P-90 Pickups
EXPECT ORDERS TO HAVE A WAIT TIME OF SEVERAL MONTHS OR MORE
Products are built to order with the options selected in batch production.
Individual order status checks will not be available during production.
Orders cannot be canceled after payment.
All ReWind Electric P-90s are made with the same degree of care and attention to detail as ReWind humbuckers. Period correct custom materials and methods are used to build P-90s using data from extensive research and repair work.
About mounting P-90s: Dogear format P-90s may require professional installation for an ideal setup. The dogear design is very old and not universal or easily suer adjustable. Shims and spacers are often used by luthiers to mount and adjust these. Custom covers were traditional made to fit each individual guitar. Soapbar format P-90s are more standard, but still not universal. Gibson has been inconsistent about cover corner radius of their routes, and the depth and internal shape of their routes. Some sanding of the covers to fit may be needed. Recent Gibson Custom Reissue instruments have extremely shallow routes with the P-90s mounted directly to the body and no height adjustment feature. Vintage-accurate soapbars, with the hookup lead connections and ground lug on the baseplate bottom, will not fit these instruments without modification. Even Gibson's own pickups don't fit these instruments, without modification. Choose the "Slim Base" soapbar option for these instruments or have them routed in the traditional way to accommodate a vintage-accurate pickup. "Batwing" SG guitars will require using some mounting parts from the original pickup and professional installation by an experienced tech is recommended.
Sets sold in pairs. For single pickups or sets of 3 or more pickups, please contact ReWind to be invoiced.
Soapbar Format
Dogear Format
<Descriptions, Specifications, and Demo Recordings
1952 Set
Fuller and warmer sounding, with less output, compared to the 1959 Set or the 1969 Set.
Through most of the 1950s, P-90s were far more consistent than the PAFs that appeared towards the end of the decade. Though there were some rare variation in size and shape of magnets, differences in coil patterns and wire properties, and certainly differences in mounting techniques for various styles of guitars, the overall sound of the P-90s, up until about 1959, was mostly consistant and is well represented in this pickup set. Extremely clear and clean. Great detail on the lower frets of the wound strings, and a wide even frequency response with excellent dynamic range. There is a hint of a jangle on top, but not nearly the crisp snap of the later models. More like the soft jangle of a vintage Martin steel string dreadnaught acoustic. When you think of a 1950s P-90 Goldtop, this is likely the sound in your head.
DCR: Details Here
Inductance @ 1kHz: 7.73 / 8.52 H
Capacitance @ 1kHz: 2.91 / 2.66 nF
Wire: Custom Plain Enamel X
Magnets: Custom AlNiCo III
Demos:
1952 Cool A3 Set Marshall
1959 Set
More aggressive and tighter than the 1952 Set, with more midrange and less treble than the 1969 Set.
When the humbucking pickups were introduced into Gibson’s lineup in 1957, they used many of the same parts and processes as the existing P-90s. The P-90s seem to have stayed mostly the same for the first few years of humbucker production, while the PAFs varied more considerably with materials and processes. Part of this pattern is shown in the magnets. The A3 magnets that were being used throughout the 1950s for P-90s were ground flat only on the south side, which contacted the keeper bar in the middle of the pickup, leaving all five other surfaces rough from sand casting. This worked fine in P-90s where the north face of the magnet faced outward and made no contact with any part of the pickup. When the PAFs were introduced, this north side of the magnet needed to now make flush contact with the bottom of the slugs in the new second coil. It is shortly after the introduction of the PAFs that new magnet types start showing up in humbuckers. Types with both the north and south face ground flat. However, the P-90s continued to receive the original one-face-ground-flat-only A3 magnets until the very end of the 1950s. At this point, the A3s were presumably used up, and the P-90s began to receive the same long AlNiCo magnets, with both north and south faces ground flat, that were being used in PAFs. The dominant type at this point shows to be A5. During this same time period at the very end of the 1950s, there was another trend in the wire properties and coil patterns emerging in pickups. Where these two changes meet, is where some extremely special P-90s were born in the 1959 and 1960 period, before additional changes would take place. These P-90s have more of a vocal midrange, a higher output, a very tight and thumpy bass, as well as a crisp pick attack with a little jangle and sparkle on the top end. These are aggressive rock machines that clean up well, but roar when wide open.
DCR: Details Here
Inductance @ 1kHz: 7.41 / 8.93 H
Capacitance @ 1kHz: 3.0 / 2.5 nF
Wire: Custom Plain Enamel Y
Magnets: Long Custom Unoriented AlNiCo V
Demos:
1959 Hot A5 Set Marshall
1964 Set
Brighter, and with less midrange, than the 1959 Set. Warmer, and with more midrange, than the 1969 Set.
Still using the same plain enamel coil wire as the earlier P-90s, now transitioned over to short magnets, as well as more moderate coils compared to some late 1950s and early 1960s examples, this set is less beefy and warm than the 1959 model, but still fairly aggressive, especially in the bridge, with a cleaner neck. A beautiful combination of big, clear, tight, and crisp with vocal mids that scoop away with the volume knob on a 50s-style wiring harness. Excellent harmonic character and probably the most complex and interesting sounding middle position of all P-90 sets. Perfect for the sounds of the first Sabbath album, before the pickup modifications were done to Tony's SG Special, when that guitar still soudned very big, clear and detailed.
DCR: Details Here
Inductance @ 1kHz: 7.1 / 8.6 H
Capacitance @ 1kHz: 2.4 / 2.4 nF
Wire: Custom Plain Enamel X
Magnets: Custom Short AlNiCo V
Demos Coming Soon
1969 Set
Brighter, and with less midrange, than all other P-90 sets.
Similar to how the P-90s saw the influence of the PAF parts used at the end of the 1950s , they once again see a similar pattern, at the time the T-Tops were introduced. When the humbuckers were redesigned into the Patent Number Decal T-Tops, P-90s also adopt the use of red poly insulated wire, short A5 magnets. There is also a different type of keeper bar processing and pole screw steel which shows up. This results in a significant sonic change, making the P-90s brighter, with less bass. They have a very tight and punchy sound with plenty of top end sparkle and jangle. These are the sound that defined the P-90 Gibson guitars of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
DCR: Details Here
Inductance @ 1kHz: 7.2 / 8.2 H
Capacitance @ 1kHz: 2.6 / 2.8 nF
Wire: Custom Modified Polyurethane Insulated
Magnets: Custom Short AlNiCo V
Demos Coming Soon
Products are built to order with the options selected. Orders cannot be canceled or returned, even if unused. However, if you are unsatisfied with the sound of your pickups, please contact ReWind to discuss potential modificaitons.
