What is the best noiseless P-90 pickup? We will help you find the right answer.
Most of the guitarists and bassists are so engrossed with humbuckers and single-coils that P90s are often largely ignored. Used initially in Gibson guitars, P90s serve as ideal hybrid pickups offering the best of both worlds – a humbucker’s warmth and heavy mid-low range response with a single-coil’s brightness and attack.
Speaking a P90 is, for the most part, a single-coil yet has its exclusive design for reproducing a pretty unique tone.
P90s, despite being similar to single-coil pickups, feature a distinctive coil arrangement and a broader bobbin providing them with exclusive tonal attributes. This guide on ‘best noiseless P90 pickups’ makes the onerous task of choosing a pickup that works for you somewhat easier.
The 3 Best Noiseless P-90 Pickups
| Image | Model | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Kinman HX P90NBK (Top Pick) | Check Price |
 | Lindy Fralin Hum-Cancelling P-90 | Check Price |
 | Mojotone 56 Quiet Coil | Check Price |
Kinman HX P90BK (Editor’s Choice)
A P90 pickup, like any single-coil, is prone to generating a detectable level of hum that is annoying. Numerous P90 manufacturers have experimented relentlessly with various designs to eliminate the hum and microphonics but in vain. Finally, many producers successfully came up with a layout that helped reduce the irritable drone considerably, but the design improvement led to the loss of that classic P90 tone.
However, engineers at Kinman were hugely influential in developing a P-90 that comprised 202 discrete parts, including highly efficient magnetic shields. The heavy-duty magnetic shields were based around the upper coil, while the lower coil consisted of chunkier wires wrapped around a coated steel bobbin. As a result, the Kinman HX P90BK, admiringly known as ‘Sweet Neck’ despite resembling a P90, sounds better than standard P90 pickups.
Every note sounds extraordinarily clear and vivid with excellent separation of notes, intense touch receptiveness, and dynamic range thanks to the Extreme sonic element. Guitar picking seems more comfortable and stress-free as the rolling off of the frets is quite effortless devoid of smudginess on the tautened strings. The highs tend to be sonorous and resonant minus any trace of the upper-midrange spikiness, which was very common with the original P90s.
The HX P90NBK is very popular with a section of bassists as this P90 generates a stupendous and substantial ‘squawk’ sound that’s exclusive. No other P90 can bring out every delicate, understated nuance associated with your playing as the HXP90. When you mount this pickup in the neck position of your instrument, it performs remarkably well, balancing the notes when you pair it with Nasty 90 and Clean Bridge models in the bridge.
The tremendous dynamic range of the Kinman P-90 allows you to take your playing to the highest possible level, where you have an unparalleled experience experimenting with the expansive sonic facets. This is not simply a noiseless P-90 pickup but rather a zero-hum pickup, according to Kinman. The HXP90BK cancels out noise at two separate stages or levels-once in the pickup itself and after that the buzz in the audio signal by shielding the wiring nooks.
Pros
- Highly effective hum-canceling quality
- Pickup anatomy consists of 202 separate components comprising extremely competent magnetic shields around the upper coil with a thick lower coil
- Noiseless performance
- Handcrafted for best results
- Excellent note separation, commendable touch sensitivity, and bright and lucid notes
- Picks up every subtlety in your strumming for transmitting to the amp
- The soundstage has transparent and sweet highs that hiss with massive warm lows, and mesmerizing midrange
Cons
- A degree of hum is noticeable when used without a pickup in the bridge
Lindy Fralin Hum-Canceling P-90
The Hum-Cancelling P-90 Soapbar Pickup Set from Lindy Fralin guarantees a true vintage-corrected P90 tone with massive midrange and snarl. At the same time, this hum suppressing P90 pickup from Lindy Fralin does away with the noise typical of single-coils. In addition, this hum-canceling P90 performs well beyond your expectations thanks to the pickup’s integrated Alnico V magnets and single-conductor plaited wire.
If classic and characteristic P90 sounds are what you’re looking for, then you do not look any further. This Lindy Fralin pickup comes equipped with attributes that you would essentially associate with the earliest P90s. For example, the same 42-gauge plain enamel wire, US-designed Alnico IV bar magnets, and Butyrate P90 bobbins that were part of Gibson’s P90s go into this Lindy Fralin.
This particular combination of components guarantees lots of midrange growl, but at the same time, sustain is quite commendable. On the other hand, the harmonics sound remarkably clear and pure, while the single notes tend to be well-formed. However, the USP of the Lindy Fralin P90 is the pickup’s complete noiselessness owing to the reverse-wound bridge.
With this P90 pickup, you can rest assured that you’ll be able to create your signature tunes that are hum-free, laced with oodles of clarity and articulation. The Lindy Fralin hum-canceling pickup is a P90 on steroids highly sought-after for its hugely impressive tone and enormous output. Yes, this P90 pickup comes at a price but offers much more than it costs, including a vintage soundstage.
A soap bar-style pickup, this P90 is universally renowned and reputed for its chunk midrange. Apart from being noiseless, this pickup also furnishes an excellent hum-canceling effect owing to its reverse-wound bridge. As a result, the sound produced by your guitar is incredibly clean and soft, characterized by compressed chords, chunky single notes, and rock-solid sustain.
The steel pole pieces contribute towards replicating the vintage tones of the 1950’s P90s, while the Alnico IV ensures excellent sustain. You should go for this P90 if you have a guitar that requires pickup to be mounted or installed via a scratchplate.
