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Seymour Duncan P-90s for Rickenbacker
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 12:01 am
by ricardo_vicente
Hi all,
Does anyone have any experience of these pickups. I'd be intrigued to hear how they sound.
I like SD Phat Cats, and although I wouldn't necessarily say they are a faithful reproduction of a P-90, I can imagine something similar sounding very nice in my Rick 330.
Anyone tried a set of these?
It's the item "Rick-P-90 with gold screws $140" on this page by the way ...
http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/customshop_special.shtml
All the best
Rich
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 1:39 am
by jdogric12
I have regular P90's on a 1996 Casino. They're really good, but I wouldn't prefer them over toasters.
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 5:07 am
by ricardo_vicente
Hi Jason,
I too have a Casino (Elitist) with P90s (Gibson) and am very much a lover of P-90s.
I'm particularly interested in these pickups by Seymour Duncan because they are the only P-90 type pickups I've heard of in a Rickenbacker format.
As I say, the Phat Cats that SD make are nice pickups but not necessarily that much like a genuine P-90. That's why I was wondering how much like the real thing these pickups are. Not least because it is the large flat-wound format of a P-90 that gives it a lot of its characteristic sound and the Rick pickup format is a lot smaller.
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 9:41 am
by soundmasterg
I'd never put a P90 in a RIC guitar unless the guitar was already mangled so that cutting into it to fit a P90 in it wouldn't be an issue. If you change the size and shape of a pickup the sound will change drastically due to the interaction of the magnetic field with the coil. So any Duncan pickup that doesn't have the size and shape of a P90 will not sound like a P90. I'm sure those pickups you pointed to sound fine, but they just won't sound like a P90.
Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 11:57 am
by eggman
Howdy,
Richard, I like P-90's. I especially like Rickenbacker guitars. When I want authentic P-90 tone, I use my Gibson LP Special which I retro-fitted with SD Vintage P-90's. I love the tone.
When I want Rickenbacker tone, I use my 360/6 loaded with Hi-Gains. IMO Hi-Gains are sort of a "P-90 lite" with respect to tone. This is good enough for me. I've pretty much learned my lesson about making one guitar sound like another. Good luck!
Eggman
Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 12:14 pm
by tennis_nick
I may be in the minority, but I find that P-90's and hi gains are total opposites as far as pickups go...
One is really airy and responsive, the other seems more compressed, one has more bass response, the other sparkles...
Alnico vs. Ceramic, the only similarities are single coil design.
Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 2:08 am
by ricardo_vicente
I agree with you, Nick. I think the choice of ceramic or alnico magnets contributes a lot to the sound of a pickup.
I was (and still am) principally just very keen to try some pickups with alnico magnets in my Rick 330 because I think I'm going to find I prefer alnico magnets in single coils just as I have always preferred them in humbuckers.
I'd been frustrated several times in my quest to get hold of some toasters and when I came across these (supposedly) P-90 style pickups from SD, I was very intrigued.
I have now ordered a set and am looking forward to trying them out.
And, of course, almost instantly, as soon as I'd placed my order with Mr. Duncan, a set of new reissue toasters came up for sale on eBay. Needless to say, I had to have them too!
When all these pickups arrive, I'm going to be in the rather unique position of having one Rickenbacker and three sets of pickups for it! Admittedly, it's going to give me a great chance to make direct comparisons and choose my favourite set, but it's also leading me very quickly to another conclusion ....
.... I need another Rick!
