User Reviews of Harmonic Design Gibson-Style Pickups
CLASSIC HUMBUCKER Z-90 VP-90
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CLASSIC HUMBUCKER
Rated "TOP DOG" in Vintage Guitar Magazine's 1999 humbucker shoot out!  From the review:
The Harmonic Design humbucker is a really well-made, expensive pickup that sells for $159, but it’s worth every penny. Materials and craftsmanship are very good…it has a machined baseplate that shapes the magnetic field and directs it toward the strings.  The tone of the pickup is altered to a greater-than-normal extent by adjusting the pickup height…the highs can be dialed-in by adjusting the proximity to the strings.
A very Cool-sounding Pickup…It is not intended to re-create a PAF, but to be better…It is the loudest of the group, and offers the most dynamic range, voiced evenly, and it retains character even when pushed hard…overall texture and tone are very nice… Very impressive, and very fat.
"I refuse to remove the Harmonic Design Vintage pickups from my guitar."
-Tony Nobles, Vintage Guitar Magazine, Feb. 1999
"Also-Ran" Pickups:
SEYMOUR DUNCAN-‘ Antiquity’, ‘Seth Lover’,’ Pearly Gates’, ‘Alnico Pro II’, ’59’. GIBSON- (Originals) 1957 PAF, 1963, 1978. (New) ’57 Classic’, ’57 Classic Plus’.  LINDY FRALIN- PAF.  TOM HOLMES- PAF, and others.
God your pickups sound great Scott.!!!!  Nice work... Duane Allman would have loved your humbuckers... talk about dynamic tone... and thanks for the wiring info. Will email you with the rest of the order.
With thanks,
Rod/guitar-warehouse.com
Scott,
I just recently installed the pickups I ordered from you (humbuckers with gold covers) in my Anderson Cobra and they are just GREAT. I knew I could get more out of that guitar and your Harmonic Design pickups are all it took. I won't write a book describing how they sound because if anyone knows, it's you.
Thanks, Ed Faragasso
Compared to Fralins and Holmes, yours are very well balanced and more open, with greater clarity string to string....the neck pickup is also surprising, it's so 'open' sounding that it works well for solos.' - not a PAF clone, -but then, these make you forget about why you wanted a PAF in the first place....
Thanks Scott
Fred Zadick, "Fred's Guitars"
"The sound is just plain bigger than most humbuckers"-
Rock City magazine
Posted by "Russinator" :
I have a California "Fat" Tele that I changed the pickup to HD V+ and love it to pieces. The change to the HD neck humbucker was most dramatic. I would say bright, loud and full.- not muddy. The stock TexMex sounds
thin in comparison. I'm still playing with it and the impression that
comes to mind is although I'm using D'Addario .0095-.044 strings it
sounds like I'm using 11's or 12's!-Russ
"They warmed up my Les Paul Custom pretty good...lots of dynamic
response...they do sound good. The whole guitar sounds a lot better."
Buddy Whittington/John Mayall's Bluesbreakers
It took me about four hours to get these new pickups in my 335 but WOW,
are these things great or what? -The guys in the band immediately
noticed the difference and I had not told them about the change! Well
worth the money and the wait. Outstanding work.
Thanks,
Joe
Hi again, First of all I love the neck humbucker you made for my Pat Metheny jazzbo gittar. So much in fact, that I'm getting a set of them (Classic Plus Humbuckers) for the guitar I play on the gig every night, a Tom Anderson droptop.
Thanks so much, Buford
Harmony Central Reviews

Model of guitar or bass: Gibson Les Paul standard from 1991

Tone: Neck: Big, rich, singing, fat. A bit like a big Jazz guitar but far more transparent. Bridge: Gutsy, screaming, arrogant yet subtle. Middle position : Hollow, deep, acoustic. Much different from the other two sounds.
Sonic evaluation: used with a Laney valve com it sounds gorgeous. Silent operation and a creamy, singing voice. Still they don't have that nasty compression found in many Gison PUs. Broader tonal range and lovely dynamics. Still a humbucker, so if you love single coils these won't be your cup of tea. If you do start saving now.... Bluesmen who like Gibsons won't be able to help drooling over them...

