Tokai P90 pickups

[jock]

Bluefinger,

i replaced the pups in my ls160s with lollar p90s. They sound much better than the original ones. Much tighter in bass, more bite but not shrill. Its not that challenging, to find a p90 that sounds better than the stock pups, name it kloppmann or lollar or ...

jock

 

[Bluefinger]

This whole thing took an unexpected turn. I talked to some other buddies about my quest for pickups as well and so one of them is giving me a set of Fralins as a birthday present

I might have bought Stepens Designs myself but I bet the Fralins are great as well.

 

[marcusnieman]

I might have bought Stepens Designs myself but I bet the Fralins are great as well.

Outstanding gift!! As mentioned earlier in this thread, I couldn't be happier with the Fralin P90's I put in my

 

[fuzzalowBill]

I have recently acquired a LS160S and find it to be a very good guitar. I also agree with some in this thread that the stock P-90's could be bettered.

I have Lollar P-90s in a Gibson Les Paul Special so I can roughly A/B the guitars back-to-back and the Lollars sound crunchy turned up past 8 and clear and complex turned down past 6. The LS160S pickups to my ear don't have the same range or complexity. YMMV. Both played straight into a Fender Bassman RI with both volumes about 11 o'clock on jumpered channels.

I ordered a set of the new Fralin hum cancelling P-90s for the LS160. Lindy said they were good and I'd trust his ears without a 2nd thought.

 

[jprr773]

It would be great if somebody could post some samples of the LS160S with Fralins & Lollar. If you have time, of course ...

Here is my LS160S with stock pickups (using bridge pickup) into a '90s Fender Twin Reverb RI.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYBCS1yD_0Y

 

[Bluefinger]

I should receive my Fralins in a week or two. If my camera is still working then I'll try to do some before and after clips.

 

[jprr773]

I should receive my Fralins in a week or two. If my camera is still working then I'll try to do some before and after clips.

That would be great. Thanks for your time!

 

[DaveWW]

I should receive my Fralins in a week or two. If my camera is still working then I'll try to do some before and after clips.

I'll be very interested to here those as I think I'm going to put Fralins in my LS138

Dave

 

[Bluefinger]

Ok, I'll try my best. My camera seems to be dying so I can't promise anything. If it works, I'll do some clips.

 

[Roe]

I just changed the stock p90s in my lss195 to lollar standards (w/o RWRP since I use theillitch's bpssc system made famous by suhr). let me just say it was worth the change

 

[Bluefinger]

In which way did the tone/output change?

 

[Anonymous]

I was fairly happy with the P90s in my LS85S till I read this thread. Now I've been finding fault with them, & I'm looking into replacements. So, thanks guys!

:-?

 

[marcusnieman]

In which way did the tone/output change?

I can tell you the Fralins in mine made sound much fatter. The stock Tokai P90's sound rather feeble and the neck pickup was very boomy. Fralin underwinds the neck pickup at your choice of 5 - 15% if I recall correctly and I went with a 10%. Very balanced output between the two and the neck pickup has alot of snarl to it.

The Fralin bridge p'up is much more expressive than the Tokai - which was quite thin and brittle sounding.

You're going to get different comments from different people using different pickups. I think any good replacement boutique pickpup will be a vast improvement.

 

[Bluefinger]

In which way did the tone/output change?

I can tell you the Fralins in mine made sound much fatter. The stock Tokai P90's sound rather feeble and the neck pickup was very boomy. Fralin underwinds the neck pickup at your choice of 5 - 15% if I recall correctly and I went with a 10%. Very balanced output between the two and the neck pickup has alot of snarl to it.

The Fralin bridge p'up is much more expressive than the Tokai - which was quite thin and brittle sounding.

You're going to get different comments from different people using different pickups. I think any good replacement boutique pickpup will be a vast improvement.

ok, thanks for the info!

I'm very curious how it will sound. If I like them they'll stay in the guitar and if I don't they'll go into my ES-135. It has P100s in it currently and is deperately in need of some decent P90s.

 

[Roe]

In which way did the tone/output change?

the lollar bridge has higher output and the lollars are much more balanced than the stock pups. the lollars have much more definition and more highend, more sizzle and that nasty p90 sound.

 

[Bluefinger]

the lollar bridge has higher output and the lollars are much more balanced than the stock pups. the lollars have much more definition and more highend, more sizzle and that nasty p90 sound.

My stock Tokais were pretty unbalanced as well. Actually the neck pickup was a little hotter so I put the neck PU in the bridge position and vice versa. It helped a bit along with bringing the neck PU closer to the strings than the neck PU. I'm glad I didn't go for the Lollars which I considered as well earlier. The stock PUs are bright enough for my taste. I wouldn't want any more high end.

 

[Roe]

even my band could could tell the difference between the stock p90s and the lollars. the lollars had much better cut. the guitar was much more distinct, said the bassist. amps were jtm50 and jmp50.

 

[Bluefinger]

Hi,

ok, the camera is obviously dying but it worked somehow. Here's the clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34C0F1dNr74

It's rough and dirty but maybe better than nothing at all. I did not have the time to do more so here is what we got: Guitar => Boss Reverb Pedal => Tweed Super, volume on 2. That's well below it's sweet spot but it was late and I didn't want to crank it. Tonight I'll find out how they will behave when the amp is breaking up.

I was a bit surprised (but not dissapointed) to see that the ohms readiong on the Fralins is quite a bit lower than on the stockers (Gotohs?). It's 6.7 & 7.6 vs. 8.3 and 8.6. Nevertheless the Fralins don't feel like they have less output. My first impression was that they sound a bit more "open".

I really haven't played them enough yet to make a verdict. Meanwhile, enjoy the clip and see for yourself. They are all first takes and I was tired so please don't mind the mistakes and crappy playing ...
The compact camera's mic makes everything sound the same but I think you can hear some of the differences.

 

[AlanN]

Nice! The difference between the bridge pickups is immediately apparent - the lollars are much more musical. The neck is a bit harder to spot but it is there - probably the fault of the camera mic compressing. Good stuff!

 

[Bluefinger]

Nice! The difference between the bridge pickups is immediately apparent - the lollars are much more musical. The neck is a bit harder to spot but it is there - probably the fault of the camera mic compressing. Good stuff!

They are Fralins not Lollars

Yes, the difference between the two bridge pickups is bigger ... and yes, the camera swallows a great deal of the tone. Still I consider both sets to be quality P90s so there is no night and day difference to expect. We will have a rehearsal tonight so maybe tomorrow I can share more of my impressions.