Which Tele bridge p/u to pair with P90 neck?

[telecutie]

Building a tele with P90 neck, and I'm soliciting opinions for which tele single coil bridge pairs appropriately.  Will use a SD vintage or similar P90.  I'm considering the SD Quarter-Pound tele bridge, as it appears capable of keeping up with a P90 neck...

Any thoughts?  Please explain the "why" behind your recommendations.  Thx!

 

[bagman67]

I have the GFS Dream 90 neck pickup (an HB-form-factor P90-style pickup) paired with the SD Quarter Pound tele pickup in the bridge on Bête Noire, and I find them the very slightest bit unbalanced volume-wise.  The Duncan is VERY loud and the Dream 90 is only pretty loud.  I could probably balance it out by adjusting pickup heights a little.  That said, they do sound good together.  If you were to go with a little hotter P90 you'd probably be in safe territory with the Quarter Pound.  Mine is the version with the tap, and the tapped setting is a great conventional Tele sounds; when untapped, it really hits the amp hard.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

I got one of Ken's (Roadhouse Pickups) T90's for the bridge on one of my guitars.  It is a mix of the two sounds P90 and tele.  I do like the more rounded off sound of the pickup, not nearly as insistent as a Tele pickup.  It is loud, almost a bit much.  I am to blame for that, I asked for a hot sounding pickup, guess what I got.  But, it is a fun alternative.
Patrick

 

[telecutie]

\...the Quarter Pound.  Mine is the version with the tap, and the tapped setting is a great conventional Tele sounds; when untapped, it really hits the amp hard.

Please 'splain to me about a tapped single coil pickup (thought this only applied to humbuckers?)... What? Why? How? I want to retain as much of a trad tele sound in the bridge as possible.  I appreciate the expertise!

Side note-- I'm now a Jr Member... Woohoo!  Do I get a merit badge or lapel pin?

 

[Jumble Jumble]

A tapped single coil is one that has two output wires instead of one - one giving the full output of the pickup, and another giving a bit less.

Let's say a powerful single coil like the Duncan Quarter Pounder has 10,000 turns of wire on it. And let's say that a more traditional Tele pickup has 7500 turns on it. You could create a tapped QP by winding it for 7500 turns, connecting a lead wire to the coil at that point, then winding the remaining 2500 turns and connecting a lead wire to the end of the coil as normal.

You would then use a switching system of your own choosing to choose which of the two output wires was connected, thus controlling the output level from a switch.

---


Aside from that, if you want to retain traditional Tele bridge pickup sound, you need a "vintage output" pickup. Putting more turns on the pickup, to bring the volume level up to that of a P-90 in the neck, will reduce treble a bit and increase mids. This is just physics; not a lot you can do about it.

Rather than the QP, which is very loud indeed, have a look at the Hot For Tele bridge pickup. It's available tapped, and the lower output mode is pretty much a regular Tele bridge. The full output is louder, but not so loud and not so warm as the QP. It should match with a P-90 neck quite nicely, once you balance the heights of the pickups.

 

[Day-mun]

I love SD QP's, -have 'em in every instrument I use on a regular basis, so I'm glad to give the thumbs-up. As was stated before, just bring output into balance with the other pick-ups using pick-up height-adjustment screws. Being the bridge pick-up, you'll have lotsa room to drop it down into the bridge plate to equalize the volume. (-Not that P-90's are very quiet! -May take every bit of the QP to keep up!)

 

[bagman67]

Jumble explained it better than I could.  But I want to follow up with another issue your question raises - the difference between a coil tap and a humbucker coil split.  I think splitting a humbucker is often mistakenly referred to as a coil tap, but they are two different things. 


Tapping a single coil is as Jumble described, while splitting a humbucker involves taking the output of only one of the two coils in the pickup.  One result is lowered output, as with the coil tap - but the other result is that there is no longer a reverse-wound reverse-polarity coil in opposition to the coil whose output is going to the amp - and so it's no longer hum-cancelling. 


You can split the coils in four-lead pickups, but not all four-lead pickups are optimized for coil-splitting.  IN many cases the paired coils will sound great as a humbucker, but neither of the individual coils sound particular good when used alone.   


Just more info, and something to think about before you drill holes and wire up a buncha switches on a guitar that won't necessarily yield useful tones.


Finally, I am the former owner of a Fender Aerodyne telecaster, which was equipped with a standard MIJ Tele bridge pickup and Fender's Black Dove soapbar in the neck - and I really liked the balance of those two pups.

 

[Jumble Jumble]

If you wanted to get all "well, technically..." about it - splitting a humbucker is kind of a tap. You're tapping the pickup about half way through, after the first coil. It just has the side effect of defeating the hum-cancelling function.

But yes, for clarity, it should always be called "splitting".

 

[bagman67]

If you wanted to get all "well, technically..." about it - splitting a humbucker is kind of a tap. You're tapping the pickup about half way through, after the first coil. It just has the side effect of defeating the hum-cancelling function.

But yes, for clarity, it should always be called "splitting".

Yes, you're correct of course. 

 

[telecutie]

Thanks for the education fellas.

 

[JeffBlue]

I would stay with SD Antiquities for neck and bridge because that is what I do and it works magnificently.
My telecasters rock like nothing else. Those are Warmoth builds and the first one has a Fender neck.