A few people have said that the caps in this one are likely not stock so I think they have been modified at some point. I believe everything else in the video is correct to the best of my knowledge. Cheers 👍
Really good choice of amp to mate this with, nice to see it ripping through a crunching Marshall rather than an amp sim or 'pedal platform'. Great video, nice work!
Great review Dan, thanks for sharing this. Defiantly my next guitar. I do have an 80’s LP Special DC which sounds great too but all the reviews of these new ones are excellent. 👍🏻
P90s are the best pickup all around. You can get some fantastic, jazzy, clean tones out of them when you want to, but they'll get as crunchy as you want on the other end too. Definitely my favorite pickup of them all.
I hesitate between the vintage or the hot tonerider p90 to upgrade my hammer Monaco spécial K in bridge position, love that balanced and open sounding from the vintage one, but love the more dirty sound of the hot version too....
This is the video that made me decide to put Tonerider Vintage 90s on my Epiphone Les Paul Special. And I am loving the guitar more that it has become my #1! Also put a Rebel 90 on my other Les Paul. Awesome video, Dan! Cheers!
Great-sounding axe, Dan! You seem to have a knack for those :). Excellent pickups, these Hot 90s! I may replace by Revstar pickups with them (these are ok but a bit dark).
I have the Epi LP Special with the stock P-90's, I have a Marshall DSL1CR in my bedroom and it sounds really good with the LP. Great combination for under a thousand dollars.
Good job! Looking inside the pot cavity the caps are different than the stock EPI caps so maybe the owner (tonerider folks) put in better vintage style caps when they replaced the pickups as the stock caps are small little red ones. Probably a good upgrade when changing pickups.
Interesting. I did check with them before posting and they said that’s how they bought it. Is yours definitely the 2020 spec ‘inspired by Gibson’ model also?
I get fantastic tone out of mine too, but with the stock pickups. I adjusted the pole pieces carefully and the height too, achieved the right tones when played through a tube amp. I replaced the bridge with a similar design Tone Pros. Like you, I find the guitar pretty good overall. Never mind the paint job, do you want to drop another thousand for nitro? I’m not rich, so I love the mustard yellow thick as syrup paint. Don’t know anything about tone riders, but stock ones are very good indeed. Mine likes to be played loud. You get a good sound thru that Marshall. And as you mentioned the wiring and pots are first rate. Smooth sweep on both volume and tone, and they are interactive for sure. I can get whatever type of tone I want, even jazzy bassy stuff. It’s as versatile as my Tele but with better tones. Good review.
I like it for the "just torn speaker cone" sound. You called it a bark..to me it's a ragged shred sound. Took me almost 2 years to figure it out but once I got the tone and volume to where the P90 liked it, I finally heard what the buzz was about and understood the pickup. A 1245AM, end of gig on a good night sound where the band is having a good time on a rockin tune. Best Regards!
Hi Dan, good information indeed and I enjoyed hanging out, definitely not Garbarge. Nice responsive guitar and pickups. I too have locking tuners on most of my guitars.
The day I put a set of lockers on a guitar it was one of those light bulb moments. Saved me so much time and faff! Definitely need to add some p90s to the herd!
Person non sequitur: Dan, when you talk about the neck of this LP Special being partway toward baseball bat thickness, it makes me want to listen to the Outfield. That’s not a bad thing.
Same! Shouldn’t have given this one back 😂 While I haven’t compared them in any scientific way, I’d say they are pretty close. The Rebel 90 is closer to the Vintage 90 soapbar. I think the standard p90’s are perhaps a little more ‘focused’ sounding. A little tighter on the bottom end. I think just due to the construction. It’s not a massive difference though.
Hey Dan, did you guitar come with a black switch tip on the selector? I have seen some that come with white tips, others with black tips. I see you got a nice vintage correct amber tip on there!
I'm deaf now lol I have the flat black version from about 5-7 years ago. I find it in the closest and bring it back out. Great guitar, great tone after replacing the switch. So, the tuners blow but I'm looking to replace those.
Picked mine up for $319.00 American. The stock P-90s sound great clean and with some dirt. I'm even getting used to the polymustard mega shell finish. Thanks for the video.
