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1958 Junior P-90

guitplayer

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 8, 2008
Messages
2,114
I had to do a minor adjustment to the P-90 in this guitar.
It seemed I could not get the height of the strings right without hitting the
poles of the pickup. I have owned alot of juniors in my day. This is the first one
I ran into this problem. Wella side from my 1954 JR with the low neck angle.
First the guitar is all original. The metal tabs that mount the pickup were bent
in a fashion that the pickup was up high. Still room in the cavity for the pickup
to sit down further. I bent the tabs up, and the pickup sat all the way down.
About 1/8 inch, maybe more. But the cover would not go on.
I took the base plate off and bent the tabs further inward so that the cover now goes over
the pickup and holds it down. The height is perfect and it plays wonderful.
Just thought I`d share this odd mod.guitar 15 178.jpg
 

thin sissy

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Joined
Jan 2, 2006
Messages
2,691
Great that it worked out. How common is this issue? I've heard about it before,my '57 doesn't have it though.

Beautiful darkness on that one BTW! Juniors are so characteristic with their bursting, no two are exactly alike it seems :)
 

guitplayer

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 8, 2008
Messages
2,114
I am not sure how common it is. The neck is high. Same as everything after late 1955.
Thanks!!
 

guitplayer

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Joined
Mar 8, 2008
Messages
2,114
My 56 next to the 58. The 56 I've had forever and the reason I wire my
guitars so the first closest pot is the bridge VOL.
The 56 also has the P-90 mounted back and is a late 6 digit 1956 with the
long bushing from the factory. I prefer that one.
The 54 I have has a very nice sounding P-90. Better than the rest. Basically , an unplayed guitar.
But highly checked. Thats a southside of Chicago guitar.
The 55TV is a Gainesville Fl guitar. Very cool.
z.JPG79457831_931150090664109_7084759016739438592_o.jpgbeads 035.jpg
My 55 TV is bright and sounds different. DSC_0003.JPG
 

marshall1987

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Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Messages
3,278
My 1958 Les Paul Junior had this issue - strings extremely close to the P-90 pole pieces, nearly touching. I contacted Jason Lollar and told him of my problem. He asked me to take detailed measurements of the P-90 pickup route on my Junior in order to design a replacement that would provide the necessary strings/pole piece clearance. His solution was to modify a stock P-90 by eliminating the metal baseplate altogether - reducing the overall thickness of the pickup by 1/8". So when the P-90 is installed in my Junior the pickup's two AlNiCo bar magnets sit directly on the mahogany pickup cavity. Jason modified a stock black plastic plastic cover by thinning it down in height to accommodate the reduced thickness of the P-90. The pickup is then secured to the body by the two mounting screws of the plastic cover. It's an ingenious solution which required no modifications to my guitar.
 

guitplayer

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Joined
Mar 8, 2008
Messages
2,114
Kinda the same thing. I just kept the original metal base plate. No modifications
to the guitar. The tabs bent upward enough for the cover to slip over.
 
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