HB bridge and P90 neck for a Les Paul

[Alfi27]

If you are looking for vintage tones from both of these guitars, I would probably not go with P90 in both guitars, but if you figure that you really like the P90 sound you can always run NT or MQ in one guitar and hotter P90s like the Supermassive or Stockholm in the other one. Congratulations on the Double Cut Les Paul Special by the way! How old is it and what are the stock pickups? If it is a 90's kid (like mine) it came with P100s stock, which supposedly sounds really far from real P90s. I honestly cannot comment on that because some guy put a pair of Stewmac P90s in it before I bought it, but I have experience with a H-90 in a Junior that sounded really bad...
And I almost forgot: two guitars will never sound the same, so the slight differences between the MQ and NT might be enough to make them two different beasts. Just a thought 

[Yellowjacket]

Hi everyone!

I'm a brand new member (and very new to guitars in general). I'm looking into getting a new pickup set for my LP, and I'm toying with the idea of a HB bridge and P90 neck.

So far I'm thinking of a Nailbomb/ Mississippi Queen set, but I love how the Nantucket sounds as well. And then there's the other option, which is go full P90 in both positions.

Would anyone be able to give me some pros and cons for the two options? I'd appreciate any input!

Thank you

What sort of LP are we talking about here?  How would you describe the tonal character of it? 

For a warmer, darker LP - something with more bass - the Rebel Yell is pretty sick.  I love how well it co-operates with high gain heads.  It is very consonant, open, and clear, with high mids.  It pairs great with dark, thick, and aggressive amplifiers.  Nice harmonic sheen.  Works well for lead / solos / rhythm.

A-Bomb, by comparison, is more compressed, thicker, and more gnarly sounding.  It's also an awesome pickup but it depends what you want / need.  Expect more of a focus in the treble and a flatter response with more bass. 
I love the A-Bomb in my 2002 LP Standard.  The Rebel Yell is  more of a traditional rock tone with a bit of extra edge.  It doesn't have the same lows, aggression, thickness, and punch of the A-Bomb. 

I can't really comment on any other bridge pickups because I have not tried them in a LP but you need to consider what you want from the guitar. 

[Cider]

If you are looking for vintage tones from both of these guitars, I would probably not go with P90 in both guitars, but if you figure that you really like the P90 sound you can always run NT or MQ in one guitar and hotter P90s like the Supermassive or Stockholm in the other one. Congratulations on the Double Cut Les Paul Special by the way! How old is it and what are the stock pickups? If it is a 90's kid (like mine) it came with P100s stock, which supposedly sounds really far from real P90s. I honestly cannot comment on that because some guy put a pair of Stewmac P90s in it before I bought it, but I have experience with a H-90 in a Junior that sounded really bad...
And I almost forgot: two guitars will never sound the same, so the slight differences between the MQ and NT might be enough to make them two different beasts. Just a thought 

Thank you so much! It's a 2003 Special DC, so it *should* have Gibson's P-90's. I'll play around with it first, but I do want to eventually upgrade to the NT or MQ set though.

My other LP is just... muddy, so I really want to through the MQ set in there, haha.

Hi everyone!

I'm a brand new member (and very new to guitars in general). I'm looking into getting a new pickup set for my LP, and I'm toying with the idea of a HB bridge and P90 neck.

So far I'm thinking of a Nailbomb/ Mississippi Queen set, but I love how the Nantucket sounds as well. And then there's the other option, which is go full P90 in both positions.

Would anyone be able to give me some pros and cons for the two options? I'd appreciate any input!

Thank you

What sort of LP are we talking about here?  How would you describe the tonal character of it? 

For a warmer, darker LP - something with more bass - the Rebel Yell is pretty sick.  I love how well it co-operates with high gain heads.  It is very consonant, open, and clear, with high mids.  It pairs great with dark, thick, and aggressive amplifiers.  Nice harmonic sheen.  Works well for lead / solos / rhythm.

A-Bomb, by comparison, is more compressed, thicker, and more gnarly sounding.  It's also an awesome pickup but it depends what you want / need.  Expect more of a focus in the treble and a flatter response with more bass. 
I love the A-Bomb in my 2002 LP Standard.  The Rebel Yell is  more of a traditional rock tone with a bit of extra edge.  It doesn't have the same lows, aggression, thickness, and punch of the A-Bomb. 

I can't really comment on any other bridge pickups because I have not tried them in a LP but you need to consider what you want from the guitar. 

You know, I listened to some more RY clips, and I actually really like what I hear. I have another guitar with the Aftermath in the bridge position, so ultimately I think I would want something the Aftermath absolutely cannot do

[Kiichi]

The series / parallel wiring follows this idea. https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/downloads/schematics/profiles/humbuckers/1hum__4_con_pushpull_pot-series_or_parallel.pdf
Instead of a humbucker you have 2 P90s. All about the hot wires.