The Origin sounds damn good I have the 50 head and love the sounds I get out of it can't wait to get out gigging again and crank it up the way they're meant to be played great also
Great video! I just got this guitar, I do like it but that neck takes a bit getting used to as Im mainly playing cv tele. I was gonna mod the pickups to the tonerider set but dont know if I want the Hot90 or the Vintage. My question to you is: what caps are those in your guitar? They are not stock, this I can assure you. I wanted to change those out too. Thanks!
You are absolutely right, they aren’t stock. That’s how they got the guitar so just believed it to be stock but it must have been modded. I don’t have the guitar to check but they were Jupiter brand I think.
I hear you. It’s definitely a trade off. There is just something about the sound that I haven’t got out of humbuckers so far. The noise can be a drag though.
@@DanLeggatt The Tonerider Alnico 2 PAF style scatter-wound humbuckers are the real deal. They can sound extremely close to a P90, they have that quack, honk and that certain "airyness". The pick sensitive dynamics are equal to P90s and they sustain better than anything I've ever tried.
@@AudiophileTommy Yes, I have them in one of my Les Pauls. They sound very typical of a Gibson P90 which is great but I slightly prefer the AC2 PAF scatter-wound Humbuckers. They are similar, the AC2s sing a little better (more sustain) and are quieter. Their clarity and voicing are very similar. I just think the AC2s are a tad bit better in every aspect.
Dude! Just got the Hot 90 installed installed into a Revstar 502 bridge. Sounds ... harsh! Argh! I was hoping it was a bit more "forgiving""! The original Yamaha pickup actually seems better, although not as "focused". I've tried angling the pickups, raising and lowering the pole pieces, using an EQ, but the pickup is just EXTREMELY mid-heavy and kind of has dull bass and treble. Do you get that impression or do you think there might be an issue with my pickup? I'll check the magnet poles, because they may be reversed in my pickup, which may be causing that extreme mid-bump.
@@DanLeggatt Dan, I've raised the pickups to the right height, now the bridge screams! :) Actually a very fine set, I've got the Hot 90 bridge coupled with the Vintage 90 neck. The Vintage 90 neck is very smooth and round, whereas the bridge quite raunchy so that the middle sounds great. That's definitely a pickup combo to try out, imo :). Cheers! P.S. - I think the Revstar has 500 k pots.
I dig those caps and the roll off definitely not epiphone.. jupiter caps! Not sure if that's an epiphone switch they are black looks like switchcraft although you can get a colored switch for an epiphone.. sounds great thumbs up to tonerider.. either way we see what it could be after a couple mods... thank you.. great review!
Do you have any experience with "stacked" P90's? They're supposed to keep the P90 tone but lil the noise. Sounds too good to be true to me. I recently sold my 2018 Gibson Les Paul BFG, P90 version. Because of the noise I was getting from the stock Gibson P90's. Should've given it more time I suppose......
I haven’t actually ever tried any unfortunately. I know there is some good ones out there though according to friends or Internet forums. I think you sacrifice a small amount of ‘mojo’ but worth it if the hum bothers you.
I have this same LPS and the pickups don’t hum at all unless you’re turned up over about 5 on a hot rod deluxe, that’s real fucking loud. I wouldn’t change the pickups on mine at all.
Here Dan do you not just love the P90's cause I do...!!!! You were defo smiling a couple of times there...!! OOOOH a P90 convert maybe....? Remember these are fitted with the Tone Riders... The Epi ones will likey be very different..
@@DanLeggatt I’ve got four guitars with p90’s on them. Two les Paul DC specials , a Japanese Tokia DC Junior and a Michael Kelly patriot that I bought for slide... love them all and they all sound so different.. All 2nd hand the Tokia cost as much as the Gibsons but defo worth it...
I loved those sounds. I've been wanting to have a P90 guitar for some time and I finally pulled the trigger on a Harley Benton CST-24 P90 (PRS style) just yesterday. A pity you're having trouble in the UK with getting stuff from Thomann, I was gonna mention the Harley Benton SC-Special but I see it's Brexit that's holding you back from having one (and the yellow one does have a see-through finish so you do get the wood grain, just lovely). I'm dying to try the P90s out when my delivery shows up. And now, to watch your video about the P90 shootout.....
