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32-451: The P-90 (sometimes written P90 ) is a single coil electric guitar pickup produced by Gibson Guitar Corporation since 1946, as well as other vendors. Compared to other single coil designs, such as the Fender single coil, the bobbin for a P-90 is wider but shorter. The Fender style single coil is wound in a taller bobbin, but the wires are closer to the individual poles. This makes

64-509: A combination of the two, and thinned enamel paint, used by some to shield the metallic slugs before beginning the winding process. The practice of not "potting" pickups persists today in both vintage reproductions as well as more value oriented manufacturers, who may skip the potting step in order to reduce manufacturing costs or provide period accurate reproductions. The search for an acceptable solution to mains hum gained new impetus around 1995 as guitar players became increasingly intolerant of

96-401: A motor from a washing machine. Later he switched to a sewing machine motor, and eventually used single-coiled magnets. Beauchamp was backed in his efforts by Adolph Rickenbacker , an engineer and wealthy owner of a successful tool and die business. Beauchamp eventually produced the first successful single-coil pickup, which consisted of two massive U-shaped magnets and one coil and was known as

128-585: A new design of pickup, the humbucker , was introduced in 1957. Equipped with double coils, the new pickup boasted greater output and less hum , although with less high end response. This new pickup, occasionally named PAF (or Patent Applied For), very quickly took over as the preferred choice for all Gibson models, relegating the P-90 to budget models such as the ES-330 , the Les Paul Junior and Special, and

160-624: A sharp cutaway, referred to as a florentine cutaway, similar to the ES-175 . Both the thinline and the regular models would be discontinued by the 1970s. The ES-125 was equipped with one P90 pickup. The original had 6 Alnico slug pole pieces. In 1950 the P90 transitioned to 6 adjustable poles between two Alnico 5 bar magnets. The model used for the ES-125 has a string spacing on the neck pickup of 1 15 ⁄ 16 " from high E to low E. The ES-125 also used

192-581: A single tone control. The pre-war model, discontinued in 1942, had a smaller 14.5" body. When reintroduced in 1946 it had the larger 16.25" wide body that the ES-150 had. The unbound rosewood fingerboard initially sported pearl trapezoid inlays; later, it would have dot inlays. In the mid-1950s, the ES-125T was introduced, which was an entry-level thinline archtop electric guitar based on the original ES-125. It would later add options for double P-90 pickups and

224-406: A single-coil design, the tone of a P-90 is somewhat brighter than a humbucker, though not quite as crisp and bright as Fender's single-coil pickups. The tone therefore shares some of the single coil traits, but having large amounts of midrange and often described as “thick". The reason behind the tonal difference between P-90s and Fender single-coil pickups is due to P-90s using bar magnets set under

256-604: A tapered dogear cover for their neck position pickups with a thickness of 4/16" on the treble side and 5/16" on the bass side. Since the fingerboard sits flush to the body (as opposed to an ES-175) the ES-125 requires a shorter neck pickup than a typical dogear. This pickup is, however, not as short as those found on an ES-330TD which has the pickup mounted flush to the end of the fingerboard. Coils were wound to approximately 10,000 wraps although DC resistance of these pickups can vary greatly Volume and tone controls were 500k Audio taper pots. A treble bypass cap value of .022 microfarads

288-535: A true single coil designed to magnetically shield from hum rather than utilizing the phase cancelling effect common in later double coil/humbucker designs. Early pickup designs did not include a manufacturing step known as "potting", wherein at various stages, the bobbin and wrapped coil are immersed in a substance in order to lock the windings in place and prevent microphonic effects of loose strands of wire within resulting in feedback at higher gain settings. Common potting substances include heated beeswax and paraffin, or

320-710: Is caused by magnetic fields due to power frequency currents in electrical equipment, whereas buzz is propagated as radio transmissions and sounds more like static. The sources of buzz are many, but an example is an AC power tool with a brush motor. The brush makes and breaks electrical contact with the commutator segment several thousand times a second at variable frequency dependent on load thus causing radio frequency noise . Other examples may include playing near older fluorescent lamps with magnetic ballasts, or high frequency switching DC power supplied from mains power "wall wart" units commonly provided with consumer electronics, computers and smartphones. Fender-Lace Sensors are

