leftybassman392 Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 I have an Epiphone set neck Les Paul that I acquired from my nephew some years ago. It's currently in bits, and I'm planning to undertake a rebuild project. I have most of the parts around the place somewhere so wouldn't need to shell out for much. As part of the rebuild I'm thinking about replacing the current standard humbuckers with P90's or equivalent pickups. Before shelling out £200 or more of my hard-earned though I have a few queries that I'm hoping somebody will be able to answer: 1. How easy is it to drop P90's into the cutouts for the humbuckers? I've replaced humubuckers with humbuckers before, but I'm pretty sure the fitting for the P90 is different. 2. Will I need to make any changes to the electrics? It's a long time since I've done this type of work, but from memory the capacitors (and possibly the pots as well) for single coils have different values to those for humbuckers. 3. In case it isn't already obvious, I'm looking to get away from the standard Les Paul sound. I have them on several other guitars (and I used to own an '80's LP Custom so I know what they sound like), and am looking for something a bit different. I'm a complete novice with P90's though, so any guidance anybody can offer as to which ones to buy would be gratefully received. I'm aware that it's a bit of a 'how long is a piece of string' question, but it's an Epiphone rather than a Gibson so I'm not keen to spend silly money for what is essentially an experiment if I don't have to. Thomann have Gibson originals at around £85 a pop, plus a bunch of what look like boutique alternatives, most of which cost more. Anybody? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 (edited) Humbucker sized P90s are your best bet. I maybe wrong, but I think 250k ohm pots are preferred for single coils. However, that doesn’t mean your current 500k ones (I assume) won’t work. It seems that some folk like a combination of both https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?256168-What-Pot-value-for-P-90-s-250k-or-500k&p=3387239 Edited June 2, 2020 by ezbass 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardMarlowe Posted August 6, 2020 Share Posted August 6, 2020 If it's not too late.... I agree with ezbass. THe p90 is both narrower left-right and longer top-bottom than a HB, so it wouldn't just be a case of making the hole bigger, you'd need to fill it a bit too. By far simpler to go for a HB sized p90. The GFS Dream 90 is a very affordable and very good trad p90; if you want something a little hotter, try their Mean 90. https://www.guitarfetish.com/Humbucker-Sized-Guitar-Pickups_c_26.html In terms of wiring, I'd just buy a new loom from GFS and carefully store all the original stuff so you can return to standad if you ever want to sell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
