Is there a P90 drop-in for an X150?

[AlohaJoe]

I apologize if this has come up before. If so, I couldn't find it. I'm pretty new to the electronic side of things and I would love to find a true P90 that will drop into my X150 without alteration. I love the Guild and the humbucker that came with it is OK, but there is something about the P90 in my ES125 that really speaks to me. That sound from the X150 would really be the best of both worlds for me.

I assume I'll have to swap out the 500k volume pot for a 250k as well, but is there any need to change the tone pot too?

 

[Walter Broes]

No need to swap out any pots, 500K is the standard value for P90's.

I'm not sure about the mounting ring, you might have to change that (?), but there are too many "P90's in humbucker housing" to list - most pickup companies these days offer something like that.

 

[telegeir]

Arguably, as my luthier pointed out when I discussed this topic with him once, a "P-90 in humbucker casing" cannot be a "true" P-90. This is because one element of creating the P-90 sound is the shape of the coil. To fit one in a humbucker casing it has to be shorter and wider, changing the magnetic field.

But I guess for practical purposes that is not an issue. Not all P-90s sounds alike anyway. And it may be as EMG commented when I asked about the sound difference between an 85 and the humbucker part of an 89: "You can certainly measure it, but you propably cannot hear it".

I have considered the same solution myself, given the scarcity of single coil Guilds out there. I have seen som extremely good looking humbucker Guilds on eBay, and I could easily replace the pickups and add a Bigsby. But apart fom the sound, there is something sexy about a dog-ear pickup on a hollowbody...

Geir

 

[Walter Broes]

Arguably, as my luthier pointed out when I discussed this topic with him once, a "P-90 in humbucker casing" cannot be a "true" P-90. This is because one element of creating the P-90 sound is the shape of the coil. To fit one in a humbucker casing it has to be shorter and wider, changing the magnetic field.

Yep. I've been told that Jason Lollar won't build "P90's in humbucker casing" pickups for exactly that reason.

Maybe they won't sound exactly like a P90, but I don't see why a pickup like that can't sound good in its own right.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record - you'd think guitar companies would see the writing on the wall and offer some more single coil Jazzboxes and Les-Paul-alikes.

Single coil hollowbodies are the sound of classic 50's country, rockabilly, Blues, R&B, and Jazz IMO.

 

[telegeir]

Maybe we could start an online petition to get the single coil X's back in production and see if we can get Fender to listen. I am sure enough people here frequent other guitar forums and could spread the word. Of course, Fender obviously knows how many where sold the last time, and would probably need some solid scientific evidence that it would fare better this time.

Sorry about the off topic.

Geir

 

[Walter Broes]

To be honest Geir, while I'd love to see a return of Guild electrics, in particular single coil X-series hollowbodies, I'm pretty much set for hollowbody Guilds, and IF I buy any more, I'm pretty sure they'll be vintage too.

 

[Default]

That's the problem with almost every brand being a subsidiary of Fender or Gibson. There's no incentive to make anything different that what sells the most copies. I always felt that you should offer lower-production models, not only for a wider range of products, but as an r&d method. If you con yourself as a company into believing the best way to serve your customer is by offering relic-ed Stratocasters, then you lose the people who don't want that sound.

 

[walrus]

Hey Joe - that is a great looking guitar! I love the single pickup archtops - yours is mint!

walrus

 

[thumbpicker]

Check down on the posts under X700 modifications from bluesdan. I gave him some info on P90 humbucker size PUP's from B&G pickups. I put them in my X700 and couldn't be happier with the sound. They have the same sound as my old Standel archtop with Gibson dog ear P90"s.
thumbpicker

 

[dean]

Pete at Vintage Vibe makes some of the nicest pickups I've ever used. I have used his 'bucker sized P-90 and it was very nice, but my favorite single-coil in that size is the blade pickup. I used that one in a single pickup jazz machine, and it sounded wonderful. Here's the website:

http://www.vintagevibeguitars.com/

Give Pete a look-see. He will chat with you and wind just about anything you want.

