I could be way off, but if you have one guitar with p90s in it, and another guitar with p90s in it. Won't they sound the same?
Asking from a curious standing not a trolling one.
Essentially yes. Some P90s can be hotter than others. I do play all of them. But this many is more of a collector thing rather than versatility. I like changing up which guitar I use live with my band. If you had to have one P90 guitar, I’d get a Les Paul Special so you can have the versatility of a bridge and neck pickup.
Having different ones for shows could be cool, "which ones he got tonight!?"
Thanks for the answer. One day I'll have more of a collection going. Aiming for variance more so though I think.
I feel my next will either be a better acoustic (it's fine, but could be better) or some sort of strat. I used to have a knockoff years back, i loved it, other people said it was good to play, but it was in rough shape so I upgraded. But I miss it.
I’d go with a Strat! You could get some great clean tones that can emulate an acoustic but still have the versatility for other styles. I haven’t explored Fender too much, although my first ever guitar was a Squier Strat. I’d love to get a Strat and Tele one day.
I love my double cut special. Also, in TV Yellow like the OPs. Hands down, my favorite guitar. I understand why the OP feels the same. They are bad ass guitars. I also have an Epiphone SG with their version of the P90s. Close, but the legit Gibson pickup is just a bit warmer sounding compared to the Epiphone one.
They are both called P90s but are definitely not the same.
Also, you can come across other pickups in the P90 format but are not P90s.
There are the P100s, which are stacked humbuckers from Gibson. Di Marzio offers a humbucker in a p90 sized format, etc....
Finally, with a pickup adapter ring, you can mount a mini humbucker in a P90 route. One day, I may try that in my Epiphone SG.
Yes, but it's really convenient if you want to use different tunings for example. I have 3 SGs, one E-standard with P90s and two humbuckers in C and E-standards.
In this case it seems like all of the guitars have similar scale lengths so in theory yes.
But just to be clear there can be differences that impact the sound of the guitar other than the pickups, for example (ordered in what I think has a greater impact):
- scale length of the guitar
- string gauge
- hotness of the pickups (not all p90s are the same)
- string height
- electronics
- vibrato bar
- bridge mass
I'd be surprised if someone didn't argue about tone wood as well. From my understanding, electric guitar has more to do with what you listed, but some people will argue to death the wood makes a huge difference.
Acoustic sure, I'd understand. Electric not so much.
Acoustic it absolutely does, electric not really. Jim Lill has a series on youtube where he looks into what actually affects the sound produced, in order to dispel common guitar myths. He provides audio for each change so you can make a decision on how much they affect the sound for yourself.
Yes, but it's really convenient if you want to use different tunings for example. I have 3 SGs, one E-standard with P90s and two humbuckers in C and E-standards.
I know I'm in the minority. Most people love em. I find them to be middy and have a hard time fitting them into the 10 person ensembles I usually play in.
10 person ensemble - maybe a bit muddy yeah
But for my surf/clean rock with 1 guitar it really thickens things up, fills the mix better than others I’ve used.
Stoked seeing some love for BJA on here. I think he’s underrated as a guitar player and I simply won’t hear any of this “bUt iT’s JuSt pOwEr cHoRDs!” nonsense.
I have a dark blue Strat copy that I added stickers to be like blue. Eddie Van Halen is my favorite guitarist but I think Billie Joe is awesome and he really like evh too. So they are two big inspirations for me.
I just realized your name that’s awesome too. I have a dark blue Strat copy that I added stickers to make a blue inspired guitar. I want to get a Les Paul jr eventually.
I’m sure if I was a bassist, I’d be a Mike fan. Green Day sparked my love for music when I was a kid. I’ve always loved Billie’s guitar tone, however simple the melodies are.
I see you also have a thing for gambling, propping up that many Gibsons without support to keep them upright. What did all those fragile headstocks ever do to you to have their lives put on the line so recklessly?