Comments: True humbuckers, they sound like humbuckers (either love them or hate them). Brilliant quality. Different yet friendly. Tones to die for.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this pickup a: 10 Fantastic value

Submitted by: Hilario García


Model of guitar: Gibson 335
Position: Bridge and Neck
Pickup being replaced: Original Gibson pickups
Your musical style(s): jazz, blues, rock
Reason for pickup change: My 335 did not sound as good as my PRS for any
style of music. I read about these pickups in Vintage Guitar magazine.
The magazine had a shoot-out of several humbuckers and the Harmonic
Designs were the clear winners so I decided to give them a try.
Perceived output level: Hotter than the stock Gibson's.
Tone: Very clear, punchy tone.
Sonic evaluation: I'm playing through a Mesa Boogie Mark III.-These
pickups are suitable for all styles where you would use a humbucker.
Comments:
I've been playing these PU's for 3 months now. These are easily the
best pickups I've ever heard. I've been playing for 25 years and have
gone through several guitars. I will eventually put HD's in my Strat. If
the guitar were stolen I would certainly have to have more HD's. Played
clean, the neck PU has a very rich jazz tone and the bridge is very
twangy. The pickups sing wonderfully when overdriven. You could use
these for anything from country to metal. They are better than any
Vintage pickups.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this pickup a: 10 Fantastic value

