Head to head! Lollar P90 vs. StewMac P90 vs. Seymour Duncan P90 Stack vs. Seymour Duncan Custom P90

Рет қаралды 24,189

Күн бұрын

Thanks again to Scott Rockwood for his help with this video!
@scottrockwoodmusic
scottrockwo...
Pickups used in this video:
StewMac Modern Soapbar P-90 Pickups: stewmac.sjv.io/QybOLM
Lollar Soapbar P90: www.lollarguitars.com/lollar-...
Seymour Duncan P90 Stack®: www.seymourduncan.com/single-...
Seymour Duncan Custom P90: www.seymourduncan.com/single-...
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Пікірлер: 111

@zmix 11 ай бұрын

0:55 Lollar 1:54 Duncan Stack 2:49 Stew Mac 3:48 Duncan Custom

@kmichaelp4508 11 ай бұрын

I think I liked the P90 one the best 🤔

@MayorMcCheese2000 11 ай бұрын

I'd like some more of these please! I love these new showdown videos, and or electric guitar based content!

@jmledesma88 11 ай бұрын

Hey guys, nice comparisson. What about the Lollar 50s wind vs the Seymour Duncan Antiquity's. I've got Antiquity's in a guitar (had them for 15 years) and they sound incredible, so good actually that I've sold the guitar they were in because it was a little bit too heavy but I had to keep them and build another guitar just to put them in. I always wondered how they compare with Lollar 50s wind (or regular ones for that matter). Cheers

@MET3 11 ай бұрын

Honestly, they are all close enough that I would need in a back to back to hear the difference. These all sound great. All slightly different, but unless you are searching for a very specific sound any of them would work.

@beatriced8184 11 ай бұрын

Love the smooth tones of the Lollar

@dorianmode69 4 ай бұрын

Yeah that is the one i would choose

@redbirdjazzz 9 ай бұрын

Curtis Novak and Mojo Pickups both have some really interesting designs. Novak has a pickup based on a pre-P90 Gibson design, a couple based on Kay catalog guitar pickups, Dearmond designs, etc. Mojo has a lot of designs that fit in P90 housings, including gold foils, catalog guitars, Charlie Christian, Dearmond, plus many cool pickups in other shapes and sizes.

@Techcensorshipbot 11 ай бұрын

I played strats and humbucker equipped guitars most of my life. The moment i played an LP special with P90s, I understood why they still exist. They are absolutely monstrous. I think they have tonal qualities and an edge that put them above humbuckers any day.

@maxpeck4154 9 ай бұрын

I snagged an LP special on a whim because I missed my Novo Serus J that I stupidly sold and wanted another guitar with p90s. It's a modern USA model with the stock p90s, not a custom shop, nothing fancy... and it's absolutely excellent. It's a keeper and I'm not changing anything on it. The way p90s clean up with the volume knob while retaining clarity - in fact increasing clarity when turned down - is magic. I'll never own a humbucker guitar.

@treishtrei 6 ай бұрын

Yep. Bought a special lp just now and im a metal player...love the bark and rawness

@compucorder64 4 ай бұрын

Thanks guys, great video. Great playing, great amp choice and settings and the Telecaster worked better than I might have expected. For me, the Lollar P90 was the clear winner there. And the Stew Mac was nice too, did bring out the nice Tele top-end character. I didn't like the Seymour Duncan pickup sound so much, kind of dark, flat and woofy. Before listening, thought I would have preferred this demo with a either a Gibson ES (335/330) or Les Paul bodied guitar. Only because, I suspect the most common group of people considering these are probably people looking to upgrade the pickups in more affordable guitars. To bring them up in sound. Otherwise nice guitars, that can benefit from the leg up. Guitars like the Epiphone Casino, Epiphone Les Paul Special, Epiphone SG and the equivalent Sire Larry Carlton guitars. I'd be interested in hearing the lower end Epiphone Pro P90s and standard issue Gibson P90s thrown into the mix. I'm going to upgrade my Epiphone Casino to Lollars. Mick from TPS had a good before and after demo of that upgrade and the Lollars brought up the sound to such a higher level. That said, your video was super useful in confirming what I heard elsewhere, the Lollar P90s are exceptionally good. A similar demo with the equivalent humbuckers would be most welcome. Thinking of upgrading my Sire H7 pickups, maybe for Lollars, after this shootout.

