BlueNote P90

[mcsdan]

Hi all, long time bareknuckle user but only just signed up!!

Ordered some blue note P90s to go in my 56 reissue goldtop. Also got some new pots etc. So I wired up as follows:-

500k volumes (CTS TVT), 500k tones (CTS premium) and a 15 cap for the neck and 22 for the bridge (russian K40Y-9 PIO caps). Wired 50s style. Install all went fine.

Trying the pickups the neck sounded wonderful and the bridge had way too much treble and sounded very thin. Has to put tone down to about 2 to get anything usable but this then muffled the sound. This guitar has fixed "ledges" for the pickup routes so I can raise but not lower. On a humbuckered Les Paul I would change the pickup height but not possible on this guitar.

After some reading - not much out there for P90s in comparison to humbucker pickups. Anyway changed tone pots to 250K. Treble starting to go in the right direction but still a bit too much and still sounded thin and neck a bit too dark now. More reading up and seen many suggestions to use 47 caps on P90s (Seymour Duncan for one suggests this). Thought I'd give it a try. Bingo - bridge now has loads of grunt and the there is still treble but just right. Playing bridge with tone on 7 is about right so I have room to add or take away treble. Stunning sounds now from the bridge.

Neck was now too muddy with 250k tone pots so I put back the 500k for this pickup only. So I now have

Bridge: 500k volume, 250k tone, 47 cap
Neck: 500k volume, 500k tone, 15 cap

This pickup combo now sounds superb, has plenty of bite without being "ice-picky" and is very touch sensitive.

Thought I'd post this since I spent many hours reading about different options and these work really well for these pickups IMHO.

[Telerocker]

Thanks for sharing. Bluenote-reviews are rare on the forum. Man, I got to get myself a P90-guitar again.

[mcsdan]

No worries. There is very little info on here about the bluenotes.  I suppose a comparison with the standard Gibson P90s will also help so here goes.

The Gibson P90s seem to be the same pickup across all their guitars. So if you have a tribute or  a custom shop they are the same pickup. Not only that but they are also wound the same for neck and bridge. Mine were a tad over 8k. I understand they use alnico 5 magnets.  The pickup sounds much better in the neck but they still sound a little sterile to my ears and I tend to play with the volume and tone controls all the time so being able to clean up or roar from the same amp settings are important to me - the Gibson p90 were not that good at this. I'm a big fan of alnico 2 low output humbuckers hence my move towards the bluenote p90s ( I have stormy mondays in my 58 reissue Les Paul).

The bluenotes respond very well to volume and tone adjustment on the guitar to get really clean sounds and full on roar when cranked. There is body but also bite which using the pot/cap combination above is just right with a little to spare if needed. The treble is clear but sweet.  Bass can be a tad saggy still very a slight edge to it and still more bite than the comparable alnico 2 humbucker.  The biggest thing I've noticed with these pickups is the touch sensitivity.  Volume on the guitar about 7-8 and play very lightly gives a very clean sound. Dig in more and you are into overdrive.  This is relatively normal for a good pickup BUT there are dynamics between the 2 extremes so a whole load of sounds. I play into a cranked all tube amp with just a TS pedal for a boost so the amp is very responsive too.

The pickups were slightly smaller than the original Gibson P90s so easily fitted in to the routing. These just dropped in whereas the Gibson ones were a tight fit. All looks OK externally. The cream colour is "properly" cream whereas the Gibson plastics can be a little pink. Although Gibson have reduced this pinkness in recent years it is still apparent up against the cream on the pickups.

One other thing to note if you have a recent Les Paul reissue. Since 2010 (I think) the pickup routes on the reissue P90 guitars (R4,R6 etc) are not as deep and the pickups sit on a ledge. This is more historically accurate (apparently) but doesn't allow for any adjust downwards. Upwards you'd need some foam or springs under the pickup to raise and of course you can raise the pole pieces if need.

Hope this helps anyone also looking for info on these superb P90s. All the above is IMHO :-)

[Telerocker]

Excellent review! You describe the AII-character very well.