Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I have a RIC 620.. .. and have never played a guitar with P90's

since my reading says -- P90's are a meaty sounding single coil..

I'm wondering how the Hi-Gain compares to a P90 ??

That's really tough to answer. All my experience with P-90s have been with Gibsons. All mahogany, both body and neck. 620s are all maple. That being said, I find Hi-Gains crisper, more hi-fi. To me, P-90s sound a bit woofy, in a good way. But to me, all mahogany guitars sound a bit woofy. And both pickups seem to be pretty heavy in the midrange department. But like I said, it could be the wood talking, I've never put a Hi-Gain in a Gibson or a P-90 in a Ric.

Hi-Gains supply a lot more top end treble. They are crisper, brighter.

The P-90s are definitely meatier, and when played in just the neck position they are quite warmer and mellower. You can get fantastic jazz tones out of a P-90.

Having had guitars with both Hi-Gains and P-90s, I'd have to agree with the previous posts - Hi-Gains are nowhere near as quacky/midrangey as P-90s are. They also have a bit more treble to them sound-wise. Also, High-Gains are a bit hotter output-wise, due to being a bit overwound compared to P-90s (while it's not the best indicator of pickup output, DC coil resistance is a good starting point - P-90s typically have 8.5 to 9 kilo-ohms of DC resistance vs the 8.5 [the early versions] to about 12 kilo-ohms DC resistance [modern versions] of Hi Gains). My Rics with Hi-Gains, have always driven my amps harder than any P-90 loaded guitars I've had.

Well, a P-90 has not one but two alnico magnets at the bottom of the pick-up, so it's no wonder it sounds heavy... hi-gains sound more airy, worlds apart from a P-90. Both have their use, though.

Funny, I just played them back to back the other night. 360 Ric and a Gibson SG Standard with P-90s.

They were much more similar than different. I thought the P-90 was the hotter pickup. In fact I raised the Ric pickup to get the output closer.

Otherwise I concur, the Ric had a more traditional single coil sound with more treble.

My take in this Bäder on a p90 les Paul junior and a 360 Rick is that They are pretty similar. The Rick has more trebble and jangle. I suspect thats more to do with the wookwork than the pups.

Id like to gear a High gain in a junior.

Green day Sounds great on a ric!