@l.horseman5704 8 ай бұрын

I have a guestion on Seymour Duncan P-90 pickups. I'm a left handed player. Are pickups made for hand orientation? Please answer this question. Thanks cause I am in the process of building a archtop Gibson 335.

@flavorkingpluto 11 ай бұрын

Great playing! Lollar

@mikerinehart 11 ай бұрын

I have the P90 Stack in my MusicMan Axis SS. I had my tech wire it with a coil split and push/pull volume/tone wheels. Best of everything.

@WoodshopMike Ай бұрын

Loved the Lollar for the same reasons you mentioned Chris, but honestly I can't say there was a bad one in the bunch!

@davecil 4 ай бұрын

Did you guys need to route the pickup cavity deeper for the stacked p90?

@jeremycraft8452 11 ай бұрын

To me, the Stew-Mac and the Duncan Custom had the most important P-90 characteristic: they live right on the edge of respectability, where you can hear the roughness in the high mids just starting to turn into a snarl. The Lollar was well-balanced and punchy, a great-sounding pickup, but without the risk of rudeness that lurks in the best P-90s. The stack had its own sound, maybe a little too glassy for a solo neck pickup, but one that would sit nicely in a band mix.

@expatguitarist 10 ай бұрын

I have a Duncan custom that came with my Tele Jr. Custom Shop. It has always sounded great. I really liked the sound of the Lollar in this demo, however.

@logicsoundinc 8 ай бұрын

I have a Les Paul clone with Lollar P90s and it's fantastic - and a home-built guitar with DiMarzio P90s and it's also fantastic. I want to collect them all now!

@markchristopher4165 11 ай бұрын

Agreed about the stack. It's almost like an idealized P90 (to me), rather than a traditional one. But they all sounded good, and I'd be happy with any.

@psaltisjohn Ай бұрын

I would like to hear you compare Filtertron and TV Jones pickups vs P90s and classic humbuckers...

@kmatax9237 11 ай бұрын

Stew Mac in the last video and again in this one for me! I'm very impressed with their pickups.

@paulthegeek 11 ай бұрын

I liked the Lollar and the SD Custom.

@valueofnothing2487 4 ай бұрын

I wonder if it is worth measuring these things. You can measure the resistance easily, but today they have meters that measure inductance for very little money on Amazon. Theoretically, the sound of similarly constructed pickups can be measured by their inductance. It also might help those who don't have great computer speakers. As to pickups, it might naturally be advantageous to compare GFS pickups. I use these because they are inexpensive plus allow solder-less installation.

@johnb9961 7 ай бұрын

was that the StewMac Modern P-90 or the Parson's Street? Tx

@michaelmckenna9022 Ай бұрын

Jon Gundry at Throbak has the original pickup winders from Gibson. Years ago he interviewed the retired pickup winders from the Kalamazoo plant. His P90s sound awesome. The Humbuckers are great too.

@jw112mail 11 ай бұрын

I like the Lollar, then 2nd surprisingly the StewMac

@jongonzalez6917 6 ай бұрын

They all sound really good. Not a knock on any of them. I think I prefer the Lollar. Very full, yet still musical sounding

@daveandrew7014 4 ай бұрын

What do you guys think of Fralin P90s?

@StudioDTK5 11 ай бұрын

The all sounded good….not my playing style I would have used to compare P90s. I need to hear the meat and breakup as that is what I like on P90s.

@archeryandstuffwithstevela3423 12 күн бұрын

Years ago, I switched the P90 out of my SG Jr, for a Duncan P90 stack. Used it for about 10 years. One day I had this weird idea to put the original P90 back in. Well, suddenly the sound range of the guitar just seemed to open up. From sweet chimey cleans to ear bleeding distortion, everything just sounded amazing! I've since stopped listening to the hype. I'm amazed at how many forums you jump on and everyone is saying what pickups should I put in my Les Paul or my SG. Now I think, play with the adjustments, try different amps. Don't be so quick to try something just cause it seems to be an upgrade.

