REQ: P90s definitive recordings list

[Runewalker]

This is copied over from the pickups board:

I rented the Directors cut of Woodstock the other night to show my kids the decadance of the era, and seminal performances.

I was surprised at how many SGs were being used.

I was also surprised to see Santana's use of an SG, but the big surprise was to see it outfitted with P90s. I am going to have to put a p90 build on the list, prob with some of these exotic wiring scheme discussed here.

But what I am interested in is does anyone have a definite list of recordings where the P90 is dominent and its tonal characteristics clearly heard.
I know all the jazzers in the 50's and 60's used their 175s with P90s, but they don't count here --- tree trunk strings, flat wound, with all the treble rolled off -- it just does not answered the tonal question

I mean clean to overdriven sounds where you can hear the complete tonal characteristics of the P90s.

I am trying to convince a friend that this pup has merit, but have no sonic references.


Thanks
RW

[GuyaGuy]

as i mentioned elsewhere john lennon got his EPI CASINO w/ dogear P90s in the mid 60s and played it almost exclusively after the beatles, but also on plenty of recordings, including the ABBEY ROAD rooftop concert.

[Trey]

Early Freddi King is a good example, he mainly used a Goldtop LP with P-90s and switched to a 335 later in his career.

Sean Costello is a good contemparary example of the P-90 sound, he gets a very nice slightly overdriven sound froma vintage Goldtop.

[dinis64]

George Thorogood's sound was a Gibson ES125 with P90's. I believe Mississippi Queen was recorded with P90's.

[GuyaGuy]

well, here's a list i've made, based on guitarists who popped into my head and ones i saw when i took a look at a tony bacon book:

John Lennon: EPIPHONE CASINO on REVOLVER and most post-Beatles albums and a lot in between!
Paul McCartney: ibid
Scotty Moore: GIBSON SUPER 400CES on SUN recordings with Elvis
Frank Beecher (Bill Halley and his Comets): LP CUSTOM on most Bill Halley recordings
Check Berry: GIBSON ES-350T on the CHESS recordings
Carl Perkins: GIBSON SWITCHMASTER on the SUN recordings
Neil Young: LP SPECIAL


some more current examples:
Green Day: LP JUNIOR on AERICAN IDIOT
Nick Valensi (The Strokes): EPI CASINO on all recordings

then as you mentioned, there are many jazz musicians like Wes Montgomery (L-5CES), Jim Hall (ES-175), and of course Les Paul, who played a Les Paul, of all things.

there are other examples that came to mind like Steve Marriot, who played a single P-90 EPI CORONET in the Humble Pie days but i'm not sure whether he recorded with it. i know most 60s guitarists like Keith Richards played em too but i'm not sure on which recordings.
then there's also MOSRITES, played by the Ventures, Ramones, etc., but i guess they aren't technically P-90s as they're not GIBBOS.

[Runewalker]

If you are going to list the Jazz guys please don't forget the man, Kenny Burrell.

This though brings another question. The venerable ES175 has been used also by Metheny and Steve Howe (Yes). Did they use humbuck versions or p90s?

There has got to be more p90 recordings out there. Did out your old albums. You remember vinal don't you?

[Trey]

runewalker said:

If you are going to list the Jazz guys please don't forget the man, Kenny Burrell.

This though brings another question. The venerable ES175 has been used also by Metheny and Steve Howe (Yes). Did they use humbuck versions or p90s?

There has got to be more p90 recordings out there. Did out your old albums. You remember vinal don't you?

The problem with that is the fact that 90% of the time people use diffrent guitars for recording than they do live.

SRV may have like his VibroKings and Dumbles for live work but he had a wall of over 40 amps in the studio. Page was known for his LPs live, but often used Teles in the studio. So 9X outta 10, what you think you hear on record isn't what your really hearing.

I also think the Jazz guys are a bad example of any classic sound, because they are going for the antithesis of the classic guitar sound to begin with...

Best bet is to go to a guitar store and try a few P-90 guitars out...

[GuyaGuy]

Trey's right about the live/studio discrepancy. PLUS people weren't as gear-crazy back when P-90s were commonly used, so a guitarist's set-up isn't always documented. PLUS just because they're holding it on the album cover or photo shoot it doesn't mean they actually USED that guitar--look at Bowie with his Kent or Roxy Music with glittery Hagstroms!

RE:

runewalker said:

I was surprised at how many SGs were being used.

btw, don't forget LPs weren't made in the 60s till '68 so the SG was G's main solidbody.

[dinis64]

Another record with a lot of P90 guitar is "Izzy Stradlin and the JuJu Hounds". That's the guitarist form G&R, after the breakup. Doesnt' sound anything like G&R though. He played an old Gibson (with P90's) on about all of those songs. Rick Richards (of Georgia Satellites) plays a mean-butt Les Paul Jr. on that record as well.

[servant]

guyaguy said:

some more current examples:
Nick Valensi (The Strokes): EPI CASINO on all recordings

The thing I've read about his Epi is that it is a Sherton (ES-335-ish). He had the humbuckers removed, and installed P-94s. When I read that, I had absolutely no idea what was a P-94. Turns out it's a P-90 pickup made to fit a humbucker cavity with no modifications required.

If I remember his quote correctly, he said something like, "This is the best guitar Gibson/Epiphone never made."

Y'all know that the ES-335/345/347/Sheraton/Dot guitars have a mahogany block inside the body that runs from the neck to the lower strap button, right? Gives it more mass for better sustain and feedback reduction.

The ES-330/Casino is almost completely hollow, and only has one dowel, under the bridge, I guess to keep the top from collapsing under the downward pressure of the bridge.