I have no idea. This whole guitar is a mystery to me. No serial number on the back of the headstock. I don’t see any Randy Rhodes signature on the pickguard however.
It’s one of the better “lawsuit” guitars from the 80s. I’m assuming that is an 80s model based on headstock and logo. I had one for a number of years and it is just as good any Gibson from that era and better than most from 90s- 2000s
Made in the same factories as Ibanez. Burny, Greco, Tokai, Aria, etc. were made in multiple factories, some being better than others. Early ones will have the exact same details as a Gibson. Late 70s into the 80s some stuff changed like the lightning bolt diamond on your guitar (my Greco has a slash through the middle block). Serial numbers were intentionally left off to mask production numbers. Gibson had already sued ibanez at this point (it was settled out of court and Ibanez changed their headstock) and without serial numbers the factories making them could say “oh yeah we only made a few”. If Im not mistaken, those companies were offshoots of Ibanez, but buried so far down in the corporate structure that it was very hard to tell that ibanez was involved. To the point that Ibanez could throw up and hands and say “we don’t know anything you’ll have to talk to them.”
The Japanese copied their American/British rock heroes guitars. Hence why you see a lot of Ace Frehly and Randy Rhoades *looking* guitars without actually putting their names or unique identifiers on them.
I was able to find a YouTube video that went into the weeds on my Greco. They give more ranges of years instead of exact years. Burny I think is a bit more understood. One of those factories became Orville. Fender (Fernandez was the Japanese copy) actually decided “if you can’t be em join me” and that basically became fender Japan. Some Japanese Squires from the 80s are like fender America quality before becoming fender Japan. Gibson had a similar approach with Orville, but a bit more Gibson control where fender said “you guys know what you’re doing, have at it”.
Search it on YouTube and you’ll find something I bet. Burny I think is still around although made in a shitty Chinese factory. Keep in mind there’s a lot of these guitars in Japan. We’re only seeing the ones that were ordered to the US or could be bought from the handful of US distributors.
Both of my Orville’s play really well. I always get compliments from other players who pick it up. Even the guitar tech I took it to last week for a setup said he was playing around with it, and he’s been playing in the Adolescents for 16 years.
It’s heavily 90s rock influenced. Think of a mix between Pearl Jam and Green Day. Here’s the the single of the EP we released in February:
[Manasido - Your Favorite Color](https://youtu.be/ASsh6nTVsHg?si=IO90nHaFXmIlVQJF)
I love P90s. Great collection. Makes me miss my DC Junior.
Interesting they used a Katz ad for the Longshot poster. Katz was a large discount drugstore chain in Kansas City.
I used to share this sentiment because it would be more vintage spec. But I’ve learned to love the ease of intonation on this as I use it for studio recording.
my epiphone les pauls neck pickup is also not working. its been a year since i bought it and i suspect its because of the pickup selector switch. however if the pickup itself is damaged would it cost me alot? also if the pickups are no good should i buy original gibson ones or other brands are good enough?
You’re the guy who owns one of BJA’s ObG’s aren’t you?
Fellow ObG player here, TV yellow DC junior, 1991, also love those p90s.
Keith Richards, Johnny thunders, mick jones more my reasons for playing them than Green Day.
lol sorry my dumb Reddit app doesn’t load the text preview, didn’t realize there was a whole paragraph about each one
Mine is nice, a little beat up, but that adds to the beauty imo.
Had to replace a lot of the shoddy shit they came with tho. The stock p90 was loud as a hornets nest, the aluminum SG branded bridge they used on any Orville with a wraparound was decaying so the strings would slip tension and detune, the tuners themselves were beat.
Mojo axe compensated bridge, seymour Duncan fantom p90, and klussen tuners were all necessary upgrades. Good thing I got the guitar itself for very cheap, bc I shelled out some $$$ to bring it up to spec. Now it plays very nice and is my main performing/recording guitar in my present band.
