P90 Pickups for Jazz

[hans halmackenreuter]

I have an Ibanez AFJ81 with a P90 in Humbucker format by Bareknuckle PU. It is called the Manhattan. I like it a lot, but I guess the solutions by big companies are good too.

[joaopaz]

I have an Ibanez AFJ81 with a P90 in Humbucker format by Bareknuckle PU. It is called the Manhattan. I like it a lot, but I guess the solutions by big companies are good too.

@all, thanks for your replies, guys!

Hans, and all
I'm checking YT and this one just popped up... wow, love this sound!
Hans, is this similar in any way to yours?

[Lobomov]

The manhattan and half note (on which the manhatten is based) are Bare Knuckles prime jazz offering when it comes to P90s. I haven't tried them myself, but been tempted to pull the trigger on many an occasion

[Cunamara]

Pete Biltoft at VintageVibeGuitars.com makes great pickups at good prices and is very easy to deal with. He has both P90s and Charlie Christian pickups in a humbucker sized format for drop-in replacement. I have two of the CC pickups, both of the humbucker form factor (known as the HCC). One is in my Tele in the neck position and one is a neck-mounted floater on my archtop. I am delighted with both. The tone is big and wide, for lack of a better description- very fat and bright with the tone wide open, but you can roll it off and darken it without it getting muddy. Much like Jim Hall on "The Bridge" with Sonny Rollins and "Interaction" with Art Farmer. Fantastic pickups; BTW, when I contacted Pete about getting a pickup for my archtop, I used much the same description as joaopaz. Pete recommended the CC over the P90 and, as I have said, his advice nailed what I was looking for.

Forum member Fred Archtop's video is a good indication of the tone; this is a floater as well. In fact it is why I contacted Pete about getting one made for my archtop (I already had the one in my Tele, but I didn't know it could be done as a floater). I run mine a touch darker than this to reduce the pick sound, but still no muddiness:

This and Jim Hall's recordings over the years are what made me finally realize I prefer a fat, wide single coil sound to a humbucker sound. I might get three of 'em to put in my Strat!

[marcwhy]

Lollar: Single Coil for Humbucker: Lollar Guitars & Pickups

[wzpgsr]

BG Pure 90 sounds great, well-built, and really affordable.


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[omphalopsychos]

I have the lollar and I'll say it works for my style of playing.

[Gitfiddler]

Seymour Duncan Phat Cat. P90-ish tone in a humbucker sized pickup.

Phat Cat P90 Humbucker – set | Seymour Duncan

[GNAPPI]

Hi guys,

I have an Ibanez AFJ95. I like the guitar a lot, perhaps the easiest guitar I ever played.

The sound is nice but a bit uncharacteristic so I'd like to try something different on this guitar - a P90 perhaps... something that would get me close (pickup wise) to early Jim Hall, dark, warm, short decay.

I'm very aware that tone is a lot more than a mere pickup change so no need to go there

My question is,
any P90 that you would recommend and that would come in humbucker form for a quick replacement?

Thanks!

I have an ES-195 with P94's and like them. There are a few sound samples of the ES195 on youtube. The one with the ES175 / ES196 comparison is a bit bright sounding to me, well compared to mine anyway but the ones up there will give you a pretty good idea what the P94 sounds like.

[Herbie]

Hi guys,

I have an Ibanez AFJ95. I like the guitar a lot, perhaps the easiest guitar I ever played.

The sound is nice but a bit uncharacteristic so I'd like to try something different on this guitar - a P90 perhaps... something that would get me close (pickup wise) to early Jim Hall, dark, warm, short decay.

I'm very aware that tone is a lot more than a mere pickup change so no need to go there

My question is,
any P90 that you would recommend and that would come in humbucker form for a quick replacement?

Thanks!

Congrats for the easy playing guitar!

You mentioned 'Jim Hall' and the word 'dark'. I have tried almost every option mentioned in this thread and although many of the alternatives are different, everyone have decided to take one common character from the P90 pickup: the brightness.

In my case the guitar (ES175 VOS) is from the bright side too so the results have been double trebly. Sometimes harsh, sometime anticeptic cold.

That's why I enjoy the smoky and still clear sounds of my humbucker (some sort of Gibson MHS hb bought from Ebay).

And rosewood bridge! More character than with brass ones!

So the result varies with the guitar. Good luck!

[ThatRhythmMan]

Lindy's P92 is what I had in an Epi Elitist ES-335. This is a video Lindy put up.

