View Full Version : P90 Cobra -- Pics? Comments? Fuel my GAS, please.
olectric
07-19-2006, 12:24 AM
well, i woke up today wanting a Cobra with three P90s. i'm pretty sure this comes from a few different things:
1. Corey's positive response to his new acquisition
2. Mike Britt's sweet clips here (http://bogneramplification.com/)
3. Greg V's sweet clips here (http://bogneramplification.com/) and sweet video here (http://www.hugeracksinc.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=24170)
the truly sad thing is, i'm P90-retarded. don't know a lot about them or the guitars they typically are found in. i just got my first P90 guitar, a Hamer Newport with a bigsby trem. it's pretty cool. really cool, actually. maybe that is reason #4... anyway, i've played a LP jr, a Hamer Special, and a P90 SG, but they really didn't have the tone that i'm REALLY diggin in Mike's and Greg's clips.
so, a couple questions:
1. what is the tonal difference going to be between an all-mahogany guitar and one that has a maple cap? is the mahogany one just going to be a little warmer or...?
2. with 3 P90s, what do the neck + middle and middle + bridge pickup combos sound like? quacky like a strat? humcancelling?
3. will Ms sound very much like P90s? from what i understand, the M pickups, while awesome in their own right, lack the bite (and hum, of course) of a true P90.
4. hollow vs. solid Cobra Special? hollow vs. solid Cobra (w/ maple cap)?
i've already dug through the guitar gallery on the TAG site. feel free to post pics and sound clips. the GAS is pretty bad; don't worry about making it worse. :D
GaryMcT
07-19-2006, 02:25 AM
You know, your timing is really bad. I'm watching a Stone Temple Pilots concert DVD right now where Dean Deleo is playing a '58 LP with P90's. . . sounds really really good.
Tom, did you ever work with Robert Deleo at Schecter at some point? I'm not sure when he was there.
Carry on. . I want to hear about P90 Cobras too. :) My GAS has been painfully bad lately for Cobras.
guitarzan
07-19-2006, 10:01 AM
I'll try to post some clips today. I haven't fired up Pro Tools on my Intel MacBook Pro yet, so it may be more trouble than I have time for. But I'll try to have them up by the afternoon, CA time, if all goes smoothly with the software.
i'll let others coment on the sounds. i haven't used p90's out for quite some time. the combination sounds are quite nice here at the shop, very fat strat caught sounds. i will say that p90's in general are on the darker side compared to most singles and m's. if hum is an issue i would look elsewhere as they excel at it.
i remember the deleo brothers from way back, but i don't think i was around when they did schecter stuff. bruce here takes care of their guitars now.
olectric
07-19-2006, 12:03 PM
curious: can TAG's Ps and Ms be interchanged in a non-pickguard guitar? same mounting brackets or no?
I haven't fired up Pro Tools on my Intel MacBook Pro yet
pm sent to avoid derailment
m's can go in p90 holes with rings we make here. p's only go in p holes.
sylvanshine
07-19-2006, 12:56 PM
m's can go in p90 holes with rings we make here. p's only go in p holes.
Actually p's go OUT p holes. (giggle...snort) :p
Janine Doubly
07-19-2006, 01:20 PM
I've never played a Hollow Cobra Special, but have played quite a few solid Cobra Specials. Its a little hard to describe, but there seems to be a synergy that happens with P's and a slab o' mahogany. It certainly doesn't lack top end, although I've played a couple of Cobras with maple caps and P's and the top end seems to become "nicer" and more "airy" with the maple cap. But for angry, high cholestrol, meat and potatoes, mahogany tone, I just love a straight Cobra Special with P's (as well as nice vintage SG/Les Paul Specials, and Juniors). The tone is so cool, its worth dealing with the hum. For slide, Pete Townshend "Live at Leeds" era power chords and those cool jazz chords the STP guys use, a Cobra Special with any vintage British amp is stellar, but certainly not nice!!! :D
bruce
07-19-2006, 01:36 PM
You know, your timing is really bad. I'm watching a Stone Temple Pilots concert DVD right now where Dean Deleo is playing a '58 LP with P90's. . . sounds really really good.
Tom, did you ever work with Robert Deleo at Schecter at some point? I'm not sure when he was there.
Carry on. . I want to hear about P90 Cobras too. :) My GAS has been painfully bad lately for Cobras.
Gary,
That TV Special of Dean's is very nice.. although anything plugged through his rig sounds nice period. It's got a huge neck with a slight V to it....yummy!
