Surface-mounted P90 neck pickup?

[joelf]

Is there one? Can't seem to find it.

It's for an SS Stewart archtop acoustic, and I'd prefer this to a floating. And the non-surface mount kind would require cutting into the wood.

Thanks in advance...

[mad dog]

Dog-ear P90s are surface mounted. But the wires go inside. What exactly are you looking for here ... a surface mounted p/u wired to the pickguard as floating p/us are?

[joelf]

Dog-ear P90s are surface mounted. But the wires go inside. What exactly are you looking for here ... a surface mounted p/u wired to the pickguard as floating p/us are?

Just not to have to cut into the wood.

Wires inside are fine. And the luthier guy will mount tone and volume controls on the pickguard.

There's nothing really wrong with the floating kind. I just find them a bit cumbersome with the brace, etc., as a opposed to a neat pickup tucked in under the neck...

[burchyk]

Don't think a P90 can be mounted without cutting the top unless you have enough room for a riser




I had this in a laminate archtop and it is great Kent Armstrong Handwound Series Side Mount PAF Style 12 Pole Humbucker Pickup Black

[joelf]

Don't think a P90 can be mounted without cutting the top unless you have enough room for a riser




I had this in a laminate archtop and it is great Kent Armstrong Handwound Series Side Mount PAF Style 12 Pole Humbucker Pickup Black

The Kent Armstrong P90 was what I got---looks exactly like this one. Wouldn't mount w/o cutting it, and I waited too long to get a refund from EBay. I'm thinking now of just using it. I don't think there's room for a riser. I hadn't thought of a humbucker---not my 1st choice. I like that fat P90 sound.

I hate for a guitar to not be all original if I ever sell it, but this is a $300 guitar---not the end of the world if it's cut...

[sgosnell]

You might like a neck-mounted pickup, attached by screws into the sides of the neck extension. There are lots of those available - search for Johnny Smith style pickups. You can also attach many types of pickups with Blu-Tack putty, which doesn't require any holes at all. It's easily removable, but secure enough. Whit Smith used to use that method on his acoustic Gibson archtop. The P90 pictured above could easily be mounted that way, provided there is sufficient clearance under the strings. The controls could be thumbwheels mounted in the treble F hole with mounting tape, or under the pickguard if you prefer that. I like thumbwheels for pickup controls, but not everyone does.

[John A.]

Just not to have to cut into the wood.

Wires inside are fine. And the luthier guy will mount tone and volume controls on the pickguard.

There's nothing really wrong with the floating kind. I just find them a bit cumbersome with the brace, etc., as a opposed to a neat pickup tucked in under the neck...

Joel, You have a Godin Kingpin, right? Take a look at how that's attached. It sits on top of a fairly tall spacer/mounting-ring that is screwed into surface of the guitar. The top is not routed out for the pickup. Rather, there's a hole drilled through the top, and the P90's wire goes through that and into the guitar. If you unscrew the pickup from the mounting and lift it up slightly, you can see it what I mean. You can also see that the polepieces stick out from the bottom of the pickup (as they do from any P90), and leave slight indentations in the guitar top (or at least they did on the Kingpin I had).

Something similar could maybe be done on another guitar, with the wire passing through a cut-out in the ring and going to controls on the pickguard (avoiding drilling a hole for the pickup wire), possibly leaving dents in the top, possibly not. But this depends on how much space there is between the top of the guitar and the top of the fretboard. The Godin's neck/fingerboard extension sits unusually far above the guitar top, which results in a lot of clearance for the pickup to sit in a ring that suspends it above the top, but even with this a P90 barely fits (strings fretted on the upper frets barely clear the pickup). I don't know of any other archtops with this much space, which is why the ones with P90s typically have cuts in the top. You have more clearance if you shift the pickup further back toward the bridge, but this will yield a different tone from the classic neck pickup "jazz" tone.


All in all, what you're proposing is actually a lot trickier to accomplish than it might seem. If you truly want a magnetic pickup mounted to the guitar top without doing any permanent damage, I think a slimmer pickup than a P90 stuck to the top with adhesive putty (e.g., "Blu Tak") is much more likely to work. Perhaps something like this:

Micro-Stealth PAF-Style Pickup for Archtop Jazz Guitar

There are other ones out there; no idea whether any of them sounds like a P90.

[joelf]

Micro-Stealth PAF-Style Pickup for Archtop Jazz Guitar[/URL]

There are other ones out there; no idea whether any of them sounds like a P90.

Thanks John.

I actually ordered an old fashioned 'monkey on a stick', and bought the Blu Tak. That was my plan. The primate never arrived and I got a refund. But I'm glad it didn't work out in retrospect---too much bulk in front of the guitar. I would've gotten the De'Armond Rhythm Ace if I wanted to go that way, almost did.

I just want something simple: a neck pickup wired inside with tone/volume on the pickguard. Bada bing bada boom. As the song says 'guess I'll have to change my plan'.

I've heard about the stealth pickups. I'll look into it, thanks...

[Herbie]

Have You checked out this Lollar McCarty pickup?

Mccarty pickup | Lollar Pickups Blog

[joelf]

Have You checked out this Lollar McCarty pickup?

Mccarty pickup | Lollar Pickups Blog

Now I did!

Thanks!...

[Cunamara]

Joel, I'd be tempted by the Kent Armstrong floating single coil, 2D humbucker or PAF mounted with Blu-Tak. I've never tried the single coil, but the vids I have heard of it sound excellent. It can cop the P90 and the old DeArmond sounds pretty well.

Kent Armstrong Handmade Pickups - DjangoBooks.com

[sgosnell]

The DeArmond Rhythm Chief, (not Ace) is, IMO, the best pickup you can get. You can attach it with its included mounting rod or with Blu-Tack. I like using both. But whatever pickup you like is fine. If you want P90s, that'a certainly possible. You can get them installed in a hole in the top, or on the top without a hole, as you choose.

[joelf]

The McCarty is looking good now, especially if it comes mounted on a pickguard.

Thanks for all your responses...

[joelf]

On 2nd thought: $495 from Reverb? WTF?

Time to rethink...

[Herbie]

On 2nd thought: $495 from Reverb? WTF?

Time to rethink...

Oh, that’s a lot! You should ask straight from Jason Lollar, he answers fast.

And then there is always the Pete Biltoft option. I once needed a about 1 cm thick PAF sounding floater and he did it soon and for a fair price. Plus it is somehow pleasing to get a package from Hawaii!

Vintage Vibe Guitar Pickups: Pete Biltoft