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JB showing some vintage P90 Love!

JBLPplayer

Active member
Joined
Sep 29, 2010
Messages
1,136
I also forgot to thank a fellow forum member for a killer 54 wrap tail that is as equal or better than the Goldtop above. Very cool guitars and for blues the best! :salude

Keep em straight and play em for there is only one burst.
Joe B
 

PLarson

New member
Joined
Mar 7, 2009
Messages
918
I must get a wraptail 53/54/55 Goldtop. But I recently bought a 1962 Strat, and I must enjoy it first. :hank
 

jimmi

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 8, 2012
Messages
2,077
This 55 is much better than the 54 I saw last year. It's 8.5 pounds, screams, great neck and was cheaper. :ganz

Joe B

PS I've basically discovered the greatness of P-90 guitars recently. Took me a lifetime but better late than never.

It's like the World Wildlife Foundation. Save these wrap tails and trapeze from becoming conversions! They sound better stock!

What do you do live to address the hum....it has been a topic of debate recently.
 

Tom Wittrock

Les Paul Forum Co-Owner
Joined
Aug 2, 2001
Messages
42,567
Joe, can I ask, to you what does "a great neck" mean? I'm finding my views on necks changing over time...well, I'm becoming more open to different profiles.

I'm not speaking for Joe, but I think most of us feel similar to this:
A "great neck" is one you know, when you feel it. :)
 

abalonevintage

Active member
Joined
Dec 31, 2002
Messages
3,186
I play this thing almost every day. It has utilized a tune-o-matic almost 30 years. Spectacular guitar. :salude

I also use an amp modeler which which works extremely well with single coil guitars.

1952_gibson_les_paul_model_guitar_1985_a.jpg
 

mingus

Active member
Joined
Apr 3, 2006
Messages
4,243
What do you do live to address the hum....it has been a topic of debate recently.

It really depends on the situation. For those playing medium and larger venues with their own crew and filtered, regulated power, there usually isn't much noise to deal with. Many larger venues have clean power and minimal stray electromagnetic fields. For those of us playing smaller clubs, it can be a different story ranging from acceptable to horrible. P-90s aren't really that much different from Fender single coils in terms of noise and plenty of guys seem to get along just fine with Strats and Teles. Electro Harmonix has a product that works surprisingly well in places where noise is a significant problem: EH Hum Debugger. If you play places with neon signs, light dimmers, refrigerators, air conditioners and/or questionable AC wiring, etc., than you might want a Hum Debugger (or something similar) to put into your signal chain when the need arises.

The other item that compounds the single-coil noise issue is gain. A lot of the players I run into playing blues or classic rock use far more gain than what you hear on the classic recordings of the 60s and 70s they are trying to reproduce. I love gain as much as the next guy, but the beauty of these old guitars is their natural voice, which becomes homogenized if gained up too much. If you use a smaller amp and let it go into overdrive on its own (or reduce the gain on a larger amp), you'll have better tone and less noise. There are ways to mitigate the potential noise issues with single coil pickups; you just have to approach the problem differently and use your ears. The payoff is having a guitar with great dynamics in your hands! :dude:
 

hoss

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 1, 2004
Messages
6,748
I play this thing almost every day. It has utilized a tune-o-matic almost 30 years. Spectacular guitar. :salude

I also use an amp modeler which which works extremely well with single coil guitars.

http://www.abalonevintage.com/1952_gibson_les_paul_model_guitar_1985_a.jpg
Simply beautiful.

And your photo settings are superb, too :3zone

Which modeller do you use? I had all the hardware gear (Fractal, Kemper,...) and for 2 years now I am on Scuffham S-Gear.
 

abalonevintage

Active member
Joined
Dec 31, 2002
Messages
3,186
Which modeller do you use? I had all the hardware gear (Fractal, Kemper,...) and for 2 years now I am on Scuffham S-Gear.

$150 Vox.

You can get away with almost anything in a live setting. Studio? No.
 

chuckNC

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Apr 24, 2012
Messages
1,261
The other item that compounds the single-coil noise issue is gain. A lot of the players I run into playing blues or classic rock use far more gain than what you hear on the classic recordings of the 60s and 70s they are trying to reproduce. I love gain as much as the next guy, but the beauty of these old guitars is their natural voice, which becomes homogenized if gained up too much. If you use a smaller amp and let it go into overdrive on its own (or reduce the gain on a larger amp), you'll have better tone and less noise.
I agree with this point 100%. The more gain you use, the less difference the individual guitar makes in the equation and the more difference is made by the rest of the signal chain. There is a point where such minutae as Norlin vs Historic :)hee ), short- vs long-tenon, PAF's vs T-Tops etc are rendered null and void. I've heard more than a few pickup demo soundclips that tell me more about the amp being used than the pickups under consideration. The older I get, the more I enjoy playing a good-sounding guitar through a Twin Reverb. I know, it's not RawknRoll. But I like it.

And I love P90's. Part of their charm is that they get dirty sounding before you crank up the gain all that much.
 

RandyGoldtop

Member
Joined
Oct 2, 2011
Messages
70
This 55 is much better than the 54 I saw last year. It's 8.5 pounds, screams, great neck and was cheaper. :ganz

Joe B

PS I've basically discovered the greatness of P-90 guitars recently. Took me a lifetime but better late than never.

It's like the World Wildlife Foundation. Save these wrap tails and trapeze from becoming conversions! They sound better stock!

I hope to get to hear that beauty when you play in Lexington, Ky. on April 25th.:hank
 

TM1

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
Messages
8,349
Joe; where's the `55 GT you brought to the HGC get-together right before X-mas? I loved the neck on that as it was more like a late `59 or `60.. very unlike most mid-Fifties LP's I've played.
 

JBLPplayer

Active member
Joined
Sep 29, 2010
Messages
1,136
That late 55 (six digit serial) with the ABR-1 aka the Cajun is safe and sound in the collection. P-90 Goldtops have really hit home for me of late. I also know I'm very very late to the party. :salude

Joe B
 

Tom Wittrock

Les Paul Forum Co-Owner
Joined
Aug 2, 2001
Messages
42,567
That late 55 (six digit serial) with the ABR-1 aka the Cajun is safe and sound in the collection. P-90 Goldtops have really hit home for me of late. I also know I'm very very late to the party. :salude

Joe B

Late or not, the party is far from over! :dude:
 

The Wedge

New member
Joined
May 3, 2009
Messages
150
I had the exact opposite experiences.

Great studio sounds with modeling gear, no amp feel and no presence live.
same here. Getting great sounds going direct into my preamp while recording. I think the key is to have a good preamp.
 
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