Stockholms in an Explorer?

[HoratioCaine]

Right, I've got a bit of a make the best of a situation/consider your options thing happening now, in which I could do with some advice.

I recently purchased and now have a set of Stockholm HSP90's in black.  I originally purchased them to fit into my SG Standard and giving it one last try to make me bond with it, however after doing so, as nice as it feels, sounds and all there's just something not there that makes me not quite bond with it.  And I've opened it and changed pickups/stuff around enough times now to not go any further.  Probably a lot of it has to do with me now getting the Les Paul Custom Lite and Bill Kelliher Explorer which I couldn't afford at the time they were out, but would have much preferred to get and own.  Which brings me nicely on to the next bit.

Because I have installed the pickups once, I don't think I can return them now.  Thing is I quite like the idea of a humbucker sized P90 and I want to try and put it to good use.  This has given me the idea of maybe I should fit them into my Gibson Bill Kelliher Explorer.  I quite like the Lace Nitro Hemi's in them, but I feel like putting something a bit more traditional in them but still with a modern edge.  I know I would lose the ability to split the coils, however with a P90 I figure I've got a bit of both sides anyway.  All I'd have to do if I went with this idea would be having the six screws on the pickup cover changed to gold to match better with the gold hardware, I'm hoping and presuming BKP could do that, for a price of course I'd be happy to pay.

I'm not really after any sound in particular, just something I can mould to my own personal tastes, although it would be a rock sound, with some 80's influence.  It's a bit of a wild card thing, so it has got me thinking that the idea of putting HSP90's Stockholms in might be quite good or interesting.

So, would Stockholms in the Explorer be worth a shot/good idea?  Any input welcome and appreciated.  Thanks.

[Dave Sloven]

Well they could work but I am surprised that you didn't like them in the SG.  I would have thought that to be an ideal combo, so maybe you just don't like P-90s?

[HoratioCaine]

Oh it's not that I didn't like them in the SG, to be fair they sounded good from the very short time they were in.  I also had a Gibson SG Junior 2006 reissue years ago and liked the sound of the P90 in there.  It is hard to describe in words but the SG itself while I respect and admit is a nice guitar just doesn't really click for me anymore, not the right fit.

I probably will go ahead and put them in the Explorer when I'm ready, I feel it could go quite well.

[Telerocker]

This very depends on the guitar itself. If it has a natural darker voice than the Stockholms might be not the best choice. You need some uppermids and topend to let the mahogany breathe. If the guitar is on the bright side I would give it a try.

[Dave Sloven]

It would be very unusual to find a bright Explorer.

That's why I thought the SG would be ideal.  So the issue is that you are sick of playing SGs, rather than not liking the sound of the pickups in the SG?

You might find a brighter Les Paul or Flying V than an Explorer.  The Stockholm is a fairly dark pickup in many ways, and works well in my bright and resonant SG Junior for that reason.

[HoratioCaine]

Thanks for your replies.

It is correct I am just a bit bored of SG's right now, I did like the pickups from what I initially heard of them in it for that short period.

Anyway, I've been in contact with BKP and have been on the phone to them this morning in which I discussed the concerns of it being mahogany and rosewood so taking on too much a darker tone.  We discussed my idea of maybe returning/exchanging them for a Mississippi Queen set, however because I am doing some pot/cap changes to higher values as I tend do now, they said the Stockholms should work well still and to be honest looking at the stats and how my amp setup is I am optimistic that it will do, so I've gone with the Stockholms.  They have sent me the six gold bobbin/pole screws for each pickup and mounting screws to match along with a 550k pot (already purchased an orange drop from eBay yesterday and have a spare unused 550k lying around) already today only hours after our conversation.  That's really good service to me in my book.

I'll update on how it goes when I get round to doing it all.

[HoratioCaine]

Just an update, I've got things mostly done.  I need to sort out the neck pickup wiring as there appears to be a short in the cable, it's a bit messy from being used before in the SG, I may just cut off that part and start a fresh since there is a lot of wire left.

The bridge pickup works though and that's what I use most and thankfully it sounds excellent, very nice clarity and great balance between humbucker and single coil, so it is nice dirty and clean and has made my Explorer simple and effective.  No doubt the neck will be just as good when I ge that sorted.  I decided to use a Dimarzio 500k pot for the tone pot instead and put that with the 550k volume pot.

I've got a few things left to do to it but here's a shot of it mostly complete.  The new black scratchplate needs to go on once it has been made (although it looks nice without it, I don't really want those screwholes showing) and I'll be replacing the truss rod cover with a blank Gibson one.  I like it better than before looks wise, I wanted to ditch the cream and make it more subtle, the black P90 covers with gold screws has also worked better than I imagined.

[Telerocker]

Glad the Stockholm works well. That's a very pretty Explorer btw!

[Dave Sloven]

Good to hear that it's working well.

Yeah I'd just cut that wire back a bit and clean it up.

I forgot to mention that I use a 500K Mojotone CTS pot and a 0.033uf NOS Russian K73 400V PETP capacitor in my SG Junior.

It's good that you are using at least as big a pot (250K is not enough with these) and you could afford to go for a 0.022uf or even 0.015uf cap in an Explorer, depending on how you feel about what's in there now.

[HoratioCaine]

Glad the Stockholm works well. That's a very pretty Explorer btw!

Many thanks!  I wish they made more like this one, I think they look nice with binding and crown inlays.

Good to hear that it's working well.

Yeah I'd just cut that wire back a bit and clean it up.

I forgot to mention that I use a 500K Mojotone CTS pot and a 0.033uf NOS Russian K73 400V PETP capacitor in my SG Junior.

It's good that you are using at least as big a pot (250K is not enough with these) and you could afford to go for a 0.022uf or even 0.015uf cap in an Explorer, depending on how you feel about what's in there now.

Yes the larger pot values really benefit the guitar here.  The capacitor value I went with in the guitar was a 0.015uf orange drop one, as a whole I really like the sound, it is not too bright, just very well balanced.  Now I have fixed the issue with the neck, cut off the bad bit of wire and started a fresh and now it all works well, the neck is very nice sounding.

[Dave Sloven]

I'm glad the 0.015uf makes the Stockholm work well in an Explorer.  I went for the 0.033uf cap (and modern wiring with treble bleed) as the Junior was always very shrill in the top end with the original harness and I didn't want that to get any worse.  As it turned out what I had made was perfect, and really balanced well with the characteristics of the Junior