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Has anyone here modded their kingpin in such a way that it's actually improved the guitar?
Tbh I'm happy with mine, but I've been inclined to mod every guitar I've owned so I doubt the kingpin will be any different!
One more immediate change I think I'll make is adding a tuneomatic for finer intonation adjustments.
These are the first p90s I've ever played and I am impressed. However as I can't compare them to others out there I'm unsure as to whether replacing them will be worth it. For the stuff I play (rock, post punk, metal) they meet the requirement - wound hot, with alnico 5 for a bit of extra cut. Will going 'booteek' be worth it? Not sure. And perhaps a jazz forum is the wrong place to ask, but I know a lot of people here are rocking a kingpin. I get the impression from reading across various sources that p90s don't have as many variances in quality and sound as humbuckers. I'm inclined to experiment with eq pedals before swapping pups methinks..
Overall I think it's an excellent guitar and provides an excellent addition to the my usual tonal pallet of strats and les Pauls.
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12-14-2023 12:50 PM
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I had a single-pickup Kingpin for a while. The previous owner had replaced the Tusq saddle with a rosewood saddle. I don't know if that made a difference because I never heard the original. But I have played a friend's Kingpin II a few times and the neck pickup on that and my old one sounded pretty much the same as far as I could tell.
I replaced the tuners with Kluson Revolutions (and then put the originals back because one of the Klusons broke). I'm not particularly discerning when it comes to pickups, so take this with a grain of salt, but to me the Godin sounds a lot like the Gibson P90s I've tried. Here's what strikes me as a good comparison:
If I had a Kingpin II I'd consider installing a Bigsby to turn it into a sort of poor man's ES-295. I wouldn't mind having bigger frets and a smaller fingerboard radius (one of the reasons I moved on from the Godin), and if I were re-fretting one anyway I'd probably go for that, but I'm not sure I'd want to sink the cost of a refret into one just for the sake of modding it.
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Yes they do sound similar to the gibsons actually...Great idea regarding the bigsby! Actually it was seeking out a low cost alternative to the 295 which brought me to the Godin..
And yes I somehow forgot to mention the frets... I'll have to swap those out at some point for some medium/jumbos...luckily I have experience with that so cost shouldn't be an issue. Would probably have to be nickel tho as stainless is a bastard to work
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JMO the guitar is pretty much perfect the way it is--everything is kind of set up to work well together. I don't think you're going to hear much difference with a different saddle, but it's certainly something you can try and see.
I never saw the need to change tuners, but I love the Hipshot locking tuners and would put them on in a heartbeat if I wanted to change. Lots of cool knob choices as well.
I think they sell some KP models with a Bigsby now. I quite enjoy the one on my Gretsch. Guitar Fetish makes a tremolo which is a lot cheaper than a real Bigsby.
I think the pickups work well with the guitar as constructed, but there are certainly more reputable pickups out there.
JMO these aren't super expensive guitars so hard to justify putting a ton of money into them, but hey go for it if you want.
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The original Kluson Deluxe style ones I had were fine. I changed them just to try out the Revolution tuners. The ones I bought were actually used and sold as is, but I missed that in the fine print at the time. One turned out to be unusually stiff and eventually broke, so I ate the cost as a lesson learned and put back the originals. My current archtop also came with Gotoh Kluson Deluxe copies. These I actually don't like (I find the mechanism stiff and the ratio too coarse). I took a chance on a new set of Revolutions, and these have been great.
Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
Now that you mention it, yup, they do, and remember I tried one. The guitar sounded and played well, but because the of way Godin positions the volume control the Bigsby arm sits right above it so you have keep moving it out of they way to adjust volume. I guess one could get used to it, but I found it a bit annoying. Something to consider when retrofitting a Bigsby. Maybe there's a version with a different arm orientation that wouldn't interfere the same way. Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
I agree with that. I gave mine to a relative overseas, and when I visited last summer we had a little reunion. I was happy to play it again. Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
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+1 to this!!! I would too! Originally Posted by John A.
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I had one and changed the neck pickup to a paf in a p90 format. Liked the guitar a lot more after the mod, but I don't like p90s or single coils. It it had some radius on the neck, I'd still have it.
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The most common mod for 5th Avenues is probably to swap out the Tusq bridge/saddle for a wooden one. Ironically, Graph Tech sells "ResoMax" bridges as upgrades for archtop guitars and as far as I can tell, they are the same bridges/saddles that come standard on Godins.
The factory tuners on 5th Avenues are not bad, but they can be replaced for better ones. The Golden Age Vintage tuners with keystone buttons from StewMac look cool, are inexpensive, work well, and are drop-in replacements--no modifications required.
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Yeah, I hate flat (large radius = nearly flat) fingerboards. Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
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One of the (very few) deal breakers on a guitar, for me. Originally Posted by ruger9
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Unfortunately, it seems that most acoustics and archtops have these large radius boards? Why? I love my Ovation acoustic, and the 9.5" radius is one of the reasons! Ditto the 12" radius on my Gretsch. But the Godin is 15"-16" I think???? Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
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I have no idea why. In an ideal world, they would do it because costumers wanted it... But I'm with you, I had an acoustic Ovation too once, and loved the radius and neck feel. Originally Posted by ruger9
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I think it's likely a case of "because that's how it's always been". Which is not an excuse to keep doing it... the tele would never have been invented if Leo just kept "doing it the way it's always been done"... Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
Actually, I see Gibson archtops have always had a 12" radius... so what's up with Loar and Godin going 15"-16" with their MODERN models?
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Agreed! Originally Posted by ruger9
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I had a Kingpin II, and thought it was incredibly well made for the price, and probably at a higher price than I paid. Two things I didn't bond with...the flatter radius fretboard and the P90s. I decided to try something else so sold it, but bought the acoustic-only 5th Avenue version. The previous owner had installed a K&K Archtop pickup that I think sounds pretty good as is. I had a Kent Armstrong (Korean I think) floating mini-humbucker in the drawer, so just recently made a new pickguard for the 5th Ave, and added it. The K&K had a "stereo" TRS jack so I added the Armstrong to that. It now has both working, even simultaneously. All you have to do is use a TRS cable. Here is a short clip comparing raw room (sorry for some audio quality issue here), K&K, and mini hum. I like either of these pickup sounds better than the P90, but that's just me. It's strung with Martin Retro Monel 12s, and only a quick adjustment of the pole pieces.
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I modded mine with this: Charlie Christian 38awg with Dogear Mount Originally Posted by Frank1985
Charlie Christian 38awg with Dogear Mount | Mojo Pickups
May not be a P90, but its a strong, warn CC type pickup. Well worth getting.
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LOVE THAT!!! Will be bookmarking that one for when I get my Kingpin..... Originally Posted by Doug B
Cool pic:
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