Casino pickups - P-90 swap?

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Leee

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Well, I need some advice.
Recommendations for a set of P-90s.

I’ve decided to do a pickup swap on my Japanese 2010 Casino hollowbody.
Not that there’s anything wrong with ‘em.

No, I’m doing a modification for probably the most ill-advised reason:
Why not?

I have a couple scratchy pots, and I’m way too OCD to tolerate that shit.
They’re not bad, but they ain’t gonna get any better by wishing it so.

Spraying and cleaning them is not an option without removing them, and if I’m going that far into the guitar I might as well replace them with the good stuff.

So … if I’m yanking the guts outta my Casino, I might as well do it all.
The best pots and wiring deserve the best pickups, so when it’s all buttoned up again I won’t wonder if I shoulda done this or that or …

What’s the best P-90 for a Casino?
And yes - I’m choosing to believe they will be better than what’s in it now.

What do you guys run in hollowbodies?
 

Leee

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I’ve owned several Fralins, and I love ‘em.

I have one Lollar.

I had Seymour Duncan P-90s years ago, and they seemed HOT compared to every other P-90 I ever played.

I’ve never met a Gibson P-90 I didn’t like.

EDIT:
A killer P-90 that most people don’t even know about is the Dove, built by Fender after the turn of the century.
They built a Mahogany Strat with them for a couple of years, called the Strat-O-Sonic.
I seriously considered buying one, and they went away before I jumped on it. I later found out that Fender was selling the pickups directly.

I put them in a Strat build in 2005, and captured lightning in a bottle.

IMG_3036.jpeg


I don’t know if it was the pickups themselves, or that they were suspended on foam, or the Ash body, or the dry Arizona air, or my girlfriend saying, “That looks nice!” that did it.

20 years later, that is still one of the first guitars I would grab if the house was on fire.
 
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strayedstrater

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Leee

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Here’s some advice I see that violates my instincts on tone and volume pots -

“If you prefer a fatter/warmer P-90 sound in the bridge position of the Casino, put in a 250K Bridge Tone”

On the bridge pot?
Is this something I actually wanna do?
I play primarily on the bridge pickup on every guitar I own. If I want fatter and warmer, I have a neck pickup for that.
 

LPTDMSV

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Couldn’t put into words exactly why but a 250K tone pot sounds better to me with P90s.

Wolfetone’s Mean & Meaner P90 set gets a lot of good opinions, there’s a set of French Hepcat P90s on Reverb right now which sound fantastic, and SD Antiquities seem to nail that woody early fifties Alnico II P90 tone.
 

Cozmik Cowboy

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Well, mine's a semi-hollow (see avatar of '92 Sheraton, at left), but when I had to build a new harness for it (jack, pots, and switch were rusted from a flood), I made a pigtail so as facilitate a later p/up swap.
But after playing it, and letting 50+-year-pro buddy incalculably better than play it at a gig, we agreed - just because you can doesn't mean you should; the stock items were always good, and with the Switchcraft/CTS/Sozo parts were just fine.
And I have never heard any Epi whose OEM p/ups needed replacing.
If it ain't broke.........
 

Cozmik Cowboy

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And for future reference - there is an "Other Epiphones" subforum under "Epiphone Les Pauls", above.
 

Leee

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And for future reference - there is an "Other Epiphones" subforum under "Epiphone Les Pauls", above.
Yeah - I avoid it.
It’s full of people not learning what I figured out about bargain-priced Asian guitar electronics 25 years ago.

Makes my head hurt.
 

mdubya

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I would buy some clear bobbin Gibson P-90s from Reverb and then I would ask @ReWind James what harness I should buy/build.

FWIW - the underwound A2 Gibsons in my ES 330 are sublime. They do everything from electric acoustic tones to achingly beautiful delicate R&B rhythm tones to edge of breakup bark to fuzzed out mayhem.

Otherwise, standard Gibson A5 P-90s never let me down and are nearly every bit as versatile as the underwound A2s.
 

Leee

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the underwound A2 Gibsons in my ES 330 are sublime

I haven’t figured out what pickups are in my Casino from the factory in Japan.

I guess I could call Gibson.
 

Leee

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I have never heard any Epi whose OEM p/ups needed replacing.

Years ago, when I was fixing and flipping 90s Epiphones from Korea, I found a few that didn’t do much for me.
I didn’t hesitate for a second to replace them with any Gibson pickups I happened to have laying around.
Always an improvement.

Of course, these were the least expensive Epiphones in the line at the time.
Shit pots, shit switch, even shit jacks.
I had no reason to believe the pickups were made any better back then.


If it ain't broke.........

Yeah, that’s the thing.
The ones in it now are not broke.

Definitely not bad pickups - I’m simply investing in the idea that I can do better.
 

Stewbear

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Well, I need some advice.
Recommendations for a set of P-90s.

I’ve decided to do a pickup swap on my Japanese 2010 Casino hollowbody.
Not that there’s anything wrong with ‘em.

No, I’m doing a modification for probably the most ill-advised reason:
Why not?

I have a couple scratchy pots, and I’m way too OCD to tolerate that shit.
They’re not bad, but they ain’t gonna get any better by wishing it so.

Spraying and cleaning them is not an option without removing them, and if I’m going that far into the guitar I might as well replace them with the good stuff.

So … if I’m yanking the guts outta my Casino, I might as well do it all.
The best pots and wiring deserve the best pickups, so when it’s all buttoned up again I won’t wonder if I shoulda done this or that or …

What’s the best P-90 for a Casino?
And yes - I’m choosing to believe they will be better than what’s in it now.

What do you guys run in hollowbodies?
Seymour, Duncan antiquity
 

dc007

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I do like swapping pickups. But I have 2 P90 guitars and have not seen the need to change them. Both Gibson. But if I were to change it would be Wolfetone P90s. And a 250k tone pot on the bridge is a good idea IMHO. Good luck
 
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Not a lot of experience with P90's. The Tele came with Seymour Duncan, vintage model I think. They sound pretty good, but I like pickups that make my jaw hit the floor. So I tried some Peter Florance in which I assume are pretty rare as it's the only set I've ever seen, and one of the few PF sets that didn't wow me. Noticed Joe Barden has a soapbar (P90) model and that's what in it now. It's right up there with the best sounding guitars in the house, out of about 35.
 

mdubya

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I think it would be a really good idea to confirm what you have.

If they read ~ 8k, you probably will not be making much, if any, "upgrade" by swapping.

AI says...

SnNcie7.png


Keep in mind AI doesn't know that T = bridge and R = neck. :p

There are articles below the AI results which back up the AI findings.

Just spray some DeOxit in the pots already. :lol:
 

spupilup

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I’ve put Wolfetones in all the guitars I have with P90’s. Also get a set of shims when you’re doing the install otherwise it’s difficult to accurately dial them in on a Casino.
 

Leee

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mdubya

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I’ve put Wolfetones in all the guitars I have with P90’s. Also get a set of shims when you’re doing the install otherwise it’s difficult to accurately dial them in on a Casino.

I agree. Shims are essential for dogears. :yesway:
 

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