Wolfetone Hybrid-90 Prototype

Pickup features: P-90 Bobbin with a ferrous bottom plate in a molded humbucker casing.
Impedence or other specs: 8.9 K ohms

Model of guitar or bass: Heritage H-150
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Schaller Golden '50's Humbucker
Other pickups on guitar: Tom Holmes PAF Reproduction in neck position.
Artists using this pickup: None that I know of -- it's a new prototype.
You musical style(s): Blues, '50's Blue Note-era Jazz, R&B
Reason for pickup change: I wanted to try something different and interesting -- and I did!

Perceived output level: Moderately hot output -- like a slightyly overwound P-90 or Tele Bridge Pickup.
Tone: Balanced and very musical, but with an edge -- flavored with a dash of aggressive Tele honk.
Sonic evaluation: This is a complex, fascinating pickup. It has that unmistakable P-90 quality -- fat, but with solid note definition. With the guitar volume on full, it's aggressive, but the notes ring out -- it's never dark or muddy. Here's the surprise -- it has a taste of the Tele bridge pickup's honking aggressiveness -- VERY NICE! -- but again, the coil is like that of a P-90, and the sound is much like that of the P-90.
I tried this pickup through a bunch of amps, at low, middle, and high volumes. The amps were as follows: '59 Fender Bassman Reissue, Marshall Plexi Reissue, '72 Traynor Bassmaster, and a Juke Warbler. My experience was pretty consistent. At low volumes, this pickup gives a clear, but nicely rounded tone -- VERY musical. It sounded terrific through the Juke Warbler's rich tremolo and reverb. At higher volumes, with the guitar volume on full, it's aggressive and a little bit nasty -- this is a great sound, blues heaven! When I cranked the volume on the Bassman and -- look out -- on the Plexi Reissue -- it was scary. I don't usually play at full volume, so it was quite an experience. At mid-volume (a more common setting for me) this pickup was great -- forward and aggressive, but ALWAYS musical. I just loved it -- again, Blues Heaven. The big surprise was in how it sounded with the selector switch in the middle position, which mated it with the Holmes PAF repro (a very fine pickup by itself)-- it was terrific, and I don't remember ever playing a guitar with this sound before. In the middle position, the H-90 gave the notes a much rounder, more defined sound than they had before. There was, again, that flavor of the Tele honk, but subtle, very subtle. I could pretty much dial this in with the guitar's separate volume and tone controls for each pickup -- I've had hours of fun with this. The Heritage H-150 has always been a good, dependable guitar (for those who don't know, it's very much like a Les Paul), but with the Wolfetone H-90, it's become a great guitar, a real tone machine.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: This is a great pickup for what I play -- blues, jazz, R&B.

Comments: I think that Wolfe has produced a really unique and distinctive pickup in the H-90. GREAT tone, and lots of it. With the H-90, Wolfe hasn't just hit a home run -- he's ripped the cover off the ball.
Since this pickup is a prototype, and on loan, I have to give it back (ouch -- a painful loss). But when I send it back, I'm going to include a check to buy a replacement. I LOVE this pickup.

Pickup features: Traditional P-90 bobbin in a humbucker mounting
Impedence or other specs: Prototype wound to 9.6

Model of guitar or bass: Epiphone Les Paul Custom
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Epiphone standard
Other pickups on guitar: Epiphone standard
Artists using this pickup: Various
You musical style(s): Blues, Rock
Reason for pickup change: This was a prototype of the H-90. The idea was to adapt an
actual P-90 bobbin to a humbucker mounting. This is not the
same as other P-90 type pickups made for humbucker slots,
which use a different bobbin and do not have the original
P-90 sound.

Perceived output level: This example was wound to 9.6. Medium output.
Tone: Very balanced, bluesy tone with good sustain.
Sonic evaluation: Fat blues and jazz tones with the volume backed off, beings to really
scream as the volume comes up. Very low noise for a P-90 type. The H-90
put out about the same noise level as a Gibson humbucker. Nice. We
tried this through a modded 1978 Marshall 2204 JMP series combo with
two Celestion greenbacks. Got the Led Zeppelin I thing right away.
Experimenting with bringing down the guitars volume got into the super
fat Otis Rush and Albert King zone. Good range of different useable
tones with the guitars volume knob. Volume backed way off was a very
clean jazz tone. Compared several P-90's through the same rig and this
one had the greatest range of useable tones.
Amp settings used: Pres-4, Bass-7, Mid-4, Treble-4, Gain-6, Vol-3/5
High Input, 8ohm load. Amp settings consistant.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Excellent pickup for any P-90 type application. Would really be good as a neck PU in combination with a humbucker in the bridge.

Comments: Overall I give this a 10 because its a really good P-90 style pickup
and it is the only humbucker size direct replacement with an actual
P-90 bobbin. (the wider, flatter old style P-90 bobbin). Cool.