Paul McCartney was the first Beatle to get a Casino. He was talking to John Mayall (a Sheraton player) about Paul's desire to get a guitar that would feedback. Mayall told him to get a Casino. John and George liked what they heard so much (first used by Paul for the solo bits in Ticket to Ride) that they went and got one each.

[blackout]

all of the eary sabbath stuff Tony Iommi played a red sg with p-90s.

see vid here ......

video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5531772160359116049&q=black

[dunkelfalke]

that little island jam of david gilmour is played on a p90 lp

[ChrisK]

Who?

Who?

THE WHO, that's who!

Townsend had (regularly destroyed) SG's w/ P-90's.

I've spent the last week listening to "Live at Leeds" and other "documentaries", picking out guitar (and God knows, bass) riffs ("Boris" will live forever).

I'm a buyin' an SG and am "shopping aboot".

The P-90 design is real close to being my favorite PU. I generally route at least one PU cavity for one when I build (It's big, many other SC's also fit in the route).

I have a Warmoth "in the oven" that is a 3#2oz solid swamp ash Strat copy w/ a Rio Grande Twangbucker bridge/PU, a lipstick SC in the middle, and yep, a SD P-90 Stack in the neck.

I have a PRS Soapbar II w/ P-90's. It's scheduled for surgery, a middle P-90 route will occur. The PU count will then be a DiMarzio DLX Plus (a la a Steve's Special) in the bridge, the former bridge P-90 in the middle, and the existing P-90 in the neck.

[UnklMickey]

chrisk said:

...Townsend had (regularly destroyed) SG's w/ P-90's....

i don't understand why!

RICs splinter so much more dramatically.


unk

[ChrisK]

Yeah, sometimes even when you adjust the dueling truss rods!

[johnss]

I have a Les Paul TV DC Special w/P-90's that kill - incredible tone! Here's a list of some definitive P90 rock sound records:

Rock N Roll Animal - Lou Reed (Guitar trax courtesy of Hunter/Wagner and Les Paul Jrs)
So Alone - Johnny Thunders (Les Paul Jr.)
Any Bob Marley & The Wailers record - Les Paul Special
Any Mountain Record from the 60's-mid 80's - Leslie West w/Les Paul Jr.
American Idiot - Green Day (Billie Joe Armstrong w/Les Paul Jr.)
Love, Pain & The Whole Crazy Thing - Keith Urban w/Les Paul Jr. & Melody Maker
I Love Rock N Roll - Joan Jett w/Melody Maker
People Gonna Talk - James Hunter w/LP Special
Any live electric Paul Weller - Epiphone Casino
Both Sides of the Gun - Ben Harper/LP Special (non slide parts)
Era Vulgaris - Queens of the Stone Age Troy van Leeuwen w/Yamaha TVL signature)
Bluestime CD's - Magic Dick & J. Geils (w/various Gibson P90 ES models)
Early PiL - Keith Levine w/LP Jr.

[crazymanandy]

I know that Pearl Jam has used a lot of P90's, though it would be hard to mention specific songs. I can tell you that Eddie Vedder uses P90's on a lot of songs on the Riot Act album and he uses it a lot on the latest album. McCready used them also on the latest album. All three guitarists have used them at one time or another (Stone has a Goldtop or two with P90s that he uses a lot).

Here are a couple with P90's:











CMA

[patchworkcat]

Townshend's guitar on 'My Generation', Live at Leeds is like a tonal reference for me. i'll sound like something else, but if i can't get one or two of those notes then...
The Who are spaced in Stereo as ever in their live recordings so you can even remove Entwhistle (but not Daltrey or Moon). As John doubled up a lot for Pete live, this is really handy. Anyway the range of tones on that one long track is fantastic.
The band maintain that those Gibson SGs in the late 60's and early70's were really weak guitars, but obviously matched Pete all too well, he just smashed them apart with that sheer rage of the onstage Who.
When they stopped making the p90 SGs (and Pete had destroyed all the ones in the UK shops) the band got Gibson to make some specially (at a fantastic price). They were'nt anywhere near the same apparently and they chucked them. Sadly, Pete then moved to LPs with Epiphone mini pups.

[wolf]

If someone hasn't said it already, "Signs" by the 5 Man Electric Band is played with a P-90. (I don't know how true this is but it almost always pops up in a P-90 pickup discussion).

I believe that Link Ray's song "Rumble" is done with a P-90.

The guitar "solo" (those staccato chords) in the Beach Boys' song "Don't Worry Baby" sound very "P-90ish" to me.

[sumgai]

wolf,

The Beach Boys were kept in good supply by Leo hisownself, they were neighbors, of a sort. They also used a Leslie quite a bit in the studio, giving that warmer feeling of less bite than a standard Jaguar.

Link Wray used a stock Danelectro, which was mounted with what we now called "lipstick" tube pickups. Over the course of time (after he fell from the front lines of fame due to failing health), he used other guitars, but he nearly always came back to the lipsticks. His come-back tour, just a couple of years ago, featured new Armstrong pickups that were purported to be as good as the originals. The recording I have of that tour sure sounds like it to me!

HTH


sumgai

[sumgai]

wolf,

The Beach Boys were kept in good supply by Leo hisownself, they were neighbors, of a sort. They also used a Leslie quite a bit in the studio, giving that warmer feeling of less bite than a standard Jaguar.

For Rumble, Link Wray used a stock Danelectro, which was mounted with what we now called "lipstick" tube pickups. Over the course of time, he used many other guitars, to be sure. His come-back tour, just a couple of years ago, featured newly designed guitar with Armstrong pickups that were purported to be as raunchy as the originals. (Although they weren't lipstick-tube shaped.) The recording I have of that tour sure sounds like it to me!

HTH


sumgai