@DavidDavis-.oddly. 11 ай бұрын

Gooood afternoon from central Florida! Hope everyone has a great afternoon!

@dingdove1 11 ай бұрын

Stack easily favorite because it was least distorted. Maybe I just don't like p-90s? I want a guitar played through a clean Amp to sound perfectly clean, and then any other characteristics I want to add outside the guitar.

@DScott-sx2iw 11 ай бұрын

SD Custom sounded best (on my phone) but the StewMac pickups were a close 2nd for me... impressive. Why all white/ivory though? Black would look so much nicer on most of those guitars!

@petemccarry2326 10 ай бұрын

I would like to see you guys review the TV Jones T-90.

@theinfamouscletusherringbo8134 11 ай бұрын

The way the Amp was breaking up the pickups all sounded pretty much the same.

@metrakos 11 ай бұрын

really hard to hard to compare when you have same guitar parts so far from each other

@yomalab 11 ай бұрын

Too much low freq for neck position imho (except stack and may be StewMac). Think it will be useful to move P90 closer to middle (but still in neck pos) and add classic tele neck PU to give more options for clean channel.

@russellzauner 4 ай бұрын

Lollar has reissued its pickup winding book, mostly to destroy the second hand market for them; used to be more than 600+ USD sometimes and Lollar charges 60 bucks. Not exactly related and I'm not an affiliate but if you want to know exactly how the stuff got inside your Lollar pickup it's from the source.

@Olysterz 5 ай бұрын

Where are Tom Anderson's PQ2 or PQ3 ?

@ClinToneCust23 7 ай бұрын

#1 Lollars #2 SDCustom the rest were flat and soft compared to the those two.. All great pickups but this is a comparison .. Thanks for the video content!!

@bubblevest1544 7 ай бұрын

No, you guys can try to compare it with the DC 90 from Lollar

@ny7294 11 ай бұрын

The SD Stack is my favorite of the bunch

@yowild9629 11 ай бұрын

what if put 2 p90 togeather side by side as example 2 single coil = humbucking pickup i belive it has never been done

@0whitestone 11 ай бұрын

Toss-up between the StewMac and the Seymore Duncan, but I think the Duncan is slightly my preference. I like both of them because they were a bit brighter and still had some 'spank.' But, I'm a single-coil man through and through. Never met a humbucker that i prefer over a single. Honestly, StewMac really showed up in the past 2 videos. StewMac was far and away my favorite for the bridge pickup and it's a very close 2nd on the neck position. Color me impressed!

@whenvioletsturngrey9597 3 ай бұрын

Lollar’s always have that vintage, gutsy p90 sound.

@jeffberg8015 11 ай бұрын

All of them sounded great to me, but that's no surprise since I'm not very particular about specific tones and am generally easily pleased. I would be happy with any of them, and probably would be fine with stock Epiphone P90s for that matter. Yeah I'm a peasant.

@gunsandguitars6678 10 ай бұрын

I need quieter P90s out of my SG but I love the sound didn't think I would but I do ☆☆☆☆.

@jipes 11 ай бұрын

The Stewmac and yej Seymour Duncan seems to edge more than the Lollar. On the second short tune the definition of the single note seems more pleasing with the Lollar

@rickbaker4571 11 ай бұрын

yeah, SD is tops, and I was surprisingly disappointed with the Stewmac (please don't let Dan see this). The other two were kind of a shake. Thanks for the work and what a load of beautiful guitars.

@TheMrCull 2 ай бұрын

I think my preference would change depending on the amp

@larrytaylor6192 11 ай бұрын

The stake had more punch. It had some distortion when hit hard. But it was my favorite.

@MegaChoo2 7 ай бұрын

The stack is a p100 then?

@ChuckNicholsonTRM 11 ай бұрын

I've played a lot of P90s both vintage and modern. The latest Gibson ones have great punch, snap, and clarity. Out of these, based on the demo here, it's clearly the Lollar and the Stew-Mac are the easy winners. The Seymour Duncan Custom would come after those. The SD stacked sounded muddy and lifeless with a slow attack.