Have fun,
Dean

 

[AlohaJoe]

Thanks to all, and thanks for pointing me at that previous thread, lots of good info there. I'll check out B&G and Vintage Vibe as well. I like the look of a dog ear pup too, although it may expose holes to patch from the old mounting ring, but a blade is a very cool option too Dean, as I'm a big fan of 'old-school' jazz, esp Charlie Christian.

Just to throw a little extra guitar porn in here, here is the mid-50s ES125 I mentioned. It's a great guitar, much lighter weight than the 150 and in good shape. The thinner top on the 125 makes it a bit more feedback prone, but the P90 really sings. The old pg was pretty warped so I made one from a piece of acrylic I had. That said, I still grab the X150 first for the great neck and the cutaway.

 

[matsickma]

I installed a set of Harmonic Design Z-90 humbucker sized PUPs in a late 1980's X160T (similar to a X170T with less frills).

M

 

[telegeir]

That reminds me: I have a Harmonic Design Super-90 (Telecaster bridge size P-90 style PU) which I meant to put in a B-16 tele. But then I ended up with a Twangbucker instead. Still have another tele body in my parts drawers, maybe I should try making one from it one day, and put a proper soapbar at the neck.

I'd surely like to hear more peoples experiences with humbucker size P-90s, Especially with people who have been able to test them against the "real thing". As Walter says, there is just too many of them, and no easy way to test them all, so you have to rely on other people's experience. Maybe someone who had a X-500T and someone with a 500 with bucker size P-90s could meet and compare... 8)

Geir

 

[thumbpicker]

Hi Geir,
I have tried lots of single coils over the years and this is just my experience with them. I had a X500T once and sold it for a X700. The 500T had Seymour Duncan antiquity dog ear P90's and they were to my ears not much different from a standard humbucker. My Standel had Dearmond big slug PUP's and found them too bassy for the Travis sound. Switched them to Gibson P90 dog ear PUP's and now I get a good balance sound with the old P90 growl and sweetness. I also had a Super 400 years ago and sold it like the idiot I am and it had PAF humbuckers. I switched them for Gibson P90 size humbuckers and they were no different than the stock humbuckers. Kind of boring. A friend of mine has GFS humbucking size P90's in his archtop and I have B & G humbucking size P90's in my X700. We did a comparison test through my Music Man amp with a 15" altec lansing speaker in it and the GFS were good but the B & G were way better sounding. Like the vintage Gibson P90's. They are great sounding for the Travis sound I play. But then everybody has a certain style and sound they are looking for.

Thumbpicker

 

[AlohaJoe]

the B & G were way better sounding. Like the vintage Gibson P90's. They are great sounding for the Travis sound I play. But then everybody has a certain style and sound they are looking for.

Thumbpicker

Thanks for the tip, Thumbpicker! I looked up the B&Gs and they look like a good bet.

 

[AlohaJoe]

Arguably, as my luthier pointed out when I discussed this topic with him once, a "P-90 in humbucker casing" cannot be a "true" P-90. This is because one element of creating the P-90 sound is the shape of the coil. To fit one in a humbucker casing it has to be shorter and wider, changing the magnetic field.

Yep. I've been told that Jason Lollar won't build "P90's in humbucker casing" pickups for exactly that reason.

I sure love the look of an old dogear, but just to follow up, there might be a third option... Thumbpicker recommended BG pickups and I found the following interesting information on their site: http://www.bg-pups.com/h90.html

"Pure90
With all the talk lately of P90s and Humbucker sized P90s, I thought I'd sit down and design a real P90 that fits a humbucker route. What I came up with is a set of my Vintage P90s shaved down to fit a humbucker route.

This set of pickups started out basically as a set of BG Pups Vintage P90 soapbar pickups. After the coil is wound the bobbin and baseplate is trimmed to fit inside a humbucker cover. The only part used that is not used in my Vintage P90 set is the cover. Though I decided since true P90s use a plastic cover, I would use a plastic humbucker cover. As chrome covers have an effect on tone."