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p - 90's / 100s vs single coils vs humbuckers

Lukin_ozLukin_oz Posts: 257
edited September 2004 in Musicians and Gearheads
i was just after some opinions on the variety of pick ups out there... is there any particular guitar or make that lends itself to the p - 90s or 100s?
Those who dance are called insane by those who dont hear the music
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    Lukin, you can pretty much use a P-90 in anything hollowbody, solidbody or semi hollow, the main differences are tonal and have a lot to do with the wood and resonance of the guitar.

    the P-90 is actually a large single coil pickup. The guitar they are mounted in will effect their tone and resonance but primarily they are a tonal choice. Much much fatter (more mids) than a traditional single coil (think telecaster) but not as dark and brooding as a traditional humbucker.

    There are various places to learn about pickups.

    I would suggest http://www.harmony-central.com

    also http://www.seymourduncan.com is a good place to compare pickups and learn about why they sound like they do.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • mccreadyisgodmccreadyisgod Posts: 6,395
    It's VERY important to consider that the tone from an electric guitar comes from MANY variables...

    1. The pickups
    2. The wood used
    3. The guitar's shape
    4. Hollow-body, semi-hollow, tone chambers or solid?
    5. Quality of construction, esp. neck joint, bridge, tuners, etc.
    6. String guage
    7. Player's dynamics and technique

    All of these elements combine to form the tonal characteristics of a certain guitar. You can use the same pickups as SRV in a cheap Squier strat, and it won't sound right. You can use the same model that Eric Clapton plays, but maybe the neck isn't set the same. You can put P-90's into a funky Harmony guitar and get amazing results, and then try them on a $5,000 Les Paul and hate the sound.

    There are so many different options in the world of guitar selection and modification, that it's just sick sometimes trying to figure out how to get "your" sound.

    That being said... the best thing you can do is form goals in your search for tone and try to find elements that lend themselves to your goal. The Seymour Duncan website is by far the most comprehensive site describing and sampling the sounds of different pickup options.

    Like Paco said, the P-90 is a large, high-output single-coil pickup. The P-100 is a stacked humbucker version of the P-90, meant to give you P-90 tone without the single-coil hum. It's not the exact same tone, but it's close. Gibson makes a humbucker-sized P-90 called the P-94, Seymour Duncan has the same thing called a "Phat Cat," and several other boutique manufacturers offer similar humbucker-sized P-90 emulators.
    ...and if you don't like it, you can suck on an egg.
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