I remember a thread a while back where there was some discussion about how few of the current PU guys are making the really old-sounding kind of snarly P90's that we rock players like. My S style has a Lindy P90 in the bridge. and that was one of the P90's that was supposed to lack that sort of grind. I gave it a good listen, and indeed, it sounded more Fendery than Leslie West, if you know what I mean. So, I tried an experiment... Lowered the screws almost flat to the top of the cover and raised the whole PU back where the screw heads had been (height wise) Holy cow! There it is... Snarl, bite, and Leslie all there. Turns out you can tune these PU's to be more of a Fender sound, or more middy and traditional P90 by the relationship between the screw height to the top of the cover, (taller screws = more of a Fender sound) and the closeness between the PU (with lowered screws) and the strings. The difference is not subtle and all factors are interactive. So, if you have a polite P90, try this, and see what happens. dc
Yes, this is basically the same info I got from Jason Lollar when I was emailing him about P90s one time. Here's the text of one of the emails where Jason talks about setting up P90s;
Yup. I learned this from Dave Stephens a couple of years ago, then read Lollar saying much the same thing. I have quite a few P-90 guitars, and this has always proven to be the case: For a real P-90 sound, lower the screws and raise the coils. Unlike Fender single coils, the string pull is not nearly as much of a problem -- the bar magnet's field seems to be much more diffuse than that created by a Fender's slug magnets. In that, they're more like humbuckers. Mojocaster teases me because I bring this up at nearly any chance I get, but it's true -- if you want great P-90 tone, and you think your Lollars are too polite, then RAISE 'EM UP! You have nothing to lose but thin tone!
I was amazed at the difference. Years ago, I had raised the screws and lowered the PU to see what would happen and it got thinner-sounding. I liked it for what I was playing, so I left it alone. Recently I have been playing heavier stuff and was thinking about pulling the P90 out and going HB, when I remembered the changes I made. Glad I went back and I am really enjoying the P90 now. dc
I think Dave Stephens (stephens design) also recommended the same thing re P-90's. adjust the pole pieces down and bring up the pickup. I think I'm still getting a little bit of magnet pull (similar to strat-itis) I'll have to adjust the neck pickup down a bit I think.
When you raise the pole pieces on any pickup you'll get more twang. Lower 'em, raise the whole bar, and you get more bite.
These guys: http://www.pickguardparadise.com/custom.html can put whatever you like on a pickguard. I did the Mondrian takeoff myself, but there are other sources of course. The outfit that did mine (DarMar) is out of business, and I have not used PG Paradise, but they say they can do it. dc
