P90 pickup recommendation for Black Sabbath tones

[prorenzo]

Hello everyone!

I currently have a Gibson SG classic faded equipped with the stock gibson p90 pickups. It is still my favourite axe out of my 3 other guitars and I really like the sound of it. However, I play everything from blues rock (Aerosmith) to heavy metal (Metallica, a7x). I feel that the stock gibson pickups may be a bit lacking in the higher gain territory and I am looking for a p90 that can suit my needs. I am mainly looking at ballpark of the Dio era Black Sabbath tones.

I am deciding between the supermassive 90 and stockholm 90 from bare knuckle. As much as I want to go to heavier territory, I am afraid that straying too far away will not get me the tones I need for less heavy genres (Guns N Roses). Does anyone have experience with either or both of the pickups? There isnt a lot of good demos on youtube for either of the pickups.

On a side note, I am using an Orange OR15 at home and a wampler soverign distortion pedal when im outside. I already have a washburn with duncan distortions for really heavy stuff, a burny les paul with gibson 498t for hard rock and a fender tele for cleaner stuff. P90s is what I need to bridge my les paul and washburn with a different flavour.

Feedback is very much appreciated! Thank you!

[Dave Sloven]

Are you looking to fit bridge and neck or just bridge?

For a SG I would recommend going for a bit more output for the bridge versus the neck than is generally the case in the P-90 sets, e.g., Stockholm/Supermassive.  I recommended this combination for an SG here before and the person was very happy with it. The Stockholm can certainly do the heavier stuff.  In terms of a humbucker that one could compare it to I would say somewhere between a Nailbomb and a Holy Diver in terms of output but with a definite P-90 character.

If you want cleans from the BRIDGE pickup, however, then the Supermassive would have the edge over the Stockholm.

I replaced a stock Gibson P-90 with a Stockholm in my SG Junior

Be warned though that the standard BKP baseplates won't work with the Classic style pickup mounts. My Junior has the same type of mounting and I had to convert it to the screw into wood type like on the 2011 SG Special '60s.  I had a lot of vibration in the mount until I had it changed, and that caused microphonics. See the thread on my Junior here: https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=31557.15

[Slartibartfarst42]

When I saw the title of this thread I thought of the Pig 90 but after I read your post I realised that probably wasn't the right option. It sounds like the Stockholm would offer you the right balance in this case.

[prorenzo]

I am looking to replace both the neck and bridge pickups.

I planning to fit them on this guitar http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/SG/Gibson-USA/SG-Classic-Faded.aspx

How does the stockholm p90 compare to the stock gibson p90 Agent Orange? I am pretty sure I wont be doing totally clean stuff on this guitar but I will be using medium crunch. What will I be losing out with a high output pickup such as the stockholm 90?

Thanks!

[Dave Sloven]

The Stockholm and the Supermassive bridge pickups both have a different EQ curve than the stock bridge pickup.  The Nantucket is closer to the stock pickup if you want to compare.

I can't comment on the neck pickup but I do like the sound of it in the samples.

Basically the Stockholm has a lot more bottom end than the stock pickup and the highs are less shrill.  I have a 0033uf capacitor and 500K pots in mine, which compliment it very well.  I'm not sure what you would best off with in the neck for pots and caps, but I would tend to go with 250K pots and a 0.022uf cap for the neck if you use a Supermassive neck pickup.  Try to find ones that are higher in the tolerance range, around 300K

I get a good medium crunch from the Stockholm, but I can do heavy palm mutes etc with it too.


Here's a video of an Epiphone SG with Supermassives playing Sabbath stuff:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6pG2Rg4duI

Here's a video of a fellow forum member here doing a video review of a Stockholm HSP90 bridge pickup:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfIprHsMwWE


 

[gwEm]

I liked the old BKP-92 for Sabbath tones.

Try a Supermassive maybe.

[Serratus]

I have a Stockholm, it's awesome!  It's really hot, it does any heavy tones really well, but is also pretty versatile especially if you roll the volume pot down a bit. I think the Supermassive would probably be more versatile though as the slightly lower output would make it a touch more open and less compressed/full-on. I have a supermassive ordered, just waiting for delivery!

I recorded these which have the Stockholm on them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxbthSL1Q7Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ecekLV4yps

[Telerocker]

I would pick a Supermassive / Stockholm. That sound from the Dio-era was way heavier than Iommi had in the seventies.

[Dave Sloven]

Yeah I'd be really surprised if the OP wasn't really happy with the Stockholm bridge & Supermassive neck combo in an SG Classic.

The only real problem I see with any BKP P-90 soapbar in a full pickguard SG is the fact that the 'batwing mount' won't fit the pickup baseplates as they come from BKP.

I have made Ben aware of this issue and they may have a way of avoiding this problem if it is mentioned in the order process now.  I would send an email and ask. If you look at the photos in my thread you will see that the issue is two large rivets where the mount normally screws in.

Alternatively you face the expense of (1) having the mount changed (2) ordering a new custom pickguard without the screw holes (I haven't bothered with this yet, but you can get them like this from WD Music, they have an option on Classic pickguard to delete pickup mounting holes)


EDIT: Here's the info on the pickguards: http://www.wdmusic.com/gibson_sg_classic_sgcl_9009.html

This SG Classic pickguard was tooled from a 2008 factory production model and normally comes with mounting holes for the pickups from Gibson. Because so many people have been replacing the pickups with custom pickups using traditional mounting screws which travel through the pickup center, we have made it an option for you to select whether you need these holes or not for your instrument.

[prorenzo]

I have finally went ahead and ordered the Stockholm bridge and Supermassive neck as most of the guys here have suggested! Thank you for all the replies :)

Do you guys suggest that I change to 500k pots for both the neck and bridge? And what is the difference between a vol and tone pot when it comes to the values? What I do know is that higher values basically gives a brighter sound. The stock pots are 300k for p90 equipped Gibson SGs am I right?

Must the caps also be changed as well to suit the pots?

I am pretty new to this, all my guitars have been stock so this is the first time I am attempting to upgrade parts on my guitar.

[Dave Sloven]

I found that going to a 500K pot for the Stockholm bridge was a good idea.   The Supermassive neck is lower output and might be better with the 300K pot

Personally I would install the pickups first with the stock pots and see how you like them. If you are not happy then consider higher value pots

A bit like when you make soup.  You taste it first before adding more salt

[mariak]

 I recommended this combination for an SG here before and the person was very happy with it. The Stockholm can certainly do the heavier stuff.  In terms of a humbucker that one could compare it to I would say somewhere between a Nailbomb and a Holy Diver in terms of output but with a definite P-90 character.

[SämO]

Hello,

I have a '12 Les Paul Junior and I want to change the P90 to get closer to the sound of Black Sabbath of the first five albums.
In view of previous comments, I thought of two P90: Pig & Stockholm.
Do you have any advice?

According to my research, the T. Iommi P90 mounted in Bridge was measured at 18 KOhm.

Thank you all!

[SämO]

It seems, however, that Tony used the Neck a lot for his rhythmic parts.
His neck pickup seems coiled at 8K.
Difficult to reproduce the entirety of this sound with my Junior on which I could only mount a single P90 :)
 

[Telerocker]

I wonder where this thread goes.