Submitted by: Joe Widner
Hi Scott - Those humbucking pickups finally found a home in Buddy
Whittington's Les Paul. He'd been bouncing around pickup land,
stopping at the usual places, and yours slayed him, not surprisingly.
David Wilson/Tonequest Report
Z-90
Dear Scott-
Of course you can add my name and comments. This is the first genuinely new advance in pick-ups I've seen in many years.Not like a humbucker or a single coil -- incredible harmonic spread.
All the best,
GE Smith
It had it installed just days before I recorded 'Good Dog, Happy Man', and got sucked into it's big, full sound.  I wound up using it on every song.
Bill Frisell
Hi Scott!
I have installed the pickups in my guitars and I’m very pleased. The Z-90s are very well defined, and have a wide, almost acoustic sound. A perfect match for a 335-type guitar.
Again, thank you for the pickups. It’s a big pleasure to have them in my guitars!
Best regards, Sven Wickström
HUARÖD, SWEDEN
"GODDAMNITT!!! Those pick-ups sound FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFGREAT!"
I played two shifts Saturday from six til two am in a club here in Nashville, I had a bunch of guitar players come in and noshitdoe, every one of them raved about the sound of that guitar.The guitar is a custom made semi hollow body the size of a Les Paul but shaped like a 335 and now, after 22 years, the thing finally sounds like it should, THANKS TO YOU!
I love them.
-- Redd Volkhaert
I'm really knocked out by my Z-90s! They are powerful and clear, but very warm and rich at the same time. The best combination of warm and clean that I've ever heard.
Henry Kaiser
Subject: fabulous!!
Hey Scott,
Since the guitar that I am making isn't gonna be ready for a couple weeks I stuck that Z-90 in another guitar to check it out.  WOW. I really really like this pickup! I'm thinkin' of replacing both of the P94's that are in there with a set of these ...these pickups are great!!!  Way way way better than the P94s...
Anyways, I gotta run. Looks like we are going to be re-recording our CD for an Indy label this summer so I'll send ya some tunes with your pickup on 'em.
Jen
Scott, I got the Z-90 and it fit in my Washburn with no room to spare, like it was made for it!  That’s just the start of my enjoyment -- got it wired up, strung up the guitar and gave it a play.  I was right away impressed with its broad frequency response and did some clean and dirty comparisons, amp setting, tweaking the eq/pick up combinations, the usual dinking around I do when I get something new. During all this I discoverd that my tone control is now useful!  This pick up has so much range and enough power that the tone control doesn’t suck the life out of it!! Right on Scott!  Just thought you should know you got a happy customer.
Joe 
Posted on the Telecaster Discussion page:
I have one of his Z-90 pickups in my '52' Tele re-issue. This pickup is supposed to emulate a P-90 which it does amazingly well, so well as a matter of fact I'm going to sell my '95 Les Paul Special as I like the feel of a Tele better. Scott was a great guy to deal with also.
Jim
Posted by Sean Fokes to the Harmony Central Guitar Forum Oct 24, 1999:
Get one NOW.
I'm not kiddin'. If you own a Les Paul, or a similiar guitar, and want the best damned neck pick-up you can imagine, get one.
Mine was discovered in the mailbox at about 3:00 this afternoon. I had to leave for sound check at 4:00. I quickly installed it in the Les Paul, then took off for sound check with the acoustic and the Strat, figuring I'd tweak it at the house before the gig (at 9:30). When I got back to the house to play it, I discovered I'd left all my cords at the club, which meant I'd have to tweak it at the gig. OK...
Got to the club a little early, tuned the Les Paul and checked the volume against the bridge pick-up (a Seymour Duncan JB); damn, pretty good. Couldn't work it out until we played, for volume reasons.
I replaced a Dimarzio Dual Sound (basically a Super Distortion) with the Z-90, and I will never put a humbucking pick-up in the neck position of a Les Paul again. This thing is incredible. Definition, clarity, growl, chunk, bite, body, you name it, the Z-90's got it, without the mud or flab. I was amazed. I haven't enjoyed playing the Les Paul that much since I put my JB in last year. And there's not much more noise than that of a humbucker.
Many thanks to Dumeril Seven for making me aware of it, and a hearty recommendation to all of you Les Paul fanatics out there (and you know who you are). Check out Harmonic Designs; this guy's got it goin' on.
Sean
Posted by Rasa on August 13, 1999 at 23:41:01:
Finally installed a Harmonic Design Z-90 neck and Vintage + bridge in my Tele Special. These pickups are great!!!
The Z-90 is a huge (physically and sonically) humbucker-sized single coil based on a P-90. It has a really tight bottom end and fat mids, but still retains the sparkling high end of a single coil and doesn't get muddy with overdrive - sort of everything I like about humbuckers without the things I don't like. The high output drives my amps beautifully - with the volume on my Princeton reverb at 6 or so it really sings. As an added plus the cream color is an almost identical match to the blond body of my tele.  
The V+ bridge gets a lot of air time on the TDPRI, and everything I have heard is true. Bigger and rounder than a vintage style pickup but still has plenty of clarity and unmistakable tele twang. This is also a great rock pickup and overdrives really well. The higher output is a good match with the Z-90.
The in-between position sounds like it should (I like it much better with the Z-90 than with the split humbucker), and these pickups are really quiet for single coils. I also have to mention that Scott at HD was a pleasure to deal with and was very responsive to all of my wiring questions, etc. - he shipped a lot of the parts I needed with my pickups too. Thanks Scott!
Rasa
I love the clean sound of these pickups. They act like Fender single coils except that they are fatter, warmer. They seem real smooth, warm, and clear. Clear highs without piercing. I play my guitar for hours on end just because I love the tone so much. I once rented a 1960s SG with P90s, and I think these sound better. The bridge Z90 seems warmer than a P90.
I have been playing for almost 30 years with Stratocasters, LP's. I started recently to build my own guitars from Warmoth products. I really love those PUs for their warm blues tone - it is really good stuff. I have another LPS equipped with P-94s which I found very good sounding until I discovered the Z-90s - much better ! Now I really get the sound I was looking for since years.. (I am not joking !). I am more than satisfied with those beauties. Everyone who is playing the blues must have at least one of those great Z-90s. Thanks Scott, you make guitars sounding much better...

Michel
Instrument
Model of guitar or bass: JG Custom
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: N/A
Other pickups on guitar: Benedetto PAF -neck Duncan Hot Rails -center
Artists using this pickup: GE Smith , Bill Frisell, Henry Kaiser , Red Volkaert
You musical style(s): Blues,Rock,Jazz
Reason for pickup change: Initial install by luthier


Sound
Perceived output level: Very high, a noticible difference over the other 2 pickups
Tone: Very wide range
Sonic evaluation: Guitar is a 24 fret ebony/maple neck thru chambered body of Purpleheart,Zebrano and Lacewood. Amps : Mesa/Boogie Studio .22+, Pre-CBS Princeton,Sovtek Mig 50. This is the best sounding , loudest bridge pickup I've ever heard in the 24 years I've played.