Robert didn't work for Schecter, but he did work for Mesa Boogie/Lab Sound (retail store), which was a dealer that sold Schecter and Anderson guitars. That was in the late eighties.
Anyhow, P-90's are very cool, and the Anderson P's are very cool too... I suggest to anyone to try them... there is a thicker midrange quality that is wonderful. Yes, they will hum, but that never stopped Jimi or Dean... get it?... Jimi Dean...!
...sorry
somehow i knew that jay would be the one to respond to my last post.
guitarzan
07-19-2006, 02:56 PM
Okay, sound files are uploaded now. Each one is probably a couple of MB or so, so you may have to wait for a second while they load.
First and foremost, you're gonna hear loads of hum. I gotta tell you, my house is 60-some-odd years old and not a single outlet in the house is grounded. If I'mplaying my guitar and typing on this keyboard at the same time, I get a shock that'll make the hair on my arms stand up. I can't believe I'm not dead yet. Anyway, THAT exacerbates the hum dramatically. When I gig, it's never like you'll hear here.
Secondly, when I tell you I don't suck this bad as a guitar player, please believe me.
The amplifier is an Egnater MOD-50. The module is the SL2 (hot rodded plexi), the mic is a 57, 2" off the grille and at a 45 degree angle facing the edge of the cone. Interface was Mbox into Pro Tools LE, no eq, no fx. Converted to 320 Kbps mp3 in iTunes. Signal chain is guitar > George L's .225 red, 10ft. > amp.
5 files: neck, bridge, middle, all 3, then a John Mayer strat going through all 5 p/u positions as a reference.
neck (http://www.dognmoon.com/anderson/neck.mp3)
bridge (http://www.dognmoon.com/anderson/bridge.mp3)
middle (http://www.dognmoon.com/anderson/middle.mp3)
all 3 p/u positions (http://www.dognmoon.com/anderson/all_pu_positions.mp3)
strat (http://www.dognmoon.com/anderson/strat.mp3)
on the bridge sample, I turned the volume down to clean up the amp for a second.
If the playing doesn't give you diarrhea, at least maybe the files will help with the GAS. :)
guitarzan
07-19-2006, 03:00 PM
by the way, the guitar is a cobra special 11-10-99P
olectric
07-19-2006, 03:11 PM
dude! thanks so much. great tones and playing (as usual)! the GAS is a-flamin!
If the playing doesn't give you diarrhea, at least maybe the files will help with the GAS. :)
LOL!!! the only part that may have "loosened" me up a bit inside occurs at 1:29 on the strat clip. just what is going on there? :D just messing with you; the clips are seriously great. i promise.
GaryMcT
07-19-2006, 03:40 PM
Completely off-topic, but have you compared the SL2 to the Randall Plexi module? From your recordings, I get the feeling that the Egnater version sounds more like a real Plexi. This is exactly what I don't want to know (but I do) since the Egnater stuff is twice as expensive. :)
Edit: . . and I'm loving the tones that you are getting there!
replayboy
07-19-2006, 03:45 PM
"woke up this morning wanting a cobra with 3 P90's"..... isnt that a Robert Johnson song? :D
by the way, the guitar is a cobra special 11-10-99P
Corey,
That guitar sure sounds good! :cool:
Very cool clips.
I am a huge fan of P90's.I always have been.
Now I must start saving for another P90 guitar. :D
sylvanshine
07-19-2006, 03:51 PM
somehow i knew that jay would be the one to respond to my last post.
We change 24 diapers a day at the Spence house.....everything is potty humor.
GaryMcT
07-19-2006, 04:00 PM
Gary,
That TV Special of Dean's is very nice.. although anything plugged through his rig sounds nice period. It's got a huge neck with a slight V to it....yummy!
Robert didn't work for Schecter, but he did work for Mesa Boogie/Lab Sound (retail store), which was a dealer that sold Schecter and Anderson guitars. That was in the late eighties.
Anyhow, P-90's are very cool, and the Anderson P's are very cool too... I suggest to anyone to try them... there is a thicker midrange quality that is wonderful. Yes, they will hum, but that never stopped Jimi or Dean... get it?... Jimi Dean...!
...sorry
Yes, that rig is amazing. I love the mix of AC30 and Marshall-like tones. STP is one of my favorites. . . is cool to hear that you are working on their instruments. From the looks of things, it looks like Dean is on stage with enough vintage instruments to retire a few times over, or are those re-issues?
