Jason Lollar / Lollar Pickups installs P90 pickups Part 1

[TheArts8]

can you switch the cover on a p90 pickup?



[LollarGuitars]

@TheArts8 sure- dog ear or soapbars are easy to swap out- soapbars are only held on by the height adjustment screws and dog ears are held on by the two mounting screws- one in each ear. They just pull off and you slip a new one over the top of the guts

[TheArts8]

@LollarGuitars ok thanks i was thinking about getting a les paul with p90s but i didn't like that they only had models with black covers so thanks

[LetArtsLive]

hey the guy on new yankee workshop Norm says always use goggles.This is a great video.Are routers expensive?Do they make soapbar humbuckers black?

[LollarGuitars]

@LetArtsLive That particular router in the video- porter cable plunge router is about $220 new so you would only want to buy one if you were going to use it for other things. Yes you should wear eye and hearing protection, in this case there is a chip shield on the router and the cutting surface is buried under the routing jig so there is extremely little chance of having a chip thrown back at you but better safe than sorry.

[LetArtsLive]

@LollarGuitars i had a question.Is there somethin that can be installed in guitar to stop humming on single coil pickups?I have seen noise suppressor foot switches do they work?I have a grounded outlet i do not like htat buzz noise.

[LollarGuitars]

@LetArtsLive The best thing i have tried is the electroharmonix hum debugger pedal, you can use one pedal for all your single coil guitars instead of installing something like the suhr backplate at $300 + or - in each guitar. i bought a humdebugger just to test to see how well they work and they do a really good job stopping noise while only making a miniscule difference in your tone. Read all about noise on my blog for other things you can do

[raiderjblakk]

My son has an Epiphone SG and I want to change out the stock pickups. Do you have any suggestions that wouldn't require routing?  Moderate budget involved. Thanks.

[LollarGuitars]

@raiderjblakk pickups are what I make, i have the best reputation for a small maker in the business

.google Jason Lollar and youll find my site. I have a P-90ish sounding pickup in a humbucker size- no routing required- or even changing the stock epi humbuckers out for my humbuckers will be an immense improvement in clarity and dynamics with a better quality to the distorted sound, if what I have is a little more $ than you want to spend look at seymour duncan antiquities

[Hoopermazing]

Well, if I'm going to watch someone's pickup installation video, it might as well be Jason Lollars. ...unless Seth Lover is on Youtube.

[Scooterbrother5]

Every video I go to I'm not able to get what I need. I'm trying to replace my Humbucker with a P90 on an Epiphone Les Paul Junior. Could anyone help me with that? (I want the P90 look not the sound so much).

[LollarGuitars]

Thats not so hard- a dog ear P-90 will usually cover any trace that there was a humbucker installed- it will require a very slight amount of routing or chiseling in the corner of the humbucker route but its not much

[IDanClarkI]

@LollarGuitars

is there anyone i can give/send my jaguar to that can do this for me?

i dont trust myself or my 14 year old tool skills :L

[LollarGuitars]

you want P-90's in a jaguar? Most guitar repair people that work on electrics could do it but it would be expensive. What I would do if I was 14 would be if you are still in school go talk to the shop teacher assuming you have a shop teacher and see if you can get them interested in helping you. One of the kids in class might want to do it if they dont- I talked mine into letting me build electric guitars and he was an old WW 2 vetran that was kind of a tough ass but it amused him to let me.

[IDanClarkI]

@LollarGuitars

i didnt mean p-90, just meant a humucker in general

I dont have a shop teacher, but i get lessons at school with a highskill teacher (dont see my videos when I say that because that is for training for a record engineer :L )

but my guitar store has loads of friendly guys, but im not sure what they would say i dont think its got a cavity or not, i think its just routed for SC's, would i then just have to obtain a pickguard and route using that for the shape of the humbucker?

[LollarGuitars]

Ask the guitar store guys to help or advise but you will need to either free hand a bucker route if yours doesnt have a universal route- free handing takes a HUGE amount of skill and I dont reccomend it in general -or get a routing template from stewart macdonalds guitar shop supply and find a pickgaurd routed for buckers- probably pickgaurd heaven .com

[rgjmce666]

I wanna plexiglass pickguard :P

[LollarGuitars]

hey I could make one and I can make P-90's with clear plexiglass tops so you can see the coil wires- its expensive though and maybe of questionable taste kind of like that clear drum kit keith moon had with the gold fish in the floor toms.

