Humbuckers versus P90s in a carved archtop

[BlueWolf]

I am on the same quest as you are for a floating pickup, and am leaning towards a Lollar mini-hum bucker. It will be a touch clearer than a standard humbucker, so maybe somewhere in between a HB and a P90. Armstrong makes one as well, and I think a full sizer. That's kind of big for a floater IMHO.

So far one of my favorites is the Lollar Johnny Smith floater. I like Lollar pickups very much and have them in two of my other guitaes. I am also giving a hard look at the Kent Armstrong 12 pole mini humbucker, although I’ve been told that this pickup can be tricky to dial in. The final of my top three is a Fralin Johnny Smith, although this would be a costly custom order. I’m not completely writing off a P90, however, which is why I was seeking opinions here. The P90 I like the most so far is the Fralin P90. I am concerned about noise with a P90, but Fralin also has some sort of magic winding/magnet technology that they claim reduces noise.

[KirkP]

The P90 I like the most so far is the Fralin P90. I am concerned about noise with a P90, but Fralin also has some sort of magic winding/magnet technology that they claim reduces noise.

Fralin’s FAQ says his P90 model has a humbucking coil in a side-by-side configuration. I wonder how that’s accomplished with pole pieces in the center. He acknowledges that the humbucking design affects the tone somewhat, but his side-by-side configuration minimizes it. It’s an interesting option.
Hum Cancelling P90 by Lindy Fralin: All P90 Tone, No Hum!

Note that humbucking designs only are effective for noises that are received through the coil itself. If noise is coupled to the instrument through other modes (e.g., poor shielding or grounding) I don’t think humbucking coils help. I seem to have less noise with my DeArmond RC1100 reissue than with my Fender single-coil guitars, but I suspect the lack of shielding in Fender guitars has as much to do with it as the pickups.

[neatomic]

Fralin’s FAQ says his P90 model has a humbucking coil in a side-by-side configuration. I wonder how that’s accomplished with pole pieces in the center. .

there's a few ways to wind a humbucking p-90...what fralin does is use 2 side by side coils...the EAD strings have their coil and the GBE have their coil....the screw polepieces are split 3 & 3

similar idea to the fender p bass design, but under one cover

cheers

[QsDuesBlues]

Haven't yet had occasion to install and test for sound on a guitar yet - but was quite impressed with the website info. and range of guitar and bass pickups made by family firm Q-Pickups over there in Croatia (QPickups.com) that I bought one of these nice-looking P90's (neck position and jazz-friendly tone specified.)

E-Bay being awash with dirt cheap Chinese stuff - and the occasional stratospherically-priced vintage Gibbo P-90's, I took a chance and went for something in between. Price went up by about 15% after the Brexit date (VAT now added at the EU point of sale for goods not exceeding £135-00), but courteous service, full explanation of charges and excellent communication from their sales guy Ivan Srzic all helped to persuade me to take a chance on a relatively unknown brand and buy this P-90. Final price including shipping, etc. to the UK was around £78-00. I hope I've made a good choice - we'll see.

Here t'is:



When it's finally on a laminated top guitar - probably and old German Framus/Hopf-type guitar - and tested - I'll post again with some opinion.

[Tal_175]

Here is a good comparison:

What I hear the most in this video is humbuckers are significantly more compressed than P90's. There is less difference between picking light and heavy. You also get less fundamental and more overtones when you pick harder instead of volume increase. It's almost like putting P90 through a compression pedal.