50s wiring is a nice idea. Changes the taper of the volume pot, retains high end at lower volumes, opens the top up a touch in general, and changes the interaction between vol and tone to make playing with them much more rewarding.

If you for the LP seek high end and find it currently muddy the RY can remedy that as Yellowjacket notes. That pickup livens up just about any chunk of wood. Punchy low end, screaming high mids, and a high end that is very musical as it seems to be comprised of harmonic overtones. In that LP it should sound a load more organic and juicy (as opposed to dry) than the AM. Also has a wide range of rocking tones on tap, from Billy Idol, of course, and nailing 80s hair metal tones like Ratt (Round and Round is essential RY tone) to modern metal like Red Seas Fire, who used the RY and VHII for the first album IIRC.

[Yellowjacket]

Rebel Yell bridge cleans up wonderfully well with the volume pot and it gets absolutely ferocious when boosted. 
I particularly love it in my solid lump of mahogany guitar which is warm and bassy sounding.  The pickup adds clarity to the bottom and brings life to the top end.  The result is really quite wonderful!

[Kiichi]

And assuming the P90 guitar will go classic with NT or MQ and the AM axe being what it is it should sit comfortably in the middle. Plus as it is very sensitive to height adjustments it can be nicely finetuned on terms of things like bass response, which I find very pleasing.

The other option is the Coldsweat, which has less mids, more bottom, and more high end in a conventional way. It may be ceramic, but you might never guess as it is very organic. It is also very versatile in a LP as it can do the Thin Lizzy rock, but is perhaps also the best choice for Dimebag Darrel sounds. My main concern here is the agressive top end. Depending on perception it could border on shrill, though with a dark LP that should not happen.
All in all it is also a great in between option.

[Alfi27]

Do not know if you have ordered anything yet, but I contacted BKP and they can indeed make the Mississippi Queen in regular P90 shape! So your options are wide open

[Cider]

Just an update: I did get Ben to make me an MQ set in P90 size. Will be getting it sometime this week, hopefully ^^
I'm gonna wait a while to update the LP, so the RY and CS aren't out of the equation completely - I do need a bit more research on them :D

[Kiichi]

Just keep the updates coming please.

Based on your reaction to the MQ we can also possibly narrow down the recommendation for the LP.

[Cider]

I will. I have a couple of tech-related questions for the P90 too, but I probably ask those in the right board :D

[Cider]

Update:

So I got my MQ in the Doublecut, and I love them. They are noticeably different than the AM, which is a good thing.
Made a video of me noodling around with the 2 pickups (mainly to show my bf that my guitars don't sound the same so he would shush) https://youtu.be/DcapdArTlpE

I honestly love both PUPs. The AM (which is supposedly more dark) benefits greatly from the longer scale & basswood body of my black guitar. The MQ (supposed to be a brighter pickup) sounded "tamer" yet still sweet in the doublecut thanks to the short scale & mahogany body. I personally love how the different guitars slightly enhance the pickups.

Now that I have 2 VERY good sets of pickups, the Classic 57's in my LP sound like absolute cr@p. Thin, harsh high end and muddy low end.

Now that you know how I really feel about the 57, perhaps you'll have a better idea of what to suggest. I'm leaning more towards the CS than the RY actually, but if it's between the CS and the NB I would probably pick the A-bomb since the AM is already a ceramic pickup.

How does A-bomb bridge & Nantucket neck sound? Or perhaps Supermassive neck?

[Kiichi]

Welcome to the BKP effect I guess. =) Good to hear things working out.

Handful of things: RY vs NB. The RY is somewhat of an underwound NB. This makes the RY a less hot, with a rocking screaming high mid spike, high end of overtones, and a lighter but very tight and punchy low end. Full on early 80s flavor (think Rattīs Round and Round) but able to handle modern metal no problem. Perfect in darker guitar to lighten them up. I always like to say a classic tone faithfully brought to modern times. The NB by comparison is more nasty, agressive. Full on 90s metal. If you listen the inspiring album you know what it was set out to do. More bottom end and hotter, yet can be dialed down too. Great choice for 90s and 00s metal and hard rock styles. Biggest complaint is the highend often being described as hairy. I recon this is often a clash with the amp.

Just as a curveball, if you are considering the NB, maybe look at the Stockholm. Not unsimilar, but the SH is more open, roaring, and plain raw in everything it does.

Either NB or SH pair well with the supermassive neck (tuned down Stockholm, touch brighter, less hot, and a noticable reduction in bass). Nantucket should be able to keep up no issue too, but will obviously have a more classic voicing.

Pairing a NB with a CS neck is also common. If using the Cbomb this is the modern Petrucci combo (classic Petrucci, ca. Awake era, would be HD bridge and AM neck).

The CS and AM have not remotely the same ceramic character. The CS is way more organic to the extend that people said that blind they would probably think alnico. The ceramic here is more used to create the light scoop that sits so well in LPs I recon, which is exact opposite from the middy AM.


Ok, that are my current thoughts. =)