Seymour Duncan Antiquity Dog Ear P-90
The Seymour Duncan Antiquity Dog Ears is the best p90 pickup if you want a great hum cancelling p90 sounding pickup without the hefty price tag. We think it offers the best balance of sound, ease of installment, performance, and cost.
MORE INFOIn the world of guitar pickups, you have three main categories: single coil, p90, and humbucker. Single coils are clear, bright, and have excellent detail. However, they usually don’t produce a powerful signal and prone to humming. It is recommended for pop, country, and fuzz. Please note that no particular genre is restricted to a certain type of pickup as you can get any genre on any pickup if played right.
Then there is the P90, which is the next logical progression. While they are technically single coil, they are definitely different in construction and sound. First and foremost, they are made of 6 screw hole pieces instead of rod magnet pole pieces in a single coil. This translates to more windings on the coil vs a single coil and a more powerful pickup. P90s have a thicker sound although it is not as crisp and snappy as a single coil. They are good for rock and punk genres.
Finally, you have the humbucker, which has two coils. The tone is definitely the thickest and most powerful of the three main pickup types. It is less bright and less transparent than single coils.
In this article, we focus on the P90 pickup, is somewhere in between the sound of a humbucker and a traditional single coil. There are three varieties of P-90s casing: soap bar, dog ear, and humbucker casing.
With the best P90 pickups, you clearer and brighter attack and tone than say a humbucker but also has a good amount of midrange and considered thick in this area. However, you won’t have such a crisp and snappy sound as a pure single coil. You can find the P90 pickup on guitars such as the Gibson Les Paul and the Epiphone Casino.
One of the pitfalls of the P-90 pickup is that there is a him at the 50 to 60 Hz spectrum. Since the P-90 pickup has about 2,000 more turns of wire than a traditional single coil, it also produces more main hum. Luckily, there are definitely hum cancelling pickups that mimic the P-90 sound, but none really get it spot on.
Best P90 Pickup
- Seymour Duncan Antiquity Dog Ear P-90
- Kent Armstrong Stealth P90 Neck Pickup
- Lindy Fralin P-90 Soapbar Pickup Set
- Lace Alumitone Aluma V90
- Gibson Gear P-90
Seymour Duncan Antiquity Dog Ear P-90
In terms of a great all round p90 pickup, there is nothing better than the Seymour Duncan Antiquity P-90 Dog Ear. This is the best p90 pickup if you want dog ear P90s. Gibson and Duncan are the two legendary high end producers that also are relatively affordable. We think the Duncan p90 dog ears pickup strikes a great balance between performance and price.
With this pickup, you can get the classic sound of the original 59 ES-330 neck pickup on the Gibson Les Paul at a much more affordable price. We think the tone is quite warm, sweet, and bouncy and leans towards sounding like an old single coil. Additionally, the mid range is really where it really shines and offers a nice bright tone.
Also, it is wound RWRP, so it is rather hum cancelling in the low sub bass spectrum. Chords are awesome to play on this as that are round and full sounding. Also, the bobbins are hand crafted with plain enamel mag wire, which is also used in the original. Finally, installment is quite easy as it is a drop-in replacement for all standard Gibson P90 dog ear sized routes.
– Well balanced p90 dog ear
– Replicas sound of 59 ES-330
– Clean warm tone
– Hum cancelling
Kent Armstrong Stealth P90 Neck Pickup
For those looking for a noiseless P90 pickup that has great sounds, the Kent Armstrong Stealth is the best p90 pickup for you. In order to completely cancel out the hum, it actually uses a double coil humbucker based design. This is great for guitarists who like to shred hard and those who like tonal flexibility.
We like how the ceramic magnet gives it a nice full throated roar that has roundness and pop. This p90 pickup far exceeded our expectations for its incredibly cheap entry price. It is a bit thicker than a Gibson p90 and installing it on most guitars is no problem. Furthermore, the Kent Stealth sounds mostly like a p90 but without the hum and noise. They are quiet and hold up a lush mid range snarl that the p90 is known for.
We think this p90 pickup is very versatile and can fit many playing styles from rock to blues. The ceramic magnets give the pickup a bit of a crunchy sound. However, the high end is not as bright as other p90s, so please keep this in mind.
– Noiseless p90 pickup
– Very nice mid range roundness
– Very affordable
– Easy install
Lindy Fralin P-90 Soapbar Pickup Set
Everyone knows Lindy Fralin is a premium brand in the guitar pickup world. They make some of the best sounding p90 pickups in the industry and have a huge fat midrange tone. with the Fralin P90, you get a round bottom end and a sharp top end as well. And of course, the trademark Fralin P90 tone is the thick single coil tone. With this setup, your chords should break up nicely with a slight compression. Additionally, your notes will shine with clarity and definition with the Lindy Fralin P90.
We like the complete soapbar pickup set as it is the best seller. However, you can certainly just buy a single pickup, whether it is a soapbar or dogear. Also, the Lindy Fralin P90 is available in steel poles or Alnico. Finally, they pretty much have very little hum and are noiseless, which is always a plus.
If you don’t understand any of that, just know that Fralin pickups are top notch across the board. If you go with this brand, you won’t be disappointed. Overall, we think the P90 has some great clarity, definition, and mid range sound. They use 500K pots and wound with 42 gauge plain enamel wire on bar magnets.
– Superb mid range sound
– Very respectable brand
– Soapbar or dogear setup
– The set is the best seller
Lace Alumitone Aluma V90
We think the Lace Alumitone Aluma V90 is a nice substitute for the P90 and has all of the depth and tone of the famous P90 pickup without the bad humming problems. You can use the Lace Aluma V90 for all sorts of genres including but not limited to rock, jazz, blues, country, and folk. We would still hold off on the heavier genres like heavy metal and punk.
We like how the design of the Lace Aluma V90 is aluminum based. This means that the currents have less resistance than copper based p90 pickups, which ultimately translated into less noise. Basically, the Lace Aluma V90 is pretty much noise free without any mods to the guitar itself.
Also, it provides a more wide frequency spectrum with more bass and mids than single coils. The highs are also silkier and more clear than single coils and traditional P90s. Finally, we like the fact that it is ultra light and well built. It uses less wire and helps save the environment.
– Pretty much noise free
– Aluminum based instead of cooper
– Wide frequency spectrum of sounds
– Very well built
Gibson Gear P-90
No list of P90 pickups is complete without at least mentioning the Gibson P90. This is a legendary P90 single coil pickup that produces some of the most iconic sounds of the rock and roll days. The Gibson P90 is also known as the soapbar or cobalt, and is a very versatile pickup even today. It still works very well in music of all types and is responsible for delivering high output and brilliant tone. Basically, the sounds are not too bright or dull across all frequency spectrums. It is a very middle of the road approach and accommodates many music styles.
Although it is a bit on the pricey side of p90 pickups, this is one of the originals. It is made with the best quality materials and is fully wax potted to avoid unwanted microphonic feedback. This is easily one of the most common pickups on the market and is very reliable.
– Legendary P90 pickup
– Suits wide range of styles
– No unwanted mic feedback
– A bit expensive