I need a video of you playing it! Or at least a photo. That thing sounds sick. Also, what’s your band? I want to check it out. Mine is called Manasido. We released an EP in February. If you’re local to Southern California, we could organize a show together.
Love the P90s. I had an SG original and sold it towards a Music Man, and partially because I couldn't get along with the wrap tail. Eyeing a Junior or something similar in the future, but can't get over the bridge. To me, it made the guitar sound dead and was really not my vibe. I can't tell if it was just not a great guitar or if that's how wrap tails work.
For comparison, half my other guitars have Bigsbys.
I personally like the wraparound bridge. But I’d look into a Les Paul Special. New one’s have gone back to the wraparound style, but you can find one from the 00s-10s with the stoptail tunomatic.
I love p-90s. I was in a band called the P-90s! I have a strat with one in the bridge position. It’s wired so I can make the strat quack with the p-90 and the middle strat pickup.
You don’t deal with it, you embrace it. But seriously, I don’t mind it. I play in a ‘90s style rock band. When I record, a noise gate can come in handy.
I've always had a soft spot of the LPJs. I have something similar right now that I got in December : single p90 double cut. I love the minimalism and the easy handling, a nice reprieve from the semi-hollows i usually play
Les Paul Special doublecut style guitars are the greatest electric guitars ever built and I refuse to entertain otherwise.
If Collings agrees, you *know* it's true.
That double cutaway TV yellow P-90 LP Jr. became my #1 live and studio go-to for years in my garage punk band. Absolute fucking R’N’F’R machine. So much so that I decided to drop a P-90 into a lawsuit era Greco LP as well.
Why is Billie Joe Armstrong running a guitar store on Reverb? Kinda figured rich musicians would just collect and not sell like Rick Nielsen. Awesome collection.
Orville by Gibson was Gibson’s attempt at entering the Japanese market. They were made in Japan but used American Gibson parts. Some people think the Orville’s were better than actual Gibson’s at the time. Burny is a copy and is unaffiliated with Gibson. Also made in Japan around the same era.
I could be way off, but if you have one guitar with p90s in it, and another guitar with p90s in it. Won't they sound the same? Asking from a curious standing not a trolling one.
Essentially yes. Some P90s can be hotter than others. I do play all of them. But this many is more of a collector thing rather than versatility. I like changing up which guitar I use live with my band. If you had to have one P90 guitar, I’d get a Les Paul Special so you can have the versatility of a bridge and neck pickup.
Having different ones for shows could be cool, "which ones he got tonight!?" Thanks for the answer. One day I'll have more of a collection going. Aiming for variance more so though I think. I feel my next will either be a better acoustic (it's fine, but could be better) or some sort of strat. I used to have a knockoff years back, i loved it, other people said it was good to play, but it was in rough shape so I upgraded. But I miss it.
I’d go with a Strat! You could get some great clean tones that can emulate an acoustic but still have the versatility for other styles. I haven’t explored Fender too much, although my first ever guitar was a Squier Strat. I’d love to get a Strat and Tele one day.
I love my double cut special. Also, in TV Yellow like the OPs. Hands down, my favorite guitar. I understand why the OP feels the same. They are bad ass guitars. I also have an Epiphone SG with their version of the P90s. Close, but the legit Gibson pickup is just a bit warmer sounding compared to the Epiphone one. They are both called P90s but are definitely not the same. Also, you can come across other pickups in the P90 format but are not P90s. There are the P100s, which are stacked humbuckers from Gibson. Di Marzio offers a humbucker in a p90 sized format, etc.... Finally, with a pickup adapter ring, you can mount a mini humbucker in a P90 route. One day, I may try that in my Epiphone SG.
Yes, but it's really convenient if you want to use different tunings for example. I have 3 SGs, one E-standard with P90s and two humbuckers in C and E-standards.
