Thoughts/Experience w-Noiseless P90's

[gmel555]

I'm usually on the acoustic side of things but occasionally pick up an electric. I have a Strat and Tele, both all single coil; but I also love the tone (minus the noise) of P90s. For some home recordings I'm planning I'm looking at acquiring either a basic Epi Casino or a Yamaha RevStar Standard (or maybe a Sire), all with P90's. I have worked around 60 cycle hum with the Fenders, but it can be a pain and I could upgrade my purchase with noiseless P90s. Has anyone used - and liked- any of the Noiseless P90 pups out there? Thanks in advance.

[redir]

A "noiseless" P-90 is a hum cancelling pickup AKA a humbucker. I admit I have only ever installed them for people and don't have them myself and they sound great but they are not p-90's. THe very first electric guitar I built was built around P-100 pickups because someone gave them to me and I didn't have money at the time. I played that guitar in my band for 20 years when I finally decided to try regular P-90's and I hated them because of the hum.

After some time, research, and experimentation I now have a guitar with a P-100 in the bridge, that I tapped so I can make it a single coil, and a P-90 in the neck which is reverse phase and polarity so I can have hum cancelling in the mid position and I absolutely love the guitar now.

But that's just me.

Fact is any technology that attempts to cancel hum on a single coil pickup is going to change the dynamics of that pickup.

I forgot to add that for my rig I use a 1970's (only b/c it still works) MXR Noise gate that sits right on top of my amp so that I can be dead quiet between songs. Once the band is playing and the guitar volume goes up no one knows the difference.

[gmel555]

Originally Posted by redir

....any technology that attempts to cancel hum on a single coil pickup is going to change the dynamics of that pickup. ......I forgot to add that for my rig I use a 1970's (only b/c it still works) MXR Noise gate that sits right on top of my amp so that I can be dead quiet between songs. Once the band is playing and the guitar volume goes up no one knows the difference.

Thanks redir. Agree w/everything you said. My experience in home recordings is given the" space" between instruments and parts, hum can be too distracting; unlike a live setting where it's not a factor once the band kicks in. With the Fenders I've minimized it by tweaking things like EQ, gain, etc.. I know going noiseless will affect tone but hope to find an "acceptable" compromise. I'm probably not a purest in that regard.

[Charlie Bernstein]

So-called noiseless pickups don't have great reputations.

But playing's believing. Trust your ears.

[PapaLobo]

I'm a Soapbar fanatic and own a dozen instruments with them .

Lindy Fralin comes as close as any for a Noiseless P90 , his pickups are great , I have 2 custom wound sets . He'll make you anything IF you know what you want.

As A luthier I've installed a fair share , my favorite are the Duncan Antiquity which for a true P90 has the lowest noise I've seen . Love my Lollars but they are .. typically noisey .

[gmel555]

PapaLobo, thanks that's very useful info!

[Steve DeRosa]

Can't speak for the current generation of noiseless P-90's, but back in the mid-90's I had a Gibson ES-135 with the P-100's redir mentioned...

Since then I've acquired three other instruments with original-style single-coil P-90 variants: a MIK (Peerless) Carlo Robelli '53 ES-5 knockoff, a Godin CW II (both with dogears), and a limited-edition Gibson LP Studio goldtop with soapbars...

In spite of differences in construction/winding (the Godins are slightly underwound, the LP on the hotter side), in every case there's no question you're listening to a P-90...

To my ears the P-100 had more of the lower-mid emphasis you'd expect from a humbucker, lacking both the crunch of the hotter winds and the chime of the underwounds - even with the Music Man 410-65 I had at the time I couldn't dial in the upper-mid/treble response I was after...

Interestingly enough I've found that, except at extreme gain settings, the 60-cycle hum that prompted the development of the humbucker is virtually a non-issue in any live-performance venue wired to modern building codes, even with a tube amp: when push comes to shove I'll go for tone every time - there's some things only a P-90 can do (FYI the LP is my all-purpose straight-ahead rocker), and if I really need a humbucker with some edge and chime that'll handle a high-gain/volume situation, there's always my trusty Gretsch 5622 with its (humbucking) Super Hi-lo'Trons...

[redir]

Originally Posted by gmel555

Thanks redir. Agree w/everything you said. My experience in home recordings is given the" space" between instruments and parts, hum can be too distracting; unlike a live setting where it's not a factor once the band kicks in. With the Fenders I've minimized it by tweaking things like EQ, gain, etc.. I know going noiseless will affect tone but hope to find an "acceptable" compromise. I'm probably not a purest in that regard.

In a studio setting a noise gate is very useful. Even if you use humbuckers but with a lot of gain you still have unwanted noise in those areas of space you are talking about. OF course you can gate the noise after the recording too but having something inline helps imho. Something to think about anyway.

[rmp]

Originally Posted by PapaLobo

Lindy Fralin comes as close as any for a Noiseless P90 , his pickups are great , I have 2 custom wound sets . He'll make you anything IF you know what you want.

This!

A friend of mine has a LP Special with a single P90, and it's loaded one of these Fralin P90s. Probably the best sounding, responding P90 I've ever heard.

[J Patrick]

I’ve not owned a noiseless P-90 but I did have a set on Kinman noiseless Strat pups that were crazy good….and I’ve had a lot of Strat pickups. I know Kinman had made a noiseless P-90 so I’d be checking them out if I was in the market for one

[gmel555]

Originally Posted by J Patrick

I’ve not owned a noiseless P-90 but I did have a set on Kinman noiseless Strat pups that were crazy good….and I’ve had a lot of Strat pickups. I know Kinman had made a noiseless P-90 so I’d be checking them out if I was in the market for one

Yes, I've also heard great things about Kinman...their website has been down for some time though I see they can be ordered via their Reverb store.

[davidd]

If it is "noiseless" it isn't a P90. Might as well just get a HB guitar.

[J Patrick]

Originally Posted by davidd

If it is "noiseless" it isn't a P90. Might as well just get a HB guitar.

….I’ve been a tireless pickup swapper/sampler for decades and that’s simply not the case….there are some very excellent noiseless pickups that sound much closer too the single coil pickups they attempt to emulate than a typical humbucker…are they the real deal tone wise?…..not exactly but I’ve had a few come very close….close enough that the excellent pickup winders that produce them are able to sell them to some very serious tone geeks…

Of course close or even very close may not satisfy some players but suggesting you might as well settle for a humbucker is not an objectively fair assessment. But it is a fair opinion.

[woland]

I used to have a Jazzmaster loaded with Kinman P90 and I really liked the sound, very clear and balanced.