software

Tried out the mentioned guitar today. This is my first time trying a P90 equipt guitar and frankly I'm a bit puzzled. I plugged a Les Paul into an amp so I could make somewhat of a comparison. Plugged in the PRS and I could'nt believe how weak the output was. Grabbed another of the same model and got the same result. To be as specific as I can the pickups sounded like they were wired out of phase. They were that weak. I was told that P90's sound like a fat single coil, like the punch of a humbucker with a single coils clarity. Uh, not this one. Clear, yes, but fat? Not even close. I plugged the Les Paul back in and almost fell over due to the volume differance. Again, not knowing P90's is it possible that these guitars were wired wrong?

I wasn't a huge fan of the PRS Soapbar SE myself; the p90s didn't sound the best to my ears.

P90s aren't as quot;fatquot; as some people make them out to be. They are fatter than singles, but to me, they have the articulation of a single coil with the punch and attack of a humbucker. They are wound hotter than singles, but will, by nature, not have as much output as a humbucker (under most circumstances).

P90s are beautiful to me because they are so clear and hot at the same time. I love the punch of a bridge p90 through distortion and I've gotten better sustain on the notes than even humbuckers. They are unique sounding and not everyone will like them, but for me it's the perfect balance between singles and humbuckers and I can't imagine anything better

I've owned a few P90 Gibsons, an SG Classic and a 54RI Black Beauty, and botht those were very fat sounding. I also just bought a SE II Soapbar and I agree with you, not the typical fat P90 sound. But I actually wasn't looking for a P90 gutiar when I bought it, I was attracted to the guitar itself and the high quality for low price. So I added a set of EMG P85's to mine and it's plenty hot and fat now

I still say that something was wrong. I'm not trying be be difficult but again, they sounded like they were out of phase. Very, very low output with no quot;umphquot; to speak of at all.

It was a PRS after all

They are probably just cheaply made pickups.

Nah it is the entire line that is somewhat questionable, have not tried a single SE yet that had something besides a weak deliverence.
Weird guitars.

To give you an idea of how weak it sounded let me put it to you like this: when I first plugged the Les Paul into the C30 I had the volume, bass, mid and treble all set at approximatley 4. That's a good quot;healthyquot; setting. In order to get the volume of the PRS on par with the LP I had to turn the volume up to 9 and even with the bass all the way up it still was'nt close. I'm not trying be be difficult here but man, that does'nt sound right to me.

Well that does sound like a faulty wiring somewhere.
Was it buzzing alot as well??
Static noises??

sounds like the pupsmight have been screwed way down too far. or the pups are just crap.


Originally Posted by Scott_Fsounds like the pupsmight have been screwed way down too far. or the pups are just crap.

1. Scott's rite. Lowering the pup too much results in a weak magnetic field where the strings are quot;cutting throughquot;.

Rid: there was no buzz or static sounds.
Scott: the pickups height was what I would consider a normal height.

To further make a point, I went down the street and borrowed my friends guitar that has a single P90 in the bridge. Compared to my Les Paul the output on his guitar was just slightly lower as well as the bass response being just a tad lower. Either something was'nt wired right on the PRS or those pickups have got to be the weakest things I've ever heard.

P90s need to be damn near touching the strings from what I've found. Getting a p90 into the sweet spot is more difficult for me for some reason.

I'm still willing to bet on crappy pups though.

Not knowing that much about how all this magnetism works, P90s use 2 magnets and one coil. Humbuckers use 1 magnet and 2 opposing coils. You'd think that a P90 would be a lot stronger sounding.

Then again, think about how weak a coil tapped humbucker sounds in single coil mode versus it's humbucking mode. With that in mind, I guess having more wire has more of an effect on output than having more magnets.