Boutique P90 Pickups Comparison
From old Les Paul records, to T-Bone Walker, Grant Green and Pete Townsend, the P90's characteristic tone has helped to shape diverse musical styles. In this article we will look at the background of the P90 as well as compare some of the modern boutique P90 makers around today.
First some History:
The P-90 is a single coil electric guitar pickup first produced by Gibson in 1946. They were introduced to replace the "bar pickup" (aka the Charlie Christian pickup) in models like the ES-150. Towards the end of the 40's P90's were the main pickup used on all models, including the Les Paul introduced in 1952. The introduction of a new "humbucker" (also know as PAF) pickup in 1957 curtailed the growth of the P90.
Types of P90 Pickups:
"Soap Bar" P90's most likely take their name from their rectangular shape and proportions, and the fact that the first P-90s on the original Gibson Les Paul Model of 1952 were soap white.
"Dog ear" P90's have a casing with extensions at both ends that kind of resemble dog's ears. These extensions of the rectangular casing encompass the outlying mounting screws. You often find Dog-ear P-90 pickups on semi-hollowbody guitars like the Gibson ES-330 as well as on solid-body models like the Les Paul Jr.
P90's with a "Humbucker Casing" evolved to fit the needs of guitars that don't conform to the unique shape of the standard P90 derivations mentioned above. To fit a regular P90 in a humbucker routed model, the body would have to have the routes widened to make the pickup fit.
Tone
The P-90 is brighter and more transparent than a humbucker. They are heavy on the mid-range and share the twang of Fender single coil pickups but with more output and fullness. Typically P90's are clean at low volumes and have a biting overdriven sound when pushed. One downside to the P90 is the 50 Hz / 60 Hz cycle "hum" which can be caused by external electrical and magnetic fields. Several of the modern boutique P90 makers, offer a reverse wound version of the pickup, which doesn't hum when the guitar is kept the middle position.
Boutque P90 Pickups:
Lollar
Jason Lollar has been a professional luthier and a noted authority on nearly everything related to electric pickups. Lollar makes handwound Soap Bar and Dog Ear vintage style P90 pickups with Alnico bar magnets. They sell the pickups separately or in matched 2 or 3 piece sets. These P90's are reverse wound for hum canceling operation and feature single conductor braided shield lead wire. They are available in black or cream pickup covers. Prices are about $90 for each pickup new.
Click here for more info on Lollar P90's and sound clips:
Fralin
Fralin's P90's are fashioned after Gibson’s classic single coil known for big mid-range when used clean, and chainsaw grind when pushing an amp hard. This pickup comes with adjustable poles, ALNICO bar magnets and a choice of covers: Soapbar or Dogear, Black or Cream. These P-90's are reverse wound bridge for hum cancellation. Prices are around $80 for each pickup.
For More Info On Fralin P90's Click Here
Vintage Vibe
Vintage Vibe offers P90's in both Dog Ear's and Soap Bar styles. These pickups deliver the classic P-90 tone and have grounded shielding to reduce noise from external electric fields. Adjustable height nickel plated pole pieces, twin bar magnets (your choice of AlNiCo-II, AlNiCo-III, AlNiCo-V or ceramic-8; one set will be installed as shipped and one extra set of magnets will be included) and 3-conductor output leads. The magnet assembly can be removed from the pickup with ease allowing one to change magnets in just a few minutes. These pickups ship with two complete sets of magnets; please read the description on the order page for a full description of the magnet types available. Covers in black or crème are included as are the mounting screws.
For more info on Vintage Vibe P90's click here
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Lindy Fralin Hum Canceling P90 Soap Bar Pickups Set |  |
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US $260.00 | 11d 23h 47m |
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John Carruthers C 90 Hand Wound P90 Humbucker Pickups | |
0 Bid | US $260.00 | 4d 4h 34m |
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LINDY FRALIN BLACK P90 DOG EAR PICKUPS BALANCED SET | |
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US $180.00 | 28d 13h 47m |
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Kent Armstrong P90 Set 2 pups Black Humbucker Size | |
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US $113.88 | 1d 18h 20m |
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Lace Sensor Alumitone P90 Soapbar Mini humbucker Pickup | |
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US $109.99 | 13h 43m |
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Lindy Fralin Hum Canceling P90 Soap Bar Bridge Pickup | |
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US $129.99 | 28d 15h 13m |
[...] the Neck? Check out Lindy Fralin’s P90’s (humbucker sized) – amazing sounding…info below: Boutique P90 Pickups Comparison | The Gear Mall __________________ The Gear Mall.com – Vintage Guitars & Boutique [...]
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