I’m sure it’ll get better with Thomann. It’s obviously not their fault at all, it’s the situation here that makes it difficult. Just seems a lot of hoops to jump through. I’ve seen stories of a delivery showing up damaged so they’ve had to send it back to Thomann. Then they have to try and claim back the tax and import duty on top which is apparently really difficult. I’m only basing this on what I’ve read on forums but it just seems like it could be a lot of hassle. It’s a real shame though, I’ve used them loads over the years. Thanks for watching. 👍
How is the noise on these? I know it's the nature of P90s but the stock ones in my older Epi Special are ridiculous. Looking to upgrade and I have good experiences with Tonerider Strat pickups.
These seem about normal for p90s. Often the noise of the pickups is less to do with the pickups themselves and more to do with the environment. Do you have any dimmer switches or screens in your playing space? Does the humming / buzzing go away when you angle the guitar in certain directions? Shielding the guitar can help a lot too.
Have that guitar. Crazy good guitar for the price! But your guitar is upgraded. Pots should be CTS but the caps is originally tiny, cheap ones. And no 50s wiring from the factory.
Please don't tell me you did a review on a guitar that didn't have the original pickups in it, how am I supposed to know what it's going to sound like whenever I buy one? How about just don't do a review on a guitar that's been modded
I think I’ll probably listen to the other 26k people that have watched and enjoyed the video to be honest 👍 It’s stated in the title of the video that it’s not stock pickups and you chose to click on it and leave this comment 🤣 Guitar reviews are as much about the feel and features of the instrument and Tonerider pickups are an extremely common mod of these guitars for very little money. Seemed like a useful video to make but you know what the people want so I’m looking forward to seeing all of the free video reviews on your channel 👍
A few people have said that the caps in this one are likely not stock so I think they have been modified at some point. I believe everything else in the video is correct to the best of my knowledge. Cheers 👍
Caps?
Capacitors
Caps are indeed not original, but should not change the tone in any drastic way (better/worse)
I love P90s. Clear, crunchy, warm, versatile and powerful sound.
I prefer it over humbucker.
Really good choice of amp to mate this with, nice to see it ripping through a crunching Marshall rather than an amp sim or 'pedal platform'. Great video, nice work!
Cheers!
Really well done on showing all that this guitar has to offer tone wise. Great pickin too.
Cheers!
Great review Dan, thanks for sharing this. Defiantly my next guitar.
I do have an 80’s LP Special DC which sounds great too but all the reviews of these new ones are excellent. 👍🏻
P90s are the best pickup all around. You can get some fantastic, jazzy, clean tones out of them when you want to, but they'll get as crunchy as you want on the other end too. Definitely my favorite pickup of them all.
I hesitate between the vintage or the hot tonerider p90 to upgrade my hammer Monaco spécial K in bridge position, love that balanced and open sounding from the vintage one, but love the more dirty sound of the hot version too....
This is the video that made me decide to put Tonerider Vintage 90s on my Epiphone Les Paul Special. And I am loving the guitar more that it has become my #1! Also put a Rebel 90 on my other Les Paul. Awesome video, Dan! Cheers!
How do the Vintage 90s compare to stock?
Have the SG and feel it's lacking som growl and bite...
Love those P-90s! Crunchy with the tone knob down to 0…
That sounds great!!! I have not been keeping up with your videos!!!!
Yes, I will be looking to get a pair of the vintage P90s to put in one of mine.
This is the demo of this beast that I was looking for. I would totally trade my tele for this guitar
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
This young man certainly knows what he's talking about. Bravo.
I've sanded off all the paint from the neck, now it's totaly smooth.
Great-sounding axe, Dan! You seem to have a knack for those :). Excellent pickups, these Hot 90s! I may replace by Revstar pickups with them (these are ok but a bit dark).
I have the Epi LP Special with the stock P-90's, I have a Marshall DSL1CR in my bedroom and it sounds really good with the LP. Great combination for under a thousand dollars.
