# Godin 5th Ave Kingpin II P90 Neck Pickup Swap



## Arya44 (Aug 1, 2021)

Hi there,
I got a Godin 5th Avenue Kingpin II P90 which I like to keep but swap the neck pickup with a floating pickup that sounds mellower on high notes. I like that kind of mellow tone for jazz and I bought this guitar for that reason primarily.
Since it is an archtop, the pickup could be mounted under the pick guard like Benedetto S6 (low profile since there is no cavity in the wood) or to the sides of the neck like Kent Armstrong. I could also add Charlie Christian single coil to the possibilities however if I can get enough acoustic characteristics of the guitar coming through a floating Humbucker, I would rather take that to avoid pickup noise.
I don’t know whick pickup to choose and to what extend of work it requires since everything needs to be taken out through the f holes.
Please let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Arya


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## nnieman (Jun 19, 2013)

Well because it has a dog ear p90 I suspect that you will have a rather large hole in the guitar top.
I suggest finding something that fits into the hole rather than a floating pickup.

Pull the pickup screws with a screw driver and have a look.

McNelly pickups makes a Charlie Christian pickup that is the same size as a dogear p90.

I’m sure he would also wind you a jazzy mini humbucker in p90 shape.

Nathan


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## BlueRocker (Jan 5, 2020)

nnieman said:


> McNelly pickups makes a Charlie Christian pickup that is the same size as a dogear p90.


Good idea.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

nnieman said:


> McNelly pickups makes a Charlie Christian pickup that is the same size as a dogear p90.


Do you have any info about this? I can't find it on his site. 
P-90 Pickups
Thanks Nathan


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## nnieman (Jun 19, 2013)

greco said:


> Do you have any info about this? I can't find it on his site.
> P-90 Pickups
> Thanks Nathan











Soap Bar Charlie Christian


Boom! We made Charlie Christian pickups to mount in a P90 size. Not only is it easy on the eyes, but it's wound with 38-gauge wire like original CC pickups. A2 magnets give a gorgeous sweet tone to the clear highs. If there is such a thing as a "3D" sounding pickup, the Charlie Christian may be...




mcnellypickups.com





I was mistaken it’s a soap bar pickup.
i still think it would be easy to make it work into a dogear route.

Nathan


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## CathodeRay (Jan 12, 2018)

Before you replace it outright - have you considered placing a small tone capacitor across the neck pickup?
I did this with an icepicky bridge pu a few years back, great results, less work and far less money.


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## BlueRocker (Jan 5, 2020)

Here's one

Godin fifth avenue guitar | Guitars | Sarnia | Kijiji


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## Arya44 (Aug 1, 2021)

CathodeRay said:


> Before you replace it outright - have you considered placing a small tone capacitor across the neck pickup?
> I did this with an icepicky bridge pu a few years back, great results, less work and far less money.


Thanks for your suggestion. Is there a resource in the web to learn how to do that? With other guitars with pickup cavities and access ports in the back I modified capacitors before but with archtop since there is no pickup cavity and all the access is through the F hole, it is tricky for me.


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