P-90
The P-90 is an electromagnetic pickup type of the single coil design for electric guitars . P-90 pickups (originally called PU-90) have been manufactured by the American musical instrument manufacturer Gibson since 1946 , although there are now a number of replicas from other manufacturers.
Since P-90 pickups have a larger housing than other single-coil types (such as those made by Fender ) and because they produce a slightly more voluminous sound than these, they are sometimes incorrectly referred to as humbuckers (a type of double- coil pickup).
history
The P-90 was first built into an electric guitar by Gibson in 1946 (after production resumed after World War II ). The first guitar equipped with it was the Gibson ES-150 model, first introduced in 1936 . The P-90 was installed as the successor to the " Charlie Christian pickup" previously used in the ES-150 . The wider spread of the P-90 pickup was short-lived, as it was largely replaced by the double-coil, background noise-free “PAF” humbucker model in the late 1950s. The P-90 was only installed in models such as the Gibson ES-330, the Gibson-Les-Paul models Junior , TV and Special , and the Gibson SG models Junior and Special . In the 1970s, the P-90 for guitars from Gibson's lower price segment was largely replaced by single coils , mini humbuckers and " open-coil" humbuckers (i.e. pickups without housing caps). In later years, new editions of some models were introduced that are again equipped with P-90 pickups. Today Gibson only uses the P-90 on a few Les Paul and SG editions and on special Signature models, but the pickup type can also be found on electric guitars from some other companies and brands, including Epiphone (a Gibson Subsidiary) and Yamaha , as well as on some archtop guitars from smaller manufacturers.
Construction form
The core of P-90 pickups is made up of one or two permanent magnets in the form of bars , with only the oldest P-90s being equipped with just one magnet. The magnets consist of different alloys of aluminum, nickel, cobalt and iron ( AlNiCo ); For a while, some manufacturers used ceramic magnets instead. The magnets carry six rod-shaped pole heads that are wrapped with a coil made of very thin, lacquered copper wire. The wire thickness is between 0.056 and 0.062 mm, the coil of a classic P-90 pickup has around 10,000 turns. In the manufacture of the coils, the wire is guided either by machine or by hand; Guiding the wire by hand should give the pickup a particularly dynamic sound due to the slight irregularities in the windings. The construction of magnets, pole heads and coils is attached to a metal plate and screwed to a plastic housing. To avoid microphony , the winding is fixed by soaking it in paraffin .
Housing types
Soap bar
With this cartridge without protruding parts, the housing, like all P-90 housings made of plastic, is rectangular and has six height-adjustable pole heads. Between the 2nd and 3rd as well as the 4th and 5th pole head, there are two screw holes in the housing, so that the pickup can be attached to the guitar. The name “Soap Bar” (German: “ Bar of soap”) probably comes from the fact that the first P-90s on a Gibson Les Paul in 1952 were white or cream-colored and thus aroused the association with a bar of soap. The soap bar housing has a special shape of the "Soap-Bar" -P-90, but the frame or the base plate of the "Dog Ear" (see below).
Dog ear
Dog Ear (German: "Dog ear") is a rectangular case with two triangular-shaped extensions on the left and right that give it its name, each of which has a screw to attach the pickup to the top of the instrument . This type is mainly used in electric guitar models with a hollow body such as the Gibson ES-330 , but also in solid body guitars such as the Gibson Les Paul Junior . The same pickups are also installed on Epiphone guitars , but this has only been done since Gibson bought the Epiphone company in 1957. On the guitars of this brand, P-90 pickups are mostly seen on the Epiphone Casino model (a copy of Gibson's ES-330 model).
Humbucker housing - P-94
In the mid-1990s, Gibson introduced the P-90 in a humbucker housing under the designation P-94, as the P-94R for the neck position and as the P-94T for the bridge position. The model was developed by Gibson's product manager at the time, the German Wolfgang Damm, and licensed to Gibson USA. The larger housing made it possible to convert instruments equipped with humbuckers in PAF format to single coil pickups without any milling work. Of course, this modification can just as easily be undone.
Dieter Gölsdorf , the founder of Rockinger Guitars and inventor of the Duesenberg guitar brand , first analyzed and built old P-90 pickups and offered a version in humbucker format as early as 1980. Today is Domino for Duesenberg in the program.
sound
The sound of P-90 pickups is a bit richer in treble than that of a humbucker and at the same time fuller and “warmer” than that of single coils of the Fender type.
literature
- Helmuth Lemme: Electric guitars - technology + sound . Elektor-Verlag, Aachen 2003. ISBN 3-89576-111-7
- Michael Dommers / Heinz Rebellius (text), Dieter Stork (photos): In comparison - P-90 pickups . Comprehensive article about the history and design of the pickup type, including a market overview and comparative test of 19 models from different manufacturers; in: Guitar & Bass - the musicians' magazine, issue 5/2011, pp. 96–113. MM-Musik-Media-Verlag, Ulm 2011. ISSN 0934-7674
Individual evidence
- ^ Tony Bacon, Paul Day: The Ultimate Guitar Book. Edited by Nigel Osborne, Dorling Kindersley, London / New York / Stuttgart 1991; Reprint 1993, ISBN 0-86318-640-8 , p. 188.
- ^ Guitar & Bass - The Musicians' Magazine , Issue 12/2004, p. 76 ff. MM-Musik-Media-Verlag, Ulm. ISSN 0934-7674
- ↑ Tony Bacon: The Gibson Les Paul Book , p. 22 f. Balafon Books, 1994
- ↑ a b Dommers / Rebellius: In Comparison - P-90 Pickups, in: Guitar & Bass 5/2011, p. 98
- ↑ Tony Bacon: The Gibson Les Paul Book , p. 10. Balafon Books, 1994
- ↑ Dommers / Rebellius: In Comparison - P-90 Pickups, in: Guitar & Bass 5/2011, p. 102
- ↑ Guitar & Bass, October 1997, p. 96f.