# Your thoughts on the p-90 pickups..used on metal



## AeonSolus (Jun 19, 2009)

You guys think it could do it?...i love the clarity and balls they got con cleans and semi dirty tones, but how would they handle metal? I think it would do great in the Djenting genres that use dissonance runs, huge chords, because of their single coilness it would have more clarity than a humbucker, and won't sound as thin as a normal strat single coil (Example, All New Materials by bulb, Which IIRC, and if i'm not mistaken, he used a Spector guitar with P-90 style pickups to record that one.)

What you guys think, is it do-able? if so, what genre limit would they have?, gain-noise-wise.

BTW, this is bulb's all new materials

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=147108&content=songinfo&songID=6370301


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## Harry (Jun 19, 2009)

Just like any non 60Hz cycle cancelling pickup, they pick up that extra hum that isn't desirable in high situations.
If the guitar has the right body wood, it can help beef up the sound of a P-90 to make it metal worthy. Really I think the only issue is the hum, but otherwise there is no reason why you can't get down and heavy with a P-90.


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## xtrustisyoursx (Jun 19, 2009)

I've heard some sludge bands use them with great success


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## XeoFLCL (Jun 19, 2009)

I'd imagine so. Way back when I played an old SG (I believe circa 1980?) that had gibson P90s and that guitar sounded amazing. By the way, I can't stand gibson so that says ALOT. The clarity vs humbuckers is amazing and I'd imagine it'd be ideal for djent styles and big chords in higher gain situations... I've actually wanted a guitar w/ over-overwound P90s for a while but it's hard to find good ones really. I might get one of the rondomusic agiles that have P90s later this year after my new band gets up and running and playing gigs (hopefully in july).


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## Andrew_B (Jun 19, 2009)

depends on the amp and effects your running lol

can get pretty much any pickup to sound decent if you know how to setup and amp and effects chain....


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## phatfil (Jun 19, 2009)

you can get plenty of bite and grind out of them for good metal tone. the only bad part about them was the hum.

my first guitar had P90's. i used a Big Muff or a Metal Zone for distortion back then. the more gain you use, the louder the hum gets. i used an NS-2 to tame it.


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## Randy (Jun 19, 2009)

I've had much better success using P-90 pickups for metal, over single coils. They retain a lot of the humbucker's fullness, but they're a bit more subdued. If I had some extra cash I'd definitely keep a guitar with some in it for filler tracks.


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## AeonSolus (Jun 19, 2009)

I think EMG makes a P-90, but i'm not sure if they're part of the normal line

AHA!


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## Beardyman (Jun 19, 2009)

I've got a Fender Tc-90 (doublecut tele, semi-hollow ash body, p90's) and although it is obviously not a metal axe, I can get some great metal tones out of it, especially some cool djenty tones. I find the Duncan P90's in my tc-90 to be verry thick, and they're pretty clear. However, like everyone else said, P90's do have a fair amount of hum.


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## JunkMan (Jun 19, 2009)

P-90's kick ass at metal, my mate used to use a epi les paul goldtop ('56) and he had one of the best sounds ive ever heard.


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## HamBungler (Jun 19, 2009)

I use my X2N7 in single coil mode to up the clarity for the percussive "quack" you hear in a lot of polymetal bands, so just about any high-output single coil could do this with the right guitar/amp setup. For some reason I can't get the same sound as easily with full humbuckers, except for my Duncan Distortion which is kinda weird


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## The Echthros (Jun 20, 2009)

the p90 can get heavy but its gonna be crunchy and not really have a roar or scream to it like a high output humbucker. If I remember correctly one of Iommi's original SGs had p90s in it. I would think it would be good for a more crunchy tone or a percussive rhythm style that doesnt require super saturated distortion.


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## guitarfan85 (Jan 29, 2014)

I just got a used PRS se soap bar ii. The guy had already swapped the stock p90 pickup s for Seymour Duncan vintage and they sound AWESOME. Even for metal. Granted I have an OD pedal. I may look into bkp pig 90 still. There is a lot more noise than standard humbucker but I took care of that with an ISP decimator. Perfectly silent now


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## GunnarJames (Jan 29, 2014)

https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/pickups.php?cat=p90s&sub=p90s&pickup=pig_90

https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/pickups.php?cat=p90s&sub=p90s&pickup=supermassive_90

Check out the sound clips, I'd say it can do metal! I have the Supermassive in one of my Strats and other than the noise in a high gain setting, it can do it no problem.


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## Legion (Jan 30, 2014)

purelojik over here does it all the time, he gets some absolutely crushing metal tones out of Bare Knuckle P 90 models.


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## Rook (Jan 31, 2014)

I used Lace Aluma-90's in the higher register stuff (everything but the looooows) in my EP, sounded absolutely great. just don't try and dial it like a humbucker, use it for what it is and it'll sound great.


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## Colossal Incantation (Feb 6, 2014)

I could see P-90s being great in a classic Sabbath or stoner metal context. I once saw Sunn O))) live using P-90s and their sound was massive but by no means tight in a metal way.


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## wat (Feb 6, 2014)

Just the other night I played my friend's Fender Jaguar Modern Player with p-90's and actually got some seriously mean and tight metal sounds.


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## guitarfan85 (Feb 6, 2014)

Me too I got a PRS se soap bar ii with vintage Seymour Duncan's and through my peavey vk100, OD it sounds metal as shit. So I can't imagine the pig 90's! I'm definitely getting them


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