Guitars, what all do y'all play?

[AIRret]

b4uqzme, Yup a camera is the next step!

I love all kinds of music (except rap….), but I fell in love with the sound of the banjo on commercials. Heck, I had my first banjo before I knew what bluegrass was.
One advantage to acoustic music is that you can play it any where without a lot of equipment.

[JohnR]

Not a guitar man myself, but it looks like they are related to pistols, buy one, then another, then one more....

Yes, it's a disease.

I can't remember what they call those pickups. They market them as "P90" type, but really, they're not. True P90's have been all over the place with magnets and coils over the years. Originals from the 50's (ES, prehumbucker days) were fairly low output and bright, rather low impedance as the product goes. In the mid 60's and 70's they were used on the low end guitars for marketing reasons, and made a higher impedance to increase output, and to thicken the tone for solid bodies a bit. Some of those had up to 15k windings! Oldies were more like 4-6k windings. Now days, they're using AlNiCo 5 and 8-10k windings making for a deliberately raunchy tone. So... to say "P90" sounding is like saying "humbucker" sounding. But which humbucker? Those Duncans were made for Hamer (which shared the Ovation factory in Ct.) Then they offered 'em to the general market. In the ES-333 they're what I call my "musical" pickup, offering perhaps the best tone of any combination I ever tried. Not too thick, not overly bright but bright enough, and they respond well to tone controls. I had them in a Strat, they sucked. I had 'em in a Tele against a HB in the bridge, and that was ok. They like close spacing to the strings for a thicker tone, or further for a brighter tone, and... they love heavy strings.

I just can't remember what they call 'em. I don't think they're made any more either.

I've never seen single coils like those before, interesting. I love the P90 sound, especially overdriven. Fat, raunchy, and bold, with a lot of character. Not like the '80s humbuckers that were just there to make a monotonous wall of noise.

[jlottmc]

Darn. It would suck if I couldn't play.

I'm a big fan of small amps. They can make some beautiful noise. I've got a 100watt twin that collects dust in the closet. Just too big and heavy and LOUD! I can make good sounds with those small amps without my ears bleeding.

It took a little while to get over that and can't really shoot a game of pool like I used to either. The billiards can be re-learned, the axe, well my hand just doesn't move like it used to. Shame too, I loved that Ibanez. Lots of fellow rivet heads seem to have trouble finding some one to play the bass.

[b4uqzme]

^^^ yeah. Drummers and bass players can always find a gig. Us guitar players are a dime a dozen.

How do get a drummer off your front porch? Pay him for the pizza.

[CJB]

I've never seen single coils like those before, interesting. I love the P90 sound, especially overdriven. Fat, raunchy, and bold, with a lot of character. Not like the '80s humbuckers that were just there to make a monotonous wall of noise.

Traditional "Fender style" single coil pickups have pole pieces that are also magnets. That's the way the Strat and Tele pickup works. When thinking of pickups, try to imagine the magnetic circuit instead of the electrical one. Its a different way of seeing things. P90 "style" pickups have steel poles, and two magnets under the coil. The magnetic circuit is much differently shaped than in a Fender style single coil. The other thing, and I got this from Bill Lawrence, is the shape of the coil matters tremendously.

Look at a Fender style or "Strat" coil, and you'll see that it is fairly tall, but not wide, and does not surpass the edges of the string "envelope" that much. On a P90, the coil is flat, low, and has a greater amount of coil space outside the string envelope. Bill said the low coil alters the Q factor (quality factor), and you can take two coils, each with the same impedance (or Henries) and the low flat one will always sound different than the skinny tall one. He also said toss out the DC resistance, its almost meaningless, unless you compare two pickups of the exact same type. The thing to consider is the impedance of the pickup, and the coil resonance. Those are the determining factors in tone, and output, not the DC resistance, which everyone uses - mostly because not everyone "knows" or can "test" in terms of impedance, since you need to generate a signal, and look at it on a scope, as opposed to just plunking the leads of a VOM onto the pickup leads.

And, P90's can be very bright and soft. If you ever have the chance to play an original ES125 or ES135, from the days before they even made humbuckers, you'll see what I mean. Ditto, the current day Lindy Fralin "P90" is a rather soft and chimey pickup, unless you ask for about two shades of overwind (which he hates to do, but will).

I'm not sure if Gibby still makes the P94 pickup, but those were actually a better representation of the hot P90 sound then the Phat Cat pickups (I remembered the name, thanks!). Much more bottom end, and a thicker midrange. More George Thorogood sounding than a Phat Cat could hope for. I think you're probably looking at both ends of the "P90 in a HB size" tone, when you compare the P94 to the Phat Cat

[Bawanna]

3 paragraphs read 3 times and I don't have a clue what you just said.. if it was a guitar thread I wouldn't even know what you talking about.

I play accordion in my youth. My mom played and I found it and started messing around. She said if your gonna mess around your gonna take lessons and my life was changed for 5 or 6 years.

I could have been the next Stan Boreson but alas it wasn't meant to be. Couldn't play one now, tried several years ago and I totally lost it, don't have a clue.

[CJB]

Col., you ought to know by now that the few areas of interest I have, I tend to apply "all of me" into. I was born with the "I got to know!" gene, and its held me back my whole life. So, be it the principles of production engineering, or guns, or guitars, or radio, or tube amps, or cameras, or whatever I take a fancy to, something makes me dive right in.

