Telecaster sized p-90 bridge pickups, any opinions experience?

[Spud]

Considering one for build. Hesitant as I have read many folks saying that Duncan 1/4 pounds sound p-90 ish and to me they don't at all (however I only own/ have experience with their strat model).

 

[DuckBaloo]

Go with a steel pole piece pickup, like the Fralin Steel Pole 43 or Harmonic Design Super 90.

The Quarter Pounder has large pole-pieces but they are still magnetic rods and will always have the bright cut.

 

[Spud]

I am looking at the Duncan BG-1400 and the Fralin 43.

 

[teleme01]

Porter 9t = p90 for tele

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

There are many iterations of a T-90 floating around out there, hard to vet them all.

 

[Spud]

There are many iterations of a T-90 floating around out there, hard to vet them all.

Nevertheless, I want them all vetted and ranked immediately.

 

[Slackjaw]

Seymour Duncan just came out with a P-90 bridge pickup in Tele form... available for pre-order:

Seymour Duncan P90 Lead for Tele 2024 | Reverb

Seymour Duncan Custom Shop P90 Lead for Tele PickupLa Maestra MJ faithfully captures a vintage P90’s growl and midrange punch in a Tele lead pickup formatThe pickup’s winding spec and ceramic bar magnets combine to deliver a tone that is smooth and a bit less twangy than a standard Tele bridgeFor...

reverb.com

I went the BG-1400 route for my Tele build. I wouldn't say it sounds much like a P-90. Though I am really digging the sounds I'm getting out of it wired to a super switch as shown in my attachment. My favorite is actually the middle setting with the coils wired in parallel:

 

[teleme01]

I won 4 sets of porter pickups on ebay, half price, over stock, I don't know if it is the wiring or the pickups but they have a great clarity, i am very happy with porter pickups

 

[somebodyelseuk]

If you want your Tele/Strat/ANOther guitar to sound like it's got P90/PAF/Filtertron/ANOther pickups on it, screw P90/PAF/Filtertron/ANOther pickups on it.
An 'x sized y' never sounds like it was hyped to.

 

[Spud]

If you want your Tele/Strat/ANOther guitar to sound like it's got P90/PAF/Filtertron/ANOther pickups on it, screw P90/PAF/Filtertron/ANOther pickups on it.
An 'x sized y' never sounds like it was hyped to.

What the dickens! I am pretty sure different form factors, magnets, wire gauge, poles, etc have no bearing on the overall sound. The biggest determiner IMO is the ad copy/description written by the OEM.

 

[Spud]

I am over thinking this and getting bogged down. I decided to get on the Fast Track instead.

 

[Rick]

I've played p90 s in a humbucker format and they come pretty close. Only way to know for sure is try them.

 

[Spud]

I am going Dimarzio Tele Fast Track a trebly rail humbucker.

 

[Rick]

What pots and caps are you going to use?

 

[Spud]

CTS-500K Volume / Tone250K .022 Sprauge Orange drop cap

 

[Spud]

At least that is the current plan sir

 

[Rick]

Are you going to put on a Treble bleed?

 

[Spud]

Are you going to put on a Treble bleed?

I had not planned to. Plus, I hate the sight of blood.

 

[Waraxe]

Go with a steel pole piece pickup, like the Fralin Steel Pole 43 or Harmonic Design Super 90.

The Quarter Pounder has large pole-pieces but they are still magnetic rods and will always have the bright cut.

Or the vintage plus, for something halfway between a p90 and a tele.

Picture a tele with the perfect amount of bass and mids.

They were the flavor of the month back around the turn of the century. Lol. I wanted a set of pickups so good that I'd never have to swap them. I got that! 25 years later, they're still in the guitar.

The matching neck pickup is a thing of beauty. Easily my favorite single coil neck tone.