I want to replace a P-90 with a humbucker, is it possible?

[nos0mii]

Hi! i'm planning to buy a Godin 5th avenue kingpin in the 1 neck P-90 setup, really like the neck but i don't like P-90s as i prefer a warm tone. Is what i'm saying possible?

Thank you so much!

[David B]

If you're not fixed on a non-cutaway body shape, why not just buy a Godin 5th Avenue Composer?

[John A.]

Hi! i'm planning to buy a Godin 5th avenue kingpin in the 1 neck P-90 setup, really like the neck but i don't like P-90s as i prefer a warm tone. Is what i'm saying possible?

Thank you so much!

Not possible without heavily modifying the guitar.

The Kingpin’s top is not routed for a pickup. The P-90 sits above the top on the mounting ring, and there’s just a small hole drilled in the top for the pickup wire. That’s a big part of why the Kingpin has a relatively big acoustic sound.

A full sized humbucker is a lot taller than a P90 and would not fit in that space. You’d have to cut a big hole in the top to install one.

[Brian859]

I have listened to a bunch of these vintage vibe cc/blade style pickups and the dogear one sounds really good in this clip. Would need to order the blade for the radius of the kingpin neck. https://vintagevibeguitars.com/sound...jam_Blondy.mp3

[marcwhy]

@nos -- welcome to the Forum!

So I'm assuming you've played the Godin you're purchasing, and believe the Godin P-90 is too "bright" or something for your taste? P-90s can be quite warm (and tasty!), and many players, if anything, go from a humbucker to a P-90 (hence the "humbucker sized P-90" above)! Fortunately, there are many wonderful P-90s out there, and (too) many great pickup companies! It may be easier to find a P-90 you like, rather than routing into the wood of a nice, new guitar to fit in a humbucker!

Good luck!

[GuyBoden]

Maybe, a P90 sized Dogear Humbucker?

I'd search Google with 'P90 sized Dogear Humbucker'


Creamery local to me handbuild them.

Custom Handwound Replacement Vintage and Modern P90 Pickups: P90 Sized Humbucker Set - Dogear

[GuyBoden]

Or use a P90 Dogear Pickup surround and a P90 sized mini Humbucker.

[garybaldy]

Maybe, a P90 sized Dogear Humbucker?

I'd search Google with 'P90 sized Dogear Humbucker'


Creamery local to me handbuild them.

Custom Handwound Replacement Vintage and Modern P90 Pickups: P90 Sized Humbucker Set - Dogear

FWIW, the Creamery pickups I have are great but they are vintage style (low output) Firebird mini humbuckers (and in a Tokai Firebird!).

[John A.]

I wouldn’t count on a p-90 sized humbucker fitting a Kingpin. When I had one, I looked into it and IIIRC, the Lollar and the Fralin are both a little taller and don’t fit.

The Kingpin is a very specific set-up with the way the pickup sits above the top and level with the fingerboard. If you don’t like the way it sounds it’s probably better to go for a different guitar because you can’t really do simple pickup swaps the way you can with pickups that are set into a hole in the guitar top (and even then, a 90 hole is a different shape from a humbucker hole)

That said, I think the premise that a P90 isn’t warm is wrong, and Kingin is a great sounding guitar with a lot of mid-range color.

The only thing I don’t like about P90s is single coil hum. I found that to be more problematic on my Kingpin than my other single-coil
guitars, which caused me to use a Hum Debugger with it almost all the time. I currently have a Les Paul with P90s, and it’s much less noisy.

[Hammertone]

Easy enough to fine. Fralin, Lollar, Vineham and more make some kind of noiseless P-90.

[omphalopsychos]

Here’s a solution that’s a little better looking than others, especially that 12 pole one.

Dogear-PAF – Curtis Novak Classic Pickups

[omphalopsychos]

Also if you don’t like the tone of a p90 you might not like the “noiseless p90” designs from fralin, lollar, etc. Those are designed to sound like a single coil p90.