NGD!! ...finally got my P90 LP!

Those look cool, looking at the specs. Thanks! Yeah, I think I'm worrying too much about the DCR on neck pickups thinking I need to keep it low, but I don't know why except I'm comparing them to what I prefer in humbuckers.

I have one more neck P90 that I haven't tried yet for that reason, I have a SD Hot P90 neck pickup that I bought as a set with the bridge Hot P90. That's the Mike Ness (Social Distortion) set. I think I should try that one too while I'm at it. I liked the bridge pickup with A2 Magnet swap, but (again) I don't even remember what the neck pickup was like. I didn't care about the neck pickup back then.
 
DirtySteve said:
I don't know why except I'm comparing them to what I prefer in humbuckers.
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We gravitate to numbers to justify our actions sometimes.
Part of my point was…even though my neck p’up specs much lower than the bridge, I still had to drop it to achieve the balance that I desired. Yet Duncan mates their bridge p’up with a higher DCR…12…weird.

Also…You keep mentioning “neck P90”. Is there really such a thing? The original Gibson P90s that I pulled from that guitar were something like 8.4 to 8.6…they were not any different from one another, really. I mean, yeah…in the sense of “RWRP” there would be a difference, but the Gibson p’ups were not RWRP. They were just two Gibson P90s. Pole spacing matched up etc…I couldn’t tell one from the other etc.
 
Thatbastarddon said:
We gravitate to numbers to justify our actions sometimes.
Part of my point was…even though my neck p’up specs much lower than the bridge, I still had to drop it to achieve the balance that I desired. Yet Duncan mates their bridge p’up with a higher DCR…12…weird.

Also…You keep mentioning “neck P90”. Is there really such a thing? The original Gibson P90s that I pulled from that guitar were something like 8.4 to 8.6…they were not any different from one another, really. I mean, yeah…in the sense of “RWRP” there would be a difference, but the Gibson p’ups were not RWRP. They were just two Gibson P90s. Pole spacing matched up etc…I couldn’t tell one from the other etc.
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I measured the resistance on both of the stock Gibson P90s that came in the guitar and they are 8.12 and 8.15, not enough to make a difference. I'm not convinced RWRP is even a thing to worry about, as soon as you roll the volume down even a little on either pickup the noise comes right back. I never play both pickups at full volume, I haven't found a set yet (HB or otherwise) where they sound good with both pickups on at full volume.
 
DirtySteve said:
I'm not convinced RWRP is even a thing to worry about
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I have both on hand. I like the RWRP. I do not hate the standard wind. BUT if they’re hot wound p’ups…which mine aren’t…I would prefer RWRP.
DirtySteve said:
I haven't found a set yet (HB or otherwise) where they sound good with both pickups on at full volume.
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I’m sorry for that.
The set in the guitar I posted, does the noise cancellation thing pretty well (imo) even when the volume controls are set “off” of each other. The analogy that I would choose is: They behave like a fader, the volume controls, the closer they are to unity, the closer they are to cancellation. As they are separated, they move away from full cancellation in a measured fashion…it’s not like a switch when one volume is at 10, and the other is at 9.5…it’s more like the hum level rises to scale with the difference in volume levels.
 
Thatbastarddon said:
I have both on hand. I like the RWRP. I do not hate the standard wind. BUT if they’re hot wound p’ups…which mine aren’t…I would prefer RWRP.

I’m sorry for that.
The set in the guitar I posted, does the noise cancellation thing pretty well (imo) even when the volume controls are set “off” of each other. The analogy that I would choose is: They behave like a fader, the volume controls, the closer they are to unity, the closer they are to cancellation. As they are separated, they move away from full cancellation in a measured fashion…it’s not like a switch when one volume is at 10, and the other is at 9.5…it’s more like the hum level rises to scale with the difference in volume levels.
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I'm wondering if my wiring has something to do with it. I hate the wiring and loose pots in this guitar. As soon a I settle on a set of pickups I'll be putting an RS guitarworks harness in it.

I know you're not trying, you didn't even tell me what they were until I asked, but you're selling me on those pickups ya know? :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
DirtySteve said:
I'm wondering if my wiring has something to do with it. I hate the wiring and loose pots in this guitar. As soon a I settle on a set of pickups I'll be putting an RS guitarworks harness in it.
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I dunno bout the wiring…it does have that LP switch wiring thing…iirc, I have an RS rig in my Crescent Moon SG…not positive though…I’d have to crack it open.
DirtySteve said:
I know you're not trying, you didn't even tell me what they were until I asked, but you're selling me on those pickups ya know? :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
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You could do worse than strike a conversation with Mick Manlius in regard to selecting pickups. He used to be pretty responsive…but it’s been a long time since I felt the need to. He was nice to try to help me…I mean…I’m an idiot…I needed it…
His prices are fair too… ;) :rolf:
No…I’m not trying to sell you. I know you will find your own path.
 
