Vintage Vibe Guitars Pete's P-90

Pickup features: Single Coil, custom wound by Pete Biltoft
Impedence or other specs: Bridge: 10.81K Ohms, Neck 9.07K Ohms

Model of guitar or bass: Lotus LP Special type copy
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock pickups
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s):
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: Output level is something like or slightly hotter than a standard strat single coil but with more the tonal qualities of a PAF
Tone: balanced, single coil sound , darker and thicker than a strat, with lots of nice mids
Sonic evaluation: I'm playing a modded Lotus LP Special copy through a Fender Vibro champ. I was looking for a vintage P-90 sound, and these pickups definitely deliver. Not super hot, given the 10K Ohm or so DC resistance, but nevertheless these pickups have a nice balanced tone, plenty of warm mids, and a real edge to the sound at the same time. I'd place it tonally somewhere between a strat and a PAF. It's a very versatile sound - it's no wonder that some have called the P-90 the best pickup ever designed. I don't have any other guitars with P-90's to compare with, but going on memory of the LP Juniors that I've played or my friend's Reverend Slingshot (a great guitar, BTW), I feel that Pete's pickups are right up there with those. As far as the output, I was looking more for a vintage sound and output, but you can ask Pete to custom wind them hotter for you if you like.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Comments: I've been playing for about 20 years or so, and I own several guitars of different makes - an '83 strat, a recent Tele, an Agile LP 2500 Les Paul copy, and an old Peavey T-15 that I modded with a new neck and by replacing the stock pickups with a Seymour Duncan '59 and a Golden Age pickup. I bought Pete's P-90 as part of a guitar project. I wanted a guitar with P-90's, so took a Korean made Les Paul style copy, and modified the original humbucker routs to fit the longer and narrower shape of the P-90. I saw Pete's auctions on ebay, and decided to go for it on a whim as an alternative to the rather expensive (although high quality) PU's made by SD or Gibson. I'm really happy I did. Pete is a good guy who you can tell takes a lot of pride in his work, and makes high quality stuff at a reasonable price. I think it's particularly cool, especially in this day and age, that it's a real person you are dealing with, and not some faceless company. You can ask Pete to customize your pickup to whatever specs that you want. I'm glad that there are still independent guitar makers who are out there doing it, and providing a high quality alternative to the "man". :) Highly recommended. Definitely give Pete's stuff a try.

Pickup features: passive single coils
Impedence or other specs: neck: 9.5k bridge: 40% overwound at my request (specs at his website)

Model of guitar or bass: Epiphone ES-295 copy
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: stock Korean Epi P-90s
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): blues, R&B, rockabilly, surf, rock&roll, trad country, eclectica
Reason for pickup change: Stock pickups unacceptable

Perceived output level: Neck: close to same output as my 53 ES-125 though tonally different, neck: considerably hotter than stock Epi Korean pup, and most bridge pups I have used of any type.
Tone: The neck pup is very traditional sounding, though with a different treble profile -- you can use the tone control quite a bit to vary the tone whereas with my old Gibson P-90 I mostly leave it fully open. String balance is excellent, pup has excellent clarity from low to high, great warmth, and the ability to cut in a loud mix without sounding shrill. The bridge pup is totally untraditional due to its super overwinding. This means you lose that shimmery high end of a typical bridge P-90, but what you gain is an incredibly compressed, fat, rich, complex tone like nothing I've ever had before. It actually sounds close to Freddy King's gold top tone depending on amp setting (see below)
Sonic evaluation: I play this guitar through a BF modded SF Vibrolux Reverb (non-master), BF Super Reverb, SF Deluxe Reverb (non-master) for gigs, and through a Califone tube 78 player and various other tube creatures for recording and practice. The Vibrolux has a tremolo disconnect mod which gives you an extra preamp tube in effect; with this on, the neck pup will produce a great torn up Willie Johnson tone, and with cleaner settings, everything from Scotty Moore to electric Django tones leap out of the thing. The pups are wired to cancel hum in the middle position and in this setting there is a great almost out of phase sound that I find highly useable; twangy and full at the same time. The pups are unbelievably quiet for P-90s -- Pete touts this on his site and man, he's not kidding. I gig this guitar with the above amps' volume opened up pretty full -- to the point of feedback -- and am always amazed that the dreaded P-90 hum/buzz is so minimal.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: For the styles of music listed above these pickups are an outstanding value. Obviously the bridge pup won't suit a traditionalist, but I wanted it that way. In essence, this setup allows you to go from a nice bouncy Pee Wee Crayton tone to a more shredded Pete "Guitar" Williams tone in the middle of a song without losing volume and without changing your amp setting. That's a little overstated but you get the idea.