@patrickwilliams3108 11 ай бұрын

I was really surprised by the Stew Mac and thought it had the fullest tone. It would have been easier to compare them if the same piece had been played backto-back and your video had been time-stamped and labelled, but hey, your circus. Final note: I would take any of those pickups, they all sounded great.

@user-wr8iq2xk4w 4 ай бұрын

The Seymour Duncan seemed tighter and less prone break up when hit aggressively.

@Drunken_Hamster 8 ай бұрын

I like the Lollar and SD custom. I feel like the stack was too hot/dark. IDK.

@Jkirk1988 11 ай бұрын

Best thing about P90's is the dynamic range. Get Phil X in there to demo!

@leelossi1257 11 ай бұрын

I liked the StewMac best.......a little brighter......all sound great

@jasonstacey9460 11 ай бұрын

I guess these are alnico 5?

@johnjolly9519 11 ай бұрын

For P90s I suggest adding the following to the mix: Dylan (talks tone) Lindy Fralin Fishman Fluence Railhammer

@sgholt 11 ай бұрын

SD or StewMac...sound good to me (and less expensive). I found the others sounded a little thin... :)

@chuchuchip 10 ай бұрын

What's your opinion about Dylan P90s?

@rjh1226 4 ай бұрын

A Plethora of P90 Pick ups

@Incandescentiron 7 ай бұрын

To my ear, Lollar SD custom close second SD stack Stewmac

@davedeville6540 8 ай бұрын

They all sound good. I own and prefer the Lollar. They just have such a wide range and a supreme clarity in the exact right part of the register. And they respond very well to the guitar volume/tone controls. I had early 00’s Gibson P90 before. What a dog. 😬

@sam127001 11 ай бұрын

There are so many pickup makers - Lindy Fralin , Dylan talks tone, etc watch out for the rabbit hole ...

@Lomoholga2 9 ай бұрын

Dylan talks tone? 😂

@SparkyGoldsmith 5 ай бұрын

I was shocked how well the StewMac pickup sounded, especially in contrast with the Stack which was easily my least favorite of this bunch. I was also shocked how "normal" the SD Custom one sounded. I think I'm a fan of relatively hot P-90's but I wasn't disliking the Stew at all. I have a set of Bare Knuckle Blue Notes I'm not loving. I really like the P-90's that came in my Rivolta which are fairly hot when I checked the specs. I know the Lollars are supposed to be excellent but I dont' know if all the "good stuff" is making it through the KZfaq compression? I didn't dislike them but I wasn't overly impressed either. I found them on par with the StewMacs in the video but I'm giving this a very short listen.

@ADFinlayson 11 ай бұрын

I was surprised by the stewmac one, really good sounding pickup. You guys should try a set of OX4 Pickups, seriously good boutique maker in Oxford Uk. I put them in all my builds.

@Charles-Darwin 5 ай бұрын

Hit up Bootstrap Pickups

@jasoniversen7124 7 ай бұрын

Lollar to me sounds by far the best

@kimballormsby9908 7 ай бұрын

The Seymour Duncan P90 Stack was my least favorite. I much preferred the others, especially the Lollar and StewMac. I'd go for either one of them.

@JohnnyStepp777 8 ай бұрын

Almost a great vid! Where’s the dirt? I need some more aggressive playing examples. Lollars sound the closest to a classic p90, to me. Stacked Duncan is trash.

@sooparticular 3 ай бұрын

very similar

@Blue-df9yf 6 ай бұрын

Try Bare Knuckle Pickups

@theAxehound 11 ай бұрын

Hard to tell with all of the ads. That's a lot of ads within an ad.

@peterbishop9771 7 ай бұрын

For my taste, I thought the SD Custom sounded the best.

@peterpellerin1374 7 ай бұрын

lollar for me

@roberteffler3382 6 ай бұрын

stew mac for me

@pablolucio63 4 ай бұрын

I think Lollar is the best, Second the S.D. Custom

@CraigFlowersMusic 11 ай бұрын

I DISAGREE WITH EVERYTHING! Nice to hear that amp you built btw.

