Bluesbird Blues90 Pickups?

[Punkybub]

I've been playing my Blues90 lately and have decided the pickups don't have quite enough high-end to them for my ears. I'm pretty sure they're the stock (Duncan?) P90s - anyone out there have any ideas for a P90 that might be more dynamic and/or full range?

I want to keep them passive (no battery) and of course no mods to the 'Bird to change them. Could be these are the best and I just haven't gotten used to them, since I do have a "twang" factor in my head to contend with after playing a Tele for so long. I know it'll never sound like a Tele but a little more twang is what I'm after I guess.

Anyone changed P90s in one of these and ended up happier with them than stock pups?

Thanks in advance for any ideas...

 

[Punkybub]

I've been playing my Blues90 lately and have decided the pickups don't have quite enough high-end to them for my ears. I'm pretty sure they're the stock (Duncan?) P90s - anyone out there have any ideas for a P90 that might be more dynamic and/or full range?

I want to keep them passive (no battery) and of course no mods to the 'Bird to change them. Could be these are the best and I just haven't gotten used to them, since I do have a "twang" factor in my head to contend with after playing a Tele for so long. I know it'll never sound like a Tele but a little more twang is what I'm after I guess.

Anyone changed P90s in one of these and ended up happier with them than stock pups?

Thanks in advance for any ideas...

 

[Walter Broes]

I vaguely recall these having the hotter ceramic-magnet Duncans, and not the basic "vintage spec" type, but I'm really not sure. Are they very loud and fat?

 

[Walter Broes]

I vaguely recall these having the hotter ceramic-magnet Duncans, and not the basic "vintage spec" type, but I'm really not sure. Are they very loud and fat?

 

[Punkybub]

I vaguely recall these having the hotter ceramic-magnet Duncans, and not the basic "vintage spec" type, but I'm really not sure. Are they very loud and fat?

Yep - pretty loud and pretty fat. Interesting - maybe a more vintage-style P90 Duncan would do the trick? I never liked the "hotter output" Tele pups I've tried either.

 

[Punkybub]

I vaguely recall these having the hotter ceramic-magnet Duncans, and not the basic "vintage spec" type, but I'm really not sure. Are they very loud and fat?

Yep - pretty loud and pretty fat. Interesting - maybe a more vintage-style P90 Duncan would do the trick? I never liked the "hotter output" Tele pups I've tried either.

 

[Walter Broes]

hmmm...any P90 is going to be "loud and fat" compared to a vintage type tele pickup of course...that wasn't a very smart question on my part.

Hopefully someone will chime in who knows for sure what's in your guitar.
I love P90's, (ànd telecasters!) and I don't like those hotter duncan types.

 

[Walter Broes]

hmmm...any P90 is going to be "loud and fat" compared to a vintage type tele pickup of course...that wasn't a very smart question on my part.

Hopefully someone will chime in who knows for sure what's in your guitar.
I love P90's, (ànd telecasters!) and I don't like those hotter duncan types.

 

[Punkybub]

I'm familiar w/P90s and know they don't sound like a Tele pup. This isn't even in the same ballpark - much fatter. I liked the sound at first, playing in my livingroom but on the gig not so much.

I'll check the pups to see if there's any id on 'em about make/model, etc. - thanks for that tip. I'm using 10.5's so maybe going to straight .10s will help, though I like the extra string tension that tiny bit gives.

 

[matsickma]

I thought the bridge P90 on the Blues 90 was a special hotter SD P90. I owned two of these in the past and both were sonically similar with the neck sounding like a classic p90 and bridge was high output and more distorted. I miss the Blues 90's.

M

 

[dklsplace]

I've been playing my Blues90 lately and have decided the pickups don't have quite enough high-end to them for my ears.

Maybe experiment with pot/cap values before abandoning the pickups? I'm not sure what was stock in the Blues 90's, but I bet you can coax more high end with a lower value cap, or higher value pot.

 

[Punkybub]

Maybe experiment with pot/cap values before abandoning the pickups? I'm not sure what was stock in the Blues 90's, but I bet you can coax more high end with a lower value cap, or higher value pot.

Now that's a great idea Don - and it might do the trick. I'll check the pots and try some 1M volume pots if they're 500K or maybe start w/just the cap(s).

I don't want a fundamentally different sound, just more high-end so the cap/pot thing is where I'll start. If that doesn't do it, then different (vintage-style) pups will be next.

Sweeeeet!

 

[wright1]

Stick a treble bleed cap in the volume pot too so that you don't loose any edge if you roll off the volume. P90's usually have 250 pots so going up to 1meg should release a lot more uppper end.

 

[Walter Broes]

P90's usually have 250 pots

That would be 500K - Gibson's traditional value pot for any kind of pickup. 250K would be very dark sounding for a P90.

 

[mad dog]

Punky:

Not in a Bluesbird, but I am swapping P90s in a guitar, or will be soon. There are some totally rocking ones out there new, with Lollars and Fralins being often mentioned, either can be wound to taste. In my case, I want to reuse the p/u cases. 3 P90s in a Peerless Wizard ... not bad, but not great. I will have these rewound by a guy on the west coast, David Plummer, goes by the name Zhangliqun on the Les Paul forum. Heard a couple clips of his rewinds, that's all it took.

Many others could rewind also. So many names. There's alot of P90 talk in certain parts of the Les Paul forum. Check it out. Many other people look for alternatives to stock P90s.

 

[Walter Broes]

Mad dog, not sure a rewind would do the trick if they are indeed the hotter Duncan types : they have ceramic magnets.

 

[mad dog]

Mmmm, didn't think of that Walter. If those ceramics can't be swapped out, might be time to call Lollar or Fralin. Or others. Lots of people winding good P90s these days.

 

[Singin' Dave]

I too am finding the P-90's in my '00 Blues 90 to be too dark. I've tried swapping in Gibson P-90's and they exhibit similar tone to the stock SDs, so I think the pots/caps may indeed be the place to look to effect a more typical P-90 sc tone. Certainly cheaper than putting in boutique P-90s.

I might crack open my SG classic and see what is used in there, as I really dig the P-90 tone coming from that guitar.

As an aside, there are a couple small shops making excellent P-90's. One of them is Vintage Vibe, which sends them to you with swappable alnico and ceramic magnets.