And for some, the definition of P-90 attitude begins and ends with Leslie West's tone on Mountain's “Mississippi Queen.'īut the P-90 isn't always rude-sounding. Punk pioneers such as New York Doll Johnny Thunders and the Clash's Mick Jones loved its raw intensity. The P-90 is probably most associated with raunchy rock, from the Gibson SG Special Pete Townshend demolished at Leeds to Billie Joe Armstrong's hard-working Les Paul Junior. Though the humbucker's powerful tones and noise-free performance largely overshadowed the P-90, a vocal minority of players has long preferred the P-90's crisper tones, clearer mids, and potentially ragged edge. Gibson invented the P-90 and used it in many guitars between the pickup's 1946 debut on through the dawn of the humbucker a decade later-and thereafter it became a mainstay on once-budget-priced models such as the Les Paul Junior or Les Paul Junior Special. But lurking somewhere in the middle is a pickup type that's often overlooked: the P-90-style single-coil.
For most players, the pendulum of guitar-pickup fashion seems to swing between humbuckers-be they vintage, PAF-style or something more modern-and some type of take on Strat- or Tele-style single-coils.