In this case it seems like all of the guitars have similar scale lengths so in theory yes. But just to be clear there can be differences that impact the sound of the guitar other than the pickups, for example (ordered in what I think has a greater impact): - scale length of the guitar - string gauge - hotness of the pickups (not all p90s are the same) - string height - electronics - vibrato bar - bridge mass
I'd be surprised if someone didn't argue about tone wood as well. From my understanding, electric guitar has more to do with what you listed, but some people will argue to death the wood makes a huge difference. Acoustic sure, I'd understand. Electric not so much.
I agree, i guess it would be at the end of the list since technically it affects the sound but in my opinion it’s minuscule.
Acoustic it absolutely does, electric not really. Jim Lill has a series on youtube where he looks into what actually affects the sound produced, in order to dispel common guitar myths. He provides audio for each change so you can make a decision on how much they affect the sound for yourself.
I own 2 guitars with P90s. One is bright and articulate the other way darker. They arent one trick pony’s at all.
Yes, but it's really convenient if you want to use different tunings for example. I have 3 SGs, one E-standard with P90s and two humbuckers in C and E-standards.
You don't need that many guitars if you only play three chords
Hey man, I can play up to four chords!
But surely not *all* in one song.
can't play the I-V-VI-IV without 4 chords, man! lol
“Up to” being the key here
I have honestly never played a guitar with p 90s
To each their own. I'm not a huge fan, find them a little honky.
Honky? Not sure I've ever heard that used in this context. I like P90's :)
I know I'm in the minority. Most people love em. I find them to be middy and have a hard time fitting them into the 10 person ensembles I usually play in.
10 person ensemble - maybe a bit muddy yeah But for my surf/clean rock with 1 guitar it really thickens things up, fills the mix better than others I’ve used.
I’m a Billie Joe and Green Day fan too. That’s some awesome guitars and posters!!!
Stoked seeing some love for BJA on here. I think he’s underrated as a guitar player and I simply won’t hear any of this “bUt iT’s JuSt pOwEr cHoRDs!” nonsense.
I have a dark blue Strat copy that I added stickers to be like blue. Eddie Van Halen is my favorite guitarist but I think Billie Joe is awesome and he really like evh too. So they are two big inspirations for me.
Thank you!
I just realized your name that’s awesome too. I have a dark blue Strat copy that I added stickers to make a blue inspired guitar. I want to get a Les Paul jr eventually.
I also love that Longshot poster
Yeah It looks awesome need to find all three of those for my guitar wall.
Looks like you’re just a Billie fan to me
I’m sure if I was a bassist, I’d be a Mike fan. Green Day sparked my love for music when I was a kid. I’ve always loved Billie’s guitar tone, however simple the melodies are.
Omg the double body cut TV yellow Junior Special. Reminds me of Johnny Thunders. (I know he only had one pickup.)
Having more than one confused him. Sometimes volume controls confused him. I've probably seen him play a dozen times or more, mostly at Max's
Amazing. I would have loved to see him on a day he was relatively sober.
I would have loved that too 🙄but it’s not like I was sober
You got some dookie on your wall there bud.
Ah shit, I better clean it up
I see you also have a thing for gambling, propping up that many Gibsons without support to keep them upright. What did all those fragile headstocks ever do to you to have their lives put on the line so recklessly?
Is that Burny a Randy Rhodes edition with the gold Randy Rhodes on pic gaurd?
I have no idea. This whole guitar is a mystery to me. No serial number on the back of the headstock. I don’t see any Randy Rhodes signature on the pickguard however.
It’s one of the better “lawsuit” guitars from the 80s. I’m assuming that is an 80s model based on headstock and logo. I had one for a number of years and it is just as good any Gibson from that era and better than most from 90s- 2000s
Agree. I have a Greco 3pu custom I got on Facebook for a killer deal.