Good job! Looking inside the pot cavity the caps are different than the stock EPI caps so maybe the owner (tonerider folks) put in better vintage style caps when they replaced the pickups as the stock caps are small little red ones. Probably a good upgrade when changing pickups.
Interesting. I did check with them before posting and they said that’s how they bought it. Is yours definitely the 2020 spec ‘inspired by Gibson’ model also?
I get fantastic tone out of mine too, but with the stock pickups. I adjusted the pole pieces carefully and the height too, achieved the right tones when played through a tube amp. I replaced the bridge with a similar design Tone Pros. Like you, I find the guitar pretty good overall. Never mind the paint job, do you want to drop another thousand for nitro? I’m not rich, so I love the mustard yellow thick as syrup paint. Don’t know anything about tone riders, but stock ones are very good indeed. Mine likes to be played loud. You get a good sound thru that Marshall. And as you mentioned the wiring and pots are first rate. Smooth sweep on both volume and tone, and they are interactive for sure. I can get whatever type of tone I want, even jazzy bassy stuff. It’s as versatile as my Tele but with better tones. Good review.
Cheers 👍
Did you adjust the pole pieces and height on both stock pickups?
What a guitar! Ridiculously good for the price it's at.
I like it for the "just torn speaker cone" sound. You called it a bark..to me it's a ragged shred sound. Took me almost 2 years to figure it out but once I got the tone and volume to where the P90 liked it, I finally heard what the buzz was about and understood the pickup. A 1245AM, end of gig on a good night sound where the band is having a good time on a rockin tune. Best Regards!
Very good description! I’m definitely falling for the p90 tone.
Man! Tone is superb!!!!! Love your playing!
Very kind, cheers!
Hi Dan, good information indeed and I enjoyed hanging out, definitely not Garbarge. Nice responsive guitar and pickups. I too have locking tuners on most of my guitars.
The day I put a set of lockers on a guitar it was one of those light bulb moments. Saved me so much time and faff! Definitely need to add some p90s to the herd!
Thanks Dan.
Those pickups sound great. Plenty of high end definition and they still have some balls.
Agreed!
Person non sequitur: Dan, when you talk about the neck of this LP Special being partway toward baseball bat thickness, it makes me want to listen to the Outfield. That’s not a bad thing.
Did you add those capacitors to the guitar? Did you feel any difference? Thanks! Great content btw ;)
There's definitely a p90 shaped hole in my life at the moment. Do you notice much of a different between the soapbars and a HB sized one?
Same! Shouldn’t have given this one back 😂 While I haven’t compared them in any scientific way, I’d say they are pretty close. The Rebel 90 is closer to the Vintage 90 soapbar. I think the standard p90’s are perhaps a little more ‘focused’ sounding. A little tighter on the bottom end. I think just due to the construction. It’s not a massive difference though.
My - That has GOT to be a title for a song !!! There’s a p90 shaped hole in my life 😂🤣😂🤣😂😘😘😘😘 Or there’s a p90 shaped hole in my heart ♥️
Great video. Amazing sounds.
Great sounding stuff dude, it’s definitely time we went on a p90 guitar safari for you!
Most definitely mate! So much overdue guitar shopping to do 😂
I got my les paul custom guitars and I gonna ordered that p90 pickups on that 👊🏼👊🏼👊🏼loved that sound ❤
Hey Dan, did you guitar come with a black switch tip on the selector? I have seen some that come with white tips, others with black tips. I see you got a nice vintage correct amber tip on there!
You've changed the toggle...
I'm deaf now lol I have the flat black version from about 5-7 years ago. I find it in the closest and bring it back out. Great guitar, great tone after replacing the switch. So, the tuners blow but I'm looking to replace those.
Picked mine up for $319.00 American. The stock
P-90s sound great clean and with some dirt. I'm
even getting used to the polymustard mega shell
finish. Thanks for the video.
Enjoy the new guitar!
Does your hand stick to the neck?
I’ve just picked one up and the colour is... unusual. But plays so well.
