Klein Pickups Telecaster P90

This is a passive single-coil pickup wound to roughly 11k, voiced to sound like a P-90.

I put this in the bridge of a parts tele with a birdseye maple Schecter custom shop neck and a chambered ash body with figured maple top and back I got off ebay. The result is a truly awesome Tele that my wife refers to as "the other woman".

There's no neck pickup at the moment, probably will be soon enough. And Chris Klein will be my go-to guy for that.

I use this guitar through a Suhr Badger 18 with a Carbon Copy in the loop and a Zvex Box of Rock in front. I play mostly rock, lots of improv, bits of blues, country, metal, jazz and other stuff thrown in. I'm currently getting the best tone I've ever gotten. This thing just flat out rocks! Turned up it has a good amount of output, but not too much. It remains articulate, sweet and full even with a good amount of gain. No icepick here, but plenty of rich detailed highs. Roll back the volume a bit and you are rewarded with beautiful chime, twang and jangle. Very open and organic sounding. I actually swapped this, very briefly, for a Duncan Custom Shop Tele Pearly Gates because I thought I wanted more output and fatter highs. I didn't really appreciate how great the Klein sounded until I replaced it. The Klein was back in there within 5 days, and everything is right with the world again.

I would absolutely replace this pickup. It has a fantastic sound that never overwhelms the natural sound of the guitar. All that's left to do is contact Chris Klein and get a neck pickup that matches well. If you're looking for an incredible, hand-wound pickup at a reasonable price, then you owe it to yourself to check out Klein pickups.

Not sure why it is called a P-90. I'll have to ask Chris sometime. It is really a very hot single coil for the Tele in the bridge position. Chris uses old school contruction methods. Attention to detail is very good. Mine is 9.9K.

I have a Klein T-1 in the neck and the P-90 in the Bridge. I have this combination in two guitars, so I guess I like it. This is a custom built Tele so I have nothing to compare it to but a standard American Telecatser which I also have. My American standard has a more Twangy sound. This P-90 can play clean but is you push it a little bit hard it will scream. Not very harsh, but it will break up. The standard Tele pickup is cleaner.

Can play clean but it will drive your amp sooner than the stock pickup. Good for Blues, Rock and even Country. I think a sweeter pickup like the T-1 is a good match for this. In combination you will get a full, driving tone.

You will have to look hard to find a pickup with the quuality of tone and contruction for what Chris sells these for. Chris has a no bull policy about you satisfaction. Go to his site and see what he is up to.

Single coil P90 sounding pickup for Tele bridge. According to Klein's website, "Tele Bridge Pickup with an output of a P-90/Humbucker. This bridge incorporates 3/4 inch Alnico 5 flush mounted magnets with warm sounding magnet wire. The output is about 10k. The pickup has extreme clarity with plenty of power to push any amp just like the traditional P-90's. The pickup comes with white or black cotton wrapped around the coil and has a slight aging to pickup to give it a vintage appeal."

I measured about 10.7k ohms on mine.

The P90 is installed on a custom Tele I built, with mahogany body, 1/4" maple facing, mahogany neck with rosewood fretboard, PRS 25" scale. The body is 1.6" thick versus 1.9" for Fender Tele. The neck pup is also a Klein (T2: see other review).

The P90 certainly has the mojo!

I've never heard a P90 on a Tele. Keep in mind this guitar's construction. The output has lots of drive, mild-hot, not nasty mushy hot. It gives a nice crunch with a clean amp without being muddy. Individual notes are clean sounding, with lots of punch, and even with the tone knob all the way up no ice pick in the ear sound.

The major (nice!) surprise was the middle switch setting, where the two pups sounded a lot like out-of-phase humbuckers - think Dire Straits 'Sultans of Swing sound. These pups can cover everything from blues to early rock to Led Zep. No heavy mush-metal need apply.

I really like this pup! And I don't give out 10s easily.

I've got Duncan, Dimarzio, Gibson, GFS, Fender, Torres, Lawrence, etc pups, on Les Pauls, Strat, G&L, Bunker, and two other custom gits, and the Kleins compare very favorably to the best of the bunch. I chose 'me based on both the reviews, talking with Chris Klein, and had to try something different. This guy gives us a custom pup series without the custom price. Don't think, just buy 'em!