[jim777]

Wolfetone has one coming, I would personally wait for those.

Wolfetone Pickups

[Marty Grass]

I like them with normal or somewhat underwound bobbins.

No hum and great clarity.

[Sam Sherry]

Here is a decent writeup of a bunch of humbucker-sized P90-ish pickups. There are some pretty helpful sound samples too.

I've used Duncan PhatCats in a semi-hollow. They are nice pickups; I would use them again. They go pretty far toward capturing the sound of a P90 -- not all the way, but pretty far and they sound good as they are.

The P90 is an incredibly robust design. Even inexpensive P90 knockoffs sound nice and remarkably close to the expensive boutique units. IME the best buy in P90s are used Gibson pickups. I have owned used Gibson P90s from the 40s, 50s, 60s and current day. They all sound good and they all sound like P90s. To me almost all of the difference is about breakup and distortion -- the basic clean P90 sound is very close to uniform playing over a band at gig volume.

You may feel differently of course.

[Marty Grass]

I will likely get in trouble once again for stating that there is no single P-90 sound. It really is a tribe of pickups that occupies land in single coil territory.

Those who argue what the real and narrow P-90 sound is seem to be either looking for a disagreement or just want to converse more politely perhaps.

The original P-90s were wound by the same low paid factory workers who sweated over the PAF bobbins. How they were wrapped and the number of wraps varied. The metal changed. Magnet strength was inconstant.

With that in mind, we can now better predict what we are buying due to better manufacturing standards.

So I'm not saying the emperor has no clothes. What I am saying is, that when it comes to the "true P-90 tone", the emperor is dressing casually and capriciously.

[joaopaz]

I will likely get in trouble once again for stating that there is no single P-90 sound. It really is a tribe of pickups that occupies land in single coil territory.

Those who argue what the real and narrow P-90 sound is seem to be either looking for a disagreement or just want to converse more politely perhaps.

The original P-90s were wound by the same low paid factory workers who sweated over the PAF bobbins. How they were wrapped and the number of wraps varied. The metal changed. Magnet strength was inconstant.

With that in mind, we can now better predict what we are buying due to better manufacturing standards.

So I'm not saying the emperor has no clothes. What I am saying is, that when it comes to the "true P-90 tone", the emperor is dressing casually and capriciously.

You won't get in trouble with me :-)
Enjoyed your post, Marty, thanks for sharing your thoughts!

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[mad dog]

I've not yet heard a humbucker size P-90 pickup that really gets that classic P-90 sound. Or sounds, should I say. Which is no big deal, cause they do have great sounds of their own. Especially the P-92, the Harmonic design Z90. Part of the large and varied world of single coil. Some of my favorite singles are those with P-90 flavor, but sort of different. The 2k pickup you find in some dearmond guitars. The "kleenex box" pickup in old Kays. The P13, the design precursor to the P-90.

As far as actual P-90s, the best I've heard:

- 50s gibson, in a beat old LP Special, '52 ES-300
- recent Lollar standard winds, in my Heritage H525
- recent Wolfetone "Mean and Meaner", in various guitars
- recent Ian Anderson P90s, in my partscaster tele

Whoever said there is no one P-90 sound says the truth. Very different flavors; it's all a matter of personal taste. Best example for me is how Lollar P-90s appear to polarize opinion. Many love them, but you often hear them referred to as "too polite". I think of that every time I pick up the H525. It's more than just the pickup. When an interesting set of pickups join up with a really good guitar, the result defies stereotype. Yesterday I tried out a '52 ES-300, loved that old P-90. Then came home and played the H525. Not the same. Both intensely interesting and satisfying.
MD

[Herbie]

I've not yet heard a humbucker size P-90 pickup that really gets that classic P-90 sound. Or sounds, should I say. Which is no big deal, cause they do have great sounds of their own. Especially the P-92, the Harmonic design Z90. Part of the large and varied world of single coil. Some of my favorite singles are those with P-90 flavor, but sort of different. The 2k pickup you find in some dearmond guitars. The "kleenex box" pickup in old Kays. The P13, the design precursor to the P-90.
As far as actual P-90s, the best I've heard:
- 50s gibson, in a beat old LP Special, '52 ES-300
- recent Lollar standard winds, in my Heritage H525
- recent Wolfetone "Mean and Meaner", in various guitars
- recent Ian Anderson P90s, in my partscaster tele
Whoever said there is no one P-90 sound says the truth. Very different flavors; it's all a matter of personal taste. Best example for me is how Lollar P-90s appear to polarize opinion. Many love them, but you often hear them referred to as "too polite". I think of that every time I pick up the H525. It's more than just the pickup. When an interesting set of pickups join up with a really good guitar, the result defies stereotype. Yesterday I tried out a '52 ES-300, loved that old P-90. Then came home and played the H525. Not the same. Both intensely interesting and satisfying.
MD

Beautifully spoken, mad dog! Nice to hear that some others too share the pure inspiration from a so simple thing as a good pickup in a good guitar!

