too much mid

[Jonny]

Hi, I just finished a guitar build that I absolutely love except that when plugged in it's a bit to prominent in the mid section. The pickup I made for it is a very hot (12k) p-90 with alnico5s. The guitar is a lp jr style with only one p90 in it. The guitar itself is made from Korina (limba) for the body, Narra (similar to a RW) for the neck, and Ziricote for the fretboard. Unplugged, from what I can tell, it isn't too mid range-y. It actually sounds really well balanced, but plugged in is another story. I was wondering what sort of P90 would be best suited to bring out the highs and lows, or even just cut some of the mids? I was thinking of trying a vintage style output with alnico 2's? I play a sort of garage-y style, with a lot of punk rock influence, so I really like the high output, but I'd be willing to compromise on that to cut some the the mid range. Thanks any help would be very much appreciated... Jonny

[guitician]

Is the pickup close to the bridge? The hot winding usually cuts some of the highs, and having it close to the bridge cuts the bass. Can you compensate with the tone controls of the amp? Or use an EQ pedal?

[Jonny]

the middle of the pup is about 1.5-1.75 from the saddles... and yeah i've been able to compensate with the tone stack on my amp, but i'd preferably put in a p90 that doesn't "highlight" the mids "as much" if possible

[guitician]

Nice!

Even a weaker wind may not get you all the highs you want since it's a P-90. Thicker bass strings may give it some more bass and lifting the tone control and/or volume control from ground will add highs at the expense of losing those controls. You could use the no-load pots they sell.

[jack briggs]

Korina or limba has a natural mid prominence to its tone vs. mahogany, plus the high wind P90 adds more mids. It's a recipe that's hard to get anything else from. I'd try a vintage P90 with A5 mags, which will contribute more snap to the tone.


cheers,

[big_teee]

Welcome to the forum Jonny!
12k P-90 doesn't tell us much.
What gauge wire, and how many turns?
Also don't forget about the value of the Pots, and Tone Cap?
T
**Edit
Here's a few wind scenarios.

[Jonny]

hey, that's a really cool spreadsheet... ok, so i don't remember exactly the number of turns but somewhere around 13k with 43awg poly/nylon, both pots are 500k with the tone having a .015 pio cap, i wound this pickup as part of a bridge/neck pair for a build but eventually went with different pickups... i'm using the "bridge" pickup so i was thinking of trying the "neck" pickup to see how that changes the tone... it's around 11k with around 11k winds... oh yeah both were wound just using hand/finger tension

Welcome to the forum Jonny!
12k P-90 doesn't tell us much.
What gauge wire, and how many turns?
Also don't forget about the value of the Pots, and Tone Cap?
T
**Edit
Here's a few wind scenarios.

[big_teee]

Yes, I would try your 11K Neck pickup, in the bridge position.
T

[copperheadroads]

Should of tried "tried & true" recipes .
But if possible I would unwind a 1000 or more turns to get the dcr down to the 10.5 to 11k range & add alnico 2 magnets .

[Jonny]

Ok, update... i switched the pickup for the "neck" pickup which has 11k resistance, about 11k winds of polynylon 43awg wire, alnico 5 mags... didn't touch the pots or caps, and that had a HUGE effect in the sound... there is still a good bit of mids, but everything else sort of evened out... there's a good bit more of treble and a bit more clarity... i love really hot p90s but i guess the 13k was just a bit too much for this guitar... thanks everyone for all the help!!!

[big_teee]

Like Copper said!
I think the good old standard 42PE, or 42SPN, model wound 10,000 to 10,500 turns would be hard to beat.
Make sure you orient the magnets correctly, North/Keeper/North, or South/Keeper/South.
I prefer the A2 or A3 magnets for a bridge P90, over the A5s.
YMMV,
T

[Lollar Jason]

if you were going to start over from scratch, try using alnico rods for pole pieces like a Fender uses and go with 42 gauge wire with maximum of 10,000 turns