The Origin sounds damn good I have the 50 head and love the sounds I get out of it can't wait to get out gigging again and crank it up the way they're meant to be played great also
You and me both! I still haven’t had an opportunity to play it out yet. Hopefully not too long now.
Nice neck joint. No excess body on the cutaway. Or at least just a little bit.
Hey man, really KILLER playing and tone there!!!! Makes me want to buy an origin! What cab are you using??
Thank you! It’s going straight into a two notes captor to avoid the neighbours trying to kill me 🤣 IR is a RedWirez free Greenback 4x12 👍
Great video! I just got this guitar, I do like it but that neck takes a bit getting used to as Im mainly playing cv tele. I was gonna mod the pickups to the tonerider set but dont know if I want the Hot90 or the Vintage. My question to you is: what caps are those in your guitar? They are not stock, this I can assure you. I wanted to change those out too. Thanks!
You are absolutely right, they aren’t stock. That’s how they got the guitar so just believed it to be stock but it must have been modded. I don’t have the guitar to check but they were Jupiter brand I think.
You sound awesome! Is this guitar comfortable to play while sitting?
Absolutely, nice and balanced
Man, I really want to love P90's, but I can't get past the noise. Sticking with PAF's for now. Great playing, nice guitar.
I hear you. It’s definitely a trade off. There is just something about the sound that I haven’t got out of humbuckers so far. The noise can be a drag though.
@@DanLeggatt
The Tonerider Alnico 2 PAF style scatter-wound humbuckers are the real deal.
They can sound extremely close to a P90, they have that quack, honk and that certain "airyness". The pick sensitive dynamics are equal to P90s and they sustain better than anything I've ever tried.
@@DanLeggatt
I know that you have demonstrated the Tonerider AC2
Just giving my perspective.
@@stricknine8623 have you tried the Tonerider Rebel 90 Humbucker Replacement P90s ?
@@AudiophileTommy
Yes, I have them in one of my Les Pauls. They sound very typical of a Gibson P90 which is great but I slightly prefer the AC2 PAF scatter-wound Humbuckers. They are similar, the AC2s sing a little better (more sustain) and are quieter. Their clarity and voicing are very similar. I just think the AC2s are a tad bit better in every aspect.
Dude! Just got the Hot 90 installed installed into a Revstar 502 bridge. Sounds ... harsh! Argh! I was hoping it was a bit more "forgiving""! The original Yamaha pickup actually seems better, although not as "focused". I've tried angling the pickups, raising and lowering the pole pieces, using an EQ, but the pickup is just EXTREMELY mid-heavy and kind of has dull bass and treble. Do you get that impression or do you think there might be an issue with my pickup? I'll check the magnet poles, because they may be reversed in my pickup, which may be causing that extreme mid-bump.
Interesting. P90s always have a raunchy mid range but still sound really full. Perhaps it just doesn’t agree with your guitar? What’s the pot values?
@@DanLeggatt Dan, I've raised the pickups to the right height, now the bridge screams! :) Actually a very fine set, I've got the Hot 90 bridge coupled with the Vintage 90 neck. The Vintage 90 neck is very smooth and round, whereas the bridge quite raunchy so that the middle sounds great. That's definitely a pickup combo to try out, imo :). Cheers! P.S. - I think the Revstar has 500 k pots.
I'm not really interested in Les Pauls but this one has something about it.
It definitely has a different voice but it also feels very different to standard Les Pauls. Thanks for watching 👍
I dig those caps and the roll off definitely not epiphone.. jupiter caps! Not sure if that's an epiphone switch they are black looks like switchcraft although you can get a colored switch for an epiphone.. sounds great thumbs up to tonerider.. either way we see what it could be after a couple mods... thank you.. great review!
Good to know. Unfortunately I’d never played one stock so just had to go on the info I had. Glad some of you guys are in the know 👍 Cheers
Hi, are you using Marshall Origin 20 or 50? Thanks
It's the 20
Do you have any experience with "stacked" P90's? They're supposed to keep the P90 tone but lil the noise. Sounds too good to be true to me. I recently sold my 2018 Gibson Les Paul BFG, P90 version. Because of the noise I was getting from the stock Gibson P90's. Should've given it more time I suppose......
