Why Are P-90 Pick-ups not popular?

TR -- one P90 and one minibucker would be a good combo. minibucker in neck position probably.

OTOH, a goldtop with P90s should be a great axe as is! probably the only LP other than a Junior I would consider buying

Well, not a "real" Les Paul, it's an Agile but it is nice and for a sale price of $159 I get at least a taste of a GoldTop with P90's. :wink: I still don't know why they put the darn things on clearance cause it is a classic.

Ken, I love that guitar too, almost bought one but got my tube amp instead. (Faded version, affordable one)

yeah -- that DC LP is pretty much a LP Jr with a second pup. thumbs up! which reminds me, Hamer make a killer korina version of the LP Junior -- a bit pricier, but also soooo much better made than the Gibby:

I have a double cut Hamer that is made in China, so not as pricey but it is a beautiful guitar so I bet that one is built better.

Korina?

Nope ...... not korina. It is the classic Mahogony / Maple LP style. I'm just saying if the chineese ones are that good ........... the high end ones must be premo.

gotcha. if Hamer did make an Asian version in Korina, I'd buy it, as I'm pretty sure it would be good stuff in the same way PRS SE axes are. IIRC, the USA DC Junior is around two grand -- actually more expensive than their DC carved top.

I think the main reason why P90s are not so popular is because they do pick up some hum.

But let's put this into perspective.

In school, I learned that a signal to noise ration of 35 db is enough to completely mask the noise. Most guitar players play at least 80 db louder than the hum of a P90.

Count me in as a P90 fan. The clean highs, the warm mids, and the pick response is much better than a humbucker and it sounds much fatter than the Fender-ish single coil pickup.

With a little fx, I can make the P90 sound similar to a humbucker, but there is nothing anyone can do to make the humbucker sound like a P90.

All in all, I have no idea why they aren't more popular. To me sound trumps a little hum any day. Perhaps that ever since Gibson came out with the humbucker, they put the P90s on their less expensive guitars, and therefore are perceived as inferior.

Here are some pictures of my P90 guitars (my apologies to those who have seen them on other threads)

And my newest GFS Dream 90 modded guitar:

Insights and incites by Notes

Perhaps some of the other variables for producing hum that gnease mentioned (or other factors not mentioned) had a bigger effect back in the day. Perhaps less of the factors exist now than they did 30-50 years ago? I dunno. Regardless, I like 'em.

Here's my cheapo guitar with the P90s in it:

and

Notice the head-stock. Everything is done at the bridge except for truss-rod, and even that's done where the body meets the neck. A real gem for $100 new (Musician's Friend Stupid Deal Of The Day a couple years back) & $70 in pickups. If I paid full price, it would be the biggest pile of rot imaginable. :) Oh, I also added a tone control. It did not come without one. I forgot to order a knob. D'oh! It is a really fine playing guitar. Always has been. I just did not like how it sounded until I added the tone control and p90s.

your P90s have shielded covers, Roy. makes them less vulnerable to certain interference types/sources than the more typical unshielded P90s.

So then ..... P90's must be somewhat popular. They make them to fit into humbucker sized holes and even disguise them as humbuckers with pretty chrome covers. :mrgreen:

So then ..... P90's must be somewhat popular. They make them to fit into humbucker sized holes and even disguise them as humbuckers with pretty chrome covers. :mrgreen:

Well, nearly fit. I had to do a hack job with a dremel tool. If you look closely, you'll see it. :oops:

I love p-90's, especially with semi- hollow bodies and don't understand why people think you can't rock out with them.

If you go to my "James Project" link you'll find a clip called "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"

The guitar is an Epi Wildkat.

It's just one guitar, done in one take :twisted:

Very nice, MoonRider.

I looked at the Wildkat online when I got my Gretsch. Never got to try one, though. They look like they'd be pretty good. You're obviously satisfied. :)

I'd love to try a Wildkat, they are cool looking guitars and they have P90s.

Funny, when you go to GC you can find more LPs, SG, Teles, and Strats than you could ever play, but never a Wildkat and a few other models I'm very curious about.

It seems to me that perhaps a few of the less popular models might be a good thing to stock, but I'm on the outside looking in, so I might have it all wrong.

Notes

Ever play a Riviera? I thought this one looked mighty interesting. (3 P90s, Bigsby style, semi) http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epiphone-Limited-Edition-Riviera-Custom-P93-Electric-Guitar?sku=516284 Probably never see it in the stores. I think this is like the third batch of them out.