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Greetings!
I am interested in a pickup for a Strat bridge that will basically give me the P-90 sound/feel. I am trying to do some research on this. I notice "Harmonic Design" offers a "Super 90" that seems to be advertised as being in the P-90 ballpark. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this pickup?
Thanks very much!
Fralin Steele Pole.
Hi Gris,
Thanks for sharing the thought.
Yes, I had considered the Fralins as well. My local guitar tech had good things to say about the Fralins, but he seemed to feel that the "Steel-Poled" were not quite as "P-90-ish" as one might expect (and I had been describing to him). I will say one BIG plus for the Fralins is that Lindy himself has picked up the phone and talked to me -- in my book, that kind of customer service counts for a lot.
(I have heard that Jason Lollar also makes himself very accessible, but I have not yet communicated with him).
I have been quite intrigued by the Rio Grande (Dirty Harry) p'ups as well, but the old paradox of trying to describe these things to a player (me) who has never heard them always seems to be an expensive leap of faith.
Gris, if you currently use the Steel-poled, do you find that they are (in your opinion) indeed pretty close to the sound/feel of a P-90?
Thanks very much!
FWIW I haven't had the Fralin steel pole pickups but I use both the Strat and Tele versions of the Super 90, and have for years at this point. Lots of mids and bark, and really loud. To me they do offer the feel and dynamics of having a P-90 in the bridge. One note is that I don't care for using them with 500K pots because they can get kind of bright, but 250K-300K works fine.
(EDIT) Here's my Tele with the Super 90 in action on a BT King backing, with maybe a little too much gain to be a useful guide...
Here's 5
My riddum guy uses a SP in his bridge. It's surprisingly bright. He hasn't had it in there long enough for me to pass judgment. I have an OLD red Lace Sensor in the bridge of my Strat. If you are familiar with those, they are kinda weird - cheesy honky cross between Tele and P90, great on the high gain stuff though. It's my '11' when I need that little extra push over the cliff. Got lipsticks in mid and neck.
Thanks, Gentlemen, very much!
I can't comment on the Super 90 at all, but I have a set of Harmonic Design Z-90's in a Les Paul, and I won't ever take them out of that guitar. If the quality is anywhere near as good, they're a good deal.
You can't really make a Strat SC-sized pickup sound like a P90. The P90 is a physically larger pickup so it has a different magnetic aperature ( so it samples a larger portion of the string ) which is a major part of its mojo.
If you want a P90 sound, the best thing to do is - put in a P90.
Good point. I was thinking about that after I posted last night. The wider coil and huge magnetic field from the two magnets is a big part of the P-90 sound. And so the Super 90 is not as fat sounding as a real P-90 in the same guitar would be.
On the other hand, the steel poles, large number of turns, and magnet on the bottom of a Super 90 add up to more of a P-90 feel than a stock bridge pickup has. Particularly in comparison with a stock Strat bridge pickup, or even an overwound one with a base plate, I just like the Super 90's punch better. YMMV TT&L additional and so on.
I have a HD S-90 in the bridge position of a Tele paired with a SD Phat cat (P-90 in HB form).
The Phat Cat has a very big sound, and the S-90 goes very well with it.
The reason I like it is that it's big and powerful sounding while still retaining the basic bite and sound of a SC, it does not sound dull or muddy, it's been in there for a few years now and is staying, very happy with it.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y29.../BULLPEN-1.jpg
Well,Drak,that's a right purty geetar you got there!
1+Quote:
Originally Posted by refin
+1 indeed. What kinda guitar is that?
Thank You for the nice words. :smile:
I build and finish (lacquer) the bodies myself, do the assembly/setup, and usually use Warmoth necks.
This one is a Mahogany core with Maple caps front and rear and a Warmoth Maple neck.
VERY beautiful guitar, man!
QWhoa! Heartwood and Spalt! Thats fantastic man! I don't like all those knobs to be real frank with you. Anyway to take them out, leave the middle two and fill the wood?Quote:
Originally Posted by Drak
That's OK, I love this guitar, wouldn't change a thing on it.
Top row controls, forward to rearward:
Volume, Tone, EMG Afterburner 25dB pre-amp pull up and turn
Bottom Row, forward to rearward:
EMG EXP control
(accentuates highs and bass while decreasing mids, I call it the Fender Fullness control)
EMG SPC control
(accentuates mids while dropping highs and lows, I call it the Gibson control)
All controls are very versatile tone shapers.