P90s

[mwbjr13]

If I take two p90 (one's RWRP) and wire them in series I'm thinking the result should; a) be hum cancelling and b) give me humbuckerish output and feel.

Im I correct in this thinking or am I being too hopefull?

Thanks

 

[swarfrat]

a) yes
b) no - not any more than strat #2 and #4 sounds like a humbucker.

 

[line6man]

What is a "humbuckerish output and feel?" That is too vague and ambiguous a question to be answered.

 

[drewfx]

P90's are pretty beefy already so I wonder whether wiring 2 in series might be too much. But you never know if you don't try.

 

[mwbjr13]

Im hoping that if ive got a p90 in all three positions I can use the middle p.u. in conjunction with the neck and middle to fake a humbucker like sound.

 

[tfarny]

Any two single coils wired RWRP in series will be (very broadly) humbucker-ish, in the sense of being higher output and more compressed and midrangey than your average single coil. Two P90s wired that way are probably going to get you a very fat, compressed (some call that muddy) and high output, since individually, P90s tend to be higher output and more midrangey than a strat pickup. I've got vintage output gear in mind while saying all this.

I have had a couple guitars wired so I can get tele bridge and p90 in series. I find it's a great sound sometimes, it certainly adds to the versatility of the guitar. I doubt it would be your main sound, though. In series out of phase is a surprisingly good sound too, much more useful than in parallel out of phase (which sounds like, "hey I need to figure out what's wrong with my wiring job!")

 

[mwbjr13]

Youre right this wont be my primary sound but I would like to be able to have it if possible.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

A lot of what makes a humbucker a humbucker, a strat pickup a strat pickup, and a P90 a P90 is in the construction.  If the pole pieces are magnets, it has the chime like a strat, bar magnet underneath, humbucker, and the split magnet on the bottom is the P90.  Be aware that these are broad strokes I am painting with, but those configurations color the pickups considerably in those ways.  I have a P90 and T90 that can be put in series, and it is not a humbucker in the classic humbucker sound.  It isn't bad, or muddy, but it is not a humbucker sound.
Patrick

 

[greywolf]

The do sound way cool together .. have 2 guitars with them and love the out of phase sound with them .

My favorite is the PAF neck with P90 out of phase .. sweet and warm but with an open airy quality.

 

[swarfrat]

Sometime I miss embarassing stuff when surfing on the tiny screen. Missed 'series' in OP. So that helps, but you still have a massive coil area and aperture compared to a humbucker.

 

[innes sibun]

Hi,  I'm planning on putting together a Tele with a humbucker in the neck, a P90 in the middle & a Fender SCN in the bridge using a Strat 5 way switch.  I'm guessing i just wire it up the same as a Strat for the hot wires on each pickup & ground them to volume pot but am not sure how to wire up the vol & tone pots, also am using 250 pots & a .22 cap.  Any advice or thoughts ?
cheers from the UK.

 

[Cagey]

You can wire it using this wiring diagram, just substitute the appropriate "hot" wire from each pickup where the "whilte" wires are indicated on the diagram.

Also, since two of your pickups are humbuckers and one's a P90, I'd be using a 500K audio taper pot for the volume and two 500K linear taper pots for the tones. The .022 cap size is good.