Newport Pickup Change

[fruhike]

Quick question. I am going to put some HD Z-90 pickups in my Newport. They use 500K pots. Am I OK, or do I need to switch out some pots too?

Also, any advise on switching out the pickups in a Newport. I read here once to tie things to string before pulling them out. Any other tips?

[gorch]

The Newport comes with 500k pots stock. Replacing pickups requires to pull out the electronics piece in full. The electronics can be pulled in one piece as pots and switch are soldered on a solid ground wire.

You'd better tie strings to any individual piece that's going to be pulled for easier re-installation. Otherwise it could become a nightmare to fiddle pots or switch back into the holes.

[fruhike]

Gotcha. Thanks for your answers to all my questions. You have been very helpful.

Time to order some tort topped HD Z-90s. They will look awesome in the guitar.

[burningyen]

What do you want to accomplish with the Z-90s that you can't get with PhatCats? The Z-90s are more hifi-sounding and don't really sound like P-90s.

[fruhike]

Hard to say other than I am just not pleased with the Phat Cats. I really tried too - adjusting pickup and pole piece height, amp settings, etc. They just don't have what I was looking for. I am not that picky when it comes to pickups or amps, but these just don't seem to work with me. I guess that I am indifferent about them - sort of how I felt with the stock JB/59 that came with my 25th anniversary. I want more for that guitar.

Mainly, I am looking for a pickup to give me a fuller tone, increased volume, and hold up to gain/distortion better. Compared to the Phat Cats, I want less mud in the lows and better definition in the highs. I want greater clarity/definition between strings, and more of a sense that the guitar is hollow and made of wood (woodier tone?). Not sure how to define that last one other than my Korina Artist has a whole lot of this. Lastly, although not a metal guitar, I do tend to play with gain and want it to handle distortion better. I vary my pick attack a lot and want the pickups to respond better to that too.

Superficially, they are tort topped and I must admit that I think they would look pretty cool on that guitar.

[analogsystem]

You should seriously consider the Fralin P-92 or Twangmaster. I think they do everything you described in your last post and do not suffer from the normal single coil hum.

I have a Twangmaster in the neck of my Studio and its UNREAL. Its my favorite pickup of all time for all-around playing. No mud at all, chimy, full-range, clear, defined, blah blah....takes fuzz, gain, just killer. Still sounds like my guitar too, this pup does not take over.

I use it with 500k pots.

[m chops]

Make sure you tie something to the jack as well as the other pieces.

[fruhike]

Fralins. Cool, thanks. I will definitely check those out too. Thanks for the tips, guys.

[ArnieZ]

This is what you'll be pulling out of there will look like, minus the pickups of course.

ArnieZ

[straightblues]

Swapping pickups in a Newport can be a real challenge. Take your time. Try not to get too frustrated. The first time I did it, it took me about an hour or so to get things back in right. It felt like 10 hours. I got better the second and third time. What I found best is to work in short increments of time. After 15 minutes, I took a break. It is easier to do when you are fresh and not frustrated.

[harry65]

You should seriously consider the Fralin P-92 or Twangmaster. I think they do everything you described in your last post and do not suffer from the normal single coil hum.

I have a Twangmaster in the neck of my Studio and its UNREAL. Its my favorite pickup of all time for all-around playing. No mud at all, chimy, full-range, clear, defined, blah blah....takes fuzz, gain, just killer. Still sounds like my guitar too, this pup does not take over.

I use it with 500k pots.

wow!!!!!!!! holy coincidence batman , was just an hour ago playing my studio with a twangmaster in the bridge and a gfs p90 in the neck , the gfs sounds so muddy and has so much noise, the twngmaster just kills , was thinkin i might order a twangmaster neck from lindy tommorow but now it's a definite , imo the perfect match for a dark studio or monaco you want to make brighter and they are totally noiseless , lindy rules.................

[burningyen]

I had Z-90s in my old Newport Pro. They will definitely give you more treble definition, along with more bass and volume. To me they sounded huge and hifi, like a combination of a P-90 and a 3-ton Strat single coil. I don't remember them accentuating any woodiness. I also had an Artist Korina P-90, and that's an inherently much woodier-sounding guitar. The Newport is a twang machine. I'm not sure any pickup swap will change that unless you go with very thick-sounding buckers, like the ones Hamer uses in the Monaco SuperPro.

[fruhike]

Great advice! I will definitely look into the Fralins, even if for another guitar. Twang is OK with me too, not trying to take any of that away. I was originally thinking humbuckers for the Newport, but I will give one of these a try first.

Thanks for the pics, I saved those just to be sure.

I am also switching out some pickups on a DBZ Imperial and modding an Epi Valve Jr. Apparently, I have a weekend of soldering ahead of me.

[gorch]

I changed pickups to LeoSounds P94 on mine. Clean, it now truly sounds like an acoustic guitar and has a warm and mellow tone.

The PhatCats made me happy at first, but I lost interest in them after a while.