Description
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To me, a good P90 needs to be mean, nasty, and raunchy. That’s where most modern P90s seem to fail A bit hotter than vintage output at about 9k, and Alnico 2 magnets make for bridge P-90 that’s got plenty of midrange raunch and nastiness to it, the meaner P-90 is just plain… MEAN! Mostly used in the bridge position, paired with the Mean P-90 as a neck pickup. Available in Soap-Bar, Dog-Ear, and “Batwing” for SGSpecial/Classic pickguard mounting.
The Meaner P90 is one of Premiere Guitar Magazine’s “Tools for the task” |
Steve Ouimette using the Meaner P90 for rhythm, along with the Mean P90 for the lead.
Steve Oiumette covers Leslie using a Hamer –
“72 Marshall Superlead with both channels ganged and dimed. No cabinet, just direct into a Universal Audio OX Amp Top Box”
Because our upcoming version of our P90 for humbucker routs uses the real deal, here’s the Doug and Pat show review on our Mean and Meaner P90
Ron Ruhs –
Decided to try a dogear Meaner based on reviews and video clips. Great move on my part! Our band plays with a punk/rock level of drive and this P90 just brings it. A really full, and as toted “gnarly” mid, but at the same time it keeps definition (“Cleaner” distortion). No mush or just wall of noise, but a great rude, rock sound that will also clean up nice when the volume is turned down. Looking forward to adding more Wolfetone pickups to some of my other guitars.
Chili –
Replaced the stock Gibson P90 in my LP junior with a Meaner 90. If you’re going to play a guitar with just one pickup, this is the pickup to have. Great tones in every turn of the tone knob. Really love this pickup!
Rob (verified owner) –
Nasty Nasty Nasty but oh so sweet! I replaced some other aftermarket P 90 in my 92 Les Paul Jr with a Meaner and oh what a difference. The first pickup had great highs and lows but sounded scooped. No mids. Not the Meaner. Perfect raunchy rock n roll tones. This is my second Wolfetone. I also have a Mean P90 in a SG Jr
Chris Dixon (verified owner) –
I bought a mean/meaner set for my epi 339-pro. This guitar already had a fret level, custom cut tusq nut, and all hardware replaced by real Gibson. I bought these, received them in 6 days. I had to wait another week for my 50s pots and caps harness to get in. All I can say is, My P90s, in my Epi, scream. My buddy, who is a vintage snob (he has 2 early 60s 335s, one with real paf and the other with p90), gave me the best compliment: thus sounds like a 5k guitar. That’s about my feeling too.
John F. (verified owner) –
Bought the Meaner for my new dc Jr. clone. The original P90 was weak with no bite. Tested at 6.9k. The Meaner sounds great, the perfect P90 growl with a little overdrive. I couldn’t be happier with the Meaner.
Patrick (verified owner) –
I purchased a single Meaner 90 Soap Bar for my PRS SE One from the UK. The pickup was solidly built, well packaged and was dispatched promptly. It sounds really great with a Johnny Thunders type vibe , open, rude, harmonics and very touch sensitive to your picking. It cleans up beautifully, hums much less compared to the stock pickup and was money well worth spent on a premium product at a great price!
Thank you Wolfe!
Wolfe Macleod (verified owner) –
Thank you, Patrick!
Nick –
Very well made pickups in mid price range, on par with SD vintage models which are dearer. On another guitar I tried various P90 bucker models, the sound is pleasing but just not the P90 honk. They have deep coils rather than flat wide radiating coils, I can’t see how they can be the same because of this. If you want P90s get P90s!
Shane (verified owner) –
This is not my first Wolfetone stuffed guitar. I’ve had a set of Legends since 2012 that are killer. Today we discuss the beloved P90. Short story. PRS Custom 22 Top 10 with SD trio. Not good enough. After chatting with Wolfe, he decided Mean Mean Meaner. Talked me out of the temptation of Meanest. Totally the right call. He set the middle RWRP so that all of them behave nicely together on stage and balance out beautifully. Can’t say enough about the creamy tone that drive us to keep the P90 alive. Mid range crunch. Cleans up nicely when rolled off. And once you choose to dime it out, people look up from their beers and come along for the ride !!!
Shane (verified owner) –
Wolfe is the king. I’ve had Legends for years in another guitar. And when it was time to pull the SD from my PRS Custom 22 triple, I knew to look no further than Wolfetone. During our discussion, he convinced me to stick with Mean-Mean-Meaner. He wrapped the middle RWRP for me. The mid range crunch is in full force without scooping and becoming brittle. It cleans up nicely when rolled off. And when you dime it out on stage; people look up from their beer and take notice of the journey they are now a part of !!! Wolfetone has done an excellent job of preserving why we love P90s.
