Possible new addition to the herd,..

[Mike Petras]

Been looking at one of these for a while now and this one showed up at an out of town address at $375 CDN. It's a bit of a drive to get to it so are there any weak points/peculiarities that I should look for?
Thanks all and stay safe!

 

[soulman969]

If that's the newest version anything I've read about it has been quite positive.

 

[BGood]

That is a crazy good price.

If you can plug it in an amp when you buy it, do so. Mine was ordered new in a small store, so I didn't test it at the store when it arrived. I have several other P90 guitars and when comparing, the 2020 Special doesn't resonate, tone is kind of bleh. P90 heights have been adjusted without better results. I tried boutique Tyson Tone and other P90s without success. I want to love it, but I don't know what to do to it to bring it there. If it was my unique P90 guitar, I would probably be happy with it. There's one set of P90 I haven't tried, but as it stands now, it is for sale.

I hope you like big C shape necks, because that is a nice one.

One thing to check on any electric is for cracks spreading from the nut area. If the guitar was dropped, that will show.

 

[Mike Petras]

That is a crazy good price.

If you can plug it in an amp when you buy it, do so. Mine was ordered new in a small store, so I didn't test it at the store when it arrived. I have several other P90 guitars and when comparing, the 2020 Special doesn't resonate, tone is kind of bleh. P90 heights have been adjusted without better results. I tried boutique Tyson Tone and other P90s without success. I want to love it, but I don't know what to do to it to bring it there. If it was my unique P90 guitar, I would probably be happy with it. There's one set of P90 I haven't tried, but as it stands now, it is for sale.

I hope you like big C shape necks, because that is a nice one.

One thing to check on any electric is for cracks spreading from the nut area. If the guitar was dropped, that will show.

Interesting, the seller Did say that this is a 2020 guitar. How many pups have you tried with the tone still being bleh?

 

[BGood]

Interesting, the seller Did say that this is a 2020 guitar. How many pups have you tried with the tone still being bleh?

Maybe I stumbled on a dud woodwise. I tried three different sets. First a set of boutique Tyson Tone that sound killer in all the guitar it has visited. Then a set of PRS that are about the best sounding P90 I've heard. Third, a hotter Epiphone P90 pair (8.0K bridge, 9.5K bridge). 2020 Special are 7.75K neck, 7.85K bridge, very tame pups.

Like I said, I might have gotten a dud. All the videos I saw before buying had stellar tone from that Special. Last guitar I bought new was 40 years ago. Pretty disappointed ...

 

[Mike Petras]

Maybe I stumbled on a dud woodwise. I tried three different sets. First a set of boutique Tyson Tone that sound killer in all the guitar it has visited. Then a set of PRS that are about the best sounding P90 I've heard. Third, a hotter Epiphone P90 pair (8.0K bridge, 9.5K bridge). 2020 Special are 7.75K neck, 7.85K bridge, very tame pups.

Like I said, I might have gotten a dud. All the videos I saw before buying had stellar tone from that Special. Last guitar I bought new was 40 years ago. Pretty disappointed ...

Weird, you'd think that at least One set would have produced something different that was noticeble to the ear.
I'm wondering if the seller has the same problem and that's why his selling price is fairly low, given that the guitar spec says that both body and neck are made of some kind of mahogany? I guess that I'm going to have to take my Pignose with me on this one and give the guitar a bit of a work out to see what's what.

 

[Space1999]

That just goes to show it’s the wood that the guitars are made out of that make all the difference IMHO

Pat

 

[grinwer]

At first I play without an amplifier. You can immediately hear how it resonates, how loud, what sound, how the wood vibrates.

 

[BGood]

At first I play without an amplifier. You can immediately hear how it resonates, how loud, what sound, how the wood vibrates.

That can be hard to evaluate depending on where you try the guitar. Forget about doing it in a store.
Also, in the heat of the moment, with that coveted guitar in your hands, if you can't compare with one that resonate better, you can easily get taken by lust.

 

[grinwer]

That can be hard to evaluate depending on where you try the guitar. Forget about doing it in a store.
Also, in the heat of the moment, with that coveted guitar in your hands, if you can't compare with one that resonate better, you can easily get taken by lust.

