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Post by Auf Kiltre on May 13, 2020 19:42:03 GMT -5
😁
No Captain Obvious posts about subjectivity allowed.
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Post by Vibroluxer on May 13, 2020 20:23:20 GMT -5
Jason does. +1 Lollar.
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Post by Leftee on May 13, 2020 20:24:58 GMT -5
StewMac
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Post by Auf Kiltre on May 13, 2020 20:29:38 GMT -5
Interesting. Do they make a Parson Street P90? Tell me more. |
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Post by LM on May 13, 2020 20:48:57 GMT -5
My Lollar Vintage T's are fantastic! Great complexity and tone!
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Post by LTB on May 13, 2020 20:49:33 GMT -5
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Post by Leftee on May 13, 2020 21:20:41 GMT -5
Last year I bought an Agile single cut w/2 P90s that needed TLC. It had a Fralin in the bridge and the stock neck pickup was disconnected. I installed a set of Golden Age and fixed some other stuff in the guitar and sold it. A month or so ago it shows up on Reverb again and the original owner bought it back. 😂
After he had it back for a week I asked him what he thought about it. He said he absolutely loved the pickups.
I have the Fralin, here, in a Tokai Jr. Yeah, it sounds great. But the GA stands tall in comparison. For less dosh.
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on May 13, 2020 21:27:47 GMT -5
I like that the StewMac ones come in a range of windings. There are some serious variations in the originals. The 50s ones sound absolutely amazing, and the 60s ones are ridiculous... you'd swear you left a boost pedal on and you're just not seeing it.
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Post by Leftee on May 13, 2020 21:31:54 GMT -5
What he said!
They’re quiet too. Full braided shield. I find that there’s enough excess that I can completely wire all the way to the output Jack with the leftover.
You can get a rwrp set too.
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Post by Auf Kiltre on May 13, 2020 22:03:36 GMT -5
I have tried Duncan Antiquity, Kent Armstrong Stealth 90's, stock Agile P90's and stock Gibson P90's. Thus far I think the stock Gibbys in my 50's Trib LP Goldtop sounded the best. Of course I sold them. 🙁
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Post by LTB on May 13, 2020 22:42:44 GMT -5
I have tried Duncan Antiquity, Kent Armstrong Stealth 90's, stock Agile P90's and stock Gibson P90's. Thus far I think the stock Gibbys in my 50's Trib LP Goldtop sounded the best. Of course I sold them. 🙁 If I buy pickups again I will strongly consider Parsons Street Golden Age pickups. I understand they are very nice sounding and a heck of a lot cheaper than the Fralin 50's Pure Vintage I bought. Don't get me wrong I love them but for roughly $200 less I could have gotten nice sounding Stewmacs that I doubt there is $200 difference in sound. Live and learn.  |
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Post by Auf Kiltre on May 14, 2020 8:35:19 GMT -5
My Lollar Vintage T's are fantastic! Great complexity and tone! I've had Lollar Vintage T's Telecaster pickups before, really good. Are you talking about a P90 or just Lollar in general? |
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Post by Auf Kiltre on May 14, 2020 8:37:58 GMT -5
If I buy pickups again I will strongly consider Parsons Street Golden Age pickups. I bought a set of Parsons Humbuckers that I put in a H-H Strat. I think they sound really good and wouldn't hesitate to use their humbuckers again. |
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Post by guildx700 on May 14, 2020 21:13:19 GMT -5
I've played a lot of P90 guitars, and obviously one has to try and divorce the pups from the guitar. Oddly my fav ones are the noname stock ones on a Samick Avion 5 Korean flattop LP style guitar. Got it new in 2002 for $250, best cheap new guitar I've ever bought. Like this:   |
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Post by LTB on May 14, 2020 21:17:54 GMT -5
I've played a lot of P90 guitars, and obviously one has to try and divorce the pups from the guitar. Oddly my fav ones are the noname stock ones on a Samick Avion 5 Korean flattop LP style guitar. Got it new in 2002 for $250, best cheap new guitar I've ever bought. Pretty guitar you have there! |
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Post by guildx700 on May 14, 2020 21:25:34 GMT -5
I've played a lot of P90 guitars, and obviously one has to try and divorce the pups from the guitar. Oddly my fav ones are the noname stock ones on a Samick Avion 5 Korean flattop LP style guitar. Got it new in 2002 for $250, best cheap new guitar I've ever bought. Pretty guitar you have there! Thanks. It's pretty amazing for what it is. But the noname P90's really push it to the next level. One of the few guitars I've left stock, regardless of price. |
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Post by LM on May 14, 2020 21:49:55 GMT -5
My Lollar Vintage T's are fantastic! Great complexity and tone! I've had Lollar Vintage T's Telecaster pickups before, really good. Are you talking about a P90 or just Lollar in general? I was referring to Lollars specifically. I haven't played actual Gibson P90s so I can't compare, but the Lollars are by far the best of the ones I have played. Loves me some P90s! |
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Post by Auf Kiltre on May 14, 2020 21:54:24 GMT -5
Fine looking instrument guildx700.