[rgjmce666]

@LollarGuitars ah it's ok, it's actually for a les paul that i want it for, gonna hopefully get some plexiglass and get a mate of mine to cut for me, thanks anyway

[RockVoltz]

if i were to purchase a blank sheet of pickguard, would i be able to undermount dog-ear p90s on the pickguard the same way that your batwing p90 does?

[LollarGuitars]

you could put the dog ear tabs under the pickgaurd if you have enough room on the players side of the gauard on the neck pickup- I dont know without looking- but you wont be able to adjust the height of the bridge pickup enough if you do it that way.

You can modify a dog ear to use soapbar covers and have what they used in the original bat wing P-90 guitars- they flipped the dog ear baseplate upside down and used it for a hanger- email me at my website and I can send you some photos

[22dranel]

hey,can you help me in my guitar???

i cannot understand the wiring system of it,,

[LollarGuitars]

without knowing specifically what the question is i would reffer you to a number of books on wiring guitars- general schematic books or one like guitar electronics for musicians or a really good book on pickups like dave hunters the guitar pickup handbook

[TheChrisHimself]

Do you make guitars?

[LollarGuitars]

I have made guitars since the mid 70's when I was a teenager and i have made alot since then. i like making 335/ 125/ 175 ish guitars carved out of solid wood by hand and I wouldnt normally say but I am really good at it and I have other guitar makers ask me questions all the time about this and that but I only make a few any more and its an underground thing- I make pickups now. You can see some of the guitars I made on a my space site- look up jason lollar thanks

[UglyToontown]

i've watched all the videos (they're awesome) and you've already answered tons of my questions. i am going to convert a standard tele neck pickup to house a p90. i'm leaving the bridge alone. i found an acrylic routing template on stew mac. i'm unsure of one thing and i apologize if i keep missing it in this videos--what size router bit are you using? 3/8", 1/2"? i'm going to route the cavity about 3/4" deep unless you suggest otherwise (might be a matter of trial and error i suppose). thanks!

[LollarGuitars]

no problem- I use a 1/2" bit as often as possible. I like to use the rub collar as I probably explained which requires a jig made for that- the stew mac jig I think is for a flush bearing bit which is harder to use- they should be able to advise you bit size and type the jig is made for.

[LollarGuitars]

ps to determine the depth of the hole you have to calculate your neck angle so you know how high the strings are off the deck. Take that and the length of the height adjustment screws and figure how high the bridge pickup needs to be and leave about 1/4" for the screws to go into the body- you want to be carefull not to route too deep for the bridge pickup and not to shallow for the neck- 3/4" is generally OK for the neck depth- maybe 1/2" for the bridge- its can be different for every guitar.

[AToxicOrange]

Favoriting this tutorial for use once I get my SG this summer. Excellent demonstration. :)

[LollarGuitars]

thanks boss

[AlexDeMars123]

The make SG's with P90s already in them, unless you like the project aspect of course.

[AToxicOrange]

That's actually what it is, for the most part. That, and the Epiphone Silverburst SG that I've been testing out at the Guitar Center where I live feels absolutely PERFECT. I don't care that it's an Epi, I love the way it feels.

[Addiesarkisian]

but do i have to route to fully install p90

[LollarGuitars]

yes- if you put soapbars in they are much longer than humbuckers- they will not fit without routing

[Addiesarkisian]

hello i have a gibson les paul studio i would like to put p90s in it would i need to route mine help

[LollarGuitars]

best thing you could do is install some humbucker size single coils which can sound close to a P-90 and would require no modifications to the guitar.

If you are really set on real P-90's there is a way to use dog ear P-90s and youll never know it originally had humbuckers but you can never go back to buckers without leaving some extra holes in the guitar face- not reccomended unless you are absolutely set on it and its not a vintage piece.

[prophetdude2]

Hi Jason, I'm looking into buying a Gibson SG classic and i've heard that if i replace the p90's in that guitar with Lollar p90's i'll get a more vintage classic sound. I just wanted to hear someone's opinion on this.

P.S. I'm playing older Rock like Grateful Dead/Allman Bros. rock.

[LollarGuitars]

well P-90's are what put me on the map- they were my #1 selling product for years.

I have made thousands of them- maybe even more so people really like them.

One thing that makes what I do so successful is I keep the vintage in the sound but I improve the original weaknesses in performance so you get a "vintage" sound but even better- thats the idea.

[13tk21]

Thanks Jason! Great instruction. My installation was easy thanks to your video's.

And oh "The Sound"!!!!!

[leftystrat62]

Jason,hats off to you for sharing your techniques with us. This demistifies some thoughts about doing guitar repairs. As a woodworker,I think if the time came for me to try this,I now would because of your help. Thanks!