Doh, found the answer here: http://www.musictoyz.com/articles/chopdean.php
guitarzan
07-19-2006, 04:06 PM
LOL!!! the only part that may have "loosened" me up a bit inside occurs at 1:29 on the strat clip. just what is going on there? :D
i just went back and listened to that... :o
Now that you're in Nashville, you better get used to hearing this:
"Aww, don't worry about that... it'll get fixed in the mix." ;)
guitarzan
07-19-2006, 04:20 PM
Completely off-topic, but have you compared the SL2 to the Randall Plexi module? From your recordings, I get the feeling that the Egnater version sounds more like a real Plexi. This is exactly what I don't want to know (but I do) since the Egnater stuff is twice as expensive. :)
Edit: . . and I'm loving the tones that you are getting there!
I haven't listened to any of the Randal stuff, but I've played with most of the Egnater modules. I know the Egnater stuff has two channels per module and can take any kind of power tube, so that makes it great for GAS. Right now I'm playing with the Bassman (Bman) module and this SL2. The two channels of Bman sound every bit like the Lincoln Brewster Live record that I'm so nuts about and the SL2 is a tone that I've never played with before. It feels like Landau to me though, so I'm sticking with it for a while- and the B channel on that SL2 has even more gain and I use it for my lead tone. The gain is down pretty low on these recordings and it's the A channel of the SL2.
Of course, some people aren't fans of the Egnater stuff. I got in a psuedo argument with a fellow on the TopHat forum yesterday. He was telling me that I might as well buy a POD if I'm willing to go through all of the solid state and printed circuit board circuitry of the Egnater Modules. And it kinda hurt my feelings because it reminded me of all those gigs I'd lost becasue I wasn't using point to point wiring in my amps. :D
It's pretty much been the Egnater stuff lately- I haven't played the Lone Star Special in a couple of months. If it goes another couple of weeks, I'll probably end up selling it to stir up the dust again. My wife has been a little too happy with me lately, and because man is magnetically attracted to chaos, I have to mix that up a little bit. Of course when I sell the LoneStar and the owner of the Egnater comes to get it back from me, I'll be on here begging for one of Olectric's or Suriel's multitude of amplifiers.
guitarzan
07-19-2006, 04:23 PM
by the way, this MOD 50 is a combo and I yanked the Mesa Black Shadow C-90 speaker out of my Lone Star extension cab and put it in the combo so it felt like home to me. I have one of the new closed back 1x12 Eganter cabs (that are about the size of a 4x10 cab) with a Vintage 30 and it sounds like RAWK.
GaryMcT
07-19-2006, 06:55 PM
by the way, this MOD 50 is a combo and I yanked the Mesa Black Shadow C-90 speaker out of my Lone Star extension cab and put it in the combo so it felt like home to me. I have one of the new closed back 1x12 Eganter cabs (that are about the size of a 4x10 cab) with a Vintage 30 and it sounds like RAWK.
What power tubes are you using in these recordings?
guitarzan
07-19-2006, 06:59 PM
What power tubes are you using in these recordings?
GT6L6C (aka KT66/5881).
I liked the EL34's for the SL2, but the 6L6's give the Bassman the squish and sparkle like I like.
GaryMcT
07-19-2006, 07:14 PM
GT6L6C (aka KT66/5881).
I liked the EL34's for the SL2, but the 6L6's give the Bassman the squish and sparkle like I like.
OK, I'm using Ruby 6L6's and JJ 6V6's (mostly 6V6's lately) in my Randall. I think I'm going to have to try to find that Egnater module to do a Pepsi Challenge. :)
guitarzan
07-19-2006, 07:43 PM
And I just noticed that when I carried the amp in here to set it up, my shorts turned the knobs on the face of the SL2 module. gain is at 8 o'clock; bright mini toggle and bass boost mini toggle are both in the #2 setting; bass is at 2 o'clock; middle is at 9 o'clock; treble is at 3 o'clock. Amp was in the low power setting but I can't hear any difference in response between hi power and lo- power settings (it's really good- the Lone Star Special turns into a different amp between the 30, 15, and 5w settings).
The mids are pretty scooped by accident. Normally, the SL2 loves a manly, hairy midrange... as I suspect Sylvanshine does.
GaryMcT
07-19-2006, 07:55 PM
And I just noticed that when I carried the amp in here to set it up, my shorts turned the knobs on the face of the SL2 module. gain is at 8 o'clock; bright mini toggle and bass boost mini toggle are both in the #2 setting; bass is at 2 o'clock; middle is at 9 o'clock; treble is at 3 o'clock. Amp was in the low power setting but I can't hear any difference in response between hi power and lo- power settings (it's really good- the Lone Star Special turns into a different amp between the 30, 15, and 5w settings).
