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Thread: P-90 Strat

  1. #1
    Forum Member sinner's Avatar
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    P-90 Strat

    I never heard of these: a Stratosonic (American Made) with P-90s. Nice "TV" color and gibson-type bridge--hybrid Special/Jr/Strat?

    Anyone got one of these?


    Pretty Cool--kinda retro-futuristic...

  2. #2
    Formerly Tele-Tubby TT100's Avatar
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    Re: P-90 Strat

    They come in a cherry mahogany finish too. Very cool I think.

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  3. #3
    Forum Member cherryburststrat's Avatar
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    Re: P-90 Strat

    I'm probably in the minority here but I have an SG with P-90's and really am not very fond of them. I get all the hum of a single coil, but I don't get anything near the nice sound of a strat. (I realize it's not a strat), but there has to be some kind of trade off and with the P-90's I personally don't hear it.

  4. #4
    Forum Member JestersTear1's Avatar
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    Re: P-90 Strat

    That is sooooo wrong in so many ways....................
    Nothing's forgotten...nothing is ever forgotten
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  5. #5
    Gravity Jim
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    Re: P-90 Strat

    I really wanted one of thos guitars til I played one. I hated the bridge. The design seems like a real cool idea, but it just doesn't work... at least not what I was looking for.

    cherryburst, what the P-90s are known for is raw, rude, "vocal"-type tones... think of Leslie West with Mountain, early Santana. If you're going for those kinds of tones, they rule.

  6. #6
    Forum Member cherryburststrat's Avatar
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    Re: P-90 Strat

    Jim

    I'm sure a lot of my displeasure has to do with my own expections of them without having heard them before buying the SG.

    Now I realize that you should not buy a guitar before playing it but these were only available through musiciansfriend.com and I was looking for something closer to a strat sound on a SG design - hence my disappointment. It is such a pretty guitar and priced well so I didn't return it. I'm more comfortable playing an SG than a strat design. At one point I even put some single coils in an SG (close, but not the same). I missed the sound of a strat and have since bought an American Deluxe (noiseless pickups) and am forcing myself to get used to it.

    Now that I've been talking about it, I think I'll bring the SG to practice tonight and give it another whirl!

  7. #7
    Gravity Jim
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    Re: P-90 Strat

    Ahhhh, well, that explains it. An SG with P-90s isn't going to sound much like a Stratocaster, that's for sure. If that's what you were going for, you're disenchantment is completely understandable.

  8. #8
    Forum Member sinner's Avatar
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    Re: P-90 Strat

    Well I haven't played one. I like the "idea" of a P-90 Strat, but I think I would miss the twang & zing from the floating trem & springs--then again I haven't played a hardtail strat either.

    Strats are just so darn comfy to hold and play, so I am hoping for the best of both worlds kind of thing.

  9. #9
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    Re: P-90 Strat

    I've got the one pickup version in the cherry finish and love it. It's got its own vibe, not quite Fender and not quite Gibson but somewhere in-between. Definately play one before you pull the trigger because it's not for everyone. I'll see if can't get some pics up of mine soon.

  10. #10
    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: P-90 Strat



    i liked it, not very stratty though...more like a firebird. it is 25.5 scale though, so it pinged a little.
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

  11. #11
    Forum Member sinner's Avatar
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    Re: P-90 Strat

    Fiddle(phil-atelist)?

  12. #12
    Forum Member flintpunk's Avatar
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    P90 Strat

    Have any of you guys ever built a P90 Strat? I'm thinking of one with 3 P90's...Now if I can just find one for the center that's wound RW/RP! Does anyone do that? I'm thinking Duncan must make something that would work for the 3 pup Firebirds and such. I'd really like to use a saphire blue Hwy1 body and a tele neck to match the relic I bought a couple months ago. I'm really missing the P90 sound of my Lester Special I sold. Input...?

    Thanks mods!
    Last edited by flintpunk; 07-03-2006 at 03:47 PM.
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  13. #13
    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: P-90 Strat

    just buy two bridge models (one for the neck, and one for the bridge) and a "neck" pup (use that for the middle position.
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

  14. #14
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    Re: P-90 Strat

    Not much difference in tone between my Stratosonic DVI and the SG Jr I had back in the day. The difference in tone between the Stratosonic and my ash ESP 400 Series (which has one of the best Strat sounds ever) is night and day. I think the rw/maple neck on the Stratosonic may bring out a little more brightness when compared to the mahogany neck on my old SG. The biggest difference is in the feel. SGs always felt a little stange to me, kind of like the neck was longer when playing open chords. The Stratosonic doesn't have that issue.

