ls165s pickup replacement with 'noiseless' - advice needed

Hi guys.

I could use a bit of help!

I have a Ls165s, which is a fantastic guitar! When I played a lot i bands and jammed I think it did rather well with 'just' the stock pickups! Not totally balanced volume wise but that I could handle.

At the time being (and for a long time) I'm mostly playing at home and doing a bit of recording for my own pleasure. The noise that comes with the p90 territory is off putting at these levels.

So I've been trying to figure out what to do!

I made a stupid move first! I've bought 2 Dimarzio p90 (which are just humbuckers) and they didn't fit until I shaved some of the plastic off! Now they fit but I just can't bring myself to drill holes in my tokai (the holes are not centered like the originals) wasted a bit of money there! I know - daft!

So now I'm a bit worried as to what will fit. I looked at Bardens,
Fralins but it seems they would be the same size. Do any of you know what would be ideal?

I don't really expect the pickup to sound like a vintage p90 but I'm expecting a great sound with no noise!

If you have any insight I would love a helping hand! I've searched the net for months!

Regards
Mark

What about Mini Humbuckers, as seen on the 70s LP Deluxe?

They should fit in a P-90 cavity, and just need a mod to be able to screw them in at each side. P-90 screws are more in the middle of the cavity, but these are at the two short edges.

Apparently they are slightly brighter than full size humbuckers.

Thanks Jv!

Well I certainly had thought about it, but since Im really a hack at doing any mods Im a bit worried that I will do more bad than good. I rather not drill new holes if I can avoid it.

I don't mind getting a "humbucker" sound. But if I can find something that fits without having to drill og mod, I will be a happy camper!

Maybe the best thing would be to with p90's from the creamery. Jaime apparently makes some that fit without alterations.

Im going to New York in September and it would be great if I could find something over there at a fair price, but maybe it's not likely any of the shops there carry these kinds of pickups!

I live in Denmark by the way so the supply is limited!

The mini hums actually use a P90 cover with most of it cut out to make a frame. The only mods are inside the cavity and hidden from view.

Some P90 installs mount onto an aluminium bar that is screwed to the bottom of the cavity, others have long screws that go all the way into the wood with some foam rubber between the base of the P90 and the bottom of the cavity.

All you need for mini hums is two holes for two the screws at the sides of the pickups. There's a video on the Lollar website of him fitting some mini hums in place of P90s. I think it needs to be done by a pro as there is a risk of drilling the new holes all the way through the back of the body! If there is an aluminium bar it is easier as you can just remove the bar and tap in some new threaded holes in the right place, but the bar has to be wide enough to go across the whole cavity.

Not sure I know what you mean with the mounting. Is there a place I can buy p90 covers with a plate? In that case I could reuse the holes that are in the middle of the cavity and then just mount the covers on the metal plate? Or did I totally misunderstand you?

Am I being overely sensitive with the "I don't want to drill new holes in my Goldie"?

Thanks a bunch for your time Jv!

This is an awesome forum and the reason I bought a Tokai (and pretty much only MIJ guitars!)

Lost my old email adress and my username/password too. So im not as new to this site as the post count would have you think!

Mark
Edit: Typo!

I can't help you because I don't know anyone who's ever changed the pickups on a LS165S.

My suggestion, figure out why the pickups are noisy for home recording.
We record the LS165S in lots of major studios with no problems at all, we use the Kemper Profiler...and the same guitars are used live with no noise problems.

Are you sure the pickup heights haven't been messed with, perhaps that's why the volume isn't balanced?

Hi Diamond!

I'm not changing the pickups because they sound less than stellar! As I wrote, they sound greath when playing live/practicing. I just hit the tuner or turn the vol down between songs. But these days Im not seing stages. I ocasionally jam a bit with some friends and thats it. That suites me fine

The change is inspired by to things:

(1) I mostly play at home at very low levels, simply through a Pod HD500 and the noise/signal ratio is a bit to much. Much more pronounced than when I play my Esp 400 series or my Fender Jpn (both with stock pickups btw) that also have single coils.

(2) I sometimes miss a humbucking sound in my Les Paul. I've owned a LS92 a brief while, but had to choose to keep either the 165s or the 92 and since the 165s is a gift from my wife I can't really bring myself to part with it. But that 92 was - although not well specced - was just so much... fun Again if I owned that guitar still I wouldn't change a thing! The stockers were more than adequate. They screamed!

Either way I'm keeping the p90s! Thats why im going with the 'no mods method'.

Sorry for the blurb! I love my Tokai. Wish I had 10 of them. I could just leave this one as is, but sadly thats not an option!

I think I'm gonna go with the creamery 'hidden humbucker' p90.


Oh btw. I dream about owning a Kemper! Its simply astonishing. It has a very good noise gate I hear! The Pod does not!

Mark

Try this guy

http://www.creamery-pickups.co.uk/custom-handwound-pickups-from-the-creamery/custom-handwound-replacement-p90-pickups.html#.U6_PohaIR0E

He does humbuckers in a std P90 housing

I've got some of his humbucker sized P90s and they are excellent.

Hi Nick!

Thanks a lot for the comment. That's the guy I'm talking about. He recommended me the 'hidden humbucker' since it would fit the cavity of my Goldie.

Which one did you get and can you describe it in any way? Did you install it in a Les Paul or a different guitar? Alnico 2 or 5?

I'm 90 % sure that's the way to go. But always nice to get comments

Thanks
Mark

I got the Humbucker sized P90s custom wound for the sound I wanted, I just told him the range of the sorts of things I wanted to play and he wound them to suit, so I'm not sure what the magnets are etc.
They are fitted in my LS 85 which has std humbucker routing.
If you're wanting hum buckers to replace the P90s then I'm sure he'll be able to do something to suit. Just drop him a mail. He's usually quick to respond, if he's not too busy.
My new guitar tutor commented on how good they sounded at my last lesson.

Hi Nick.

Thanks for the answer. I'm glad that it was a good experience. Sounds like the way to go! I'll describe the sound and let the specs be up to him

Thanks for sharing!

Mark