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Hello ! I am new on this forum, and I just bought my 1st hollowbody, 1st P90-equipped guitar and diggin' it so far ! Very good sounds, playability is unreal ! But it is not perfect yet.
I am planning to hotrod it, to make it truly perfect.
My 1st gripe, is the tuning is a bit unstable. I have read here that new locking tuners would solve the issue. Would you have any recommendations, model, brand?
My 2nd gripe, I am finding the pickups... a bit uninspiring. Especially the neck pickup. I mean they sound good but I am looking for more mojo. Also, it gets flabby on the low notes on the low E string. I read that was a common issue with Gibson scale guitars, but it might be related to the pickups too. I was thinking about raising the pickups. Has anybody done that on their T64/v?
Also, has anyone swapped the Lollar pickups for an alternative? I keep reading that the Lollars in this guitar are a particularly good fit, but also there seem to be lots of people who find the P90 Lollars bland. I am looking for mojo !
Lastly, is there any mod that you would recommend for this guitar? I have read here someone swapping the bridge for a Graphtech Resomax. What kind of difference I can expect with that?
Thanks a ton !
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What about a Gibson ES330 Lol. Seriously - these questions are above my pay grade, but somebody should weigh in with advice. Congratulations on your new guitar and welcome to the club Robin. Do hang around and participate in the craic!
Alan
''Bad company done got me here …'' - Rev Gary Davis
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Do you have the Bigsby model, or the trapeze tailpiece? The B7, like any Bigsby with the extra pressure bar (and unlike Bigsbys without that - like the B3 or B6) is always prone to causing some tuning trouble - there's ways to alleviate that a bit, but I'll wait for your response whether you have a Bigsby or not.
I'd take a close look at the nut slots, those are usually the main culprits for tuning instability; also get some nut lube.
I have locking tuners on some guitars, regular ones on others - provided you string your tuners correctly (not more than two or three windings around the post), IMHO locking tuners don't make a big difference. They ARE convenient for quicker string changes!
About the pickups: P90s in the neck spot will always have be in the muddy, thuddy, woofy side, that's their nature; they aren't Fender-style pickups, with their clarity and snap in the bass strings. If you want that type of tone, get P90s with Alnico poles instead of screws & bar magnets!
The Lollars are sometimes called "bland" because they are on the clearer/cleaner side for P90s - and most people want dirt and midrange raunch if they choose that type of pickup. Another P90 will only get you more "mud" on the low strings, but possibly also more raunch & grind.
If your bass strings are already too muddy for you, raising the pickup will make that worse - if you are looking for more clarity, snap, twang, you need to lower the pickup (difficult with a dogear P90...), and at the same time raise the pole screws.
So, by "more character", what do you mean?
More dirt, raunch, midrange punch? Raise the pickups, or get a hotter P90. But inherently your bass strings will be more muddy, that goes hand in hand.
More clarity, snap, "wide-range-3D" tone? Get something with Alnico pole pieces, there are P90-style pickups from various makers You could also get a "staple" pickup - that's what Gibson mounted in the neck spot in some P90-equipped models in the 1950s, when players like Les Paul wanted more clarity.
Or you could get a Dynasonic puckup (that's where Gibson stole the staple pickup design) - you'd have to look for a model that mounts in a dogear format, I'd look at TV Jones, Gabojo, Mojo UK, or Gemini, whether they do something like that.
And yet another option: a Charlie Christian-style blade pole pickup - those combine the fullness of s P90 with some of the clarity of a Fender single coil.
Eastman E1D, Iris OG, Guild GAD30, The Loar LH300, Harmony H167
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(01-19-2025, 06:48 AM)RomanS Wrote: Do you have the Bigsby model, or the trapeze tailpiece? The B7, like any Bigsby with the extra pressure bar (and unlike Bigsbys without that - like the B3 or B6) is always prone to causing some tuning trouble - there's ways to alleviate that a bit, but I'll wait for your response whether you have a Bigsby or not.
I'd take a close look at the nut slots, those are usually the main culprits for tuning instability; also get some nut lube.
I have locking tuners on some guitars, regular ones on others - provided you string your tuners correctly (not more than two or three windings around the post), IMHO locking tuners don't make a big difference. They ARE convenient for quicker string changes!