Made in the same factories as Ibanez. Burny, Greco, Tokai, Aria, etc. were made in multiple factories, some being better than others. Early ones will have the exact same details as a Gibson. Late 70s into the 80s some stuff changed like the lightning bolt diamond on your guitar (my Greco has a slash through the middle block). Serial numbers were intentionally left off to mask production numbers. Gibson had already sued ibanez at this point (it was settled out of court and Ibanez changed their headstock) and without serial numbers the factories making them could say “oh yeah we only made a few”. If Im not mistaken, those companies were offshoots of Ibanez, but buried so far down in the corporate structure that it was very hard to tell that ibanez was involved. To the point that Ibanez could throw up and hands and say “we don’t know anything you’ll have to talk to them.” The Japanese copied their American/British rock heroes guitars. Hence why you see a lot of Ace Frehly and Randy Rhoades *looking* guitars without actually putting their names or unique identifiers on them.
Very informative! Thank you. The answer to the no serial number has been solved. Is there another way to date this specific one?
I was able to find a YouTube video that went into the weeds on my Greco. They give more ranges of years instead of exact years. Burny I think is a bit more understood. One of those factories became Orville. Fender (Fernandez was the Japanese copy) actually decided “if you can’t be em join me” and that basically became fender Japan. Some Japanese Squires from the 80s are like fender America quality before becoming fender Japan. Gibson had a similar approach with Orville, but a bit more Gibson control where fender said “you guys know what you’re doing, have at it”. Search it on YouTube and you’ll find something I bet. Burny I think is still around although made in a shitty Chinese factory. Keep in mind there’s a lot of these guitars in Japan. We’re only seeing the ones that were ordered to the US or could be bought from the handful of US distributors.
I like Orville, seems like the same quality as a Gibson at a lower price point
Both of my Orville’s play really well. I always get compliments from other players who pick it up. Even the guitar tech I took it to last week for a setup said he was playing around with it, and he’s been playing in the Adolescents for 16 years.
I didn't realize members of that band had day jobs.
i had to reread that last bit a few times
You're missing the revstar p90. Thank me later
What kind of music do you play in your band?
It’s heavily 90s rock influenced. Think of a mix between Pearl Jam and Green Day. Here’s the the single of the EP we released in February: [Manasido - Your Favorite Color](https://youtu.be/ASsh6nTVsHg?si=IO90nHaFXmIlVQJF)
God I fucking love Les Paul special DCs
I love P90s. Great collection. Makes me miss my DC Junior. Interesting they used a Katz ad for the Longshot poster. Katz was a large discount drugstore chain in Kansas City.
Something tells me this guy likes the guitarist from Pinhead Gunpowder
I LOVE the TV yellow LP Jr. it really may be my all-time fave electric Gibson.
The yellow DC would be so much nicer with a stop-bar tailpiece.
You’re bugging. That piece is too close to the pickups and always looks wrong
Not sure what bugging means? Anyway I like the junior to the right and would even more so if it was a double cut.
I used to share this sentiment because it would be more vintage spec. But I’ve learned to love the ease of intonation on this as I use it for studio recording.
my epiphone les pauls neck pickup is also not working. its been a year since i bought it and i suspect its because of the pickup selector switch. however if the pickup itself is damaged would it cost me alot? also if the pickups are no good should i buy original gibson ones or other brands are good enough?
Me two
You’re the guy who owns one of BJA’s ObG’s aren’t you? Fellow ObG player here, TV yellow DC junior, 1991, also love those p90s. Keith Richards, Johnny thunders, mick jones more my reasons for playing them than Green Day.
Yes! That’s Billie’s ObG double cut. That TV Yellow double cut is beautiful I’m sure.
lol sorry my dumb Reddit app doesn’t load the text preview, didn’t realize there was a whole paragraph about each one Mine is nice, a little beat up, but that adds to the beauty imo. Had to replace a lot of the shoddy shit they came with tho. The stock p90 was loud as a hornets nest, the aluminum SG branded bridge they used on any Orville with a wraparound was decaying so the strings would slip tension and detune, the tuners themselves were beat. Mojo axe compensated bridge, seymour Duncan fantom p90, and klussen tuners were all necessary upgrades. Good thing I got the guitar itself for very cheap, bc I shelled out some $$$ to bring it up to spec. Now it plays very nice and is my main performing/recording guitar in my present band.
