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Installing P90's into LP P100 holes?

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10/30/1999 6:47 PM

Installing P90's into LP P100 holes?

So I get these P90's to replace the P100's in my Gold Top Les Paul. How are they installed? Deeper hole (for P100's) and less room (P90's cover ENTIRE cavity). No access from behind (underneath) the pickup. Sorry if this sounds stupid but without instructions it seems futile. The only guitar I have with P90's is a 1963 Gibson ES125, and they mount with dog ears. Please help!

Thank you,

Jerry

10/31/1999 10:16 PM
Steve A.	Jerry: The P100 and P90 should be interchangeable in your LP. I have both of them and although I did not compare them side by side, they both looked the same to me. To confuse things, Gibson referred to both the soapbar and the dog-ear versions as P90's. The coils and magnets are the same but the mounting plate and covers are different. Steve Ahola

11/1/1999 6:38 PM
Earl	The p-90 without dog ears mounts to the guitar via two wood screws that go though the pickup. The only way to adjust the PU is to shim it from underneath. you could use popsickle sticks or small blocks for shims.

11/2/1999 2:28 PM
Doc	The mounting screws may not be wood screws. My LP Special came with P90s, and they were mounted with long machine screws. The "nuts" were threaded brass inserts pressed into blind holes at the bottom of the pickup cavity rout.

11/2/1999 8:12 PM
Earl	Just curious...is yours a recent Special? I hav'nt looked in while but I'm pretty sure My 57 uses wood screws.

11/3/1999 8:22 PM

Yeah, mine's a reissue made in '95. Maybe the wood screw method was updated due to eventual problems. I can imagine a hole in mahogany becoming worn with all that height adjusting one tends to go through. Mahogany tends to splinter easily, and those small screws have very little thread root depth (think of it as radial engagement dimension, not length of thread or hole depth). Wood screws are made essentially for permanent fastening, not for continual adjustment.

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