About the pickups: P90s in the neck spot will always have be in the muddy, thuddy, woofy side, that's their nature; they aren't Fender-style pickups, with their clarity and snap in the bass strings. If you want that type of tone, get P90s with Alnico poles instead of screws & bar magnets!
The Lollars are sometimes called "bland" because they are on the clearer/cleaner side for P90s - and most people want dirt and midrange raunch if they choose that type of pickup. Another P90 will only get you more "mud" on the low strings, but possibly also more raunch & grind.
If your bass strings are already too muddy for you, raising the pickup will make that worse - if you are looking for more clarity, snap, twang, you need to lower the pickup (difficult with a dogear P90...), and at the same time raise the pole screws.
So, by "more character", what do you mean?
More dirt, raunch, midrange punch? Raise the pickups, or get a hotter P90. But inherently your bass strings will be more muddy, that goes hand in hand.
More clarity, snap, "wide-range-3D" tone? Get something with Alnico pole pieces, there are P90-style pickups from various makers You could also get a "staple" pickup - that's what Gibson mounted in the neck spot in some P90-equipped models in the 1950s, when players like Les Paul wanted more clarity.
Or you could get a Dynasonic puckup (that's where Gibson stole the staple pickup design) - you'd have to look for a model that mounts in a dogear format, I'd look at TV Jones, Gabojo, Mojo UK, or Gemini, whether they do something like that.
And yet another option: a Charlie Christian-style blade pole pickup - those combine the fullness of s P90 with some of the clarity of a Fender single coil.
Thanks for the very detailed response !
So yes, I have a Bigsby model. It feels a bit stiff and "solid", more than the Duesenberg that I had a while ago. If there are way to make it more tuning stable, I'd like to know how
About the low notes, it is not that they are "muddy", but more like "flabby". Maybe I should but heavier strings on the low side, but I will try to mess with the pole screws since I can't adjust the pickup height. BTW I am finding that a very big limitation of that design, I mean pickup height is paramount in tuning your sound, so why would a design that isn't adjustable still be in use today? Maybe I am missing something.
About the "character" thing that I am looking for, yes I guess that's more rawness, more personality, more 60s-70s "coolness". I like sounds that makes you turn your head and say "oh yes that's cool", and often that is not the clearest or purest sound. I would like to try a Thorn GT90 but those are hard to come by. I have also been looking for Peter Florance P90s. Maybe the Gibson P90s could be my thing because in the shootouts that I heard, those seemed to have "that" sound, especially in the mids.
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Yeah, depending on how close your pickup already is to the strings, you could use a shim to raise it, if you want more output and midrange.
I would also experiment with different types of strings - if you're looking for a 60s type of tone, I'd try pure nickel strings, rather than bright-sounding steel strings.
About the Bigsby:
I'm a bit of a Bigsby nerd, I have tried pretty much all types on various guitars. A Bigsby with the extra string pressure bar (like your B7, or a B5) will never have the soft, responsive lever action of those designs without that bar (like a B3, B6, or B11).
Unfortunately, due to neck angle, and string height over the body at tge bridge, some guitar types only work with the former type.
What you can try to do to make trem lever action softer, and reduce tuning problems, is making the string break angle behind the bridge as shallow as possible.
There are aftermarket gadgets that replace that extra bar on the Bigsby with a raised/hinged design, can't think of the name ATM, and never tried those myself.
Simplest mod: Put some washers underneath the screws that are used to mount the B7 to the face of the guitar (NOT those on the hinge at the strap button). That will raise the front of the Bigsby, and decrease string break angle.
A bit more involved: That extra bar is actually a sleeve sitting on an axle - you can remove the sleeve, and have the strings only pass underneath the axle, which will also decrease the break angle a bit. To do that, you'll have to loosen the set screw on the underside of the Bigsby frame, so you can push out that axle, remove the sleeve, then re-mount the axle.
There are also aftermarket pressure bars (I think Glendale makes some? And Duesenberg also uses that design, AFAIK.) that have deep grooves in the bar, so the strings ride higher.
You can also get a "soft spring" from Bigsby for more responsive lever action.
Oh, and for added tuning stability, use no strings lighter than 11s with a Bigsby!
Eastman E1D, Iris OG, Guild GAD30, The Loar LH300, Harmony H167
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