Ok, so today I took out the Lollar neck pickup and put in the SD Hot P90 neck pickup I have. I was scared to put it in because it's 12k which seems crazy high to me for a neck pickup, but...it works! I like it. I also put the Custom P90 back in. I have to say, I really liked the Wolfetone Meanest P90 in there, but where it lacks is rolling the volume down for some reason it goes all thin and blah, where the SD Custom P90 sounds great with the guitar volume rolled down. the problem is, the Wolfetone sounds better to me at full volume rocking out than the Custom does.

I really think I want to try swapping magnets in the Custom, I think it might even be a feel thing more than a sound thing, but it makes a difference. I like a spongy feel and ceramics are the opposite of that. It seems like the last time I swapped double thick magnets for standard size I had to swap out the base plate screws and the pole screws to make it work so it's not as easy as just swapping mags, but it might be worth it. I tried to find some double thick Alnicos, but a search came up empty. I guess they aren't a thing. Oddly, the ceramics in the neck pickup don't bother me.

I did come across a thread on the SD forum where someone was gluing 2 regular Alnico magnets together to make a double thick and that seemed like a good idea until they started talking about having to regause using neo magnets and that's where they lost me.

Anyway, all I'm saying is I think I found my neck pickup. lol, and yay!
 
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Thatbastarddon said:
We gravitate to numbers to justify our actions sometimes.
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Agreed. I never measured the P90s in the 1953, I like em amd obviously won't change them out for any reason. They sound great IMO. Could they sound better? Maybe. Can't remove them in any case.
I'm just not that picky I guess. If it sounds good, set er up and let er rip is how I do things. But that doesn't work for everyone, granted.
 
Jethro Rocker said:
Agreed. I never measured the P90s in the 1953, I like em amd obviously won't change them out for any reason. They sound great IMO. Could they sound better? Maybe. Can't remove them in any case.
I'm just not that picky I guess. If it sounds good, set er up and let er rip is how I do things. But that doesn't work for everyone, granted.
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Well yeah, if I had a '53 I wouldn't change the pickups either...that'd be crazy.
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What I'm doing here is trying to make this guitar my #1 and for that to happen it needs to do metal while still being a P90 guitar that can do the P90 thing. So far it's working out great, except for the noise when I have it gained up, but I'll worry about that later. I much prefer it to my HBs already. I'm just fine tuning here.
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Love the new avatar!! :yesway:
 
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DirtySteve said:
Well yeah, if I had a '53 I wouldn't change the pickups either...that'd be crazy.
H9Fsdr8.gif


What I'm doing here is trying to make this guitar my #1 and for that to happen it needs to do metal while still being a P90 guitar that can do the P90 thing. So far it's working out great, except for the noise when I have it gained up, but I'll worry about that later. I much prefer it to my HBs already. I'm just fine tuning here.
v1mneXw.gif


Love the new avatar!! :yesway:
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Oh I get it totally. I have changed many a pickup, it wasn't meant as a slight in way. You gotta make it number 1 and not be second guessing. Measurements help but ear is the key.
I am actually shocked at how good and grindy an old single coil P90 is. Insane. I really like it!
Try a noise gate?
Jeez I love that Pelham blue...
 
Haha, much better!!
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So I put some A5 magnets in my SD Custom p90. I was going to do A2s, but I thought they might change the pickup too much so I went with A5s. I might try them later, but for now I'm going to leave it be, I'm afraid to loosed these strings again and I don't want to have to change them yet. It didn't hurt the sound at all, in fact I think it sounds a little better, it definitely gained some mids, smoothed out the highs and gave the bottom end a looser feel. Win!

