The Gretsch Pages: Discussions: Other Guitars: Help! Looking for a blonde hollowbody w/ dog ear P-90's

Help! Looking for a blonde hollowbody w/ dog ear P-90's

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- Rated: 12 ↑
Feb 8, 2010 3:57 p.m. chris6120:

Hey everyone,

After seeing an old Paladins video on youtube the other day I REALLY dig Dave Gonzales' blonde Guild X-550 with the cream dog ear P-90's.

Obviously these guitars are hard to find (none on ebay...) and quite expensive nowadays.

Does anyone know of a less expensive hollowbody (any brand) that comes in natural or blonde finish with P-90's? (preferably dog ears...)

I thought about buying a Gretsch electromatic G-100CE and maybe trying to mod it to the above specs...or maybe an Epi Emperor Regent, which might be pretty cool, but it would be alot of work to add all the switches, pots and electronics to accomodate 2 P-90's and I'm not sure what's underneath the top that the new pickups could mount to... does the "floating" jazz neck pickup on both of these guitars just come right off with no holes or marks left behind?

Anyone here ever modded a guitar in this way?

I don't want to buy a guitar w/ humbuckers and just replace the pickups w/ "humbucker sized P-90's." None of those pickups seem to really sound like an old P-90 to my ears...

If anyone has a guitar theyre interested in selling or can give me any advice on a model I don't know about that will work, PLEASE let me know.

Any info would be much appreciated!

Thanks
- Rated: 59 ↑
Feb 8, 2010 4:15 p.m. bobbyrivera:

I bought a cheap s101 EH24, added a Bigsby, GFS Imperial syle tuners and P-90's from Vintage Vibe to make my own p-90 hollowbody. Very little cutting had to be done on the body to fit the p90's in the humbucker holes. The quality of the s101 was very good and you can get them for under $250 on ebay (mine is black, but they only make blonde and sunburst now).

Sorry for bad pics-

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- Rated: 33 ↑
Feb 8, 2010 4:29 p.m. atlantaspike:

Subway Guitars makes inexpensive P90 archtops, and you can tell them how to configure it. Used to be around $700
- Rated: 59 ↑
Feb 8, 2010 4:30 p.m. bobbyrivera:

Is Subway Guitars still doing those? Last time I checked their site, it hadn't been updated in around a year.
- Rated: 12 ↑
Feb 8, 2010 4:30 p.m. chris6120:

Very cool bobby! thanks so much for the tip! Looks like it may be a very affordable solution to my jones...

Wouldnt the P-90's be narrower than the existing humbucker routes leaving a gap on the front and back side of the newly installed pickups....or did you buy humbucker sized P-90's?

Thanks
- Rated: 33 ↑
Feb 8, 2010 4:31 p.m. atlantaspike:

Not sure, but they are still on their website, so maybe...
- Rated: 12 ↑
Feb 8, 2010 4:34 p.m. chris6120:

Thanks atlantaspike!

Sweet pics...

That guitar in the top pic is pretty much exactly what I'm looking for...just with cream covers instead of black.

I really appreciate the info from both of you guys. I'm googling subway guitars right now...

Thanks
- Rated: 33 ↑
Feb 8, 2010 4:38 p.m. atlantaspike:

http://www.fatdawg.com/jazz.html
- Rated: 59 ↑
Feb 8, 2010 4:39 p.m. bobbyrivera:

Chris- you will need P90 spacers (available for around $10-I got mine from www.guitarpartsresource.com) which cover any holes. They also get the p/u closer to the strings which is generally neccesary. If you go the way of DIYing a P90 archtop, pay close attention to the height of the neck off the body and the height of your neck pickup. VV makes a shorter neck p/u to accomidate for this. Some companies like GFS don't, and their neck p/u's won't work for a project like this.
- Rated: 28 ↑
Feb 8, 2010 4:41 p.m. fauves:

Pickup covers are cheap and easy to replace. I did a emperor mod once. II cut the holes myself and took the pickups to a tech and had him mahe a harness for me. I think it was about 60 bucks for the harness.

