Tweaky's ES-1 build, with P90's

[Tweaky]

Here's three different people using Kinman HX P90's

Steve Housen from the little river band with them in a Les Paul Gold Top.....from the date of the video these must be the original ones
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IG2n0tRCYM

A guy called Mark Mitchell that plays some very tasty blues on a Strat fitted with two Kinman P90's ...again the first models of this pickup.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvP3soyUK9M
Same guy again here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3api4od0jAI

Here is a review of them by a UK guitar store owner....explains them the best.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Gq4EBQScjc

I've had guitars with P90's on them before, and have always loved the sound, but the HUM!!!! ..Argghh...ended up not using them because it.....these Kinmans have the tone, minus the HUM...

[Muzza]

Hey Tweaky, I was writing at the same time as you were. You may have missed my question re: polymer clay.

Geez, those Kinman's ain't cheap, but that first video sold me. (Clean bridge / natural neck - I want!)

Which set did you get?

[tonyw]

Kinmans are very very good pickups, costing and arm and a leg, but i wish he'd call them what they are, and thats a stacked Humbucker or a K90 or something, they arn't a P90 per se. Too many winders are misleading when they use the term P90, on something that its essentially not, i know its sales pitch, just something alot of winders are a bit banal about including Duncan etc. At least Harmonic design call theirs Z90 and VP90. I have a set of Z90 in my Baritone, these are the ducks, guts, nuts, they are a 90 style wind that fits in a HB slot, and no they dont buzz or holler and most singles shouldn't if they are potted.

[dingobass]

Thanks for pointing that out Dave, ya beat me to it

But regardles of this "ploy", the Kinmans are a great pup, pricey but goooooood.

[pablopepper]

I met Chris when I was just starting out playing guitar, (he was dating my friend's sister, early 90s) and he sold me my first wah pedal. He showed me a few guitars he had built which I thought was pretty cool at the time. Little did I know...

[FrankenWashie]

[QUOTE=Tweaky;95518]

Speaking of the neck / body joint of this ES-1 kit, it seems I'm suffering the same problem as another forum member currently building their kit, with a cavity/ gap showing between the rear of the neck joint and the rear of the guitars body [see photo]
Attachment 8506

NO, I am not going to fill it with anything.... I intend to extend the rear of the neck joint with a small block of suitable wood glued on, I couldn't find maple, but I got a rolling pin that I think is made of Palm wood, which has a very similar grain/colour and density to maple, I'll use that, and shape it so the extension covers the gap, and is flush to the guitars back, so it looks and feels like my Gibson ES

QUOTE]

Tweaky, PM Me, I have many small scrap pieces of American Rock Maple from the rework of my EXA-1 Kit.

[tonyw]

I have met him a few times around the traps, hes a nice guy and good luck to him that he can get top $$ for his work, and has never undersold himself. I sometimes wish i hadn't been too busy playing to bother about winding pickups, only doing friends and specials, but all thats about to change bwahaha second winding machine is on order.

At the end of the day it doesnt matter what he calls them, he does great winding and this guitar should sound very nice indeed.

[Tweaky]

Hey Tweaky, I was writing at the same time as you were. You may have missed my question re: polymer clay.

Geez, those Kinman's ain't cheap, but that first video sold me. (Clean bridge / natural neck - I want!)

Which set did you get?

Yeah, I just saw your post.

I ended up opting for the relatively newer version of the HX P90's a Nasty neck and Nasty bridge model.... as far as I know, this option is only available directly from Kinmans website.
I've got a set of Kinman MKIII traditional Strat pickups in my Frankienstrat, with his K-9 wiring harness....they are the best Strat pickups I've ever heard.... that's why I thought I'd stick with the brand.

I also bought Kinmans for the ES-3 build, Extra Vintage neck & Bridge Humbuckers.
Sure they are expensive [still cheaper than a lot of others], but they are built incredibly well, and if you visit the Kinman website and order through that, you will see that you have a lot of different options available to you regarding exact specs that you can choose from when ordering, something that probably isn't available, or known about, if buying his pick-ups elsewhere.

As for the pick up ring problem.
Have you tried taping some sandpaper across the top of the guitar where the rings are supposed to fit?, the sandpaper would take the shape of the top, just try sanding away at the bottom of the pickup rings till the two curvatures match.

There is another method that involves taking a mould of the top of your guitar, then using that to make new pickup rings.
It's a bit involved, and I think it would be best if I took some shots of a mock-up of what is involved so it's easy to understand, rather than typing out instructions....batteries are flat on the Nikon ATM...will post back later.

[Muzza]

Have a look at my PRS-1TS build diary. My pickup mount ring problem is explained pretty clearly (with pictures) It's not as straightforward as just sanding it to shape. There's not enough meat on them.

That's why your polyclay comment sparked my interest.

If I got some of those Kinmans, it would be the same as the set in the first demo. He had my perfick sound, but I reckon most of what I heard was his fingers. Dayum, he's good.

[Tweaky]

Well you can certainly make replacements with polymer clay.....How you go abut it is up to you..here's two.

There are certain specific problems to overcome though, the first is that during the baking process polymer clay goes soft before it hardens, so for thin strips of clay made into a shape of a pickup ring that is shaped specifically for a guitar with a carved top, you would really want some sort of mould of the top of the guitar that you could have the clay rest of while it's baking so it retains it's shape.

That's possible.....bear with me, this is only a real quick mock up that I made in 10 minutes just to photograph on how I suggest you go about doing this.


Basically fill the cavity with something to support plastic cut to make a centre well, a Yought or ice cream container plastic cut up will do...use plasticine or putty etc to seal the edges from inside the cavity.

You want to cover to top of the guitar to protect it from the moulding media, so cover it in cling wrap or alu foil.

Make a ring around that centre ring using the same material, but at the desired width of the pickup rings you want, again use putty etc to hold it upright, but from the outside.

Make up some Gypsum /Plaster of Paris and pour it into your mould...you only need it to be about 1 cm deep...let it dry, remove, you now have a mould of the exact area of the top of you guitar....turn the mould upside down, and the curved area is what you use as the template, build your polymer clay pickup ring on that, then bake it the oven.

The other way is not as involved....you could basically make you ring in parts....rest the moulded clay parts on pieces of cardboard cut to shape, then bake...there is Liquid Polymer clay, you can use this to join different pre baked polymer clay pieces together into one seamless whole...you just brush it on like glue, then bake a second time.

One last way is to build a small wire frame smaller than the pickup ring and cover that with clay and bake, the wire frame should stop the clay from deforming when baking....but, since the pickup rings are likely to be pretty thin, unless using coat hanger wire, most wire wouldn't be thick enough to hold the weight of the clay in the shape wanted...that's why it's a maybe, maybe not sort of idea for this purpose.