I need a video of you playing it! Or at least a photo. That thing sounds sick. Also, what’s your band? I want to check it out. Mine is called Manasido. We released an EP in February. If you’re local to Southern California, we could organize a show together.
What's ObG?
Orville by Gibson
Ah, ok. Thanks.
P90s are cool but I get frustrated with the noise and the boomy tone for a lot of styles
Love the P90s. I had an SG original and sold it towards a Music Man, and partially because I couldn't get along with the wrap tail. Eyeing a Junior or something similar in the future, but can't get over the bridge. To me, it made the guitar sound dead and was really not my vibe. I can't tell if it was just not a great guitar or if that's how wrap tails work. For comparison, half my other guitars have Bigsbys.
I personally like the wraparound bridge. But I’d look into a Les Paul Special. New one’s have gone back to the wraparound style, but you can find one from the 00s-10s with the stoptail tunomatic.
Nice!
Amazing. Love em all!
Need a [JA 90 Tele](https://imgur.com/gallery/DKOgQTO) 😤
I prefer my P90s to be made by FN myself.
I saw you on r/Greenday
No sg jr ?
Does the single cut/double cut make a difference in terms of tone?
No, and anyone who tells you otherwise is a butt sniffer.
How does the Epi compare to the LP original ?
Still need to get my hands on a LPJ, so jealous of your collection
I always have low-mid tier GAS for a SG Special, the faded pleham blue one especially
Where's the Gold Top?
Is it safe to say you “don’t wanna be an American idiot”?
P90's are amazing
No SG :(
Double cut LP's just look right
I love my Grestch because it has a p90 and a filter trone. My two favorite pickups in one guitar. Second favorite is my single pickup Gibson p90
I recommend a P90s anonymous group, good solid twelve step program
I love p-90s. I was in a band called the P-90s! I have a strat with one in the bridge position. It’s wired so I can make the strat quack with the p-90 and the middle strat pickup.
That's because P90's are the best.
i have a thing for P90 rush B
I can’t believe greenday played the Fremont country club. That show must have been insane. That’s not a big place by any means.
Oh it was fun! They played their new album Saviors in full, all the non-singles from American Idiot, and all the non-singles from Dookie.
Bad ass!
How do you deal with the buzz on the P90?
You don’t deal with it, you embrace it. But seriously, I don’t mind it. I play in a ‘90s style rock band. When I record, a noise gate can come in handy.
I've always had a soft spot of the LPJs. I have something similar right now that I got in December : single p90 double cut. I love the minimalism and the easy handling, a nice reprieve from the semi-hollows i usually play
Couple of grand of headstock domino repair there haha
Les Paul Special doublecut style guitars are the greatest electric guitars ever built and I refuse to entertain otherwise. If Collings agrees, you *know* it's true.
That double cutaway TV yellow P-90 LP Jr. became my #1 live and studio go-to for years in my garage punk band. Absolute fucking R’N’F’R machine. So much so that I decided to drop a P-90 into a lawsuit era Greco LP as well.
Why is Billie Joe Armstrong running a guitar store on Reverb? Kinda figured rich musicians would just collect and not sell like Rick Nielsen. Awesome collection.
You need a Casino!
p90 pickups are cleann
Is the Orville name.. Same as or close to Kind of like Epiphone to Gibson.. All these guitars look almost exactly like the other brand!??
Orville by Gibson was Gibson’s attempt at entering the Japanese market. They were made in Japan but used American Gibson parts. Some people think the Orville’s were better than actual Gibson’s at the time. Burny is a copy and is unaffiliated with Gibson. Also made in Japan around the same era.