I haven’t actually ever tried any unfortunately. I know there is some good ones out there though according to friends or Internet forums. I think you sacrifice a small amount of ‘mojo’ but worth it if the hum bothers you.
I have this same LPS and the pickups don’t hum at all unless you’re turned up over about 5 on a hot rod deluxe, that’s real fucking loud. I wouldn’t change the pickups on mine at all.
Here Dan do you not just love the P90's cause I do...!!!! You were defo smiling a couple of times there...!! OOOOH a P90 convert maybe....? Remember these are fitted with the Tone Riders... The Epi ones will likey be very different..
For sure. I’d love to add a p90 guitar to the collection but going to probably wait until the shops open again to try a few out!
@@DanLeggatt I’ve got four guitars with p90’s on them. Two les Paul DC specials , a Japanese Tokia DC Junior and a Michael Kelly patriot that I bought for slide... love them all and they all sound so different.. All 2nd hand the Tokia cost as much as the Gibsons but defo worth it...
I loved those sounds. I've been wanting to have a P90 guitar for some time and I finally pulled the trigger on a Harley Benton CST-24 P90 (PRS style) just yesterday. A pity you're having trouble in the UK with getting stuff from Thomann, I was gonna mention the Harley Benton SC-Special but I see it's Brexit that's holding you back from having one (and the yellow one does have a see-through finish so you do get the wood grain, just lovely). I'm dying to try the P90s out when my delivery shows up. And now, to watch your video about the P90 shootout.....
I’m sure it’ll get better with Thomann. It’s obviously not their fault at all, it’s the situation here that makes it difficult. Just seems a lot of hoops to jump through. I’ve seen stories of a delivery showing up damaged so they’ve had to send it back to Thomann. Then they have to try and claim back the tax and import duty on top which is apparently really difficult. I’m only basing this on what I’ve read on forums but it just seems like it could be a lot of hassle. It’s a real shame though, I’ve used them loads over the years. Thanks for watching. 👍
How is the noise on these? I know it's the nature of P90s but the stock ones in my older Epi Special are ridiculous. Looking to upgrade and I have good experiences with Tonerider Strat pickups.
These seem about normal for p90s. Often the noise of the pickups is less to do with the pickups themselves and more to do with the environment. Do you have any dimmer switches or screens in your playing space? Does the humming / buzzing go away when you angle the guitar in certain directions? Shielding the guitar can help a lot too.
Are they 500K pots?
Yep 👍
How would you compare this one, soundwise, with the Epiphone SG P90?
I have the SG P90, main difference is the neck wich is slimmer on the SG and the body-shape. Same pickups (not the same as in this video) and tuners.
Just got one for 170usd. Its terrible setup. I hope I can get it better.
Im amazed how light it is.
The neck it not that thicks.
Have that guitar. Crazy good guitar for the price! But your guitar is upgraded. Pots should be CTS but the caps is originally tiny, cheap ones. And no 50s wiring from the factory.
You aren’t the first one to say that so this one must have been tweaked at some point. I’ll add a note to the top of the comments. Cheers 👍
Epiphones are poly. Gibsons are nitro. They feel different
Well, we Serbians are in "Brexit" tax situation for more than 30 years. You will get used to it 😉
Great axe, i might want one for myself 🤞🤞🤞
nek si mu rekao 😀
A mustard guitar with 2 sausage as pickups....well i m kidding !
😂😂
Please don't tell me you did a review on a guitar that didn't have the original pickups in it, how am I supposed to know what it's going to sound like whenever I buy one? How about just don't do a review on a guitar that's been modded
I think I’ll probably listen to the other 26k people that have watched and enjoyed the video to be honest 👍 It’s stated in the title of the video that it’s not stock pickups and you chose to click on it and leave this comment 🤣
Guitar reviews are as much about the feel and features of the instrument and Tonerider pickups are an extremely common mod of these guitars for very little money. Seemed like a useful video to make but you know what the people want so I’m looking forward to seeing all of the free video reviews on your channel 👍
Should've bought a Gibson!😂