Almost 70 years since it was usurped by the humbucker, the P-90 pickup seems to be staging a comeback. The surge in P-90 interest among fans of guitar pickups has been buoyed by the Warren Haynes signature Les Paul. In a new interview with Guitar Player, Haynes explains why he made the switch from humbuckers.
"When I switch back and forth from my first signature model guitar, which has humbuckers, and I then plug in the new guitar with the P-90s, it instantly is the tonal change I’m looking for without turning knobs," raves Haynes.
It's not that Warren is unhappy with the humbucker tones he is known for. "As much as we’re all happy with the sound that we work on through the years and get dialed in, I think most guitar players are also looking for other sounds to be equally inspirational," he clarifies.
He says the P-90 pickups in his signature guitar offer "different sounds that inspire me to play differently."
"It kind of started [with] me wanting to find some tones that were different from my normal go-to sounds," he explains. "When I started experimenting more with the P90s, I was like, 'Oh, this adds to my tonal range!'"
Diving deeper, Haynes adds: "You definitely get options that aren’t there with humbuckers. Most of the sounds I enjoy come from the guitar anyway. I’m not depending on pedals for the majority of the sounds that I use.
"I like to change the volume knob on the guitar to get a lot of different sounds that way, and P90s are definitely great for that."
Haynes is one of many rock and blues players who are looking to P-90s for an alternative to thick humbucker tones. Joe Bonamassa, Phil X, and Jared James Nichols are also P-90 champions.
Phil X's forthcoming signature Gibson SG will feature the hot single coil pickups, and he has long used his Arcane PX-90 signature pickups on tour.
Joe Bonamassa has made his love of the pickups well known, and can often be found waxing lyrical about the differences between P-90s and PAFs.
Jared James Nichols launched his signature Seymour Duncan Silencer P-90 back in 2023, with its triple coil hum-cancelling design.
After seven decades of humbucker dominance, perhaps the P-90's time has come.
Joe Bonamassa certainly makes a case for why you should try them. If you're not sure, check out our deep dive on P-90s vs humbuckers, or our history of the dog-ear P-90.