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Post by guildx700 on May 14, 2020 22:09:29 GMT -5
Fine looking instrument guildx700. Thanks. It's a player. Lots of hours on it. Nice neck & frets, Grovers, well cut stock nut & the abalone dots on it's fingerboard are a nice touch. The typical poly finish is at least thinner than usual, no thick, dipped in look. It's one of the needle in a haystack budget finds. Everything just works well together about it. Geeshh...hard to believe I've had 18 years now. Ouch...how time flies. |
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Post by Auf Kiltre on May 15, 2020 7:44:56 GMT -5
I'm curious if anyone has heard/tried Wolfetone P90s. I've seen them highly praised on other boards.
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Post by Leftee on May 15, 2020 7:48:39 GMT -5
Oh... love me some Gibson P90s too. I've got 2 Tributes loaded with those and they absolutely tickle my fancy.
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Post by Auf Kiltre on May 15, 2020 8:20:53 GMT -5
Yeah, my 2010 50's Trib goldtop has had (in addition to the stock pickups) Duncan Antiquity minis, Kent Armstrong Stealth 90's and currently Allparts Minis. I actually like the Allparts minis over the Duncan Antiquities, the Kent Armstrongs have nothing displeasing about them but in retrospect think the guitar sounded the best with the stock Gibby P90's. They are long gone, unfortunately.
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on May 15, 2020 8:43:21 GMT -5
Auf - when you say "best" are you looking for the most faithful reproduction, or the best sounding in general, regardless of your carrot/stick situation?
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Post by Auf Kiltre on May 15, 2020 8:54:22 GMT -5
Hah, I really mean "favorite" but always enjoy the obligatory dissertations about tone being subjective that come along with the "best" threads. So yeah, a little jovial carrot/stick baiting.
I really think the stock Gibson P90s that came in my Trib best represented my expectation of what a P90 should sound like. I haven't had a lot experience with P90s and none whatsoever with vintage instruments. When I think P90 what comes to mind is Leslie West, early Santana (Samba Pa Ti), even Tony Iommi.
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professor
Wholenote
"Now I want you to go in that bag and find my wallet." / KMMFA
Posts: 618
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Post by professor on May 15, 2020 9:13:58 GMT -5
I have several Gibsons with stock P90s and they're all great, EXCEPT for the P90 that came with the LP Junior. It doesn't have the adjustable pole pieces and that bugs me. I also have a Goldtop Deluxe that a previous owner put Seymour Duncans in. They're ok, but I don't notice any big difference. I also have a Reverend with a neck P90, but the guitar is so different it's hard to compare.
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Post by Leftee on May 15, 2020 9:24:08 GMT -5
I guess "best" is so subjective. I tend to weigh that against price. The StewMacs punch way above their price.
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on May 15, 2020 9:46:45 GMT -5
Yeah, I am yet to hear any new p-90s that really sound like the old ones. The Gibsons sometimes come close, but there are some that don't even come close. Some of the cheaper ones have brass base plates, and that makes them really dark and nasty... works for some people, but definitely changes it. The p-100s, the noiseless version, are pretty nasal and crummy, too. There are high end replica companies, though I haven't sampled their wares. Their reputation for nailing vintage PAF replicas is very strong, so I would imagine they've come close on P-90s as well. Jon Gundry/Throbak is one, Dave Stephens/Stephens Design is the other. I have a very, very high opinion of Lollars, but am yet to try his p-90. I know he builds them slightly differently, so while I am confident they sound amazing, I'm also curious how they compare to the originals. Does anyone know for sure? One I'll add to the "no thank you" list is the Bareknuckle. I think the "blue note" is the one I heard. It was really lifeless. One weird thing about Bareknuckle is that they insist on hand winding everything to get a "scatterwound" sound. The problem with that is that old Gibson pickups were all machine wound. It is a very sloppy over generalization, but the more "organized" the windings (as well as a higher turn-per-layer count, which is easier with machine winding), the sharper and clearer the resonant peak, so that nice chime you get in a p-90 is going to be very elusive on a handwound pickup, so you just get something mucky. Maybe their other models are better, but it seems to me like it is a flawed approach out of the gate.
The StewMac has piqued my interest; the two challenges (in my low/moderate expertise on the matter) is sourcing and replicating of parts, which StewMac has done an okay job of doing, and getting those good, neat winds, in which case if they're using a newer CNC setup, that will do better than most other options out there. I don't have anything that takes p-90s right now so I have no way to try them unless a customer brings one in, and my shop is closed now for quarantine, so... I'll just wait for someone here to tell me.  |
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Post by Leftee on May 15, 2020 10:34:01 GMT -5
Another side to the P90 tone is volume pots. Gibson uses 300k these days. 250k way back in the day. Both are great.
Just say no to 500k.
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Post by Auf Kiltre on May 15, 2020 10:38:43 GMT -5
I have 500k pots in my Thinline that has the KA Stealth 90 in the neck and GFS lil puncher in the bridge, works ok. I'm guessing the Kent Armstrong noiseless feature makes in favor the 500k pots. I wouldn't want that pickup any darker and it has a remarkably Tele-like middle position with the lil puncher.
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Post by Leftee on May 15, 2020 11:13:33 GMT -5
Re: pots and those pickups. Probably true. I know it is for the GFS, any ways.
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