dumb question about a LP Jr

[zeronalo]

I'm really jonesing for a vintage LP jr but can't justify spending the money right now. So in the interest of feeding my need for a p90 guitar and a LP Jr I am considering buying a cheap Jr and messing with the wiring and pickup.

Anyone using a modern Jr and how satisfied are you with the tone? I know there are aftermarket pickups and some vintage p90's to be had. Whats the pros and cons of just dropping a wiring kit and a vintage p90 into a cheap Jr?

Thanks in advance

Freddy

 

[Axis39]

Modern Gibson P-90s may just surprise you. Maybe there are some super fine minute tonal details that some of the boutique or vintage P-90s can deliver... but I can't remember ever reading anything negative about current Gibson offerings.

I know I'm happy with the P-90s in my LP Junior Special (two P-90s... still not sure why they didn't just call it a Special). I will say that I swapped in a 500k volume pot and swapped out the tiny ceramic disk caps... But even stock, it still sounded mighty good!

 

[Zenzeypher]

Just buy it and play it as is.. you might like it.


Plan the upgrades after if you don't I like Gibson P90s.

 

[Dougie]

There is something missing with new P90s that the vintage ones have. the vintage pickups get that bite like the beginning 6 notes of Thorogood's "Bad To The Bone." It's the alloy in the pole screws that do it. That quality, is neither fine nor minute, it's big...

I'm jonesing for a TV Yellow Jr dbl cut ala Keith Richard "dice." These are quite pricey on the used market for such a basic Gibson. I would have to get a vintage pickup for it without a doubt. I had a 58 Special and a 59 Special and I miss those.

If you could find one of those and drop a vintage P90 into it, that would rock..

 

[icantbuyafender]

The only cons are price on vintage/boutique winds

Pros: TONS O TONE

You really can't go wrong on a junior

Replace the tone cap with a PIO.

The stock gibby is aces. Lower the poles if the output is too much

Or raise them. Really the pots/pup are damn good for stock electronics. If you really want to swap em, the pots and a cap are the first I'd focus on. A Pre 50s style wired one would be affordable or you can do it yourself easily.

 

[zeronalo]

Big thanks - now I'll go start searching for something. It's on

Freddy

 

[TheWelder]

I have a Historic '57 RI Junior and the P90 in it sounds really good. It definitely has a vintage vibe and tone to it. In contrast, I also have an SG Classic (Gibson USA model) and the P90s in that one have a different sound altogether. Not bad by any means, but a little more modern sounding to my ears.

If you are looking for a vintage sounding Jr without the price tag of a real one I would suggest a reissue. They are somewhat expensive, but well worth the extra cost IMO.

 

[Nickzephead92]

I have a standard production '06 Les Paul Junior and it sounds killer as is! I think you would be hard pressed to find a better p-90 than what Gibson is making now a lot of you may disagree but I have always loved the tone of mine, and I am a little bit of a tone snob. I do have an original '64 SG Junior nd though it sounds a bit better, the new Les Paul Junior is close enough. With the '64 there is just certain tonal nuances that can't be replicated without age. What I'm saying is that vintage is great, but the newer Les Paul Junior's are worth their weight in gold, and I would buy 10 more if I could.

 

[Ace B Spankin]

I couldn't find one I liked, the current necks are not big enough.
And I wanted Vintage White on top with a natural back and a Tort guard. So......

I finished and assembled a Precision Kit with a Lollar P-90 and RS 50's bumblebee wiring,Waverly tuners,Schroeder stoptail bridge and studs.................Priceless!!

 

[dspelman]

There is something missing with new P90s that the vintage ones have. the vintage pickups get that bite like the beginning 6 notes of Thorogood's "Bad To The Bone." It's the alloy in the pole screws that do it. That quality, is neither fine nor minute, it's big...

The alloy in the pole screws.

I've got a '49 P90 from an ES-175 and quite a few mid-50's P90's and a couple of early '60's P90's. Which of them has the magic alloy that I should be looking at?

I'm really just fine with present-day Gibson P90's and I really haven't noticed anything special about the old ones. You can't go by a recording of a P90, of course; you're so many levels removed from the actual P90 at that point that there's no comparison.

 

[Dougie]

Masking tape on the braided lead, dbl black lead wires from the coil, in that era.

After you hear that "edge" I'm talking about, then you can recognize it in the beginning of the Thorogood classic. I never really caught on until I figured out there was something cool about those old screws, and I used them in half a dozen PAF style pickups I have here. The first time I replaced the screws in a Seth Lover with the old P90 screws I heard it. Try it and see. Stick some of the 50s screws in a modern PAF style humbucker and listen for that what I call "halo" around the highs. It's there. It also gets this gritty edginess to the chords as well, the real PAFs I had did that too, -that- is the bite I hear on "Bad To The Bone" that I make mention of here.

The early 60s might have it, I am under the impression that things changed about 1965 but not sure. There are ppl here that have had those screws analyzed and burned in a lab, studied on a spectrograph to learn the exact alloy of them, they too know there is something definitely different about them, but they will not share that information so it's pointless to even ask about the timetable of when these alloys changed. Same with slugs.

 

[Serial]

Dougie is spot on. One of the best sounding guitars I've ever owned was a 61 SG/LP Jr. That P90 had IT. I have several P90 guitars now with everything from Gibson Historics, Rios, Antiquities and Lollars but none of them have that bite and balls that the vintage ones do. The Lollars are the best all-around I've found and I have them in my R4 Goldtop, but the Rio has more balls and bite than the others.

Don't buy into the myth of getting bumblebees, pio caps, etc. Caps' construction has almost zero impact on the sound. The value of a cap is all that matters.

I wouldn't waste the effort dropping a vintage P90 into a cheap Jr. Don't go below a Historic-I've been really impressed with the Historics and imagine they'd hit as close as you want if you dropped a good old P90 in one.

 

[Steven]

Modern Gibson P-90s may just surprise you. Maybe there are some super fine minute tonal details that some of the boutique or vintage P-90s can deliver... but I can't remember ever reading anything negative about current Gibson offerings.

I know I'm happy with the P-90s in my LP Junior Special (two P-90s... still not sure why they didn't just call it a Special). I will say that I swapped in a 500k volume pot and swapped out the tiny ceramic disk caps... But even stock, it still sounded mighty good!

I bought a "Jr Special" too recently, and on the guitar itself the headstock just says "Special". I think it is actually just a Les Paul Special. I wanted my first P-90 guitar, and at under $500, I couldn't resist. I'm quite happy with the stock P-90's on the guitar. Although I haven't really played it at very loud volumes it seems to offer more tonal character than most of my humbucker equipped guitars, I find it more responsive to my playing dynamics than standard humbuckers (and my Fender guitar's single coil pickups). I think the P-90's are an excellent rock and blues pickup. I really couldn't be happier with the stock P-90's in my very affordable new Gibson, I got more than I expected for my money from the P-90's. Additionally the neck has an excellent easy to play feel to it. (I'm quite picky too). Originally I was looking to buy a standard Les Paul Jr. single equipped P-90 pickup guitar, but I saw these guitars at a great price.