Swapping out the stock SD P90's in my Archtop GT..any recomendations??

[jasonic]

Hey guys,

I'm on a quest for some real P90 growl, with as much diversity as possible. As many have stated, and is now my expereince, the stock SD's are definitly on the dark and kinda mellow side. Going into an HT-5R at the store recently, I picked up a gibson and an epi LP with P90's in them to A/B against mine, and they have WAY more snarl and bite to them..higher gain on either guitar was raw and chainsaw like, I just couldn't realy get that snarling tone out of the Hamer. Nothing wrong with the pups physically, I just had the guitar setup and looked over. Maybe its the ceramic SD's vs alnico magnets of the gibsons, I'm not sure I know exactly.

The big question here is, there are a couple great makers out there that people swear by, but not alot of information as to the attributes of each that set them apart. Lollar/Fralin/Wolfetone, older gibson examples, people seem to love this stuff. I'm looking for as much musical flexability as possible, and to realy capture that snarl and bite that P90's are classicaly known for. Any specific thoughts or recomendations? Would an overwound bridge help me get more bark and snarl, and if so, would it hurt me in other ways.

Over wound brindge, under wound neck, or stock winding..what would you choose, and who would you go with

thanks!

-j

[JGale]

A recent post linked to someone's library of mp3s of different pickups...

[jasonic]

A recent post linked to someone's library of mp3s of different pickups...

Yep, checking it out for sure.

thanks,

-jasonic

[serial]

I LOVE the Lollars in my Historic R4 Goldtop. The Gibson pickups were nothing close, even though I find them better than the Duncans that Hamer used.

[jasonic]

I LOVE the Lollars in my Historic R4 Goldtop. The Gibson pickups were nothing close, even though I find them better than the Duncans that Hamer used.

Excellent! Did you go for an over or under wound set, or the standards?

Very interested to hear more.

-j

[jaberwock]

Put Lollars in my Monaco III, neck 5% underwound, bridge standard; huge improvement over the original ceramic SD P90s.

Jaberwock

[jasonic]

Put Lollars in my Monaco III, neck 5% underwound, bridge standard; huge improvement over the original ceramic SD P90s.

Jaberwock

Very cool!

Out of curiosity, why did u opt for an underwound neck?

Was it because u went with a standard winding in the bridge position?

Also, was their a reason you opted not to go with the overwound bridge?

many thanks,

-j

[jaberwock]

Out of curiosity, why did u opt for an underwound neck?

Was it because u went with a standard winding in the bridge position?

Also, was their a reason you opted not to go with the overwound bridge?

many thanks,

Because, I wanted a little more clarity, and twang; the stock SD's are great for punk, but that's about all....... plus this was Jason's recommendation for the Monaco III.

Jaberwock

[jasonic]

Very excellent info across the boards, thanks guys.

On the cork sniffers page the SD's definitly came off more muffled and less dynamic sounding than the rest, I wonder if thats all thats up in my case. Given the reaction to this pup, in this guitar, by the community, I'm inclined to guess it is.

After deliberation, and speaking with a guy at Lollar, it sounds like I'll be going with a standard Lollar set. Before I pull the trigger, is there anything else I'm not factoring in that could be contributing to the dark and muffled/muddy sound I'm hearing with the current stock setup? I had the guitar looked over and setup by a great tech, he definitly cleaned up all the electronics for me, and gave a her a great bill of health. Could there be anything else I should be concidering swapping out in the stock setup? I'd just hate to spend the doe and wind out still sounding kinda muffled and flat..the treble knob doesn't go much further on my amp..lol

Whats throwing me is that there was such a difference in the gibson P90 guitars I A/B'd my Hamer with at my local guitar store. The gibbies were hotter, and a ton brighter..even the ones in the Epi models. If its the pups that make the difference, and the stock SD's really are that limp and muffled, it makes me wonder why Hamer ever went with them in the first place. Its always possible that 1995 was not the best year for P90's in general

Should I cast say screw further investigation, pull that trigger and see where I land with the new Pups?

Could there be more at work here, or am I just being paranoid. For me this is all a bit like taking a car to the mechanic, I'm gonna drive it everyday, but a bit in the dark as to the specifics of whats under the hood..lol.

