P-90 Pickups

Part 1

This comparitave analysis assumes that you, the reader, know something about the tonality of the item being compared.  I apologize for this assumption, and will strive to create articles allowing for these comparisons to be technically explainable.

The single coil design of a P-90 is somewhat brighter and more transparent than a humbucker, though not quite as crisp and hot as Fender's single coil pickups. It became highly desirable in progressive and psychedelic rock styles. Some well-liked guitars that use P-90s are the Gibson SG and Les Paul models, the Epiphone Casino, and P-90's are becoming popular additions to various other instrument manufacturers as well.  There are variations of the P-90 design appearing on the market, and one is used in Fender's Jazzmaster.  Raven West Guitars installs a P-90 in their chambered Tele copy.  Sweet!

 All of the original vintage P-90 pickups were hand-wound, so their actual output specifications vary somewhat. There are 2 different specifications for the P-90.  The bridge spec usually ohms out around 8-9 K ohms and the neck impedance is usually somewhere around 7-8 K ohms.  Alnico-3 magnets were used in the earlier pickups (around 1952), and Gibson has been using Alnico-5 since around 1957.



There are 2 basic types of P-90 pickup case styles (form factor):

    * Soap bar - Rectangular shape with the mounting screws between strings 2-3 and 4-5.  The "soap bar" moniker comes from its rectangular shape and size, and because the original Gibson Les Paul P90s were white.

     * Dog ear  - Refers to the dog ear like extensions that stick out on the sides and hold the mounting screws. Dog-ear P-90 pickups were installed on Gibson's ES-330 semi-hollow body and on solid body models like the LP Jr. The same pickups were also installed on Gibson's Epiphone models.

The humbucker was introduced in 1957 and quickly became the preference in most Gibson models over the P-90 due to a couple of reasons.  The humbucker was less noisy, and offered a fuller, less twangy sound.  The P-90 was then used on less expensive models such as the ES-330, the Les Paul Jr., and the SG Special. Through the '60s and into early 1970 the pickup was almost never used in any Gibson guitar. By the 1970s, it almost seemed like P90's were a thing of the past.

In 1968, 1972, 1974, 1976, and 1978 Gibson produced some Limited Edition reissues equipped with a P-90, but few were made in comparison to the humbucker-equipped models. Since the '70s the P-90 pickup has enjoyed some success mostly in reissued and custom versions. Now, the Les Paul Faded Doublecut and some historic models feature the P90.

I remember hearing somewhere that Gibson called P90's the "Laid Back" pickup sometime in the '70s.


One drawback of the P-90 pickup, and single-coil pickups in general, is the 60-cycle hum it generates, which is bad enough for some players to simply choose humbucking pickups instead.  I'm one of these guitar players!  Until recently, I have exclusively used humbucker-equipped guitars specifically for that reason.  In 2005, I picked up my first tele copy made by SX for eighty bucks - including the gig bag.  I was astonished at what I had been missing out on all these years (30+) with regard to the clarity of the notes in the upper register, as well as the harmonic overtones that just seemed to pop out of nowhere!  Wow.

That prompted me to make a custom Telecaster, which I will talk about in another series of articles.  You'll need to become a registered user of the site to access this and some other features of the site, but it will be worth it, and I'll NEVER share or sell your information to anyone, ever, period!

Oops!  Back to P-90 pickups...  Sorry.

Several manufacturers now make a variation of the P-90 pickup that share the form-factor.

    * Seymour Duncan offers a "stacked" single-coil version of the P-90 (STK-P1).  It eliminates the hum while preserving 'most' of the tone of the Gibson's P-90.  They also make the SPH90 Phat Cat P90 pickup, a P-90 pickup in standard humbucker-sized casing.  That would make a great modification for your current humbucker-equipped axe!
    * DiMarzio offers the DP210 Tone Zone P90 pickup.  It is basically a humbucker with high output, ceramic magnets, and four-conductor wiring.  In the author's opinion... um... that's not a P-90.  But, it could provide exactly the tone you're searching for!

Quest on my friend!