352-721: Is featured most prominently on the Les Paul Faded Doublecut , and certain models in the Historic range. In the early 1970s, punk rock guitarists such as Johnny Thunders of The New York Dolls began using Les Paul Juniors and Les Paul Specials equipped with P-90s because of the cutting overdriven sound and the inexpensive nature of the guitars. In both The Dolls and The Heartbreakers , Thunders influenced younger punk rock guitarists who adopted his look and choice of guitar. Mick Jones of The Clash and Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols both owned Les Paul Juniors, and

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384-524: The SG Junior and Special, such as those used by Pete Townshend and Carlos Santana for their brighter, rawer, sound. This trend continued throughout the 1960s and particularly in the early 1970s, where the P-90 all but disappeared from the entire Gibson range. By the 1970s, smaller single-coil pickups, mini-humbucking pickups, and uncovered humbucking pickups began replacing the P-90 pickups on Gibson's budget and lower-end models. In 1968, Gibson reissued

416-451: The " horseshoe pickup ". The two horseshoe-shaped magnets surrounded the strings that passed over a single core plate (or blade) in the center of the coil. The Gibson Guitar Corporation introduced the "bar pickup" in 1935 for its new line of Hawaiian lap steel guitars. The pickup's basic construction is that of a metal blade inserted through the coil as a shared pole piece for all the strings. A pair of large flat magnets were fastened below

448-479: The "Charlie Christian Model" and Gibson's now famous bar pickup as the "Charlie Christian pickup" or "CC unit". The P-90 is a single coil pickup designed by the Gibson Guitar Corporation . These pickups have a large, flat coil with adjustable steel screws as pole pieces, and a pair of flat alnico bar magnets lying under the coil bobbin. The adjustable pole pieces pick up the magnetism from

480-600: The P-90 pickup in their Les Paul '55, a reissue of the Les Paul Special from that era. It was followed in 1976 by the Les Paul Special double-cutaway (DC) model and in 1978 by the Les Paul Pro (which had an ebony fingerboard with trapezoid inlays). Since the 1970s, the P-90 pickup has seen some success in various models in the Gibson line, mostly through reissues and custom versions of existing models. Currently it

512-521: The P-90 produce a somewhat warmer tone with less edge and brightness, As with other single-coil pickups, the P-90 is subject to AC hum unless some form of cancellation is used. Around 1940, Gibson offered a new bridge pickup cased in metal for the ES-100/125 series as an alternative to the classic Charlie Christian pickup . Officially, P-90 pickups were introduced in 1946, when Gibson resumed guitar production after World War II . The name refers to

544-476: The bridge pickup is mounted on a steel plate. These design elements allow musicians to emulate steel guitar sounds, making it particularly appropriate for country music. Pickups are selected with a three-position switch, and two wiring schemes exist: The Fender Esquire has a variation to the Vintage wiring scheme by using the scheme on a single pickup. This gives a treble cutoff in the first position, normal in

576-543: The coil assembly. In 1936 Gibson introduced the ES-150 , its first electric Spanish-styled guitar. The ES-150 was outfitted with the bar pickup. Jazz guitar innovator Charlie Christian began playing an ES-150 in the late 1930s with the Benny Goodman Orchestra. This caused the popularity of the electrified guitar to soar. Due to Christian's close association with the ES-150, it began being referred to as

608-707: The double-cutaway Junior became the first choice for punk rock guitarists. The P-90 was also marketed by Gibson in the 1970s as the "Laid Back" pickup, as part of a line of "named" pickups. For the 2014 model year, the Les Paul Melody Maker featured a variant of the P-90 pickup called the P-90S, inspired by the original pickup of the Gibson ES-125 . This variant possesses six rectangular Alnico -slug pole pieces with no individual height adjustment. There are three major varieties of P-90 casing: Being

640-457: The guitar pickups by Gibson before World War II emphasised the treble response to compensate for the low frequencies of the electronics in the bass. The increased output and high end afforded by the P-90 design allowed the company to position the pickup closer to the neck. All Gibson P-90 pickups (vintage and otherwise) were machine wound on Leesona coil winding machines, although their electrical specifications may vary slightly due to variations in

672-424: The highest output, with the most mid-range and bass response, whereas the bridge pickup has the lowest output (because the strings at the bridge move less) and the greatest treble response, with a slight twang to it. The sound of the middle pickup is similar to that of the neck pickup, albeit with slightly less bass and more treble. However many players, such as Ritchie Blackmore , find it somewhat of an obstruction to

