Any P-90 Pickup experts here?

[Platefire]

I've got a P-90 soapbar type pickup I got from a friend who don't remember what it came out of. Think it maybe go back to a 70's or 80's ax. I have done some research on it and it looks very similar to some gibsons I found on the net---but not sure who made it. It has no marking on it except on the inside of the cover is has "UC-452-B"? An Ohms measurement on the leads shows it has 8.61K Ohms. So I think it's good/operational!

My Question is what holds the pickup cover on?? I see what appears to be two screw holes on the outside of the two center pole/screws that might have been where screws went to secure the cover--but not sure? I didn't get any screws with it that fits. Also the mounting screws are missing. Just a couple of rectangular dog ears with a hole in it sticking out on the sides.

My friend has given me three sets of pickups plus the P-90 to offer a price. I'm currently checking them out. I've got a good idea on all the other pickups but the P-90 has me puzzled. Your P-90 help would be appreciated here! This is the first one I've ever had in my hands. Platefire

BTW-I do have the original P-13 pickup(forerunner of P-90) in my Harmony Lap Steel.

[simonallaway]

The P90's on my '77 Gibson have two long screws (not self tappers) that go through holes in between the pole pieces. In turn they go into a metal plate that's screwed into the bottom of the route for the pickup.

The attached picture is of the same era LP Deluxe that mine is, so you can see the metal plate I refer to.

[simonallaway]

And here's my actual LP...so you can see the pickup screws between the pole pieces:

[Platefire]

Hi Simon

Thanks! So what I'm missing is the two screws that go through the top of cover and screw into a mounting bar that attached to the body in the bottom of the PU route. Guess I'm missing the mounting bar that goes into the bottom of the route too.

Well I can't see me giving very much for this pickup when mounting hardware is missing and I don't know the brand? I guess I could sell it as is on e-bay.

Here is some pixs of the P-90.  Maybe someone can ID it of who the builder might be. Platefire

BTW-Best I can tell, the one I got is identical to this 1969 Gibson on e-bay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/351118124129?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

[HotBluePlates]

Terminology: there are soapbar and dogear P-90's.

Dogear pickups have mounting ears for the screws to go through to hold down the pickups. Often, they sit on the surface of the guitar. There is usually some amount of foam rubber under the pickup as a very crude height adjustment scheme.

Soapbar pickups have no mounting ears, and the 2 screws go through the middle of the pickup. There are usually 2 conical springs under the pickup through which the screws pass, to aid in height adjustment. Soapbar pickups mount *in* the guitar. Depending on the era of the guitar, there are a number of ways the screws might attach to the guitar. Simon's guitar obviously has a metal bar like in his picture, but when I worked at Gibson, brass inserts were pressed into holes in the pickup route to anchor the machine screws.

From what I remember, nothing in particular holds the cover onto the pickup except the mounting screws.

See the picture below for one of each type of P-90. I never bothered trying to take the covers off P-90's (because I was busy trying to assemble a guitar), but your pickup seems odd to me. There are 2 holes in the middle like a soapbar pickup, but there are metal ears sticking out. Kind of like the maker couldn't decide what kind of pickup they were making. In fact, I think they have one mold for the bobbin, which assumes a soapbar style, but the 2 screws holding the baseplate on (which also has mounting ears) go into those holes. I wouldn't be surprised to find out your pickup is not from Gibson, but an aftermarket or Asian maker pickup.

[Platefire]

HBP

Thanks for the info. Nothing like having an old Gibson employee that built them comment on it. Did you look at the e-bay link I posted previous.
 http://www.ebay.com/itm/351118124129?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
Take a look and see what you think. Looks Identical. Wish they provided more pictures/views on the e-bay item so I could compare them better. It has the mounting holes and ears just like this one. They said it was a bridge pickup? Not being able to identify this absolutely, with mounting hardware missing, I think no more than $5 to $10 offer is adequate. After all, I got to get it low enough to make a profit to be worth while. Platefire 

[HotBluePlates]

Just looked at the link, and it's similar. The best tipoff for you is the metal braid shield on the pickup lead, which is not exclusive to Gibson, but typical of a lot of their pickups.

The numbers on the cover won't help you (I think) because they would be mold numbers for making the cover itself. You'd want to get it cheap to sell it cheap, because you don't know for sure what you have. I'm thinking most won't pay a lot for an unknown pickup.

Nothing like having an old Gibson employee that built them comment on it.

I built guitars, not pickups.  And I was at Gibson in the late-90's up to 2000, so what I know of their products is for things from that timeframe mostly.

The humbucker-style mounting ears on that "Gibson P-90" bother me. You may want to ask the seller what specific model it was, or what guitars it went into. Assuming the best of the seller, maybe the pickup is meant for installing a P-90 into a guitar already routed for humbuckers, and using humbucker mounting rings.

