Suhr S90 vs. Fralin P90

[funkle]

I'm torn here. Going back and forth on which to get for my Melancon P90 Artist. Not much info on the Suhrs, but I love all his pickups. I'm looking for something with strong midrange and clarity, maybe a tad on the smooth side for a smooth guitar. Can anyone compare them?

Thanks!

 

[Speed_Racer71]

 

[RockStarNick]

The problem with comparing ANYTHING to a fralin, is that lindy offers ANY wind you want. So you can get a Fralin P90 that's wound nice and lean and bright and spanky, or one that's wound fat and ballsy and really midrangey.

Suhr makes great pickups, indeed. I'm sure his sound awesome.

P90s are a relatively simple pickup to make... a standard wind is about 10,000 turns equalling about 8K on the nose. Unless either builder uses some magic dust on them, I can't see a Suhr and a Fralin, both wound to 8K, sounding drastically different... but then again, I don't wind pickups.

The cool thing about Fralin, is that you can call him, tell him what you want, and he'll be ready with suggestions.

Using a standard gibson P90 as a reference point, I told him that I thought the bridge was weak, and the neck was muddy and woofy. I ordered a 15% underwound, and a 10% overwound, and I couldnt be any happier right now.

Either way you slice it, Suhr or Fralin, that's a win-win situation.

 

[ford]

I'm not sure what the wind on the Fralins in my Fano JM6 are, but they are GREAT! I really want to try some of his strat pickups in my Hamer Daytona. I need to check with Lindy and see what he sends over to Fano.

rock

bford

 

[funkle]

The problem with comparing ANYTHING to a fralin, is that lindy offers ANY wind you want. So you can get a Fralin P90 that's wound nice and lean and bright and spanky, or one that's wound fat and ballsy and really midrangey.

Suhr makes great pickups, indeed. I'm sure his sound awesome.

P90s are a relatively simple pickup to make... a standard wind is about 10,000 turns equalling about 8K on the nose. Unless either builder uses some magic dust on them, I can't see a Suhr and a Fralin, both wound to 8K, sounding drastically different... but then again, I don't wind pickups.

The cool thing about Fralin, is that you can call him, tell him what you want, and he'll be ready with suggestions.

Using a standard gibson P90 as a reference point, I told him that I thought the bridge was weak, and the neck was muddy and woofy. I ordered a 15% underwound, and a 10% overwound, and I couldnt be any happier right now.

Either way you slice it, Suhr or Fralin, that's a win-win situation.

P90s are no simpler than strat pickups. Factor in scatter winding and whatever other magic they do and there are a lot of differences. The Fralins I have in my Hamer sound very different than the JS Moors or Duncans in that guitar.

In either case, I'd be buying from dealer stock, so no custom winding this go-around. I did talk to Lindy, and he said he'd rewind them if I didn't like them. That's pretty compelling!

 

[joolzriff]

havnt tried p90 replacements but i played some lindy fralin blues single coils the other day and they were a bit dud in my book,not very good or should i say not my bag.....ive had a lot of replacements and i havnt been impressed by fralin at all...............try some Lollars if your fralins dont work out,bit more expensive but u get what u pay for...just my opinion that all

 

[Bluesbuff]

+1 on the Lollars. I just love mine in an LP deluxe.

 

[fjs1962]

I've had the stock pickups, Duncan Antiquities and now Fralin P-90s in my 56 VOS Les Paul. I like the Fralins the best out of those three. I went with a 5% underwound neck and 10% overwound bridge and they sound perfect in my guitar. The Stock Gibsons were a little on the harsh side, and not balanced at all (neck was muddy, bridge was thin). The Duncan Antiquity P-90s were good for a softer P-90 tone, very smooth, but weren't quite aggresive enough when I wanted the P-90 rauchy overdriven tones. The Fralins seem to have it all in my guitar.

 

[george4908]

>>Not much info on the Suhrs, but I love all his pickups. I'm looking for something with strong midrange and clarity, maybe a tad on the smooth side for a smooth guitar. <<

You've just described the sound of Suhr P-90s quite well. I have a set in a Suhr Tele and love them. I also had a Grosh Tele with Fralin P-90s which were somewhat harsh and guttaral in comparison (although what people say is true, Fralin will wind them to your specs).

 

[funkle]

>>Not much info on the Suhrs, but I love all his pickups. I'm looking for something with strong midrange and clarity, maybe a tad on the smooth side for a smooth guitar. <<

You've just described the sound of Suhr P-90s quite well. I have a set in a Suhr Tele and love them. I also had a Grosh Tele with Fralin P-90s which were somewhat harsh and guttaral in comparison (although what people say is true, Fralin will wind them to your specs).

Cool! Sounds like a winner

+1 on the Lollars. I just love mine in an LP deluxe.

I've got Lollars in my Hamer Artist and I love them.

 

[dewman]

a big fan of 50s wind Lollar P-90s myself. Haven heard the Fralins but they should be good too.

 

[funkle]

I just put in a set of Suhrs, and as I expected, the tone has really opened up. Like taking a blanket off the speaker compared with the Duncans. They have that singing high mid punch that I've come to expect from Suhr. More classic sounding compared to the Lollars. Gritty or smooth depending on how you dig in. Good stuff.

 

[CS'56]

If you buy Fralin pickups and do not like them, you can exchange them. Just give him a call and he will do his best to get you a set that works for you.

 

[oscar100]

find teh suhr p90 a little wimpy - not gritty enough for me