@jdwild1698 3 ай бұрын

S D Custom for sure ... StewMac was close to it though 😎👍

@gabrielobrien21 11 ай бұрын

Reverend's P90s are also great

@inframundo1919 12 күн бұрын

In my opinión 1 Duncan custom 2 Duncan stack 3 lollar 4 stewmac. The Duncan have more mids the custom sound more warm. The stewmac lacks on mids

@egradillas1397 3 ай бұрын

Lollar,Duncan Custom, Stew Mac, Stack.

@michaelbrown941 5 ай бұрын

Lollar sounded more authentic to me. Vintage

@jamestonguet1737 10 ай бұрын

I enjoyed the Duncan custom the most . The stack was very close

@vanshankguitars 11 ай бұрын

You guys should try Dylan Talks Tone P90's. Will blow you mind

@andreybrodianski5596 8 ай бұрын

Pickups comparison on different guitars? Are you kidding?

@Torquemonster440 10 ай бұрын

They all sounded great.. Splitting hairs with this one. 🤷‍♂️

@l.horseman5704 8 ай бұрын

I thought the Seymour Duncan P-90 sounded better all around.

@christopher-miles 11 ай бұрын

Seymour Duncan Custom P90 is the best recorded with the Lollar. in the room, i don't know. LOL!

@larrytaylor6192 11 ай бұрын

Stack

@l.horseman5704 8 ай бұрын

No it is not a kit build. It is from scratch. Out of Spaulted Maple.

@makikogi 11 ай бұрын

Dylan talks tone is a fellow KZfaqr and hand wound pickup maker that makes really great pickups. Might be cool to collaborate with him

@pharmerdavid1432 4 ай бұрын

Make your own pickups for chrisakes! You have more than enough chops to easily make your own, it's easy - no? That way you can experiment like you do with making acoustic guitars, which is why we see evermore electric guitar makers also making their own pickups. These "big name" pickup makers, especially "PAF", are mostly snake-oil. Do I want to buy an SDpickups PAF with "old wire" for over $2,000- (and wait forever)? How about an off-the-shelf PAF from Ron Elison pickups? I could buy a set of his right now for about $900, which is only about twice the price of some other artisan pickups. Considering how easy they are to make, especially in comparison to an acoustic guitar, I think they are way overpriced. Tim Pierce, the great studio musician and youtube personality, said when trying a variety of boutique PAF clones: it sounds like a PAF (which themselves didn't sound the same). I think it's mostly hype and snake-oil, please make your own. That "Scar my guitar" dude (Shawn?) has a wife who is now making pickups for his guitars, and I'm sure they will sound like a "PAF" (or whatever, he is more of a strat dude). A great channel this, looking forward to seeing you make pickups too.....?

@DanFlashes99 11 ай бұрын

I can't say I know what a P90 is "supposed" to sound like, but Lollar was a clear winner for me. Such a lovely round, rich sound

@LoraxChannel 5 ай бұрын

The dude is playing with different attack. There is no real way to compare.

@aviatorsky 11 ай бұрын

Jesus loves you ❤

@davidedwards7172 11 ай бұрын

first.... =)

@DriftwoodMatt 11 ай бұрын

😂

@davidedwards7172 11 ай бұрын

I’ll add some meaningful comments when I get sometime to watch the whole thing 😎

@DriftwoodMatt 11 ай бұрын

@@davidedwards7172 nothing is more meaningful than first, first is everything 😂

@davidedwards7172 11 ай бұрын

@@DriftwoodMatt My vote is the Stack. The SD is very close. The stack seems to not be driving the amp and hard. The SD has good tone to me. It would be interested to hear this compare through an amp that stays cleaner longer😇

@ZacCostilla 11 ай бұрын

If I was using it primarily or exclusively for jazz, then I would go with the Stew Mac. Otherwise, it would be Lollars, then either of the two Seymour Duncans. But that said, these are all very close, and they’re ALL better than the cheap ceramic P90s shipping on most “budget” guitars.

@LifeWideOpen780 11 ай бұрын

Stick to accoustic stuff

@kennglee 11 ай бұрын

Sure, use different guitars to compare different pickups. Makes sense.

@dingdove1 11 ай бұрын

Well, yeah, when they made all the guitars themselves to the same specifications. You would corrupt the sound more by constantly desoldering and resoldering the wiring harness than from tiny differences in the same make and model guitar fresh off the bench.