Unpotted HSP90...?

[julio77]

Hi everyone,

Here is what's on my mind : I would like to get the purest 50's vibe out of a new bridge HSP90.
I was thinking of an Alnico II Blue Note... Unpotted, since P90s were not supposed to be back in the days.
Weak magnet + unpotted extra edge has already been proven efficient for HB in this forum so why not apply this for P90s ?
I'm not a high gainer so I think it might work and give me all the best soap juice out of my mahogany slab.

What do you think, has anyone ever tried an unpotted P90 ?

Thanks!

[Kiichi]

I did not know that the original P90s were supposedly unpotted. Got a source on that? I´d like to read up.

I assumed they would have always been potted since they are single coils. Plus I´d imagine the noise when unpotted would be really annoying. Furthermore BKP does not offer it as an option, and I would think for a reason.

However I am fully confident that you would love the Blue Note. It is so sweet, clear, and natural. The detail is amazing. Taking out the wax potting is absolutely not nececary.

[julio77]

Thank you Kiichi.

Jon Walker from Throbak about his Repro P90s : "Since these are unpotted just like vintage P-90's there is a real tonal impact to having them flush with the bottom of the pickup route".

Stephens Design about his Zephyr Blues P90s : "Also, true vintage P90s were never potted. Yes, they squeal, but they also sound wonderful. If you use pedals or only play at home in front of a loud amp, you will get feedback. Many — like me — prefer unpotted pickups and play mostly live gigs, not close enough to the amp to be a problem. I usually wind tight enough that feedback isn't a big problem, but let me know if you want them potted or not — this is very important for P90s".

[Kiichi]

Thank you. That is indeed interesting. I would suggest you shoot a mail to the BKP staff for this too. I know that Tim has done more than his research, so I would like to hear his comments on this. It is the first time I heard about unpotted P90s, but that does not mean much.

I am a lover of unpotted PAF type humbuckers, but with BKP P90s I never felt the need at all, even though potted PAFs sometimes do (though the BKP ones are amazing potted too). Both my MQ (essentially Nantucket) and Manhattan (essentially Half Note) already seem to have all the unpotted character in spades. Compared to my unpotted 10th Anniveraries....well they make the 10th sound potted, and damn do I love that set. xD

So yeah, shoot BKP a mail, but with my (obviously limited) experience I would say that you might not want to put too much weight on the potting here, and rather go for quality as the priority, and that BKP does have.