P90s....

[Bryan Jeppson]

I use barbwire.

I tried barbwire, but it was too harsh and distorted- made all the notes sound sharp....not to mention the damage it did to my winder....on the bright side, all the skin it tore off my fingers might be the motivation I needed to give up hand winding and get an auto traverse.

[Spence]

Gibson have got a habit of doing this so the little people lke us can't supply P90s with the right covers.
I am currently working on my own covers for that reason.

[John_H]

I tried barbwire, but it was too harsh and distorted- made all the notes sound sharp....not to mention the damage it did to my winder....on the bright side, all the skin it tore off my fingers might be the motivation I needed to give up hand winding and get an auto traverse.

It's not for everyone, that's for sure. I had much better results after I built the chainsaw powered winder. I don't guide the barbwire by hand. Instead I oscillate the hand held winder back and forth.

[Beef Coon]

Thanks all, for the input on the covers.

Mr. King, look forward to your observations on the Allparts covers

[David King]

Well the Allparts order just came in and the only thing backordered was the black P90 cover.
Sorry bout that.
One of the Korean wholesale outfits has all the technical drawings with dimensions for the Daiel Chemical plastic parts.
Probably Woo Song Chorus.

[R.Madgwick]

I don't want to make a new p90 thread with this on the first page so here's my situation.

I've only made p90's to "stock" specs and I don't get much demand but now one of my local very well established players wants a set, fat and hot as he described, the guitar he says is quite bright as it stands so my original idea of 44 is thrown out. This guy exclusively plays p90's and has Gibsons from every decade, he's made it a point to tell me he doesn't want thwm to emulate what he already has. I'm thinking now 43awg on the bridge wound to high hell (12-13k at least) with with a8 or 9's im hoping someone can chime in and let me know if they've wound in that range is it mud zone yet? Should I go higher/lower I'm just looking for opinions of experience I have no problem trying it either way, now the neck I'm thinking 42awg 10500-11000 and using a combo of magnets, I believe typically it's double a5 correct? I've got a3/a4 in mind anyone have experience or opinions on that? Or if anyone has extra barbed wire I wouldn't object to using a few turns

[David King]

Taller bobbins, thicker magnets, SPN, leaded steel or 1005 for the screws, thick brass covers (line plastic covers with copper tape or nickel paint).

[big_teee]

I don't want to make a new p90 thread with this on the first page so here's my situation.

I've only made p90's to "stock" specs and I don't get much demand but now one of my local very well established players wants a set, fat and hot as he described, the guitar he says is quite bright as it stands so my original idea of 44 is thrown out. This guy exclusively plays p90's and has Gibsons from every decade, he's made it a point to tell me he doesn't want thwm to emulate what he already has. I'm thinking now 43awg on the bridge wound to high hell (12-13k at least) with with a8 or 9's im hoping someone can chime in and let me know if they've wound in that range is it mud zone yet? Should I go higher/lower I'm just looking for opinions of experience I have no problem trying it either way, now the neck I'm thinking 42awg 10500-11000 and using a combo of magnets, I believe typically it's double a5 correct? I've got a3/a4 in mind anyone have experience or opinions on that? Or if anyone has extra barbed wire I wouldn't object to using a few turns

Not an expert on P90s at all here, but with 2 magnets butted together n/n, or s/s, all magnets are pretty bright on a P90.
So I don't know how 2 A8s, or A9s butted together would sound.
With the coils being so big, wouldn't a full coil of 44 start to sound thin sounding.
I tried that on a Strat Bridge pickup, and I didn't even care for a full coil of 43, much less the 44.
But, your mileage may vary, depending on what you like.
I have a spool of smaller than normal 42SPN, I use for overwinds, with pretty good success.
Maybe Copper and some of the guys that make P90 pickups all the time will Know best!
T

[copperheadroads]

I have made a few high wind P-90's using 43 gauge wire 14k & they not really much darker than a humbucker of the same specs
when adding wire to the neck pickup ,it gets dark & muddy real fast due to the size of the coil
but R.Madgwick .your on the right track

[R.Madgwick]

David I gotta use gold hardware, so the screws I'm limited on, I didn't think of shielding the inside of the cover, that's a great idea, I try to use SPN exclusively unless requested or rewinding and I've already got a set of plastic bobbins, and haven't ventured much into making my own.

