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Kinman HXP90 Review


gahboo

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OK. Here goes... B)

I thought I would post here first on this topic because I am pretty devoted to my Vanguard with P90s, and I know a few of you are wanting this info. For various reasons, I find the need lately to get more tonal options from the P90, and need to play some high gain stuff. I ordered a Kinman neck HxP90. Paid $188 with shipping. Took a couple weeks to get here.

As y'all know, the axe came with the Hot Duncans (which stink). I swapped them to Rio Grandes (better, but muddy neck). Then I went to a Lollar, which to my ear is magical. I also have experience with the Fralin P-92 (nice, but it aint a P90), and the DiMarzio Virtual P90 (which absolutely blows).

I play mostly neck pickup, through an original '64 BFDR with a Weber speaker. I use an Analogman Chorus for clean tones, and a Greer Relic Drive for slight Blues grit (a TS808 variant). So that is my rig, and those are my tonal comparison benchmarks. Until now, I did not play much high gain beacuse I would not tollerate a tone sucking and signal interrupting noise gate. My new gig requires more grind, so I needed a solution.

FIT: No routing required. It fit in the neck perfectly.

THE BENCHMARK: The Lollar P90 is the primary pickup I measure this HxP90 against. I am not claiming it is best, because tone is personal, but here is why I love the Lollar. 1.) It has great articulation and note separation in the neck position - no mud. 2.) Dynamic sensitivity to pick attack and playing style. 3.) Huge, piano like bass notes. Almost a chime. 4.) It has more of that midrange mojo than other P90's I know. 5.) It is rude, but not abnoxious.

So, I really, really like the Lollar. But, it hums like a beast. Under flourescent lighting, it is almost unuseable without a noise gate.

QUIETNESS: The Kinman is stone silent, at all gain levels. I have played it with a Z-Vex Box of Metal, and it is completely silent, and dude, that pedal has some gain. Wanna buy a Boss NS-2?

FIRST IMRESSION: To my ear, the Kinman HXP90 does in fact compare favorably to the Lollar. Chris Kinman is not smoking dope when he claims to run with the big dogs. To be sure it is different, but to me, it is not a stretch to say that this thing sounds like a "true" P90. I do not have experience with Fralin's new noiseless pickup, but this Kinman is a better P90 than the Fralin P92 is. The P92 is more like a Thinline Tele than a P90 because it lacks the midrange mojo.

I like the Kinman a lot, and will probably keep it. Now, that is saying a lot when the displaced pickup is Jason's P90.

KINMAN STRENGTHS: Probably more midrange than the Lollar, but it is of a different character. The mids are not as "delicate" (that is the only word I can think of). Very nice, but thicker. Less chime, more meat. More punch. More in your face, but not as rude, if that is possible. The bass tightness is every bit as good as the Lollar. The Kinman does not get muddy at all. I mean NONE. The Hx90 is uber-sensitive dynamically. It is incredibly touch responsive, even too responsive when you first encounter it. I will definitely have to learn more finesse with this pickup, because it will expose sloppiness just as much as, maybe more than, the Lollar. To me, that is a sign of a good pickup.

When playing blues, the Hx90 "punches" more than the Lollar, but at the same time, it is not as rude. It sort of has more headroom. The punch manifests as dynamic volume, but does not seem to translate into preamp breakup as easily. I have no idea why that is, but it seems to be so for me. More dynamically responsive, yet lower output. It is not what I expected when I experienced the dynamic response. Not bad, but different.

You can still grind the amp with your picking, but you have to work at it a bit more. On the other hand, modulating volume with nothing more than picking attack is easier than with the Lollar. With the Kinman, when you pick aggressively, you notice the punchy volume first. With the Lollar, you notice the grit sooner. Which is better? Who knows. They are just different.

Also playing into this might be the fact that I have not really turned up the Deluxe Reverb since installing the Kinman. It might grind easier at higher volume, because the BFDR gets this creamy saturation thing going. With the Lollar, I got grit at Volume = 3. I do not get it there as much now unless I boost some. With the boost, it is cake, but straight into the amp, the pickup is not quite as rude.

If I were to compare it to the Strat world, I would characterize it as the fat tone of Rio Grande's, but with the tightness of Fralin Vintage Hots underpinning the bass.

Everything I write above could be good or bad, depending on what you want. Personally, I like it a lot, because my lead lines tend to have punchy, staccato of phrasing. I am not a shredder. If you like soft, legato types of stuff, this might not work for you. The Kinman definitely snaps and pops. It has sharp attack.

Despite its relatively low output, you can still pinch harmonics at pretty low gain levels. You can do all sorts of strange stuff by popping strings off your thumbs, etc. You can do it with the Lollar too, but this sort of thing is easier for me with the Kinman because of the dunamic sensitivity.

