Pickup swap question

[lppier]

Hi,

I have a Godin LG SP90 guitar with 2 Seymour duncan custom P-90s and I personally feel that this guitar excels at clean/slightly overdriven tones but the onboard pickups aren't great for heavy/high-gain tones. I would like a humbuckerish tone for classic rock solos like Faithfully by Journey. I'm thinking of swapping out the bridge pickup for a P-90 sized humbucker.
Do you guys think this is a good idea?
How should I wire it for the middle pickup position?
Any pickups to recommend? I play pop rock / classic rock thanks.

Pier.

 

[lppier]

No one? The reason I'm changing is because the pickup seem to be unable to take high gain. When I turn the gain of my ds-1 to 4 oclock the sound becomes thin and whiny. I'm relatively new to electric guitars. Is it normal to turn the gain to 4 oclock?

Pier.

 

[subversion]

i turn my gain on full, all the time... 8)

do you fancy the p-90 tone? otherwise, you should have other pickups in there. another suggestion would be to have a humbucking bridge & a p-90 neck unit.

keep in mind that p-90s are still single coils, unless they are the high output type, their response to gain/ drive could be lacking...

 

[Ablue]

It depends on the amp and effects your are using as well. Hi-gain single coil tones shouldn't be a problem with the right amp and effects. Thin and whiny sound? A thicker and harder pick like the dunlop Jazz III may help. A used compressor goes for around $80 and that could be your option as well. Of course if you like a humbucker sound, go for a humbucker.

I tend to divide pickups into 2 types of sounds, i.e. humbucker-ish or single coil-ish. The pickups are technically like microphones, although hi output pickups can change quite a bit of the character. However, given the right amp with a good amount of 'headroom', 'hot' pickups can still sound very clean. The 'thin and whiny' sound you experience has probably much more to to do with the amp and EQ settings than the pickups. Pickups are not magical devices, so instead of spending hundreds of dollars on pickups, you could actually get some good effects and a decent amp in the long run.

 

[lppier]

Hi subversion, did you get my private message?

Pier.

 

[lppier]

Hi Ablue,

I also tried running the guitar through a direct box into guitar rig software using Sonar 3 and playing around with the EQ. Turning up the mids help, but it's not enuff to make it sound fatter. There is still a whiny tone when I turn the gain all the way up, so I guess that it's the pickups. They were prob not designed with heavier stuff in mind.
Any pickups to recommend?

Pier.

 

[JMguitars]

Pier,

Replicating a humbucker tone from a P90 is pretty tough ...

Aside from the most feasible solution of investing in a humbucker equipped guitar, these are some alternatives you can look into:

(a) contact PU makers (Lollar, Lindy) to wind you a hotter sounding P90 replacement.

(b) swap to lower value pot i.e. 250k to reduce all the high frequencies (maybe lower frequencies are what you like about humbuckers?).

(c) wire the middle toggle position to run the two P90s in series (u should get a bump in the gain level).

 

[Ablue]

Hi Ablue...

The duncan pickups on that guitar seem to be the hotter version of the P-90s. I've heard them before and to me they don't sound whiny. Maybe your pickups are too far away from your strings? Try raising the pickup closer to the strings. Also, it would help if I know what amp you are using. If you are using a tiny practice amp, anything would sound whiney through it. Unless you have some kind of amp modelling effects going thru it.

One more thing, if you're using the guitar direct to the computer, it will tend to sound whiny. Simple reason is, on a guitar amp you hear the cone 'breakup'. Thru the comp and then to the hi fi speakers or monitor speakers, you don't get that cone 'breakup' sound. This effectively makes any guitar sound whiny regardless of pickups. Amp simulation is what you need, changing pickups won't make a dime of a difference here. Unless of course you're complaining about the gain tones when playing thru a mesa boogie. If not, its not the pickups but your set up.

 

[lppier]

Thanks for your reply, Ablue.
My amp is a china-made 40watt amp. (identity withheld) I do run my direct box sound into a software amp simulation.
What do you mean complaining about gain tones through a mesa boogie? Sorry i veri new to electric guitar and amplifiers.

Pier.

 

[Ablue]

Mesa boogie amps have an enormous amount of gain on tap and hi gain heavy metal tones are easily obtained even from 'vintage' style low output single coils. Therefore, if you are using a Mesa and still complaining about a 'weak' sound, something is wrong. As for your sound, maybe you prefer the sound of humbuckers, but P-90s esp the one you have is anything but 'weak'. Think about it, its quite ridiculous to get more 'gain' from changing pickups as pickups are passive devices.

All I can advice now is get someone familiar with guitar sounds and settings to help you achieve your sound. You mentioned that you are fairly new to all of this so take this route first. Another thing is, are you comparing your own sound to professionally produced material? If you are, you have to be a little more realistic. Rack equipment in the studio goes up to tens of thounsands. Dont' let some 'evolution' or a guy named 'Fred' deceive you that pickups are the instant cure to your tone solutions. Pickup changing is usually one of the last few options you should consider. Its fun to change pickups but it may not solve your problems.

 

[lppier]

Thanks for your advice.
I do like P90s and the tone they give. Especially the crunch when you play rhythm with power chords. It just sounds good.
Is turning a DS-1 up to 4 oclock a lot of gain? Maybe I shouldn't up the gain so much. I am feeding it into a clean channel.. actually my main purpose is to increase the sustain, ala Santana.


Pier.