Overall Rating
Comments: I like this so much, I may replace the Hot Rails and the stock PAF in my Les Paul Custom with the Z-90's . This mixes well with the other pickups,and by itself it KICKS. I was looking for a P-90 with higher than stock output, this delivers in spades.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this pickup a: 10 Fantastic value

Submitted by: James T.
HD Z-90's aren't for everybody, but they don't try to be. These pickups definitely have a sound of their own. They are brighter and more open than humbuckers. They have a very dynamic response to pick attack. I have mixed emotions about these qualities. The dynamic response equates into a less forgiving pickup for my heavy handed cover band hack style. This is a weakness in my playing and not necessarily in the pickup. On the other hand, they are fun to play and sound great. Kinda hi-fi with a wide frequency response and no discernable compression like effects like as you would experience from a good PAF humbucker. If I had a more exacting and articulate right hand technique I'd like them better.

These are nothing like i heard before. Very full sound, tight bass and focused midrange. The sound is pretty clean even when i crank the guitar and amp. This was what i was looking for, you can always hear the strings. Chords gets very full, and with a chorus you can get close to an organ. Very nice in a three piece blues band. I prefer the neck pickup on this guitar, but the bridge pickup sound is far better than SD JB or P-94 i had before. It is well balanced with the neck.

I built this guitar out of plum wood with a Carvin neck. It is a beatiful instrument and deserves the best possible pickups. I think i have got them now. But, you never know. There will always be another killer pickup to try.

Submitted by: Sven Wickström
Instrument
Model of guitar or bass: 70's Hagstrom Swede
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: 70's Dimarzio Super II's
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Blues and Classic Rock,
Reason for pickup change: Didn't like the Dimarzio's anymore. Also, I wanted a backup guitar for my Les Paul Special with P-90's.


Sound
Perceived output level: The neck pickup is on a par with my Paul's P-90, The bridge is much hotter than a standard P-90.
Tone: A very full-range sound. Like a good P-90, they clean up nicely when turned down, while at full volume they thicken up. Smooth yet punchy.
Sonic evaluation: I've currently got these in my old Hagstrom Swede from the mid 70's and I'm not sure that the instrument is doing the pickups justice. I'm playing it through a late 60's Fender deluxe reverb and a Sovtek Midget 50 Combo. While I'm getting a great sound from the current setup, I feel like the guitar is midrange-heavy. I'd love to hear these in a SG or a Les Paul. The pickups are balanced so that there is not such a drastic difference between positions. If ou set your amp so that the bridge pickup sounds great the neck won't be all muddy and vice-versa. I see a lot of 80's and 90's Les Paul jr's going for good prices because someone enlarged the pickup cavity for a humbucker. Get yourself one and put a Z-90 in it and you'll have yourself a great little Jr. Or put one in any humbucker-equipped guitar if you've wanted to understand what the whole P-90 craze was all about.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play mostly blues and classic rock. These pickups sound great for everything I've tried them with. Keep in mind that these are single coils so there is some hum. It's not overwhelming but it may be a problem for someone who always plays with a lot of gain. If you get one, get both because they complement each other so well.


Overall Rating
Comments: I chose this pickup because I wanted another P-90 equipped guitar without buying another guitar. It does a great job. I've been playing for 26 years now and recently got to a point where single coils sound way better than humbuckers. These pickups allowed me to put an old much-loved guitar back into service. This review would not be complete without a mention of the company. I recently had a bad experience with a big-name amp company. The contrast between that experience and this one has led me to think that smaller companies may be the way to go from now on. I first e-mailed for a price quote for Z-90's on a Sunday afternoon and got a reply just a couple of hour later! All of my questions were answered quickly and honestly. When I received my pickups I e-mailed a question about installation and received a response in 15 minutes. I feel like this level of service is worth twice what the pickups cost. Thanks guys!