Fortunately, I think I'm settled on four interests. Motorcycles, photography, guns and radio. All have followed me constantly from the days of my youth, and I am still in deep fascination of each. The other fascination from my youth, namely, "wimmens", are far too fickle for my point A to point B mind, and I've dismissed them as a poor but necessary design. Sort of like an computer operating system that constantly introduces its own new code, half of which is viral.

There is a need within me to create. I find an outlet for that in the music I can play on the guitar. Works for me. Others paint, or shape dog crap into earrings and such. To each their own.

[Bawanna]

You's into watches too ain't cha? Didn't you build a couple.

Shaping dog crap, now that might just be my calling I wasn't aware of. I need to ponder this some.

[Bawanna]

I remember during my rehab days 20 years ago, they assign you a occupational therapist that tries to find a suitable job for you so you feel like your contributing to society and keep you mind right. My first thought was why would I care about that?

Anyhow they were dead set on making me a computer programmer. I told them I'd much rather suck out septic tanks with a straw. They didn't think it was funny but I didn't get into computers.

I got this big thick book full of different jobs and one of them was called an egg shell flicker.
Kind of struck me so I asked about it and apparently there's outfits that sell just egg white. The eggs ride down a conveyor and a little needle pops down and sucks out the white.
The egg shell flicker sits on a stool and watches cause sometimes the egg shell sticks to the needle and breaks the next egg so he has to flick the egg shell off with his / her finger.

I thought you gotta be kidding me. They said yup, but we can't support that choice because there's very little turn over and few openings.

They said the same thing about working here at the PD, can't support it, so I cut em loose, signed off on their help and got the job on my own.

Can't imagine sitting 8 hours a day flicking egg shells.

[b4uqzme]

Dang you tell a good story Colonel.

[Scarywoody]

I have a Heritage goldtop Les Paul, a couple of Breedlove acoustics, a G&L strat and a Steinberger. There's a few more but those are my main ones. I play through a Crate tube amp. Most of my equipment is from the 80's or 90's.

[JohnR]

Traditional "Fender style" single coil pickups have pole pieces that are also magnets. That's the way the Strat and Tele pickup works. When thinking of pickups, try to imagine the magnetic circuit instead of the electrical one. Its a different way of seeing things. P90 "style" pickups have steel poles, and two magnets under the coil. The magnetic circuit is much differently shaped than in a Fender style single coil. The other thing, and I got this from Bill Lawrence, is the shape of the coil matters tremendously.

Look at a Fender style or "Strat" coil, and you'll see that it is fairly tall, but not wide, and does not surpass the edges of the string "envelope" that much. On a P90, the coil is flat, low, and has a greater amount of coil space outside the string envelope. Bill said the low coil alters the Q factor (quality factor), and you can take two coils, each with the same impedance (or Henries) and the low flat one will always sound different than the skinny tall one. He also said toss out the DC resistance, its almost meaningless, unless you compare two pickups of the exact same type. The thing to consider is the impedance of the pickup, and the coil resonance. Those are the determining factors in tone, and output, not the DC resistance, which everyone uses - mostly because not everyone "knows" or can "test" in terms of impedance, since you need to generate a signal, and look at it on a scope, as opposed to just plunking the leads of a VOM onto the pickup leads.

And, P90's can be very bright and soft. If you ever have the chance to play an original ES125 or ES135, from the days before they even made humbuckers, you'll see what I mean. Ditto, the current day Lindy Fralin "P90" is a rather soft and chimey pickup, unless you ask for about two shades of overwind (which he hates to do, but will).

I'm not sure if Gibby still makes the P94 pickup, but those were actually a better representation of the hot P90 sound then the Phat Cat pickups (I remembered the name, thanks!). Much more bottom end, and a thicker midrange. More George Thorogood sounding than a Phat Cat could hope for. I think you're probably looking at both ends of the "P90 in a HB size" tone, when you compare the P94 to the Phat Cat

Thoroughgood is exactly what I was "picturing" in my mind.

What's with the pickup names - were Gibson and Ruger exchanging notes?

[b4uqzme]

BTW, I believe you would be perfect for " I'm not your steppin stone." 4 chords..................also, just for giggles, two of my wife's friends think I look like your favorite musician.

Yeah, I never thought he was very good lookin'. Hell of a player tho.

[CJB]

I got this big thick book full of different jobs and one of them was called an egg shell flicker.
Kind of struck me so I asked about it and apparently there's outfits that sell just egg white. The eggs ride down a conveyor and a little needle pops down and sucks out the white.
The egg shell flicker sits on a stool and watches cause sometimes the egg shell sticks to the needle and breaks the next egg so he has to flick the egg shell off with his / her finger.

Can't imagine sitting 8 hours a day flicking egg shells.

I think the yokes on us.

[CJB]

Thoroughgood is exactly what I was "picturing" in my mind.

What's with the pickup names - were Gibson and Ruger exchanging notes?

Dunno where they got the P90 pickup name from. Came out in '46.

BTW, the Wikipedia page for the P90 is fully of "lore" and not fact. Ie, the original humbucker pickup was called the PAF. It was not. It was just called the humbucking pickup, as in "now equipped with Gibson humbucking pickups for studio quiet performances".