What would you do?

thanks,

-jason

[Punkavenger]

Those SD P90's suck, thats all. Hamer isn't 100% in their pickup choosing for some reason. Lollars are known to be the bomb so you'll be alright there. Worth the investment in this case.

[jasonic]

Those SD P90's suck, thats all. Hamer isn't 100% in their pickup choosing for some reason. Lollars are known to be the bomb so you'll be alright there. Worth the investment in this case.

Excellent! I realise the following is subjective, but, in your opinion, would you agree with the guy I spoke with at Lollars assessment that the standard set of P90's (vs over or underwound in either position) would be best to cover the widest base of styles and tones in this particular guitar?

Thanks again for your input,

-j

[veatch]

You won't be disappointed in the Lollars.

And Jason's good people.

[jasonic]

You won't be disappointed in the Lollars.

And Jason's good people.

Done. Ordered a set of Lollar standard wound P90's, as they recomended.

Will report back when I've got them installed, and have taken em for a test drive.

Thanks very much to all who contributed!

A guy can learn alot in a forum this supportive,

-j

[jaberwock]

I put some Tonerider p90's into a friends Korean made PRS, these are scary good for the money, really not that far off 100 dollar boutique pickups; they use CNC machines to duplicate traditional hand scatter winding techniques. If you want to try a different sound without a huge cash layout these are excellent.

I'm sure you'll love the Lollars

Jaberwock

[Punkavenger]

I had Pete Biltoft custom make me a set for my Goldtop Archtop GT and I thought they sounded great. Nice guy and fair price.

But then the guy I sold the guitar to thought that THOSE pickups sucked. Ha ha. So there you have it. Depends on the guitar, amp and style of music being played.

Recent pickups I have loved are Bare knuckles mule (neck), Rio Grande texas and muy grande and also WCR Fillmores for humbucker applications, Di marzio area 61's for single coil applications

Still waiting for a killer Jazzmaster to experiment with P90's in ... I'll let you know when I win the lottery

Good luck with the Lollars ... I'm sure you have nothing to worry about, those things are great

[Hfan]

You won't be disappointed in the Lollars.

And Jason's good people.

Done. Ordered a set of Lollar standard wound P90's, as they recomended.

Will report back when I've got them installed, and have taken em for a test drive.

Thanks very much to all who contributed!

A guy can learn alot in a forum this supportive,

-j

I have a line on a set of used lollars but without covers. Anyone know if the covers on the Duncan P90s would fit the Lollars? Want to try them on my Special. This thread got me interested.

[jasonic]

I have a line on a set of used lollars but without covers. Anyone know if the covers on the Duncan P90s would fit the Lollars? Want to try them on my Special. This thread got me interested.

I can say yes for sure, as I just installed the Lollars this weekend, and went with the SD's covers as they were a bit more neutral and less pinkish overall (small difference really, I'm just a color geek).

In other news, this is a repost from the thread over at the MLP forum, but I wanted to give you guys the scoop..bottom line?..HOLY CRAP its just changed everything about the sound and response of the instrument, plus my setup guy also replaced an internal component as well for even more dynamic response from the tone knob. Interested in the details? Read on ....

Ok, I pulled the trigger on the swap, and its official...

I swapped out my SD's for Lollars, and to put it as planely as possible..HOLY FLIPPING SH*T. The entire sound dynamics of the guitar has changed in everyway. I can't say enough about how amazing the guitar now sounds. Also, John put in a larger capacitor (to a .047) that changed the dynamics of the tone knob. Essentially adding range on the top and the bottom, yielding even more high end sparkle, and the bottom goes far down to a dark and spooky place. This made a big difference to the overall flexibility of the instrument as well, anyone ever done anything like this to their guitar before? Playing through the fender super reverb at his place after the swap/rewire was just heavenly.

I came home and plugged into my little MicroCube RX, and where SD's had sounded like muffled pea soup the Lollars now sounded just incredible.

To sum it up, what was flat and muffled before has become wide open full of depth and increadibly dynamic. Its safe to say she now plays as good as she looks..maybe even better

just blown away over here,

-j