The mids are pretty scooped by accident. Normally, the SL2 loves a manly, hairy midrange... as I suspect Sylvanshine does.
Ah, just realized. . the first channel of SL2 is more like the Randall SL+ (or the Mr. Scary module) than the Randall Plexi. Will try setting similar to yours when I get home and see what happens. I don't know that I've used those modules with the gain that low very much.
guitarzan
07-19-2006, 09:02 PM
yeah, the liability of this particular module is that it gets noisy, and since I'm only playing single coils, it's even worse. I turned the gain down quite a bit and it still feels full and punchy and full of the rawk, but it's quiet.
olectric
07-19-2006, 11:46 PM
anybody have any pics of cobras with 3 P90s besides the ones on the TAG site?
GaryMcT
07-20-2006, 02:11 AM
And I just noticed that when I carried the amp in here to set it up, my shorts turned the knobs on the face of the SL2 module. gain is at 8 o'clock; bright mini toggle and bass boost mini toggle are both in the #2 setting; bass is at 2 o'clock; middle is at 9 o'clock; treble is at 3 o'clock. Amp was in the low power setting but I can't hear any difference in response between hi power and lo- power settings (it's really good- the Lone Star Special turns into a different amp between the 30, 15, and 5w settings).
The mids are pretty scooped by accident. Normally, the SL2 loves a manly, hairy midrange... as I suspect Sylvanshine does.
What do you have your master, presense, and density set at? You have a dash of essense of AC/DC in there that I'm missing. :) When the owner of the amp comes back, you should give 'em your LoneStar. :D
guitarzan
07-20-2006, 08:32 AM
What do you have your master, presense, and density set at? You have a dash of essense of AC/DC in there that I'm missing. :) When the owner of the amp comes back, you should give 'em your LoneStar. :D
The amp master is conversation quiet, maybe 8 o'clock. The channel master is probably at 11 o'clock or so. The density is at noon and the presence is up a bit at 2 o'clock for a little extra sparkle. I played at the mega church this weekend but they had my amp right at my ankle, so I bumped the presence up just a hair for my own sanity and let them pull the added highs out of the house.
And I'll bet you a crispy dollar that the owner would much prefer his Egnater than my LoneStar. Just a hunch. The good news is that the owner has Egnaters in abundance so he may be gracious.
guitarzan
07-20-2006, 12:23 PM
anybody have any pics of cobras with 3 P90s besides the ones on the TAG site?
You might think twice about the 3 pup version. I don't wanna tell you what to do, but if you want strat sounds, play your strat. I have found that the 3 simple choices of neck, bridge, or middle muddies the water a little less when I'm playing.
Just my $.02, Justin.
olectric
07-20-2006, 02:42 PM
You might think twice about the 3 pup version. I don't wanna tell you what to do, but if you want strat sounds, play your strat. I have found that the 3 simple choices of neck, bridge, or middle muddies the water a little less when I'm playing.
Just my $.02, Justin.
how dare you. :D i'm not looking for another strat. found a great deal on a used grosh, and it's doing fine for me (at the moment...). i'm just really diggin' the tones that Mike and Greg are getting out of that 3 P90 guitar. and they're not really stratty tones, you know? i like the sound of yours, too, but the maple top is bringing out an airiness or brilliance in the high end that i really like on the other guitar. plus, it sounds like mike is using position 4 or 2 maybe (care to chime in, mike?) on the "clean arpeggios" clip on the bogner site. diggin' that tone a lot. it's just GAS, man. gotta land a tour or some session work before i even think of getting another guitar.
guitarzan
07-20-2006, 02:47 PM
I totally understand. I dug Mike's clips too. I'm curious how much that maple cap sweetend things up a bit. But when I only have two guitars, I want a committed dark one and a committed bright one. When I get the big gigs I'll have lots of shades of grey.
olectric
07-20-2006, 03:34 PM
I totally understand. I dug Mike's clips too. I'm curious how much that maple cap sweetend things up a bit. But when I only have two guitars, I want a committed dark one and a committed bright one. When I get the big gigs I'll have lots of shades of grey.
diiiiiiiiiig.
