Install Dog eared P90 in a 99 Starfire III??

[rcboals]

Can this be done without choping and cutting and screwing up the guitar just in case you want to go back to humbuckers? Would P90's make it brighter and more twangy? I have a love hate thang with this guitar. It is actually darker sounding and less twangy than my 77 X500. I would like to brighten it up as I like its looks and feel.

 

[Beat_Dominator]

I would think the dog ears would be a problem, some holes to mount them would need to be drilled. Single coils can make a guitar brighter but not always or all that much. The easiest way I can think of is to see if you can find a wiring diagram for different tone circuits or a way to make the tone control knob have more effect.

Mybe try a different string gauge and lighter pick if you use one, those can help too.

 

[AlohaJoe]

The P90 'dogear' cover usually requires a screwhole in the side-flap and the shape is different, but there are lots of folks now making P90s for a humbucker route.

One is Pete Biltoft's HS90 or HS90A (Vintage Vibe Guitars). He made the blade pickup in my X150 and while darker (for jazz) it sounds fantastic. P90s are usually brighter and more defined, but if you call and tell him what you're looking for he'll make it for you. He even does custom winds, and his pups ship w 2 sets of magnets and you can easily change them out for additional tonal control. He explains it better than I can, but in my experience he's fast, not too expensive and very easy to deal with.
http://www.vintagevibeguitars.com/pickup_sc.html

Also, I believe Lindy Fralin and/or Jason Lollar both do custom winds and both have P90s that drop right in a hummer hole.

 

[F30]

You could try using 1 Meg pots with your stock PUs like on a Telecaster Custom's WRHB. It opens up the sound and makes it a bit brighter.

 

[Walter Broes]

Yes, plenty of options that fit and won't require any woodwork. Dogears could be done, but it would be a permanent modification.

 

[Spectrum13]

Dogears are not as simple as using a shim and making two screw holes. A P90 can not be raised and lowered like a humbucker so you must consider you string height and the dogears profile. Sure you can raise the screws to adjust distance to the strings but you can't make it lower and the neck pickup likes to be a good distance from the strings. Also under the theory the poles should line up with the 24th fret you might run into a problem there as well.

 

[firestar]

If the Starfire 3 has the later full size humbuckers then perhaps Bare Knuckle Pickups could be worth a look....they are from the UK and offer handmade
"scatterwound" pickups...they have a humbucker size P90 called the "Manhattan" which is an oldschool jazz pickup and is a somewhat art Deco chrome
affair that would sit in with the Guild aesthetic and from reviews is said to be a great jazz P90 which should be a straight swop.

 

[parker_knoll]

you can install a bridge position dogear P90 without major work and it will cover the humbucker hole. it's gonna involve making two new screw holes so if you ever reversed it they would be visible, but to put it on is easy and needs no routing since the shim lifts it high enough off the body.

In the neck position you would probably have to rout.

 

[matsickma]

I installed a set of HB size Z-90's on a late '80s X160 with no issues. I would think a SF3 would be equally easy.

M