It was much easier than I thought it would be. When I swapped the magnets in my SD Hot P90 the magnets were glued in with some sort of rubber cement that I had to cut through with an X-acto knife, but these were not like that. They came out easier than the magnet in a wax potted humbucker. :yesway:

Also instead of shortening everything up to use a thinner magnet I just made some spacers...duh, don't know why I didn't think of that before. So it turns out that a wooden paint stir stick is just about exactly the same thickness as a bar magnet and can fairly easily be cut with a box knife and a straight edge. :yesway:

ZOfAvoU.jpg
 
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Well, today remembered I have a PayPal MasterCard that I've never used.
v1mneXw.gif
I ordered a set of Bare Knuckle 'Pig 90s I found when looking around on-line (link below) and an RS Guitarworks wiring harness. I love the description and reviews so I'm more than curious about the 'Pig 90s. And since the wiring in this guitar sucks (worst I've ever had from Gibson) I can't wait to change it out, the pots spin loose and a couple of the shafts even wiggle. I can't stand it, makes the guitar feel cheap and the caps are wired wrong so I'm not waiting around to fix it.

www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk

'Pig 90 p90

The Warpig 90 is the hottest and fattest of all our soapbars, harnessing all the power of a high output humbucker with the frequency response of a true single coil.
www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk

Update in a few weeks! :fingersx:
 
DirtySteve said:
Well, today remembered I have a PayPal MasterCard that I've never used.
v1mneXw.gif
I ordered a set of Bare Knuckle 'Pig 90s I found when looking around on-line (link below) and an RS Guitarworks wiring harness. I love the description and reviews so I'm more than curious about the 'Pig 90s. And since the wiring in this guitar sucks (worst I've ever had from Gibson) I can't wait to change it out, the pots spin loose and a couple of the shafts even wiggle. I can't stand it, makes the guitar feel cheap and the caps are wired wrong so I'm not waiting around to fix it.

www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk

'Pig 90 p90

The Warpig 90 is the hottest and fattest of all our soapbars, harnessing all the power of a high output humbucker with the frequency response of a true single coil.
www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk

Update in a few weeks! :fingersx:
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One question…no biggie…is the neck p’up RWRP? It’s not mentioned anywhere, that I noticed, on the page linked.
I’ve mentioned before that my SG Standard P90 is not, but a couple of others that I have are. The hotter ones that I have on hand make me happy that they are, because it shows under fuzz…in a positive way.
The SG Standard P90 pickups are low output enough to keep them in the game, when soloed, but the hotter ones really make some noise…but that is quelled nicely with a bit of the opposite coil dialed in a touch, while the selector is in middle position.
 
Thatbastarddon said:
One question…no biggie…is the neck p’up RWRP? It’s not mentioned anywhere, that I noticed, on the page linked.
I’ve mentioned before that my SG Standard P90 is not, but a couple of others that I have are. The hotter ones that I have on hand make me happy that they are, because it shows under fuzz…in a positive way.
The SG Standard P90 pickups are low output enough to keep them in the game, when soloed, but the hotter ones really make some noise…but that is quelled nicely with a bit of the opposite coil dialed in a touch, while the selector is in middle position.
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Yes I ordered RWRP, it's one of the options you have to choose as you go through the steps when ordering. There's 3 or 4 steps, you also have to choose what type of leads you want, which is cool because I hate braided leads. They are made to order so you can go either way. Seems like it took about 6 weeks to get the last BKs I ordered.

I actually find the hotter ones to be less noisy because I don't have to gain them up so much to get what I want. Since I put the hotter P90s in the noise is less. In fact the Humbucker in my Tribute is noisier than my P90, which makes me think there's probably something wrong with the ground in my Tribute, lol. I'll have to check that.
 
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Thatbastarddon said:
Go figure…There was a time that I would have concurred, but I have become adept at getting exactly what I want from them…when installing. They’re dead simple, to me, to work with.
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That's cool, I can work with them, but I prefer not to if I have the option. I always un-braid about a half inch of the braid, twist it up and solder it like a normal wire anyway so that makes it harder to wire than a 2 wire lead, plus with a 2 wire lead it's easier to reverse the polarity if I mix pickup brands and they turn out to be out of phase...or if I should happen to want to wire them out of phase, which I have done on purpose in a past life. lol
 
DirtySteve said:
That's cool, I can work with them, but I prefer not to if I have the option. I always un-braid about a half inch of the braid, twist it up and solder it like a normal wire anyway so that makes it harder to wire than a 2 wire lead, plus with a 2 wire lead it's easier to reverse the polarity if I mix pickup brands and they turn out to be out of phase...or if I should happen to want to wire them out of phase, which I have done on purpose in a past life. lol
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I used to do that(unbraid), but I eventually learned that I didn’t have to, as long as I heated my iron for the task.
Would you be able to tell that the pickups were, ever, removed and replaced?
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My ground bus is solid. There’s no leakage to hot. Upper left pot has both pickups anchored for ground.
 
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