GaryMcT
07-20-2006, 04:20 PM
Just noticed this guitar for sale. . it's a picture at least:
http://www.healthandcomfort.org/web/CIMG1174.jpg
http://www.hugeracksinc.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=24356&highlight=
olectric
07-20-2006, 05:01 PM
Just noticed this guitar for sale. . it's a picture at least:
pic of sweet cobra
http://www.hugeracksinc.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=24356&highlight=
that's a nice lookin guitar there, but 1900 Euros + shipping??? http://thegearpage.net/board/images/smilies/roll.gif
LonestarGtr
07-20-2006, 05:15 PM
Personally, I'm a big fan of the 3 pup models because of the "fat strat" sound I get. It doesn't take the place of a strat when I'm recording, but live it gets that 2nd position sound without sounding wimpy when compared to my humbucker guitars. I change guitars quite a bit when I can. I think the arpeggio clip on the bogner site is 2nd position, bridge/middle. If you want a 2 pup model, there is a sweeeeeeeet ruby slippers cobra at Manny's Music last time I was there in NYC. Let me know if you have any other ?'s.
thanks,
Mike
olectric
07-20-2006, 05:16 PM
here's a nice one owned by forumite Tom Gross:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v460/tomgross999/Guitars1/3andys3.jpg
i'm really diggin the basketweave grain pattern here. :cool:
kccheers
07-20-2006, 05:37 PM
Well, it's not a 3 pup version, but I am very happy with Tom and Roy's take on my guitar......
http://kccheers.smugmug.com/photos/74447022-M.jpg
olectric
07-20-2006, 06:04 PM
Well, it's not a 3 pup version, but I am very happy with Tom and Roy's take on my guitar......
seriously. that's a very cool guitar. props to TAG.
GaryMcT
07-21-2006, 02:07 AM
The gold-topped one is starting to eat my brain.
GaryMcT
07-21-2006, 02:09 AM
The amp master is conversation quiet, maybe 8 o'clock. The channel master is probably at 11 o'clock or so. The density is at noon and the presence is up a bit at 2 o'clock for a little extra sparkle. I played at the mega church this weekend but they had my amp right at my ankle, so I bumped the presence up just a hair for my own sanity and let them pull the added highs out of the house.
And I'll bet you a crispy dollar that the owner would much prefer his Egnater than my LoneStar. Just a hunch. The good news is that the owner has Egnaters in abundance so he may be gracious.
Hey, thanks for the settings. Was pretty close to my current settings on the Mr. Scary (except my mid was at noon) except for the gain. Tried it out with the Atom and it has the thang that you recording has that I was missing. Thanks!
I really that modules wasn't called Mr. Scary and it didn't have chrome skulls for knobs. Did you know that the nose on the knobs hit each other if you turn them just right? :) It does sound really good though. I'll be looking for replacement knobs.
olectric
07-21-2006, 09:20 AM
here's a nice one owned by forumite Tom Gross:
......
i'm really diggin the basketweave grain pattern here. :cool:
tom, what is the top on that one? walnut? koa? what is its contribution in terms of tone?
looks like a whacky piece of maple.
bruce
07-21-2006, 11:30 AM
Those darn maple trees have a mind of their own.
LonestarGtr
07-21-2006, 12:03 PM
And an oh, by the way... I just checked out the video clip Justin mentioned in the first post. That was my guitar that Greg V was using. He was demoing the amp for me at NAMM in January. He and Blues Saraceno both seemed to really like the guitar too. The Andy was the hit of the booth along with the Duende.
Mike
kccheers
07-22-2006, 12:47 PM
Personally, I'm a big fan of the 3 pup models because of the "fat strat" sound I get. It doesn't take the place of a strat when I'm recording, but live it gets that 2nd position sound without sounding wimpy when compared to my humbucker guitars. I change guitars quite a bit when I can. I think the arpeggio clip on the bogner site is 2nd position, bridge/middle. If you want a 2 pup model, there is a sweeeeeeeet ruby slippers cobra at Manny's Music last time I was there in NYC. Let me know if you have any other ?'s.
thanks,
Mike
Mike, the Ruby Slippers is stil there. I emailed them and they are gonna shoot some pix Monday.
olectric
07-25-2006, 05:40 PM
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b89/olectric/P1010007-1.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b89/olectric/P1010011.jpg
LonestarGtr
07-25-2006, 07:14 PM
that's the one! And the pictures don't even do it justice. It's so hard to capture a shimmery or glitter guitar on camera. If I didn't already have a red cobra...
Casper
07-26-2006, 12:54 PM
Olectric, there is a smokin Tortoise 3-p90 Cobra on the wall here at Richmond Music Center. I don't know if they have pics or not, but I saw it the other day and think they've had it for a while.
804-330-7875 ask for Dave Thomas tell him Shaun sent ya... ;)
Not sure of the website, maybe Danno knows?
richmondmusiccenter.com probably..
Good luck
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