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Single P90 (neck)
Hey there,
I'm doing my first build, a JMA-6 Baritone.
I decided that I'd make a custom pickguard as the included one covers up some really nice grain just under the pickups that I've managed to pop quite nicely (I think mine is the exact one on the pitbull website).
That got me thinking, I may as well sawp out the pickups whilst I'm at it and have decided to go with a single pickup in the neck position as that's where I play most of the time anyway. I was initially thinking a Tele style lipstick but I've since decided I think a P90 would give a nice warm crunch that would suit the character of the baritone. I'd like to keep it's look really clean and simple with a strat style sunken jack and a single volume pot. I'm going for a black and gold theme overall...
I have a couple of questions:
1. Having never upgraded pickups, I'm quite bewildered by the choice. I don't mind spending some cash as I'd like the single pickup to sound as sweet as possible. I'd like either a black soapbar or gold metal case. Anyone have any recommendations?
2. As I'll need to buy all the electronics, what do I need to know? I'm not worried about a bit of hum but just wondering if there are any potential issues I should be aware of...
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1. A standard unshielded soapbar will pick up more noise than a P90 in a metal housing (normally in a larger humbucker sized package), but obviously, the soapbar looks more vintage. For the metal housing, whilst a nickel housing will have a minimal effect on the tone, I'd avoid any all-steel housed pickups as this will have a big effect on the tone as it knocks a lot of the treble off.
I'd go for a vintage wind, as vintage P-90s have a lot of clarity but still have a lot of output. I've recently replaced some stupidly powerful Seymour Duncan P90s that came fitted on a 90's Hamer with low-cost IronGear vintage P90 pickups and they are just so much better. If you want hot P90s, IMO you might as well go for a humbucker instead, as you lose the note definition in the clean sound in exchange for a tone that sounds almost identical to a humbucker when distorted.
Unless you want to spend a lot of money and go for something like a Jason Lollar P90, I don't think you need to spend a lot of money to get a good P90, and for ease of supply I'd suggest the Tonerider V90N for a soapbar. Either the standard cream or black covers will work with a black and gold scheme. The Tonerider Rebel P90 humbucker-sized enclosed pickup is wound hotter than vintage, so I'd be a bit wary recommending it as I don't know how overwound it is. On the other side, it does have Alnico II magnets which are a bit sweeter and less powerful than the traditional Alnico V magnets used on all but the earliest Gibson P90s, so the two may balance out.
Personally I prefer the look of a soapbar.
2) Electrically its very simple. One volume pot (audio taper 500k ohms), one tone pot (audio or linear taper 500k ohms, a 0.022uF (micro-farad) capacitor and an output jack. I prefer an audio taper for the tone pot for a more even tone roll-off, whilst a linear pot will give a slow reduction in treble from 10 to 2 on the knob, with most of the treble lost between 2 and 0. Both are used and neither is 'wrong', just personal preference. If you don't use the tone knob, then linear is probably best because if you catch the knob accidentally, it won't make much difference to the sound.
It's definitely worth shielding the control/pickup cavity to reduce the amount of noise the P90 will pick up, so you'll want copper tape with a conductive adhesive (loads on eBay).
Look on the web for Les Paul Junior wiring diagrams as they will show exactly the same wiring as you need to install for your single P90 guitar.
Pitbull do sell mini-pots, whilst I prefer full-sized pots (where they will fit). Bourns, CTS or Alpha are the names to look for in pots. I always use Switchcraft jack sockets if I can. Sprague orange-drop capacitors are a good choice for the tone capacitors with a decent tolerance.
https://www.realparts.com.au/ should sell all the parts you need if PitBull don't do them.
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Wow, Thanks Simon, really comprehensive advice!
I was actually looking at the Tonerider vintage soapbar as I'm after a bitier, dynamic sound rather than a driven humbucker sound, happy to compromise on a little hum to get a nicer tone,..
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I second the Tonerider P90s; I put a h/b sized set in a project and it is a sweetheart!