THE LOLLAR MAGIC: (Mr. Kinman - I need to call this one like I see it too. This commentary is carefully considered, and to my mind must be said.)

The Lollar has one thing that makes it really special to me. It has this beautiful harmonic "bloom" that surpasses any P90 I have heard. Harmonic overtones seem to build as a chord is held. This, while still present in the Kinman, is less pronounced. It is probably 75% there. Lollar is the only boutique winder I know, so others might do this too. For comparison, The Rio Grandes and Duncans are sterile in comparison to the Kinmans, but Lollars eclipse even the Kinmans. The Lollar just has that glassy shimmering bloom. It is enough to kinda make you shiver, if you know what I mean. The Kinman makes you shake, but the Lollar makes you shiver... It is kind of like the difference between the glassiness of a Fralin Vintage Strat set (Lollars) and a Fralin Blues Set (the Kinmans) Just depends on what you like.

The Lollar is better balanced output wise across all strings, the Kinman has a really strong bass attack, but to be fair, I have not fiddled with pole adjustments much, so I am sure balance can be improved. The Lollar seems "softer" or more "delicate" when strumming jazz chords, probably on account of the harmonic content. This might correct itself as I adapt to the more dynamic sensitivity Kinman pickup. Maybe I am still ham fisting it.

CONCLUSION: To me, the Kinman is an excellent alternative to the Lollar if you value quietness more than you value a slight loss harmonic complexity. On all other fronts, the choice comes down to personal preference, with both options being very good. The only point I would claim superiority of one over another is on the harmonic content issue.

Though I will definitely miss the "bloom" of the Lollars, I gotta say that the extra versatility is more than worth it to me. I guarantee you that nobody in your audience that isn't a guitarist with pretty extensive experience with P90s will be able to tell the difference. The difference between the Kinman and the Lollar is nowhere near as pronounced as the difference between the other pickups listed above and the Lollar. The tradeoff is well worth squeezing high volume feedback out of a P90 without the noise gate killing the signal or having the tone degenerate into a wall of noise!

I plan to match the Kinman with a Rio Grande Baby Bucker in the bridge with a coil split. That should make my Vanguard tons more versatile, which lets me accomplish my goal of having only one axe for my new gig.

So, I think Chris Kinman lives up to the claims. His Hx90, though different, can, in my opinion compete with the boutique winders. It performs in the P90 format at the same level that his Strat pickups perform. You still might not like them, but if not, it will be because you just do not respond to their particular tone. It will not be because the pickup just plain sucks (like every other stacked coil I have ever heard). This thing is not a P-92, P100, or a Virtual P90, to be sure. It's a real P90 (to me).

That is my $0.02. And, of course I qualify this whole review with a big "IMHO". Of course, if you listen to me, you do so at your own risk... :)

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For what it's worth, The Tonequest Report thinks the Lindy Fralin P90s are the benchmark. I've been a Lollar fan for years (way before they were popular) I still have 2 or 3 sets of Lollars here. But, after reading their reports comparing the Fralin's to Lollars and even Vintage P90s, they put the Fralins on top. I bought a set after the article. I'm just waiting for the right axe to put them in. Can't decide if I should try them in my Korina Special or keep it 100% original for value.

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For what it's worth, The Tonequest Report thinks the Lindy Fralin P90 are the benchmark. I've been a Lollar fan for years (way before they were popular) I have 2-3 sets of Lollars. But, after reading their reports comparing the Fralin's to Lollars and even Vintage P90, they put the Fralins on top. I bought a set after the article. I'm just waiting for the right axe to put them in. Can't decide if I should try them in my Korina Special or keep it 100% original for value.

for my money nobody makes a single coil pu like lindy , his tele pu's are the best i've ever tried and i've tried em all including kinmans , true spank and grit and pretty quiet even under high gain settings, i use the 2% overwind in the bridge of my t51 and stock winding in the neck , it just kills , playin it along with some paisley as i write this................. B):):P:P

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It does not surprise me that the magazines would pick the Fralins at the standard. I have a Fralin set in a Strat that are like nothing else.

i want to be sure to communicate this... If I had my choice, I would keep the Lollars, because I love the overtones they create, but with the Kinman, though I lose some of that, the overall profile of the pickup is sweet enough that it make sit worth the trade for me.

Though I do not like the Kinman better thant he Lollar, I like it close enough to let me make the switch without feeling robbed.

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For some reason, the Frailin noiseless P90's don't use standard P90 mounting screws (they use smaller diameter ones), which kept me from even trying the neck one I bought. I assume the Kinmans use regular diameter screws?

-Austin

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For some reason, the Frailin noiseless P90's don't use standard P90 mounting screws (they use smaller diameter ones), which kept me from even trying the neck one I bought. I assume the Kinmans use regular diameter screws?

-Austin

yes it is a direct bolt in same holes

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