Anyone tried the one-magnet P90 trick?

I have two sets of the ceramic MIM Strat pickups, one in a MexiStrat and another set that I bought on eBay for next to nothing.
Smitty's right, there are advantages to them being widely scorned.

I like 'em. They are a bit an the dry side, and don't feel quite as aggressive or bouncy as alnico singlecoils. But they don't have the brittle ceramic harshness that I hate in 90% of ceramic pickups. And they do have a recognizable, distinctly Stratty character.
 
jtcnj said:
I have read of folks using 2 different type magnets instead of both the same, but not running just 1.
Interesting.
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I have a neck P90 with one A2 and one A5. I wanted to fill the mids a bit and give it a looser quality. Not a mod; I had it made that way. A custom P90 from Jerry Sentell. He's made me three different pickups over the past five years or so.

One A8 and one A5 is a good combo for a bridge P90 that needs extra body and output. The thing is, A8 has a pretty modern feel, it's bigger but also quite a bit tighter than any of the lesser-strength alnicos. A good solution for some situations but not the answer if you want to stay with a vintagey type of sound.
 
eclecticsynergy said:
It was pointed out on another forum that the real problem is simply too much wire on the bobbin.
I think I'm going to try unwinding the coil. Would love to take it down to about 8K or even 7.5.
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That could be tricky if the pickup has been wax potted. The pickup wire is pretty fine and could break If you try to pull it through the wax. Even if it hasn’t been potted, the wire is under a certain degree of tension when being wound. Don’t let the wire get too loose on the bobbin as you unwind it or the pickup may become microphonic.

Proceed carefully and good luck!
 
smitty_p said:
That could be tricky if the pickup has been wax potted. The pickup wire is pretty fine and could break If you try to pull it through the wax. Even if it hasn’t been potted, the wire is under a certain degree of tension when being wound. Don’t let the wire get too loose on the bobbin as you unwind it or the pickup may become microphonic.

Proceed carefully and good luck!
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I'll have to remove the tape and check out how heavily the coil is potted. I think P90s in general may often be potted less deeply than humbucker coils, and being a custom pickup this one might not have been potted at all, or perhaps only very lightly. I'll probably find out over the weekend.

It's been suggested that one can soften the wax with a blowdryer or heat gun, like we do when removing humbucker covers.
Once you get past the outer layer of winds it gets easier since not all of the wax penetrates the innermost windings.
 
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