Humbucker-Sized P90s

[beauzooka]

These are non-traditional P-90's but sound good and aren't crazy expensive:

https://railhammer.com/products/humcutter/

My friend used to be a metal guy, and I don't think he is anymore, but these might be interesting. They certainly look cool as hell. Are those the actual ones that Reverend uses? I know they've got a couple similar pickups on a few of their models...

Yes, they are the ones in the Reverends. They were also designed by Joe Naylor of Reverend Guitars.
As far as the Metal thing, Railhammers do have some hotter pups like the Chisels for heavier styles, but most of them sound somewhat traditional with excellent clean sounds. None are active.

[Shadoweclipse13]

I can vouch for GFS and railhammer p90s. I have used mean 90s before and enjoyed them quite a bit. I currently have a RH nuevo 90 in the neck position of my les paul and a RH alnico grande in the bridge. this has been my favorite pickup pairing in the 20+ years of pickup changes I have done with that guitar. super clear in the neck sound where some p-90s can lose that clarity when playing with dirt.

if you want a best of several worlds, I cant recommend Duncan p-rails enough. it basically creates a humbucker out of a p-90 and a mini-rail single coil. I have had the bridge pup in my SG for 12-13 years and the neck pup for 10. Almost too versatile and the p-90 bridge sound is about as close to the real thing that I have encountered.

P-Rails are another pickup I always forget about. That might be something my friend would really love actually.

These are non-traditional P-90's but sound good and aren't crazy expensive:
https://railhammer.com/products/humcutter/

My friend used to be a metal guy, and I don't think he is anymore, but these might be interesting. They certainly look cool as hell. Are those the actual ones that Reverend uses? I know they've got a couple similar pickups on a few of their models...

Yes, they are the ones in the Reverends. They were also designed by Joe Naylor of Reverend Guitars.
As far as the Metal thing, Railhammers do have some hotter pups like the Chisels for heavier styles, but most of them sound somewhat traditional with excellent clean sounds. None are active.

Good to know! I'll definitely send him some clips. I've always thought that the Railhammer stuff sounded epic on the Reverends I've heard them on.

[Rgand]

I'll second the P-Rails idea. I have them in my JM and really like them. With a couple slide or toggle switches, he's good to go.

[ThePearDream]

I can vouch for Bootstrap. I've bought quite a few pickups from him since he started and have been beyond happy with all of them.
Consider a set of his Skookum-90 Mean for Humbucker. Even with the upgrade to metal covers, you're looking at $70 for a set of American handmade pickups. I haven't tried his Means, but I have some of his Squeaky Clean A90s and love them. As a bonus, you don't have to pay the outrageous shipping that GFS charges.

Edit: Found this video with Bootstrap P90 format Mean 90 pickups.

[MayTheFuzzBeWithYou]

I'll second the P-Rails idea. I have them in my JM and really like them. With a couple slide or toggle switches, he's good to go.

I thought they would be out of question due to the limited budget... therefore I did not mention them - but yes, they are great!
I have them in my Thinline Jaguar and they give me everything I could ask for in the aspect of versatility - Twang, clarity and raw power!...everything from Surf to Doom...
but I use the P90 mode like 90% of the time!

Has anyone tried the Duesenberg pickups? (was “Domino“ their P90?) They used to be quite cheap some time ago (like 80-90€). Not to forget: the SD phat cats. These were always very appealing to me! But I‘ve chosen the P-Rails back then...

[Rgand]

...but I use the P90 mode like 90% of the time!

Yeah, same here. But it is nice to have those other settings.

[JVG]

I’ll add my name to the Phat Cats supporter’s list! A friend put these in his Epiphone SG and they sound mindblowingly good. I’m totally converted.

J.

[MayTheFuzzBeWithYou]

GFS Surf 180 Has anyone tried this one already? https://www.guitarfetish.com/Surf-180-B ... 36941.html
It's a Humbucker - so please delete/move it anywhere if you don't want it in this thread - neither I mean to hijack the thread - but as the GFS Surf 90s are quite popular on here - I thought this might be interesting to some of you?! And I didn't want to start a whole new thread!

Looks quite interesting with its reverse split /wrhb-style pole pieces...and the clarity it brings! I'm quite tempted - could be nice or even nicer than the P-Rails I have in my Jaguar... I already thought about putting open WRHBs like that (Porter does these and Ruebezahl at least on request) - in... also has someone tried their take on the WRHB?

[Embenny]

Those surf 180s must be brand new, I've never heard of them or seen a review anywhere.

I wonder if they're true Z-coils, or if they have a second set of poles hidden.

I absolutely love Z-coil designs, and own several. They offer single coil clarity with humbucker noise cancelation.

[AcrylicSuperman]

Had a GFS Mean 90 in the neck of a SG that I loved so much I put another in the neck of a strat. Awesome pickup.

[Astro-Monkey]

Has anyone tried the Duesenberg pickups? (was “Domino“ their P90?) They used to be quite cheap some time ago (like 80-90€). Not to forget: the SD phat cats. These were always very appealing to me! But I‘ve chosen the P-Rails back then...

Was about to suggest these, they are an amazing bang for the buck. If i were to get humbucker sized p90's, i'd definitely go for Duesenberg Domino's every single time.

Pure quality, good price.

[Lost In Autumn]

I have a couple Jagmasters with humbucker sized p90's:
this one has a Lindy Fralin P92 in the neck:

this one has Bootstrap P90's:


The Fralin P92 just might be my favorite pickup of all time. The tone is brighter than a P90, almost like a P90, crossed with a Wide Range Humbucker- It's chime-y, but not as twangy as a WRHB. The Bootstrap p90's sound pretty decent, but their output is relatively low compared to my guitars with Fralins, Lollars or Novaks, which is slightly annoying. They're a good value for the money, though; I keep saying I'll replace them, but I haven't found anything at that range that I love

[papa_hotel_delta]

Despite some occasional QC issues the GFS offerings are a pretty low-risk recommendation. I've tried alternate P-90s including the SD Phat Cats, the Lollar novel and even a couple Harmonic Design excursions, but I still like the Dream 90 and the Mean 90. As a qualifier, I'm in a skeptical phase regarding high-ticket boutique pickups in general.

[threewordname]

Does anyone have an image or video of a deconstructed humbucker sized p90? I've been told that some are essentially strat pickups in big housing, but I've never seen anything to back it up.

[s_mcsleazy]

oh i can add to this. i have one of the humbucker sized p-90's from GFS on my acrylic guitar.


it sounds pretty good imho.

i also bought a guitar recently with a tonerider p90......i dont like it as much but i've often found p-90's can really vary based on the guitar they're in.