I think it's so interesting that P-90 pickups have such a loyal following. Remember that the P-90 pickup was invented in like
1945, when the F4U Corsair ruled the Pacific and the P-51 Mustang ruled the skies over Europe, shooting down even the
vaunted Me-262.
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This was the technology of the time, when the P-90 made its debut.
And here it is in two thousand effing eighteen, when so much has changed...
but the crystalline or crunchy tones of the P-90 remain unsurpassed.
I know this... I have a P-90 guitar too.
I came late to the party, disdaining P-90s as obsolete... simply out of ignorance.
I seem to learn something nearly every time I come aboard this forum, or our
unwilling birth muthuh ETSG.
And this is one of the things I've learned. The guys who designed the P-90 got it
right the first time. The pickups are accurate. You can play nearly any genre on
these antique p'ups, and you can feed the signal into gawd knows what effects,
and P-90 tone will work fine for almost anything you want to do.
After reading posts about P-90s, and then going back and listening to all the great
music that's been made with them, I finally had to make the jump to proto-light-speed
1940s style. And I'm glad I did.
I bought me a 2014 Epiphone ES-339 P-90 pro, and three years later I'm still finding
new tones this creature can make.
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It's so cool that a guitar like this was made in 2014, and I bought it new in 2015 in response
to all the debate about Gibson's new lineup, and Gibson's Stark Raving Prices. This was my
vote. And this one's a real prize IMHO. Ye silk purse made out of ye Pig Ear. 70 years later.
Its tones can be gritty and insistent, or clear and outstandingly pristine.
A man can play jazz on a guitar like this, or clean country, or Rock-a-Billy proto-punk...
If he has the skill.
The P-90 guitar, like the Telecaster, reminds us that it's all in our hands and in our
souls. It's not about the pickups or the cosmetic detailing, it's about the music, and it's
all in your hands, your fingers. Yes... P-90s are awesome, as long as we do our part.
I believe way back then the P-90's were not that desirable at all because of the feedback you get from them and some guitarists replaced them with the mini-humbuckers which fit the P-90 cavities perfectly. It's only been the past few years that the P-90 pick up has been well sought after despite the feedback it proposes. It's like a super beefy single coil pup and their popularity seems to be rising as each year passes. It's good to have a variety of pick ups to suit your own tone that you are looking for.