You have a lot of experience. )

 

[BGood]

You have a lot of experience. )

Unlikely, maybe that's why I find it difficult

 

[Mike Petras]

Just an update, I finally got the chance to play this guitar a bit in the owners home. The house was quiet and I used my Pignose amp but it seemed a little, I dunno, I guess 'flat' is the word I would use? It doesn't seem to have the color of some other Specials that I've played and definately not as much as my Junior, which I had with me to compare(although I should add that the Junior is pretty far from stock unlike This guitar: it was a Warman P90, '50s wiring with Alpha pots and orange drop, Wilkinson tuners and adjustable bridge, and a Tusq nut). I played it for about half an hour and it was mostly rock and pop but in the end it didn't do anything for me, so I think I'm going to pass on this one.

 

[BGood]

Just an update, I finally got the chance to play this guitar a bit in the owners home. The house was quiet and I used my Pignose amp but it seemed a little, I dunno, I guess 'flat' is the word I would use? It doesn't seem to have the color of some other Specials that I've played and definately not as much as my Junior, which I had with me to compare(although I should add that the Junior is pretty far from stock unlike This guitar: it was a Warman P90, '50s wiring with Alpha pots and orange drop, Wilkinson tuners and adjustable bridge, and a Tusq nut). I played it for about half an hour and it was mostly rock and pop but in the end it didn't do anything for me, so I think I'm going to pass on this one.

AH ! What do you make of that ? Would you have heard it differently if I hadn't posted about mine ?
Do you know if the strings on it were old ?

 

[Darkness]

AH ! What do you make of that ? Would you have heard it differently if I hadn't posted about mine ?
Do you know if the strings on it were old ?

What do you think makes the biggest sound difference between this model with the fixed neck and the special with the bolt on neck? The neck itself, or the wiring? (Wiring must be a bit different for 4 knobs vs 2 right?)

I was surprised to hear you don't like the sound of yours.

 

[BGood]

What do you think makes the biggest sound difference between this model with the fixed neck and the special with the bolt on neck? The neck itself, or the wiring? (Wiring must be a bit different for 4 knobs vs 2 right?)

I was surprised to hear you don't like the sound of yours.

Pickups surely have a lot to do. The ones in the new set neck Special are really tame. 7.85 for the bridge, 7.75 for the neck. Then the whole construction of the guitar. I don't think the set or glued neck makes a difference. Neither does the electronics when everything is wide open. And I don't (want) to believe in tonewood, but it is a factor.

Though I am certain that some of those new ones sound terrific. I would have loved to get one of these.

 

[Mike Petras]

AH ! What do you make of that ? Would you have heard it differently if I hadn't posted about mine ?
Do you know if the strings on it were old ?

Don't know about the strings, should have considered that but I can say for sure that I've heard better identical Specials at shops here in town. One thing that Had popped into my mind on the drive back was my experience with a Bullet Mustang that I ordered brand new about 18 months or so ago: it sounded a little limp right out of the box. It though that it had been poorly set up from the factory but I came across a thread elsewhere involving the way the tone pot had been wired from the factory on another similar Mustang and sure enough I had the same problem(wchich was easily correctable with some soldering iron time). Futher research showed that this is a fairly common problem with the Bullet Mustang and it got me to thinking that something Like that might be going on with some Specials leaving the factory with incorrect wiring: any guesses?

 

[CanuckLP]

How was the intonation?

 

[BGood]

Don't know about the strings, should have considered that but I can say for sure that I've heard better identical Specials at shops here in town. One thing that Had popped into my mind on the drive back was my expeience with a Bullet Mustang that I ordered brand new about 18 months or so ago: it sound a little limp right out of the box. It though that it had been poorly set up from the factory but I came across a thread elsewhere involving the way the tone pot had been wired from the factory on another similar Mustang and sure enough I had the same problem(wchich was easily correctable with some soldering iron time). Futher research showed that this is a fairly common problem with the Bullet Mustang and it got me to thinking that something Like that might be going on with some Specials leaving the factory with incorrect wiring: any guesses?

Hmm ... I would never had though about that. I'll check it for sure.

 

[Raiyn]

Hmm, maybe I'm the weird one. I always change out the stock pots whenever I do a pickup swap.

 

[Mike Petras]

Hmm ... I would never had though about that. I'll check it for sure.

Let me know if you come up with anything.
And thanks!