Opinions on the stock P90's and wiring harness on the Starfire 1 Jet 90's

[doctor underhill]

just bought a Jet 90 and was wondering about other's opinions on the stock electrics. mine seems to be breaking up at pretty low amount of signal and seems harsh/brittle. this is definitely not the first p90 equipped guitar i've owned/played starting with a vintage 57 Les Paul Special TV that i owned 40yrs ago

 

[Walter Broes]

They're not P90's - and that's some of what you might be hearing. They're based on vintage Guild Franz pickups, and those are brighter and twangier than a typical Gibson P90, with a midrange peak that sits at a higher frequency.

 

[doctor underhill]

interesting. but i would find myself in agreement with your assessment. i guess what i need to look into prior to making a pickup change is to see if an alternative wiring harness/components might address my issues with the stock set-up. all i can say after playing the guitar several days and in a variety of modes- clean, compressed, overdriven, etc. is the sound is decidedly unlike the experiences i have had with p90/large bobbin single coils, and more importantly is Not the sonic characteristics i was looking for. one of the problems of being in a geographic situation where test playing an instrument out of the "mainstream" (i.e. fender/gibson/etc) models is difficult.
thanks for your input.

 

[Walter Broes]

Re : pickup change - these are also not exactly the same size and shape as Gibson-syle soapbar p90's!