Oh the Wildkat and those P90's

[just strum]

Well, Wingsdad and a few others said to be patient and give the P90's some time and sure enough, they are really starting to grow on me. I had the guitar running through the Epi Valve Jr and my Vox at the same time tonight and was getting some really great sound out of it. Ran the guitar in to the RP350 and then ran RP350 to both amps. I then bypassed the RP350 effects and used the amps straight, only making different adjustments and presets to the Vox.

Got some interesting sound. Also ran the Wildkat straight into each individually and those P90's just seemed to purr. I wouldn't really want more than one or two guitars with P90's, but it's a nice choice to have in the mix.

[Duff]

I had neglected to try out P90's because I thought they were a short lived transition between single coils and humbuckers, historically.

These modern P90's are great sounding. I have them in a Squire tele custom II, I think it is, black with black P90's; and on a cheap but great SX GG1 Les Paul Jr, antique sunburst guitar w set neck, all mahogany even the neck and it's sweet, with some serious bite and rumble. The SX, unlike the Squire, is not noise cancelling in the middle switch position. But it is great nonetheless.

The P90's are another animal for sure. I'd buy another one with no problem. I am understanding them more all the time. And Squire is putting out some great guitars in my amateur opinion.

I'd love to have a wildcat. I have an Ibanez AS73 semihollow body I just got recently with two Ibanez humbuckers and a stop tail in trans cherry finish. This is a sweet guitar and it didn't cost a fortune. I got it during one of those GC tag sales. Probably paid 299 and I think it is one of my best guitars overall, feel, sound, playability, everything, even look. I think it looks super great. Doesn't sound like a strat, that's for sure.

P90's, in my opinion, are great sounding. I'd even try some of these newer versions of them like the Dream
180's and the SD models.

Duff

[Tone2TheBone]

The Wildcats are cool I'd love one too. P-90s are my favorite pickups...noise and all. Full of character and raw colorful tone and power.

[tot_Ou_tard]

How are P90's clean?

I'm hoping for gorgeous ringing warmth with sparkle and heft.

[just strum]

who said clean? What are you referring to?

[tot_Ou_tard]

who said clean? What are you referring to?

Gotta use girly distortion sounds?

Not everyone has the bollocks to play clean.

[just strum]

Gotta use girly distortion sounds?

Not everyone has the bollocks to play clean.

Sorry, not following you?

[duhvoodooman***]

Don't know about the Wildkat, but the P90's in my Epi '56 Goldtop sound great dirty, clean and everywhere between! Their intrinsic noisiness is their only detracting point....but that's what noise gate pedals are for! :

[tot_Ou_tard]

Sorry, not following you?

That's not surprising given that you shave "the Netherlands".

[wingsdad]

My Epi Casino and it's P90's is a great clean or dirty (raunchy). I had a Gibson ES-330 as a kid in the 60's, same guitar, really. I think the best examples of the 'Casino' sound, which is probably a lot like the Wildkat (only I think the Kat has a sustain block inside, the Casino does not) is to listen to the Beatles Revolver album, Sgt. Pepper, or Abbey Road. McCartney plays a lot of leads on these and the Casino was his main axe. 2 immediates examples: the solo on Taxman (not Harrison, McCartney), Day Tripper's opening take-off on Orbison's Oh, Pretty Woman riff, as well as the solo...

P90's on a Goldtop? Tom Scholz and the Boston Sound.

[Brian Krashpad]

I'd hesitate to cite Tom Scholtz's Boston sound as a P-90 exemplar. Not because there's anything wrong with it, but because it primarily was made by Scholtz's Rockman pedal/distortion thingy he invented.

At any rate, everyone here knows I really like the P-90's. With 5 P-90 guitars for the moment (my side band lead singer wants to buy my P-90 Strat off me), that's a pretty big shift for someone who played over a couple decades without even trying one (first P-90 guitar bought 2002).

Noise isn't really an issue for me. Besides, several of mine have hum-cancelling in the middle position.

[Plank_Spanker]

A P90 equipped guitar is a great color to keep on the pallette. They have an earthy, edgy sound that's all their own (in broad strokes).

I like the way the P90's on my SG Classic sound when played clean - a meaty mid accent with some bite.

They shine at full rock and roll growl..............................

[wingsdad]

I'd hesitate to cite Tom Scholtz's Boston sound as a P-90 exemplar. Not because there's anything wrong with it, but because it primarily was made by Scholtz's Rockman pedal/distortion thingy he invented.

He actually invented the Rockman to digitally model his analog pedal & effects chain, about 5 years after the 1st Boston album that showcased 'that sound'.

[Brian Krashpad]

He actually invented the Rockman to digitally model his analog pedal & effects chain, about 5 years after the 1st Boston album that showcased 'that sound'.