I say that because as a rule, all Les Paul style guitars used soapbar P-90's with no mounting ears, because the low clearance of strings-to-body require the pickup to be mounted into the guitar. The dogear style P-90's went on ES-style guitars and sat on the surface of the body, because the higher clearance afforded by the neck-to-body attachment and/or the bridges with the wood base and their trapeze tailpieces.

Another way of saying that is the Gibsons that transitioned from being acoustic guitars to electric guitars tended to get the dogear P-90. Look up the Gibson L-7 vs the electric ES-300 for an example of this.

So what I'm saying is there was no place for those mounting ears to be hidden on a guitar than came stock with P-90's, the way there is a routed place on a guitar that came stock with humbuckers. Look at the picture Simon posted earlier of the mini-humbucker: the guitar is routed for a P-90 (which would be the soapbar style), and the body of that pickup would fill the entire space. The mini humbucker was built to allow the installation of a humbucker into a P-90 route without altering the guitar, and the cream-colored "surround" of the mini humbucker is actually a soapbar P-90 cover which is cut out to allow mounting of the humbucker.

So I guess that's the really long way to say I think this P-90 (if from Gibson) never come as original equipment in any Gibson guitar, but may have been intended to go into a Les Paul style guitar already routed for humbuckers, as a later replacement/conversion option.

[Platefire]

The seller is a musician friend I've known for years. The first thing he does when he buys a guitar usually is change the pickups. He buys and sell more equipment than anybody I ever known. As a result I've bought a lot of equipment from him over the years at very reasonable prices---amps, pickups, pedals mostly. Even now he has tons of stuff. He has been cleaning out his excess and found these pickups including the P-90, he didn't even know he had. He thinks they go back to 70's or 80"s and don't remember what they came out off.

When I picked up the sack of pickups the other day he seemed to think the P-90 was special. So that's why I'm seeking the lowdown on this pickup. If I buy it I need to degrade it in his mind with the facts before I make an offer. And if he's still proud of that one after the facts, he can have it back.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge with me. Guess also I'm kind of interested in a p-90's because there is kind of a re-surgance of their use these days and I've never even played over one before and that's got my curiosity up! Thanks again, Platefire

[Ritchie200]

Ya know, that looks a lot like an old LP Jr. pickup?  Maybe?  It's been too many years, I can not remember...


Jim

[Platefire]

Yeah that's the problem, it kinda looks like it but no for sure identifying markers. So it's innocent of being a Gibson until proven guilty! The evidence is inadequate for a conviction. So the only charge I think we can make stick is impersonating a Gibson P-90 and do six months of community service mounted in a Epiphone LP Jr.

[sluckey]

Here's an old '50s LP Special to compare...

[Platefire]

Boy I'd like to play that thing! The cover and two mounting screws are identical but looking at the route there is no room for dog ears like on mine. Why didn't they just tag their P-90 with a gibson logo or use some number code to identify. It appears even the gibsons didn't have much identifying markers other than the construction method & parts--and that seems to vary somewhat. Platefire

[Platefire]

Got the P-90 for sale on E-bay. We'll see how it does???

http://www.ebay.com/itm/131258246261?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

[skeezbo]

I know this is a little late: 70s/80s Japanese Burny Les Paul Juniors had these: soapbar cover with unused soapbar screw holes, mounted to the guitar with dogear brackets. There is one on Ebay right now. Probably showed up on other models from the period, too.
Skeezbo

[skeezbo]

Here is the link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Burny-LP-Jr-late-70s-early-80s-P-90-/301248339076?pt=Guitar&hash=item4623ccdc84


But there seems to be an outline of a missing dogear cover?

[Platefire]

Hi Skeezbo

My first time to see a Burney. Looks pretty well made. I know on my P-90 it has to have to two screws inside the cover present or there is nothing to hold cover on---or it's just loose. The pickup does look a lot like mine though! Thanks, Platefire

BTW-Bids on my p-90 is up to $26 bucks so far. Considering this pickup was just one of several sets of pickups I bought for $50.---not bad. Also got a some Alnico V tele pickup set, set of Duncan Design 102 Humbuckers(alnico V) and a set of ceramic tele pickups.

EDIT: The winning e-bay bid is $37.00. Not bad when my investment was $50.00 and still got three set of pickups to sell yet 
 

[Ritchie200]

Skeezbo,

Good find.  If you look close you can see the shadow of the missing dog-ear cover so it looks like its just the exposed pup.  That's why there are no screws.  I like the headstock label, "Rock'n Roll" and then in little letters "version".  Who translated that one!  Also, I think there may be some intonation problems with that bridge set up the way it is.  They are asking a lot of $$$ for that.

Jim

[jojokeo]

   He says the new strap button locations seem to be right? And then says the guitar was set up by one of the best in the biz and the tailpiece/saddles look like that?    What a buffoon. Didn't even know how to make a simple repair to stripped strap buttons.