guitar, you'll get great breakup and snarl. The Parker is such a responsive and resonant guitar that you'll probably notice more of a "guitar body" sound coming through with P90s, which I like. Please post an image of your guitar; I bet that's a pretty unique mod, and very cool one.
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Thanks for the insights.
Do you have a tendency to put an EQ before the amp in your signal chain or just use the tone knob to roll some of the highs off? Or post EQ?
 

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Actually I use the volume knob to roll off the high end. P90s load up nicely when you roll back the volume. You may find the narrow aperture of the P90 magnet seems to emphasize the attack on the note, and so you might want to make an EQ adjustment. My LP is chambered, so it has a fairly warm tone acoustically.
 
If you're going to get a guitar with P90's get one with humbucker sized P90's, or you will forever be limited in what you can stick in there.
 
I have a Gibson Les Paul Special Double Cut with stock P90s which are the original style slug ones. As Sleestak says rolling the volume off cleans up everything. I use the J45 blues preset and Double Verb. When I use the Deluxe Tweed it is more difficult to roll off the distortion so I use it less. I have a Parker Fly with diMarzios in it, I always found it was a very treble bound guitar so the P90s should soften that a bit, plus you may find you dont have to roll off the bass on the amp side as you do for most amps. Axe is also treble too sometimes so you might want to look at hi cut also. You should DM Leon Todd he is an expert in all guitars and amps on Axe who I have found very helpful.
 
Robert Twiddy said:
I have a Parker Fly with diMarzios in it, I always found it was a very treble bound guitar so the P90s should soften that a bit
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I can tell you that the P-90s are far more trebly than the stock Di Marzio ever were. But the character is SO different that it's a moot point.

So far I love the P90s. They seem to fill the gap I had in my tones. I'm not a strat lover (ducks!). Meaning I love the tines, but I can't seem to gel with them as a player. The 90s seem to be perfect as the middle ground between HB and SC. So far, so good.

Thanks to all the good advice from everyone.
 
Love P-90's. My #2 guitar has P-Rails which can be P-90's, humbuckers or single coils. I don't have the option sadly where you can mix them which is available. I have a Brian Moore that was gutted that I was gifted with and installed a Kent Armstrong Humbucker sized P-90 straight to the output jack. Back in the early 70's my dad bought me(right before he died) a Micro-Fret Signature same as Mark Farner's, for 300 bucks because they just folded. That had P-90's and were the loudest pickups of all the dozens of guitars I've ever owned. If you really want to be schooled about P-90's listen to Leslie West of Mountain. There's this little song about a Queen from Mississippi you may have heard.
 
Good P90s are awesome, period. I have a set of Seymour Duncan Antiquity P90s in a PRS 594 and they are, hands down, the most accurate to the old Gibson P90 tone I’ve ever heard. They tend to have a bit more mid-snarl than a PAF, without a lot different output.

Don’t start with your stock patch for a hot humbucker; it will sound hideous. Start with something mid-gain like a Plexi, or even an AC30/AC20 Deluxe variant. They also sound good with the Keith Urban amp model. Then either dial in the amp for a driven tone and control it with the volume knob on the guitar (the way it was done then) or use an EP Boost type to punch up the drive when needed.

Set right, P90s span a ground that bridges the Strat-LP gap with a little more attitude (and noise) than mini-humbuckers. I think it’s an essential pickup type to have in your guitarsenal.
 
Patzag said:
I'm not a strat lover (ducks!). Meaning I love the tines, but I can't seem to gel with them as a player.
Click to expand...
Strat tones are surprisingly tricky. I'm primarily a strat guy, and love single coils. Getting a nice classic strat tone is an expert-mode quest unto itself. Single coil pickups (in my experience) have more guitar volume knob sensitivity than humbuckers, and tend to reward right-hand playing dynamics. I know a lot of strat / tele players who put a compressor right at the front of their signal chain, and while that does help smooth out the tone, it takes away any subtlety in dynamics. My recommendation is always to go the more difficult but rewarding path, and develop widely expressive picking technique. That is one of the key things that makes David Gilmour such a fantastic and emotional player.
 
+10 on Johns take^

I use Lollar soapbar P90s in 2 teles and a strandberg saleen. They have a huge dynamic range ..and are very responsive to playing subtlety. I use 250K pots that keep the top end when rolling back the volume. I found that transparent optical compression does help a lot, and it will still allow for picking dynamics.
 
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