H-P90-S has it been done?

[McCreed]

I have set of the Tonerider Tele Hot Classics and they do sound great. (however not currently in a guitar)
Whilst they work great together as a tele set, I'm not sure how you'll go balancing the neck with a HB and P-90.

The TR neck pickup has good clarity (by tele neck pickup standards IME) but it's still a lower output compared to the other two.
It may work fine, but I'll be interested hear what you think once it's together.

[Andy123]

You can of course buy gold pickup covers for Strat pickups.

I had no idea. Given the factory has routed for a strat pickup, this would have been a great option

(OK, it is a Bare Knuckle Irish Tour pickup, so a lot more expensive, but it does sound really nice).

If I could Bare Knuckles for the price of Toneriders...

[Andy123]

I have set of the Tonerider Tele Hot Classics and they do sound great. (however not currently in a guitar)
Whilst they work great together as a tele set, I'm not sure how you'll go balancing the neck with a HB and P-90.

The TR neck pickup has good clarity (by tele neck pickup standards IME) but it's still a lower output compared to the other two.
It may work fine, but I'll be interested hear what you think once it's together.

*Smacks forehead* I absolutely had not considered balance.

Bridge HB - 13kOhm AlNiCo V
Middle P90 - 7.6kOhm AlNiCo II
Neck SC - 7.1k Alnico 3

The humbucker looks to be almost twice the output of the neck pickup on paper. The P90 is actually pretty close to the neck in output.
I wonder how it would balance out with the coil split?

With this sort of thing is it just gain/compression/signal strength going into the pedals & amp that's affected, or would there be a noticeable drop in volume when switching to the neck pickup from the humbucker?

[McCreed]

With this sort of thing is it just gain/compression/signal strength going into the pedals & amp that's affected, or would there be a noticeable drop in volume when switching to the neck pickup from the humbucker?

My suspicion would be a noticeable volume drop between neck & bridge pickups. I may be wrong. You'll have to play around with pickup heights. One concern would be that lowering the bridge to balance volume with the neck, might cause the bridge to sound a bit anaemic.

That said, there is such a thing as a "volume control" on the guitar.
Apparently it somehow controls volume

[jugglindan]

This blog post from Fralin pickups might give you some ideas. It talks about balancing humbuckers and single coils, with some wiring suggestions. I think the same considerations will apply to your combination.

[Simon Barden]

Plenty of HSS guitars out there operating without problems. You don't have to have fully balanced pickups. But don't forget that you've got that mid-position P90 which will do for a lot of things that a hotter neck pickup would do, whilst you've got the neck single coil to give you the cleaner sounds that the other two pickups won't. I'd expect the P90 to be just as powerful as the bridge pickup.

[Andy123]

The luthier's insistence on an acrylic finish over poly was obviously a cost and ease-of-use consideration. What are the benefits/concerns with using one over the other?

Also his excitement/relief when I suggested a satin finish - anything I need to know there?

[jugglindan]

Also his excitement/relief when I suggested a satin finish - anything I need to know there?

Less time spent polishing?

Sent from my moto g(7) using Tapatalk

[McCreed]

The luthier's insistence on an acrylic finish over poly was obviously a cost and ease-of-use consideration. What are the benefits/concerns with using one over the other?

Also his excitement/relief when I suggested a satin finish - anything I need to know there?

I think it's worth distinguishing whether you are referring to a 1k polyurethane (like from the big green shed) or a 2k polyurethane (or polyester) like Fender would use.

If 1k, it could be a time issue as it doesn't set very quickly and takes multiple coats with cure time in between. 2k is quite carcinogenic and should be used in a proper spray booth with commercial level extraction and filtering. Also, 2k is pretty expensive and harder to buy in small quantities. (at least when I've looked into it)

Acrylic lacquer, whilst not recommended breathing the stuff in or spraying without a respirator, is less dangerous and a lot cheaper.

Both 2k poly and acrylic lacquer can be sprayed in one session. So again it's a lot quicker than 1k poly. Also need to consider with the time between every coat of 1k, the spray equipment needs to be thoroughly cleaned (= more time).

I would say time, effort and material costs may be the reasons for him steering you the way he did. (he may also have heaps of acrylic lacquer already on hand, so no further outlay)

Also as jugglindan suggested, with a satin finish, no time polishing (less time = mo' money).

You could just ask him "why not poly?". You're the customer, you have the right to understand his process IMO.

[FrankenWashie]

That said, there is such a thing as a "volume control" on the guitar.
Apparently it somehow controls volume

Well would you look at that! Went and checked all my guitars and, wouldn't you know it I got one on every guitar. Danged if I know how to use it, but its there.