Fair enough. But the sound on the album is so processed by all those pedals and effects (whatever they were) that I still posit that "that sound" isn't especially typical of P-90's. It's kind of like the Edge. He's played through virtually every guitar on the planet, but with all those effects, he just sounds like the Edge; it's difficult to say on any given song whether he's playing a Flying V, Tele, LP, Strat...

[Bloozcat]

I now have my second P-90 guitar, and I love the tone of these pickups. I only really like them clean in the neck and middle positions. The neck is great for jazz and clean blues, and the middle for clean rhythms. The bridge I like better in OD than I do humbuckers. That nasty, snarly bite is just too cool a tone. The best way I can describe it is to say that I like to really dig in to the lead parts with that pickup cranked. Notes just seem to spit from the strings like they're angry or on fire or something. It's a very viceral kind of tone IMO...emotional, from the gut.

One of my favorite P-90 guitar tones is Les Dudek on the Say No More album. Favorite cut - Old Judge Jones. Warm, OD, LP Gold Top P-90 tone in all it's righteous glory...:

[mannydingo]

He actually invented the Rockman to digitally model his analog pedal & effects chain, about 5 years after the 1st Boston album that showcased 'that sound'.

Hi, everyone. It's my first post. I just had to correct you on this one. The Rockman is an analog unit. It's not digital. He invented the analog Rockman to try and reproduce loads of other analog equipment he used on his recordings. Unfortunately, most of the Rockman units only have a similar sound to that 1st album. The first Rockman headphone amp sounded exactly like the 2nd album, though.

[tjcurtin1]

I think the best examples of the 'Casino' sound... is to listen to the Beatles Revolver album, Sgt. Pepper, or Abbey Road. McCartney plays a lot of leads on these and the Casino was his main axe. 2 immediates examples: the solo on Taxman (not Harrison, McCartney), Day Tripper's opening take-off on Orbison's Oh, Pretty Woman riff, as well as the solo...

Wow! I had no idea that McCartney played leads on those albums. I know his guitar work from the first 'McCartney' solo album, but didn't know he played electric guitar in the latter Beatle days. RE the Casino, wouldn't good examples also then be heard in Lennon's playing on Let It Be, for example?

[wingsdad]

... RE the Casino, wouldn't good examples also then be heard in Lennon's playing on Let It Be, for example?

Yeah, lots. The lead (solo) on 'Get Back' is by Lennon on his Casino (the rooftop concert scene in the movie). He really got into 'raunchy' rhythm & lead tones with it during 'the White Album' and 'Abbey Road' years. You can really hear his use of the same style & tone in 2 songs from the era of both. The opening madness of the intro to the 'more familiar' uptempo version 'Revolution'; compare that to his part of the dueling 3 guitar solo of 'The End' (that follows Ringo's one & only 'long' drum solo on record) on Abbey Road, where you actually have McCartney & Lennon on Casinos, Harrison on his red 'Clapton' Les Paul. It's 'McCartney's' song, so he opens the solo with the first 8 (with his characteristic single string runs down & up), followed by Harrison for 8 (dripping with feel, soul and vibrato), then Lennon for 8 (the multi-string chordal riffs). They go like this in turn 3 times, with Lennon getting the closing 8. That order was planned & agreed on...John's band, he got to finish it.

I always wondered about that solo, how it sounded like a collection of overdubs. But there's accounts of the Abbey Raod sessions, the best I read being engineer Geoff Emerick's in his book Here, There and Everywhere. According to Emerick, the 3 of them strapped on their guitars and warmed up, planned & rehearsed their parts for a while. Agreed on the sequence. Then they gave Emerick the nod, rolled the tape, and went at it...he says they nailed it in one take. It was like they were punctuating the end of their band with one final hurrah fo old time's sake.

[wingsdad]

Hi, everyone. It's my first post. I just had to correct you on this one. The Rockman is an analog unit. It's not digital. He invented the analog Rockman to try and reproduce loads of other analog equipment he used on his recordings. Unfortunately, most of the Rockman units only have a similar sound to that 1st album. The first Rockman headphone amp sounded exactly like the 2nd album, though.

Point taken. Misuse on my part of the term 'digital', especially since Scholz hates digital, and since it was invented way before the digital age. 'Reproduce' or 'simulate', better terms.

As for 'the sound' of the first Rockman headphone amps... ? Not sure 'bout that generality, mannydingo. It gets a variety of sounds depending on how you adjust the gain 'knob' on the back of it, which of the 2 distortion settings (edge or dist), whether you set the chorus on or off...but most of all, what guitar you use with it (humbuckers? P-90's? single coils? solid? semi-hollow?...?) and how you set that guitar's volume & tone pots (since there are none on the orignal Rockman).

It's far from a one-trick pony. Mine's still going strong after 27 years and my favorite toy. It's like my 'portable acid test' to try out a guitar at a store. Common denominator.