Mark Tyson (verified owner) –
I’ve heard/read about Wolftone pickups for several years….then when researching P90’s recently, the Mean & Meaner combo kept coming up. And Wolfe’s service was also brought up. I figured I’d give them a shot. I ordered them one morning, they shipped that day and were in my guitar 2 days later! This Mean at the neck and Meaner at the bridge knocked out a set of ThroBak ’52/’54 in my new Collings 290 DC. The ThroBak’s are fine pickups but these have the tone I was missing and looking for. A deep, clear neck pickup and a beefier, ballsier, yes “meaner” bridge pickup. And they clean up beautifully when the volume is rolled back. LOVE them!! Thanks Wolfe!!
Carlo (verified owner) –
I replaced the stock Bridge Gibson P90 with the Meaner P90 on my Les Paul. Oh my goodness, the Wolfetone Meaner P90 just destroys it. Nasty attitude, growl and clarity. It’s a rock n roll overdrive machine now. Chords ring out with authority, leads sing and cut through the mix. If you like and overdrive and want a rockin’ P90, look no further than the Meaner P90 Bridge
Connor –
I have this loaded into a BA Ferguson Flyweight Junior and, as far as I’m concerned, it’s the perfect pickup for that sound. Actually, of all of my guitars (most with aftermarket boutique pickups), this is easily the best sounding of all of my pickups. Versatile and proud, this thing plays with some chest. Mine will be with me for life so buy with confidence.
Alfie B. (verified owner) –
It’s quite rare that I feel the need to share my experience with a pickup, but this pickup is just so amazing I simply had to. I’ve had a bit of a love/hate relationship with P90s my entire guitar playing life, a lot of my heroes favour P90s but I never managed to get a similar sound out of them when in my own hands.
Long story short, the Meaner bridge in my Maybach Albatroz (SG Special style) has the perfect P90 sound to my ears. It manages to combine attributes that usually don’t go together – it’s bright and forward but not harsh, full and thick but not muddy and kind of raw and smooth at the same time. To be more specific, a lot of P90s produce some very unpleasant “garbage frequencies” as I call it. If you’ve ever tried to get a high gain sound from a vintage style SSS Strat you’ll know what I’m talking about, I think they’re some sort of nasty odd order harmonics. The Meaner just sounds perfectly smoothed out in that area of the frequency spectrum, without being overly polished in the slightest.
If you can’t get a great sound out of a Meaner, I would dare to say it has to be one of two things: Either the guitar is not up for it/has some kind of issue, or P90s are not for you. It beats out all the other boutique offerings I’ve tried, some which even had similar specs on paper but also some that didn’t. Although I am happy with my current neck pickup, it is tempting to try the Mean in the neck position when the Meaner is as good as it is… To be continued…
Marinho (verified owner) –
Savage; in the best way! I purchased a Mean/Meaner set for my Epiphone Casino. For the bridge pickup, I recommend using a shim to raise the pickup higher. Before the shim, the tone was great. After the shim, the tone was incredible! My drummer even looked up, asked if I got a new guitar. Turned my tone from good, to amazing! In your face, great overdriven tones, while still remaining clarity! Also cleans up beautifully, when the volume is rolled back. Thanks so much Wolfe!
Charles (verified owner) –
Absolutely phenomenal sounding pickup for me and my p90 gold top! This was my third attempt at finding the right pickups for this guitar and third time was definitely the charm because my mean/meaner set gives me everything I wanted in this guitar. So clear and dynamic with great output and vintage vibe. Also, thank you Mr Wolfe for answering all my pickup questions!
Troy Cook –
I purchased a Grez Junior with a Meaner P-90 installed. Plugged into the second input of a 68 Twin, it’s warm with the slightest amount of distortion, which cleans up beautifully with the guitar volume turned down. Plug into the number one input and you can feel the guitar leaning into the amp. Each note has a litter more sustain and roundness. When plugged into the Soldano SLO, all bets are off. The combine to make each single note perfect and the chords are huge but articulate.
I cannot recommend this pickup more highly!
Charles (verified owner) –
Outstanding pickups! I’ve tried a bunch of different p90 pickups in my LP and the Wolfetone’s are hands down the absolute best for me.