Not an expert on P90s at all here, but with 2 magnets butted together n/n, or s/s, all magnets are pretty bright on a P90.
So I don't know how 2 A8s, or A9s butted together would sound.
With the coils being so big, wouldn't a full coil of 44 start to sound thin sounding.
I tried that on a Strat Bridge pickup, and I didn't even care for a full coil of 43, much less the 44.
But, your mileage may vary, depending on what you like.
I have a spool of smaller than normal 42SPN, I use for overwinds, with pretty good success.
Maybe Copper and some of the guys that make P90 pickups all the time will Know best!
T

See I'm normally a big fan of 44awg, especially on humbuckers, to me I hear bright sounds, some may call them thin but the clarity tends to be great, while 43 reminds me a lot of 'distortion' pickups and I've never been a fan of 'cool' pickups, I like a strong mid range and controlling highs and lows at the amp or signal chain is easier to me then eqing a strong mid range. I'm not really sure of much when it comes to magnets facing each other, or magnets in p90's in generally, I've made a few 2/2 neck and 5/5 bridge pickups a while ago, I wasn't overly fond of them, but I'm a fender player for the most part. Different strokes for different folks, which to me is the real challenge of making pickups for people. Being that I have over-winding in mind I pretty much through out the idea of 2 or 3, and I have a stack of 8's and 9's so it would be somewhat Ideal if they do work out.

as for strat pickups I've had some satisfactory results with 43 on my bridges, I've got a 44 a9 bar magnet bladed pickup in my bridge right now on a parts caster around 14.5-15k with 44 and its pretty rockin, but I haven't liked a lot of rods w/ 44, I tend to stick to A3 mags on my personal stuff and I tend to go 42 full on the bridge and 8600 on the mid/neck.

I have made a few high wind P-90's using 43 gauge wire 14k & they not really much darker than a humbucker of the same specs
when adding wire to the neck pickup ,it gets dark & muddy real fast due to the size of the coil
but R.Madgwick .your on the right track

Yeah the neck worries me, which Is why I'm kinda of staying close to spec but hoping I can get a different enough tone out of those magnets to appeal to him, I'll definitely let you know here soon.

Thanks so far for the insight all!

[David King]

I should point out I've NEVER wound a guitar pickup so take everything I say with a large grain of sodium.

[copperheadroads]

I should point out I've NEVER wound a guitar pickup so take everything I say with a large grain of sodium.

Sacre bleu !

[Beef Coon]

Anyone have a good U.S. source for #4 screw solder tags / tabs / lugs they use for P90s?

Like these:
http://www.rapidonline.com/catalogue...31344P01WL.jpg

Thank you.

FYI
Addiction-FX is now carrying P90 bobbins and covers
& Mojo on ebay is selling bobbins dirt cheap, but they're very short.

[big_teee]

Anyone have a good U.S. source for #4 screw solder tags / tabs / lugs they use for P90s?

Like these:
http://www.rapidonline.com/catalogue...31344P01WL.jpg

Thank you.

FYI
Addiction-FX is now carrying P90 bobbins and covers
& Mojo on ebay is selling bobbins dirt cheap, but they're very short.

I don't know much about P90s, but what do you need the lug for?
Is that to keep from soldering to the baseplate?
I'm basicly a Bucker and SC guy!
T

[copperheadroads]

Anyone have a good U.S. source for #4 screw solder tags / tabs / lugs they use for P90s?

Like these:
http://www.rapidonline.com/catalogue...31344P01WL.jpg

Thank you.

FYI
Addiction-FX is now carrying P90 bobbins and covers
& Mojo on ebay is selling bobbins dirt cheap, but they're very short.

I can see why Mojo is selling them off