It is very true that there is not enough p-90 hollowbodies out there at a decent price.
- Rated: 56 ↑
Feb 8, 2010 4:44 p.m. chrisp:

The floater mount on a 100CE will have holes left behind, but these are not too tough to fill and finish.

It is parallel braced and can be modified pretty easily to handle all the hardware.
- Rated: 12 ↑
Feb 8, 2010 4:54 p.m. chris6120:

Anyone own one of these subway guitars or know about their quality? They look great...

Thanks to all of you for your helpful advice...

Now to figure out which way to go...
- Rated: 56 ↑
Feb 8, 2010 4:58 p.m. chrisp:

There must also be an Artcore box that would get you on the path for low $$$.
- Rated: 59 ↑
Feb 8, 2010 5:00 p.m. bobbyrivera:

It looks like Subway offers to take it back if you don't like it. I personally like the idea of building my own and choosing all of the parts, plus I'll still be under around $600 when mine is done which should happen sometime this decade (I have guitar project ADD).
- Rated: 35 ↑
Feb 8, 2010 5:13 p.m. Mikey:

Keep in mind that you could get a Reverend Pete Anderson in natural with P-90's.... I'd guess they're about $1000 or so though.
- Rated: 9 ↑
Feb 8, 2010 6:18 p.m. Thunderball:

Does anyone know of a less expensive hollowbody (any brand) that comes in natural or blonde finish with P-90's? (preferably dog ears...)

Not expensive, hollowbody, natural finish, P-90s, dog ears...and you can't locate one? You're joking, right?

You just described one of the most famous guitars in history. Ever hear of The Beatles? Ever hear of John Lennon? Ever hear of an Epiphone Casino?

Man, buy one. Probably the best guitar ever made.
- Rated: 12 ↑
Feb 8, 2010 6:30 p.m. chris6120:

Sorry Thunderball...guess I should have been more specific...I'm looking for a single cutaway and more of a full sized jazz box type of guitar. The casino just wouldnt fit the bill...
- Rated: 59 ↑
Feb 8, 2010 6:30 p.m. bobbyrivera:

I think Chris is after an L5 style hollowbody guitar w/ P90's. Not a semi-hollow doublecut. Casino's are cool though.
- Rated: 12 ↑
Feb 8, 2010 6:33 p.m. chris6120:

I talked to fatdawg...nice guy and quite a character. He doesn't have any more of the ones like atlantaspike posted.

Bobby, I might just go the super inexpensive route like you did with the S101 EH24 in natural finish, but I cant find one on eBay. Do you happen to know any other sources?
- Rated: 9 ↑
Feb 8, 2010 7:03 p.m. Thunderball:

...I'm looking for a single cutaway and more of a full sized jazz box type of guitar. The casino just wouldnt fit the bill...
That's too bad. The Casino seems to meet most of your wants...and it is some guitar. Why not give one a try?
- Rated: 7 ↑
Feb 8, 2010 7:06 p.m. gusto:

i just wanted to say the x550 is my dream guitar. im going to buy the reverend pete anderson this year, i have had many reverends and they have all been very fine guitars, i heard nothing buy great thinsgs about the new PA model. if you got 1100 bucks i would go that route.
- Rated: 28 ↑
Feb 8, 2010 7:28 p.m. fauves:

the casino is for hippies! just kiddin... a little. I know what chris is goin thru, I have been on and off of that quest for a while now.

I thought someone here bought p-90 risers that were made to cover a hum sized hole.

If so that opens up the field a little.

any thought to scale length?

epi es 295 is a great gitter, Diggey had one for sale here not too long ago
- Rated: 33 ↑
Feb 8, 2010 7:31 p.m. atlantaspike:

$1k puts you into Epiphone Blues Deluxe and Godin Kingpin territory as well.
- Rated: 59 ↑
Feb 8, 2010 7:35 p.m. bobbyrivera:

$1100 also puts in you Peerless territory (w/ stock p90's).
- Rated: 12 ↑
Feb 8, 2010 7:43 p.m. built4speed:

I've actually just ordered this one and plan to retrofit it with black dogear P90s:

http://www.rondomusic.com/wno630na.html

The price is right and most people seem to be happy with the quality.