I love the SD Antiquity P90's in my Les Paul w/ roundwounds so much that some days I just have put amp on and play some chords to hear those endless shades of the sound.

[Cunamara]

And of course with the old P90s there may be some changes in tone over time as magnets age, capacitors drift a bit from their original values, etc. Even more true with old CCs, those cobalt steel magnets degauss over time more than Alnico.

[Sean65]

Hi guys,

My question is,
any P90 that you would recommend and that would come in humbucker form for a quick replacement?

Thanks!

I'd contact Jaime at the Creamery pickups in the UK. He's making some very nice stuff and will tailor the sound to what you're after. No need to buy a generic off the shelf pickup.

[joaopaz]

I'd contact Jaime at the Creamery pickups in the UK. He's making some very nice stuff and will tailor the sound to what you're after. No need to buy a generic off the shelf pickup.

Thanks for sharing this, looks like amazing stuff.

AND thank you all for your great posts, it's being fun and very informative to learn about it all.

I've ordered today the Bare Knuckles Manhattan today (blame it on that video I posted!) but in no way this is a closed case as I'm almost sure my Gibson SG will be getting a P90 next

Keep'em coming, please!

[hans halmackenreuter]

Congrats!
I did change the cap though, since I wasn't satisfied with the generic one that came with my Ibanez.

[joaopaz]

Congrats!
I did change the cap though, since I wasn't satisfied with the generic one that came with my Ibanez.

Thanks, Hans!
I'll be sure to have my guitar tech check it out, too.

I'll try to record some before /after sounds

[Barcia]

My Ibanez AKJ95 with HSP90s:

[joaopaz]

Please do .. would be nice with some real life feedback other than soundclips on the internet

Remember to give us a review

Hi guys!

It took me a long time, but here's some feedback about the outcome of this thread.

I ended up installing the Bare Knuckles "Manhattan" P90 (humbucker size) on my Ibanez AFJ95.
I did record a few clips with the original pickup - but a couple of weeks ago had a PC crash, had to reinstall and lost a lot of files in the process, including the old clips.

Now.... about the Bare Knuckles:

I've had it for maybe a month now and I'm down to my knees with this pickup. Really, I find it nothing short of amazing.
Just to provide some context I have some 40 guitars in my roster, most are middle of the road but I have a few really nice ones and, as you'd expect lots of variety on these pickups. Including a set of Gibson Classic 57 on my Epiphone ES-175.

The truth is that for me this Bare Knuckles wins them all. Of course this has to do with personal taste only ... I was looking for a kind of old classic sound, like Jim Hall with a Polytone....... I ended up buying a Polytone Mini Brute I too, but that's another story

So, here's what I found about this pickup:

Noise, marginal, not relevant at all.
It can handle different volume and tone settings really well. You can work severl colors with this pickup.
It's the only pickup that makes me really enjoy my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp. It's a great amp but a bit uncharacteristic also ... unless I plug in my revamped Ibanez!
Great for playing in a band, your tone comes across effortlessly.
You can go from a mellow, 50s sound, to a grit charged, Marc Ribot style sound.
The mid range sounds top notch and the bass is never boomy.
I hear the sound coming out of my guitar and feel at "peace".... for those of you gear/GAS nutz reading this you'll know what I mean.
I hear my tone and finally I can go "wow, that's a jazz tone and it's coming out of my guitar!"
Works *wonderfully* with the Polytone.

Down-side.... I only swapped the neck pickup on my AFJ95 and the "both pickups" position sounds really weird, with a serious loss of volume. Perhaps there could be a fix for that but as I only play with the neck pickup I really don't care.

Here's a short result recorded yesterday - would be interested in your feedback about how it sounds for you. This was the first time I recorded at home with a SM57 capturing the amp tone (usually I record direct) so this is not fully representative of what this pickup can do, but I like how it sounds on this clip so here you go!