Comments: I've been playing since around '78, and professionally since around '88. I bought these on a whim to upgrade a great looking Korean guitar with terrible pups and these pups have made it a gigging staple. That's in addition to my '71 Tele ( my main stage guitar since I was a kid), a Tokai tele for slide. The other guitars are mostly staying home or being used for other projects. Pete's P-90s don't just sound tremendously good, they're also versatile and supremely USEABLE in loud gigging contexts -- very quiet operation with lots of power, cut, warmth and huge tone. I recently bought an awesome no-name 335 copy and can't wait to ditch the muddybuckers and put a set of his pups in it. Plus I'm all hot to try some of his Tele and Charlie Christian pups when I get the right guitar. Finally, I have to note that Pete is an unbelievably nice, patient, accommodating, dedicated guy. After buying them on Ebay, he and I communicated about their winding, etc. Then we had some iscommunications about their covers, installations, and then the neck pup died and needed to be replaced, and THEN I decided I wanted the overwound pup described above. Throughout all this Pete went way, WAY beyond the call of duty to help me out and make me happy. I'm writing this review (which I woukld never do othgerwise) in partial gratitude, but every word I've written is true. I'd never bs you about the stuff I gig with.

Pickup features: "P-90" style passive pickup, in matched sets
Impedence or other specs: 8,5Kohm neck, 10kohm bridge

Model of guitar or bass: Yamaha AEX-502
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock Asian P-90s
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Rock, Blues, "Modern", Alt-Country
Reason for pickup change: Original pickups were OK, but had spiky high end.

Perceived output level: Approximately the same as a "vintage wind" humbucker
Tone: Crisp, clear, articulate, well balanced
Sonic evaluation: When I first installed these pickups, I used 250kohm pots by mistake. The output seemed a little weaker than I expected, with rolled off highs. Very nice jazzy tones, but not what I expected.
With further investigation, I swapped out the pots for 500kohms, and a big difference. Brighter, more aggressive. The neck pickup really accentuates the hollowness of the guitar. I can get all the classic tones from Duane Eddy (I've got a bigsby retrofitted) to Neil Young to "Sweet Jane." To me the guitar now sounds like what a good telecaster would sound like, if Gibson had invented it. Lots of pluck when you dig in, but smooth and warm when you lay back. The volume levels between pickups are very well matched, and there is ZERO hum when both are combined. I'm seriously considering another humbucker-sized one to put in the neck position of my Les Paul to replace the Duncan '59 that's there now.
The sound clips on the web site aren't very good. Well, they are and they aren't. I'm not a big fan of the distortion tone that's dialed in there, but they do show how the pickup still retains attack and character when overly distorted.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: These probably aren't suited well for death metal, thrash, whatever with massive overdrive. All that gain would emphasize the hum. It is a single coil.

Comments: I would buy these pickups again in a heartbeat if I needed to replace them. I may buy more anyway for my other guitars (see above). Pete will wind them however you want them. He's really helpful and easy to deal with. You'll be hearing his name along with the other boutique guys soon.
I've been playing for a few decades, semi-pro for the past several years. Right now, this "bottom feeder" guitar (it was essentially free) is my favorite. I haven't felt this inspired with an electric guitar in a couple of years.

Pickup features: P-90
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Fender USA Telecaster
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Texas Special
Other pickups on guitar: Std Tele bridge
Artists using this pickup: Yodelin Dean - from Moonshine Hangover
You musical style(s): Country Rawk
Reason for pickup change: Just wanted something different with a big bold sound.

Perceived output level: Loud and proud, this baby has output for days- louder than the normal single
Tone: Big p-90 tone, no noise what so ever.
Sonic evaluation: I generall play with a SF Deluxe Reverb but also play thourgh various other tube amps. I use a ue-400, the ibanez rack effect with the ts-9 and the phaser and compressor in it. The p-90 over drives very nice, big sound ,not thin at all.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I usually play rhythm for country, and rock and what nots. When my other guitar player is playing the pedal and I need a big thick sound I switch on the p-90 and it fills it up nice. The middle position is perfect for just about everything. And when I want a nice overdriven lead, I just kick on the p90 - it;s so smooth, I get compliments all the time.

