How to Replace Humbuckers with P-90

Pickups accentuate a guitar's overall tone.

The P-90 is a single coil pickup first produced by Gibson in 1946. The P-90 sound is brighter than traditional Humbuckers, and many guitarists end up switching to the P-90 pickup because of this brighter sound. A qualified repair shop can install P-90s, but the labor cost can be equal to the price of the pickups. Using a few simple tools to install P-90 pickups will save on the cost of hiring a professional guitar technician.

Things You'll Need

• Phillips screwdrivers
• Plastic bags
• Wire cutters
• Wire strippers
• Wire nuts
• Electrician's tape
• P-90 mounting rings

Instructions

1. 

   The strings must be removed to access the pickups.

   Remove the guitar's strings. Turn the tuners clockwise until the strings are completely slack. Unwind the strings from the tuner's posts. Carefully pull the strings through the string holes in the guitar's tail piece.

2. Remove the pickups. Unscrew the pickup rings with a Phillips screwdriver. The rings are held in place by four screws. Place the screws into a plastic bag. Leave the pickups attached to the pickup rings.

3. Cut the original pickup's lead wires. Cut the wires 1 inch from the connection points on the pickups using wire cutters.

4. Strip the wiring. Use a pair of wire strippers to remove ½-inch of shielding from the wires leading into the guitar's electronics cavity. Remove ½-inch of shielding from the P-90 replacement pickups. Place the shielded wire into one of the wire stripper's notches that is slightly smaller that the shielding. Squeeze the stripper's handles together and pull the shielding off.

5. Connect the wiring. The P-90 has two wires. One is black and the other is either red or white. Match the black wire coming from the pickup to the black wire leading to the guitar's electronics cavity. Match the remaining red or white wire coming from the P-90 to the remaining wire coming from the electronics cavity. Twist the unshielded wires together. Repeat the process for the second pickup.

6. Cap the wires. Place a small wire nut onto the joined wires. Turn the nut clockwise until it stops. Wrap a piece of electricians tape around the wire nut, covering the nut and ½-inch of shielded wiring. Repeat the process for each wire.

7. Attach the pickups to the mounting rings. The P-90 pickup is smaller than the cavity originally cut into the guitar's body. Therefore, a special adapter ring must be purchased to mount the pickup to the guitar. A number of P-90 adapter rings are available for purchase online or at guitar retailers. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for mounting the pickups to the rings.

8. Mount the pickups on the guitar. P-90 adapter rings are designed to utilize the Humbucker's mounting holes. Place the mounting ring and pickup over the pickup's cavity. Line up the mounting holes. Place the mounting screws into the ring's mounting holes and tighten them with a Phillips screwdriver.

9. Restring the guitar and adjust the pickup height.

References

• Lollar Guitars: P-90 Pickup Intsallation
• Build Your Guitar; The Secrets of Electric Guitar Pickups; Helmuth E.W. Lemme; Feb. 25, 2009
• Project Guitar: Electronics