    The tones of the Stratosonic aren't Fender, they definitely fall in the Gibson P90 camp. The pup has good midrange as far as P90s go. I've heard better P90s by Fralin and Lollar but I haven't replaced the Black Dove yet as its got some soul. For a single pup guitar it is pretty versatile. The tone control can shape tones from biting to a bluesy woman tone. Yes, alll from a single bridge pup. If you know how to tweak your amp the single pup P90 equipped guitars can be semi-versatile.

    The Statosonic has its own character and there aren't so many DVIs around. If you're looking for traditional Fender tones then you've come to the wrong place. The stopbar bridge on mine is one of the nicest I've ever played. It completely smokes the old vintage style Gibsons and the intonation adjustments work well. Again it ain't no Fender as far as bridge feel. I think to appreciate the Stratosonic you need to appreciate a good LP Special or similar. For me it's a great guitar, but I own more Gibsons than Fenders. If you try to compare the Stratosonic to traditional Fenders you're missing the whole point...

  15. #15
    Forum Member frank thomson's Avatar
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    Re: P-90 Strat

    i realy like mine.


    and i like the shorter scale, too....and i'm a HUGE wraptail fan!.... it's just bad-ass.

    (i just realized this thread is almost 1 yr old...D'oh!)
    Imanidiot.

  16. #16
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    Re: P-90 Strat

    Didn't realize the thread was that old... Just did a search on Stratosonics. Its the last Fender I have in my collection. Its also my favorite of many previous Fenders. Just really hard to find any information on them. Hoping to find some info on pup swaps and the like. I may end up modding mine but I'm on the fence about it. The serial number is Z3000071 so I'm figuring it was an early production model.

    It doesn't appear that too many people own them, especially the DVIs. Harmony Central doesn't even have a review for the DVI on line. I saw a few in the past come up for sale but haven't seen one for a while. Just the DVIIs. Right now I may just hold off and find a DVII to mod. Know of any good ideas in threads I've missed?

    Thanks for welcome, glad to be here!

  17. #17
    Forum Member frank thomson's Avatar
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    Re: P-90 Strat

    Thanks Fezz...yea, it's really cool.

    i have since removed the pickguard..it didn't hide any routes

    ..and a funny story;
    i have this AmDlx Strat maple neck here, so i bolted it up. Man it looked wick-ed w/ no PG and that neck....anyhoo, so i tuned it using a tuner...OK....and i had my amp on *shred*, so a lot of notes are just white noise anyways....so i'm playing....playing....had to be jammin for at least 10 mins.....this neck was fast...then i hit the clean chanel...uh.....why is it outta tune?...i tune it.....uh.......why no tuney?

    any guesses?.....

    HINT>>>(see tagline)

    A: different scale neck.
    i kinda knew that already when i bought it...but it was prob a yr later, and i wasn't thinking of that at the time...just how cool it would look...i'm pretty superficial......and even tho the S0S neck is really nice, i'd still like to get a maple neck for it. ...I'm prob gonna check out Warmoth, or something...wanna get a nice light-colored baseball-bat neck.

    oh yea, and Welcome Dannyboy
    Imanidiot.

  18. #18
    Forum Member Guitar_Mc's Avatar
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    Re: P-90 Strat

    I googled the "stratosonic" and on one of the links, I found this...



    These Strato & Tele Sonics are just too cool lookin.
    Thank goodness I don't need another guitar.

  19. #19
    Forum Member frank thomson's Avatar
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    Re: P-90 Strat

    yea, they look cool

    never tried one, but....i'm not dead yet.
    Imanidiot.

  20. #20
    Forum Member JM3's Avatar
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    Re: P-90 Strat

    I have a TC-90

    Semi hollow set neck 2 p-90 SD pups sounds amazingly like aLP junior

  21. #21
    Forum Member Guitar_Mc's Avatar
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    Re: P-90 Strat

    Don't forget, there is a cheaper alternative too...

    Rondo Music

  22. #22
    Forum Member ziess's Avatar
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    Re: P-90 Strat

    Quote Originally Posted by Guitar_Mc View Post
    I googled the "stratosonic" and on one of the links, I found this...



    These Strato & Tele Sonics are just too cool lookin.
    Thank goodness I don't need another guitar.
    Oh Jeez... A Tele with Dynas? All that needs is an F-hole and i'm in heaven!

    Tommy.

  23. #23
    Forum Member Tonedog's Avatar
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    Re: P-90 Strat

    Quote Originally Posted by frank thomson View Post
    i realy like mine.


    and i like the shorter scale, too....and i'm a HUGE wraptail fan!.... it's just bad-ass.

    (i just realized this thread is almost 1 yr old...D'oh!)
    That's cool... Did you build it, or find it somewhere? I need to do something like that w/ a wrap tailpiece.......
    It's all about Tone!!

  24. #24
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    Re: P-90 Strat

    Thats just like mine minus one pup of course. I'll try and get some pics up tomorrow. I know their out and guys have experimented (seems we always do...). Maybe someone will chime in with useful 411.

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