More attention for the Goldtop

In my recent P90 shootout I decided there was something amiss with the output of the bridge pickup in the Vintage goldtop. Obvious options were that the neck and bridge were the wrong way round or more simply that it just wasn't close enough to the strings.

The original Wilkinson pickups were stacked humbucking P90 style ones and twice the height of the real P90 Bareknuckles. Even after I'd fitted springs to replace the foam the previous owner had used to support the pickups, to my eyes the bridge one was still too far from the strings. Even if it wasn't, at its present height the screws didn't go very far into the body and it was a bit loose.

So this afternoon I had a look at it to try and sort the problem out. A quick wave of the multimeter ruled out the pickups being swapped so I screwed a small block of wood into the pickup cavity to give the bridge mounting screws more wood to bite into.

I then put it all back together and set the action/intonation as it was a bit too low on the treble strings for my liking.

The moment I played it through the Peavey it was obvious the issue I had with the output of the bridge pickup was sorted and it now does a very good dirty rock sound, just like the Indie semi-hollow. This means at some point in the future I think I need to redo the P90 shootout.

I can only assume these pickups are very sensitive to how far from the strings they are.

Vintage #4 - 'V100GT'

Yay a Goldtop. Even though I discovered how wonderful P90s sound with my first Indie I've not bought anything else with P90s fitted. I made the BFI because I wanted a Gibson BFG but didn't want to pay the £500-600 they change hands for and I've stuck humbucker sized P90s in a couple of other weird projects but picked up nothing else with 'real' P90s.

I've hankered after a Goldtop for a bit as it's the obvious choice if you're looking for P90 loveliness but not really been looking for one with any degree of diligence. When a friend bought a reliced Gibson one recently it made me start looking more seriously and this came up pretty quickly.

It's a Vintage V100GT and is a fairly straight take on the Goldtop Les Paul formula. My previous experience with Vintage guitars has been disappointing, they've been quite nicely made lumps of wood but somehow didn't float my boat.

The AV6 seemed kind of cheaply finished and niggly things like the way the 'aged' pickup covers didn't match the pristine white scratchplate irritated me. Fixable but when I bought an Indie S type the AV6S got sold on.

The AV3 was better but I didn't like the pickups. A lovely lump of shiny red stuff but very flat pickups to my ear. Again fixable but I really wanted an Indie Two Tone so I bought one and sold on the AV3.

So why the V100GT? Well most brands don't do a 'proper' Goldtop Les Paul copy, i.e. one with soapbar P90s and I hate Epiphone Les Paul headstocks. I nearly bought an Indie Goldtop and stuck some humbucker sized P90s in but didn't.

The Vintage ones have come to my attention on eBay a couple of times but I've always been put off by the thought of the stacked humbucking P90s and to be honest the previous Vintage experience.

This particular example is in with a better chance as the previous owner has sympathetically upgraded it with Bareknuckle BKP91s and CTS pots. That I got it for not much more than what these parts would have cost was a bonus. It comes with all the original parts so if like the other Vintage guitars it doesn't float my boat I'll simply put them back in and sell it on.

Initial impressions are good, it's nicely enough put together and makes solid P90 kind of noises. In the unlikely event any tonehounds out there are reading and wonder why I'm not waxing lyrical about the boutique handwound nature of the pickups it's because I've not played it much yet but also because I'm a tone philistine. Oh well, more on this guitar later.