P-90s Rule. Humbuckers Drool.

[dbt]

Hey, y'all...

I bought a cherry red Samick Avion back around Thanksgiving from an independent music store in a Small Southern Town Which Shall Remain Nameless. The only criterion I gave the owner when I walked in was that I wanted something with single coil pickups and preferably P-90s.

He showed me a couple of full-size Yamaha hollow-body archtops, but they only had the P-90 in the neck position. Not good for my mission, which is to avail myself of the crying tone that can be had (most notably through an AC30 Top Boost) of the bridge pickup, along with the full-bodied, tobacco-soaked and beer-spilled magic that comes from using the neck pickup in those places that my Mother begged me to stay out of.

"Wait a minute," said Owner Boy, and he pulled Darla (what? You don't name your instruments?) from an overhead display. "I think I got ONE solid body here with P-90s." Well, it was infatuation at first sight--UNTIL I plugged her into a Fender Champ, at which point it was LUST.

Long story short, I paid $453.00 without a backward glance, took Her home, wrestled the covers off the pickups, plugged Her into my 1967 Band-Master (one orginal tube remaining) and proceeded to scare the living shit out of the cat at 4.5 on the volume knob. I got me a cold beer and a screwdriver for the pickup screws and pulled them sumbitches up under the strings as far as they'd go. Instant Blues!

Now. You don't even NEED to be talking to me about "clean" tones and whether or not some pickups are susceptible to radio interference and yada-yada-yada. Please try to remember that the FIRST Les Pauls had P90s in 'em and that Leo Fender (may he rest in Glory forever!) was all about saving money on the wire he used in his single coils. Goddess bless him, but P90s kick ass on anything Fender or G&L ever came up with.

P90 pickups is some dirty and primitive things, utterly suitable for us hillbillies what like to shake the floor through a good ol' tube amp playing Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline songs unbelievably loud.

:smoke:

[ProfessorGAC]

1. Pffffft!

You want single coil, buy a Strat! :evilgrin:

Me, i'm not nuts about P90's. They like the spark or sting of a Fender-type single coil, and lack the roundness of a good humbucker to my ear.

But, whatever makes the person playing the guitar happy is what really matters.
GAC

[SacredCow]

2. I bought a '57 reissue Epi Les Paul Junior some time back...

it came with a stacked-coil P100 that was just completely and utterly lifeless. I threw a cheap P90 into it, and LOVE the way it sounds.

[old mark]

3. I found a parts Telecaster with an OLD Tele bridge pickup,

and a black Gibson soap bar P90 at the bridge. Bought it immediately. It became my favorite guitar as soon as I plugged it in - maybe my favorite ever. The P 90 sounds great in combination with the Tele bridge PUP, and by itself, well, you know how they are.....

Don't like they way Teles sound with Humbuckers, though - rather have the stock neck pup.


mark