chedrob Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 Has anybody compared the Gibson P90 pickup with those from a Fender Jazzmaster? They look similar and I'm wondering about the tone and physical characteristics (will the fit in the other's guitars?) etc. I have recently started using a Gibson with P90s and I think they are great. I have not played a Jazzmaster in a very long time but, from what I remember, the tone was big and fat compared to most other Fenders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Red 67 Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 Good question! Big Red's Ride Blog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarzan Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 all we need is a good answer. http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=193274 rock it, i will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Red 67 Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 Yes but I aren't smart enough too know! Big Red's Ride Blog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip OKeefe Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 It's been a while since I've seen a Jazzmaster PU, but I believe they're a bit shallower (depth into the body wise). Impedance on P-90's is usually a bit higher - about 8.5 - 9 K Ohms, and the Jazzmaster is a bit shy of that - about 8 KOhms tops. I've never compared width and length, but I know they mount differently, with the Jazzmaster PU's being mounted with screws that go through holes along the PU's long axis (two screws per length, 4 per PU), while P-90's mount from the ends - one screw per end, and come in two different styles - soapbars and dog ears. You'd probably have to do some mods / drilling / routing to get one type of PU into a hole designed for the other type of PU when it comes to P-90's vs. Jazzmasters. Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, because I've never directly compared them side by side and I'm going off of memory here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarzan Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 Originally posted by Big Red 67: Yes but I aren't smart enough too know!i aren't two very smert. http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=193274 rock it, i will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chedrob Posted August 22, 2004 Author Share Posted August 22, 2004 What about the sound? Are the P90s hotter? The Jazzmasters warmer? Does anyone know how the Jazzmaster PUs compare to other Fender ones? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axeholder Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 Maybe the body material of Jazz Master make the tone fatter and warmer than other Fender. That's mahogany, I love it Hey! My friends. Please Visit: www.yngwie.cn Our Forum Adress: bbs.yngwie.cn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillWelcome Home Studios Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 A P-90 and a Jazzmaster pickup are not similar at all, and the body of a Jazzmaster is not mahogany. I'm a fan of Jazzmasters, and I've owned 2, but not in 20 years or so. There are 2 different original versions (I can't say anything about the re-issues). The first has an unbound neck and dot markets, the second has a bound neck and block markers. I believe that the radius is sharper on the bound neck version, ebcause I seem to remember high bends grounding out on the fretboard above the 10th fret. But it's been a long time since I owned one. Great sounding guitars, but how many people understand the controls? I figured it out from a schematic. Bill "I believe that entertainment can aspire to be art, and can become art, but if you set out to make art you're an idiot." Steve Martin Show business: we're all here because we're not all there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary H Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 The P90 and Jazzmaster pickups are both single coil pickups, but other than that, they are both quite different in construction. The P90 has a bar magnet below with adjustable steel polepieces (screws) for each string. The P90 has a taller coil on the bobbin with less of the coil area facing the strings which makes for a stronger more focused sound. The Jazzmaster has individual magnets below each string, not steel polepieces going down to a magnet on the bottom of the pickup. The Jazzmaster pickup has a larger amount of coil area facing the strings, but is not as tall on the bobbin as a P90. The construction of the P90 makes for a darker stronger single coil sound compared to the mellow sparkle of the Jazzmaster. The use of steel polepieces in the P90 softens up the brightness since the magnet is not coupling with the strings as directly as what the Jazzmaster pickup does with magnets pointing right at the strings. Thus, the magnetic construction of a P90 creates a magnetic field above the pickup that's broader than the more focused Jazzmaster. If you bend strings a lot, you will notice a more noticeable drop off with neck pickups -- as the string bends -- that use individual magnets pointing up at the strings (Jazzmaster, Strat, Jaguar) than with pickups that use a magnet (or magnets) below with steel polepieces above pointing at the strings. If it weren't for the large amount of coil area facing the strings, the Jazzmaster pickup would sound essentially the same as a Jaguar (bright). By the way, Gibson also has a version of the P90 with individual magnets pointing directly at the strings like the Jazzmaster. It's called the "Blues 90" -- which I like to call the B90. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chedrob Posted August 22, 2004 Author Share Posted August 22, 2004 Thanks Gary and Welcome to the Forum! Your first reply was right on topic and very informative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarzan Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Wow Gary, cool info. hang here man. this is a great forum. http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=193274 rock it, i will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picker Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 P-90's and Jazzmaster pickups sound nothing alike to me. I had an early -60's Jazzmaster that was put back together from a pile of parts that had been disassembled by the owner 15 years prior. The pickups weren't too bad to start out, kinda thin like Fenders tend to be, but one of them went south on me pretty quick, and I sent it off to Duncan to have it rewound (took forever to come back). Then the other one went south too, and I did the same thing, and agian it took forever for the pickup to come back. But this time while the pickup was off being duncanized, I was given a DiMarzio SDHP as a gift, and it fit in the hole in the body and pickguard, so I put in it (bridge position). A month or two later, I found a Gibson P-90 on sale cheap(like $15), and decided to see what would happen if I cut a hole in the pickguard, chiseled out the bit of wood between the two pickup cavities, and installed it in the middle position. I was broke as I ever was, didn't have a switch and couldn't afford one, so I used a 250K pot as a blend control between the bridge and middle pickups, and the whiole thing worked like a charm! I was able to get really straty sounding stuff out of the neck (Jazzmaster) and middle (P-90), and the DiMarzio in the bridge position screamed like a banshee in heat. I even liked the P-90 by itself too, and I don't much like the middle pickup on strats, usually. But I did find out that Jazzmaster pickups and P-90s are nothing alike sound wise, and they ain't the same size for sure. Miss that guitar sometimes. It was ugly as sin, but it sounded pretty good. Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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