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P-90's?

TM1

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Jun 27, 2003
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Jon; Base plates: I have some old ones that are a plated nickel silver over sheet brass and some that are just regular nickel silver like Humbucking base plates. Whats up with them?
Thanks!
Don
 

jwalker

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All of the P90 baseplates I have seen with the dimples on the bottom have been tin plated or tin dipped brass and a few that are turn black that are probably plated with pure nickel which tarnishes black. I have seen lap steel baseplates of P90 variants that had hand cut nickel silver baseplates with no dimples on the bottom of the baseplate. I would imagine that very early dog ear P90's might have the same hand cut baseplates. But I have not had any in hand yet so I really can't confirm this.
 

Bluuzman

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:2cool Jon, do you think I can get a set of P-90's before Christmas?
 

jwalker

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:2cool Jon, do you think I can get a set of P-90's before Christmas?

Yes. In fact I'm filling a few orders right now for the original cream color soap bar sets right now.

But I have to explain what colors there will be and what is set to go now. Right now the original cream color soap bars are ready, the faded bone color still has to be color matched. I will also have black covers for these and bridge Dog Ear (black) for juniors that should be ready in a few weeks.

The picture below shows the original cream color that was matched from the inside of a 56' P90 cover. These are ready now. For the faded bone color the samples I have is too stained IMO and will not work for color matching. So that color will be a month or two down the road.

This photo explains the color match for the original 56' cream color. As you can see the original color is straight forward. The faded colors are a moving target. All of the covers including the ThroBak are made of Butyrate.

P90colorvariation.jpg
 

jwalker

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:2cool Jon, do you think I can get a set of P-90's before Christmas?

Yep. I will have original vintage cream color and black in both soap bars and dog ears before Christmas. I am waiting on the colorant for faded bone covers. Those will probably be run after Christmas.

I was at the molder Thursday and took a snap shot of one of the P90 cover molds.

P90Covermold.jpg
 

MapleFlame

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Jul 3, 2005
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Yep. I will have original vintage cream color and black in both soap bars and dog ears before Christmas. I am waiting on the colorant for faded bone covers. Those will probably be run after Christmas.

I was at the molder Thursday and took a snap shot of one of the P90 cover molds.

P90Covermold.jpg


That is awesome, thanks for sharing this. :salude :salude
 

jwalker

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Here are some pics of the Repro P90 covers in a 52'/54' conversion. These are a great match with the old plastic on this guitar. 56' faded bone color to come.

P90ReproCoverCU.jpg
54reprocovers.jpg
 

MapleFlame

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Any news on the bone covers and also are you making black one's as well.
 

jwalker

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Any news on the bone covers and also are you making black one's as well.

Actually I just got the bone color match back from the lab Thursday. It looks great! Once the mold is finished for the M-69 rings I will run the P90 bone covers along with the M-69 rings. The molder likes to group lighter plastic runs together to minimize machine clean out.

The black P-90 parts are done. The dog ear covers are a pretty cool and really are a dead ringer for the vintage covers. Again they are Butyrate just like vintage molded P90 covers.

BlackP90Covers.jpg
 

jwalker

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Here is a pic of the ThroBak P90 repro bobbins. I had the mold made exactly like the vintage sample bobbins I gave the molder. They are molded with high impact Styrene. The P90 bobbins that were prone to cracking were made of general purpose Styrene. The ThroBak repro bobbins have the resonance of Styrene but will not self destruct like the general purpose Styrene. I also ran the bobbins in ABS for 60's era P90 repros. These bobbins are a drop in replacements for a vintage P-90 that has had the bobbins fall apart. Screw spacing, coil former size, everything.... is vintage correct. So there are no compromises when repairing a vintage P90.

P90Bobbins.jpg
 

MapleFlame

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Wow, thanks for the update. You really are doing some great work. Your having M69 rings, that is fantastic. Can't wait to try some of your P90s. The reissue Gibson products will really benefit from having these P90's. I would love to try them in one of the 330L Custom Shop guitars
 

TM1

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Holy Moley Jon!!! This is Great stuff!! I can't hardly wait to get some P-90's and Rings!
 

jwalker

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Jon what's the latest on the bone white covers and the P90's.

The bone covers are done and a great match for the bone 56' cover I sent the colorant place! I just have to get photos and a shopping cart for them on my site.
 

MapleFlame

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The bone covers are done and a great match for the bone 56' cover I sent the colorant place! I just have to get photos and a shopping cart for them on my site.

Niiiiiiize say it like Mike Tyson from hangover :)

PAF rings I bet too.
 

buyusfear

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Oct 3, 2006
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The bone covers are done and a great match for the bone 56' cover I sent the colorant place! I just have to get photos and a shopping cart for them on my site.

This makes me happy.
I've been checking for updates frequently.
 

TM1

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Yes.. I've been patiently waiting for these... All good things are worth waiting for. I can imagine that Jon has been beside himself a few times with the P-90's. I can hardly wait for a new set
 

jwalker

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Here is a shot of the new ThroBak bone 56' P-90 Soap Bar covers on my 2009 R6 test guitar. The bone color is a dead on match to the 56' bone cover I sent to the lab making the colorant. Next to the Historic pickguard the color is just a shade lighter which I think looks very appropriate for an authentic 56' look. Personally I love it! Aged obviously won't look as brand spanking new as these. The pickups in the photo are ThroBak but the covers fit like a glove over Gibson P-90's also. I have many, many more photos to do and copy and code to write but this is a little teaser.

BoneP-90Covers.jpg
 
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