Pros
- Hum-cancelling P-90 soap bar pickup set can be installed or mounted with ease
- Excellent hum-canceling effect thanks to the reverse wound bridge
- Performs silently
- Massive output together with an inspiring and imposing tone
- Focused midrange that can turn growly with a subtle hint of overdrive
- Soapbar style pickup painstakingly designed to emulate the classic P90 of Gibson
- Plenty of sustain due to steel poles and Alnico IV magnets
Cons
- You’ll miss out on hum-canceling if you use only one of the pickups
- It sounds more like a humbucker than and less like a vintage P90
- Quite expensive compared to other standard P90s
Mojotone 56 Quiet Coil
Players regard the “56 Quiet Coil P-90 Soapbar Pickup Pair from Mojotone as one of the most performance-driven hum-canceling pickups ever created. This Mojotone soap bar-shape P90 pickup set provides you with the full dynamics and response of traditional single-coils minus the hum. The classic P90s belonging to the ’50s dominated the pickup scene owing to their dynamically choral qualities marked by audacious highs that oozed transparency.
Nevertheless, those vintage P90 pickups came with one blatant drawback, and that was the 60-cycle whine that continues to pester contemporary players. The PAF (patent applied for) ’56 Quiet Coil hum-canceling P90 pickup brings the typical yesteryear vintage quality of the highly popular 1956’s P90 without sacrificing tone or sensitiveness. This Mojotone 56 Quiet Coil P90 soap bar set includes two pickups- one for the bridge and the other for the neck.
The Black Soapbar cover has been designed and manufactured in the US, so you can rest assured about the pickup set’s quality. The Mojotone P-90 pickups have been meticulously engineered to fully restore the airy clarity and colossal highs of those legendary 1950s pickup stalwarts but devoid of the 60-cycles hum. In addition, Mojotone has succeeded in exquisitely keeping the hum without employing any electronic appendages like batteries or PC boards.
The company has infused the materials and components used to make the original P90s, such as 42-gauge coil wire, adjustable pole pieces, and low-output Alnico magnets. So what you get is a clean untainted P-90’s tone that is by and large free of hum irrespective of the switch position. Additionally, you don’t have to carry out any routing modification for dialing in a vintage high-decibel grind and bright flowing tones that mid-50s P90 pickups were famous for!
Pros
- Premium hum-canceling “Quiet Coil” P-90s that imitates a single-coil out-and-out sans the hum
- Scatter wound coils and vintage-oriented Alnico magnet cores with lower magnetic flux for that bespoke vintage tone, clarity, and sensitivity
- Does not call for any routing
Cons
- You’ll need to install 500K volume and tone potentiometers for excellent performance.
Are P-90 Pickups Too Noisy?
Many guitarists always have and continue to complain that P-90 pickups tend to be overly noisy, which is usually true. Yes, P-90s, more often than not, can get a tad too loud for your comfort even if the pickup is fitted inside a premium guitar, say a Telecaster or Fender Princeton. However, many pros report that the hum is quite perceptible even when they play at stage levels where the volumes are relatively on the lower side.
P90s and single-coils are quite noisome and for good reasons. The primary cause seems to be an externally generated magnetic field, implying that the pickup is not the noise source. Instead, the pickup acts as a receiver or an antenna capturing the signals produced by the electrical field.
More often, the coil size influences the amount of noise or hum generated, i.e., the larger the size, the greater the effect. Sometimes shoddy grounding can be the culprit, leading to the pickups giving rise to plenty of unnecessary noise. Technically speaking, it is the grounding that shifts or transmits the din to the pickups.
However, modern-day pickups, including P90s, come with noise-canceling capabilities that enable contemporary guitar models to deliver clean sounds. Nevertheless, inferior quality of grounding could adversely affect this noise-canceling effect, thereby resulting in noise generation. It would help if you also kept in mind that most P90 pickup brands reinstate the original P90s soundstage feature-heavy Alnico magnets with steel poles and more coil wrapped around wider bobbins.
Now that’s perhaps the most practical reason why P90s happen to be inordinately noisy. Of course, a P90 pickup can also become irritably loud if you boost the gain, but you can control the loudness with a noise gate. And if and when you’re playing on stage, try keeping your hands on your guitar as much as possible.
Also, when you’re not performing, keep the volume as low as possible. Again, experienced and seasoned bassists suggest turning down the volume to minimize the microphonics as much as possible. You can also completely shield the pickup hollows with copper or aluminum foil and go for an RWRP (reverse wound reverse polarity) pup in the middle position.
Always see that you use a P90 in combination with a humbucker or a single-coil but never individually. Moreover, ensure the bridge is solidly grounded and also recheck the soldered joints.
What Does a P-90 Sound Like?
In the world of pickups, P90s are treated like half-brothers and stepsisters, always getting short shrift from guitarists and bassists. However, the P90s are not half as bad as they’re treated and hence more sinned against than sinning. A typical P90 pickup sounds remarkably beefy and bright and usually blends the tonal characteristics of both humbuckers and single-coils.
Talking about a P90’s tone, this pickup type is especially regarded for delivering a soft and whacky tone with a marked mid-bass definition, especially at lower volume levels. P90 pickups open up best when dropped inside a semi-hollow body- or hollow body guitar, rendering them ideal for punk, blues, jazz, rock, country, and indie music genres. Unfortunately, P90s are not cut out for any metal or heavy metal genre or subgenre because they get raucous with ultra-high distortion.
Furthermore, a P-90 has a very baggy bass response and sounds a tad too frail, making the pickup incapable of playing metal.
So, The Best Noiseless P-90 Pickup Is…
So there you’ve it-three of the topnotch P90 noiseless hum-canceling pickups. Of course, since all three pickups have their benefits and drawbacks, no single P-90 is perfect in all respects.
The Lindy Fralin P90 has a slight edge over the other two pickups because of its reverse-wound bridge, which helps significantly with noise-cancellation and lets it perform quietly.