Desert Dew humbucker sized P90 - Warm and smooth P90 set

Desert Dew humbucker sized P90 - Warm and smooth P90 set

Regular price
£85.00
Sale price
£85.00
Regular price
Sold out
Unit price
per 
Tax included.

 Solderless setup with all required wiring available here.

The neck is wound exactly to the point of having enough breadth to not sound thin, but not too much to get mushy, this pickup will a level of of articulation that humbuckers can't rival. The output of this pickup is a medium level, meaning that it can balance with most bridge humbuckers short of the real fire-breathers. 

This pickup is beautiful clean. It has a thick, smooth treble response, and a brighter-than-humbucker bass response, giving it the ability to mix all the frequencies of chords in such a way that no single string rings out above the others. Flat response and crystalline clarity simultaneously seems like it would be impossible; but this melds the two qualities. The flat response can be excellent in high gain applications for adding natural compression so that the tone needs very little work after recording. The definition makes this pickup even excel at high gain rhythm, which can't be said about many neck pickups.

The bridge is like the neck in the way that it is a smooth, thick and sweet sounding pickup that retains a great level of clarity under all levels of distortion. It thrives in clean through to bluesy overdrive applications, and has found itself, along with the neck, to be the Jazz staple of our catalogue. But of course, it's also versatile enough for rocky applications, and even sludge metal!

Specifications (neck/bridge):
Resistance (ohms): 8.3k/10.5k 
Magnets: alnico 5 (x2)

Pole spacing: 50mm/52mm
Output wire: braided single conductor
Wax potted

Supplied with mounting screws and springs.

Customer Reviews

Based on 4 reviews Write a review

Customer Reviews

Based on 4 reviews
100%
(4)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
N
Neil Smith
Desert Dew in a Peerless Gigmaster Jazz

The Peerless is a 175 type guitar, slightly shallower body depth, with flat wounds. I just replaced the neck pickup, original one ( Epiphone 57 ) being very muffled. No exaggeration to say the guitar has come alive! Much more clarity and dynamic sound. It's not overly trebly though, still has a nice warmth to it- more in the area of Grant Green, Kenny Burrell than super mellow tones but that's what I expected. Was a bit concerned it may be a bit bland but not at all, has a great character to the sound. Possibly less mid- focussed than a true p90 but this helps with the clarity I think.

E
Eoin
What I’ve been searching for!

ing installed these in a Gretsch 5120 type hollowbody I can honestly say I'm blown away. The bridge has all the bite and twang you'd want for rockabilly/garage type tones, the middle position is warm yet articulate, and the neck is a wonderfully smokey blues tone. A nice output level too - hot enough to test an amp and keep up, but not so hot as to raise concerns about feedback with the hollow body.

what amazes me even more is how these pickups hold together when the gain is up - soapbars I have in another guitar seem to get a bit fizzy and over jangly after a certain point.

I've owned this guitar for a long time (its been my main guitar through several bands), and have cycled through a number of types and models of pickups trying to get an amplified tone that matched and built upon the wonderful acoustic resonance. I can honestly say the guitar FINALLY sounds like I've always wanted it to.

S
Steve Gibson
Desert Dew

I bought the bridge model for my Telecaster, as it was routed for a humbucker but I didn't really need one there as I have 2 Les Pauls already. I wanted something different. I was after an edgy, aggressive attack, much as you might expect of a Telecaster single coil, but I started thinking about P90's and I have been meaning to try one of Alex's pickups for a while, so I thought I would take a punt.
I was really impressed with the sound - P90's in the bridge can sound thin, but I've also heard some that overdrive really nicely and growl. This is one of those, the overdrive breakup is very satisfying, and yet strangely it also sounds very 'single coil' like, having a ringing chiming sound that you can't get with humbuckers, even when they're tapped.
So I thought I'd try a neck version in my Les Paul standard, as the humbucker there is ok, but nothing special. I don't tend to use the neck much anyway, but when you get a good one you do, right?
The neck Desert Dew is fantastic - and the description is spot on - you can play overdriven rhythm on it! It's great, and when I switch back to the bridge, the bridge sounds weak and 2 dimensional. Strange. So it's articulate and detailed, and a lot of fun.
These are wonderful pickups, especially for the price. I imagine they will go up in price as people realise how good they are. Thanks Alex.

S
S.Golder
Superb P90's

Of the MANY HB sized P90's I've owned/played, these are by the far the best.
I ordered a set with a bridge as well, which I asked Alex to have more of fuller midrange in contrast to the brighter neck.
Great clarity to the pickups tonally be it with clean tones or with distortion/fuzz be it at standard tuning or C tuning. The slight natural compression I've found to work well for playing finger style or using a slide.
I'm delighted with the pickups, I'd recommend them to those who are after a single coil option for HB routes.