Comments: Id definately buy more of Petes pickups- might replace a few others some day. I've been playing for 15yrs or so, shows every week or so for a long time. I own lots of gear, I love Teles and Strats- and tube amps in general. I own lots of other pick ups and also love the Rio Grandes- but these p90s are sweeeet. I'm satisfied and I think this p90 will stay in this tele for a long time.

Pickup features: single coil
Impedence or other specs: P-90s

Model of guitar or bass: strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: duncans
Other pickups on guitar: same
Artists using this pickup: tons of them
You musical style(s): blues. classic rock.
Reason for pickup change: the quest for the ultimate tone of course!

Perceived output level: fender deluxe with a gfx 1 twintube and a peavey bandit stereo
Tone: big Balanced tone
Sonic evaluation:
For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: theese pups are suitable for just about anything!

Comments: If theese were stollen I would be on the phone first to pete to buy more then to the cops to report it!I also bought a set of petes strat pups and am in the process of installing them now I dont think I will ever use any other pickup again, I have a bolin custom strat and vintange strat and a 335 and soon i will pete build me a telecaster I ve playing for over 30 yrs the sound these pups put out make me wish I was just starting out again so I would have had this tone from the start!!! and as far as customer service pete does ablove and beoynd what he says he will I give this product a 12 a 10 just isnt enough! Tim Casady Redding Ca.

Pickup features: single coil
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: 1986 Gibson Les Paul
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Standard humbuckers
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Blues, rock, country, rockabilly, jazz
Reason for pickup change: looking for that signature P90 tone without spending money on a whole new guitar.

Perceived output level: The P90s are putting out approximately 9-10k ohm as apposed to the 7.5-8k of the original humbuckers.
Tone: The tone is punchy, clear and responsive. I play quite a bit of finger style for country and blues stuff and these pickups were made for it! However, when using a flatpick, the bass strings are clear as a bell and the high notes respond great when attacked with the pick.
Sonic evaluation: I'm using a Fender Blues Deville tube amp matched to either the P90 fitted Les Paul or my Deluxe Nashville Tele (the Tele has its own mods as well). I consider these two instruments an excellent pairing with the Deville amp. Cannot beat the tone for the price!

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: The P90's are a perfect match for the styles of music I play (stated above). Nothing wrong with humbuckers, but I dont' play the rock as much as I did 15 years ago and therefore was searching for a change. The humbuckers were removed, but not far from reach. I used quick connectors to wire in the P90s so if there comes a time I want to pop the HBs back in I can do so by simply removing the four pickup ring screws, unplug the p90 and plug in the HB. As easy as changing a set of strings. The reason this is possible is because Pete from Vintage Vibe Guitars was able to custom make P90s to fit the HB size pickup rings. No wood cutting!!!!!!

Comments: If my Les Paul was stolen I would be saving for another one and I would have Pete build me two more P90s.
The only other guitar I would consider buying is either a Gretsch or Guild hollow body. I love the sound they produce!

Pickup features: Low noise Vintage sounding P-90... hand made by Pete Biltoft
Impedence or other specs: DC resistance...Neck=8.80K ohms Bridge=10.51K ohms

Model of guitar or bass: Gidin LG P-90 model
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock Seymour Duncan P-90's
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: Dont Know.....
You musical style(s): Blues...Soul.... R&R..... R&B......
Reason for pickup change: The orig. Seymour Duncan pickups sounded GREAT distorted but were a bit to dark and sounded too much like a humbucker when used clean...I needed a little more single coil sound....

Perceived output level: These P-90's sound VERY VINTAGE !!!! like an old L.P. JR. somewhere between a good single coil and a old P.A.F.
Tone: This Vintage Vibe model is very balanced !!!! They make other P-90's with more girth !!!!!
Sonic evaluation: I use this guitar as my Strat option....Im a Humbucker guy !!!! Amps are a Reverend Hellhound 40/60 and a Mesa Boogie Blue Angel... I use a few pedals but mostly its guitar and amp.....

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: The Godin LG is an unknown pleasure !!!!! With these pickups it is a great alt. to a Strat.....

Comments: Well if the guitar was stolen I would replace it NO DOUBT !!!! Ive been at it for 3 decades...and have owned lots of gear...I am TOTALLY SATISFIED with these pickups !!!! I would change nothing !!!! I tried these after seeing them on an ebay auction and talking to Pete....( A GOOD GUY )... Please give Pete's products a try... Im sure he can help you find YOUR SOUND !!!!