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704-478: The low-noise environment required for single-coil use. See Humbucker , section Single Coil Form Factor Humbuckers There are several well-known single coil pickups that have a distinctive sound: Gibson ES-125 Introduced in 1941 as the successor to the ES-100, the ES-125 was an entry-level archtop electric guitar . It had one P-90 single-coil pickup in the neck position, a single volume control and

736-464: The magnets. Moving the screw closer or further away from the magnet determines signal strength, thus tone as well. There are two variations of P-90 pickup that differ mainly by mounting options: The Fender Telecaster features two different single coils. The neck pickup features a metal cover and produces a mellower sound, while the bridge pickup has exposed pole pieces and produces an extremely twangy, sharp tone with exaggerated treble response, because

768-424: The middle position, and a tone control cutoff in the third position. The traditional Stratocaster design guitar features three single coils. The guitarist can control which pickup or combination of pickups are selected with a lever switch . The pickup positions are usually referred to as the bridge , middle and neck pickups based on their proximity to those parts of the instrument. The neck pickup typically has

800-438: The model of guitar they were to be used on (Soap Box or Dog Ear). Earlier pickups (around 1952) had Alnico 3 magnets, but in 1957 Gibson switched to the stronger Alnico 5 . Single coil A single-coil pickup is a type of magnetic transducer , or pickup , for the electric guitar and the electric bass . It electromagnetically converts the vibration of the strings to an electric signal. Single-coil pickups are one of

832-480: The normal bridge or neck pickups will cancel electromagnetic interference (noise/hum) which single coil pickups suffer badly from. The sonic effect of positions 2 and 4 is sometimes referred to as a "quack" or "notch positions", and some guitar notation includes directions to use these pickup combinations. One example is " Sultans of Swing " by Dire Straits which is played in position 2 (bridge and middle). A number of types of noise afflict magnetic guitar pickups. Hum

864-415: The original, single-cutaway Les Paul, one version being a Goldtop with P-90 pickups. In 1972, they produced Limited Edition reissues, called the "58 Reissue" though actually based on the 54 Goldtop Les Paul, with a stopbar tailpiece; and the 54 Custom, the "Black Beauty," equipped with a P-90 in the bridge and an Alnico 5 pickup at the neck. Total production of these guitars was quite small. In 1974, Gibson put

896-539: The part number as designated by the company. They were initially used to replace Gibson's original "bar" or "blade" pickup, also known as the Charlie Christian pickup, on models such as the ES-150 , and by the end of the 1940s it was the standard pickup on all models. The soap bar-style P-90 debuted with the Les Paul electric guitar in 1952. The P-90's reign as the Gibson standard pickup was short-lived, as

928-464: The picking hand and loosen the mounting screws such that it lies flush with the pickguard . Modern Stratocasters have five-position pickup selector switch. Positions 1, 3 and 5 activate only one pickup (bridge, middle or neck respectively), while positions 2 and 4 activate a combination of two pickups (bridge and middle, or middle and neck, respectively). Some pickup sets have a reverse wound and reverse polarity middle pickup that when in combination with

960-554: The polepieces, much like a humbucker, whereas Fender single-coils use rod magnets as the polepieces. Popular guitars that use or have the option of using P-90s are the Gibson SG , Gibson Les Paul , and the Epiphone Casino . Fender Jazzmaster pickups are often confused with the P-90; however, their only similarity is cosmetic, since there are many significant visual, dimensional and electrical differences. The placement of

992-434: The two most popular designs, along with dual-coil or " humbucking " pickups. In the mid-1920s George Beauchamp , a Los Angeles, California, guitarist, began experimentation with electric amplification of the guitar. Originally using a phonograph pickup assembly, Beauchamp began testing many different combinations of coils and magnets trying to create the first electromagnetic guitar pickup. His earliest coils were wound using

P-90 - Misplaced Pages Continue

1024-404: The winding. In common with many other modern pickup types, there are two versions of modern P-90: neck and bridge. Their DC resistance tends to be around 8 kΩ . Early P-90 pickups made before approximately 1974 were manufactured with no difference in the bridge and neck position and were interchangeable. After winding, pickups were hung on a rack holding twenty pickups and assembled according to

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