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this pickup a: 10 Fantastic value

Submitted by: John Davis
Instrument
Model of guitar or bass: Epiphone the Dot
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Stock
Other pickups on guitar: DiMarzio PAF covered
Artists using this pickup: Shouldn't bother us that much, should it...
You musical style(s): Psychedelic Rock. Shades of Pop, Glam and Blues
Reason for pickup change: Stock were cold. Quality of the stock PUs was not up to the guitar's


Sound
Perceived output level: VERY, VERY loud. Especially for a single coil. Hotter than the neck's PAF.
Tone: A bit of everything really. Tight bass, focused mids and plenty of lovely single coil twang.
Sonic evaluation: I'm using this guitar as my main guitar now. I've got a Gibson Les Paul, a Fernandes '62 Strat with Texas Specials, a Danelectro U2,... Each one has a lovely character but the Epi is sounding and playing great now. I'm using it through a Marshall JCM600 valve head and two cabs (4*10 & 1*12 vintage) sporting Celestion speakers. The PU has a lovely wide range bias although the highs and mids are more prominent, probably due to the guitar's all-maple construction. It has a raw, wild personality that suits perfectly any Glam Rock extravaganza. The best thing about it is that it seems to have its own Dr Jekyll's lab built in. It sounds different through all the British and American amps I've tried it through (Marshall, Crate, Fender, Carvin, Laney, Mesa ...)and -more importantly- it behaves and sounds according to the amp settings and my way of playing. I love the fact that it mutates from one sound to another in a seamless fashion, reacting wonderfully to my pick attack and general playing mood.

Honestly I never heard anything like that in my whole life. Not like a PAF, not like a Strat, not like a Tele, not like anything; Awesome. Incredible. Astonishing. Breath taking. Shocking. Innovative. Do I have to carry on?...

Nevertheless, it's fair to say that the Z-90 is not for everybody. It's supposed to sound like a vintage P-90. Well, I reckon it doesn't. Thank goodness for that. Is not that I don't like P-90s. I adore them, but although based on the great Gibson's design, Scott's little beast starts anew; great new tones to shock and marvel.

I've said it before and I'll say it again It's not for everyone, but if you like taking your guitar playing to new places and horizons and you don't dwell in a cage called prejudice then you'll love it as much as I do.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Great for everything as it sounds different depending on the player, effects, amp ... I love it for my Psychedelic Glam Rock though....


Overall Rating
Comments: Normally I don't read any reviews that rate a product above 7 / 10. They are written by "very-easy-to-impress" guys or those eager to show-off. I'm neither. Above all I'm a guitar player who pays a lot of money for his equipment (especially here in Europe!!) so I'm free to say what I honestly think about any piece o equipment. These PUs are great. If you play in a covers band you'll might find difficult to nail somebody else's tone. On the other hand, with one of these you can find your very own one before you know it. Are you ready to take the risk??? I am.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this pickup a: 10 Fantastic value

Submitted by: Hilario García
This is the pickup I've been looking for. Blew the P94's out of the water ( and out of the guitar too, they are getting replaced). This is a great pickup all the way around. Very easy to install. I do have to say also that the customer support is fantastic. I emailed Scott, the designer, and received answers to ALL my questions with in 15 minutes. What more could you ask for.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this pickup a: 10 Fantastic value

Submitted by: Jeni Day
Instrument
Model of guitar or bass: 2000 Epiphone Korina SG (G-400)
Pickup being replaced: Epiphone's 57 Classic Clone
You musical style(s): Blues, blues-rock, country
Reason for pickup change: Lookiong for a P-90 styled tone.


Sound
Perceived output level: Seem similar to a standard humbucker or P-90 output to my ears ... this is good to me.
Tone: Hum ... the neck, and bridge have a bit of a different sound and combined a third tone. All very nice, responsive and pretty balanced.
Sonic evaluation: I use this in the Korina SG. these PUPS ahve made it one of the most versitle guitars I have in my collection. I use these with a Blues Jr and a POD. The overdrive tone from the bridge is very P-90 tones (think Mississippi Queen). The clean tone from the neck is a cross between a strat and humbucker. More bass than a strat and more treble than a bucker. A smooth P-90 tone to my ears. The bridge has an almost tele tone to it clean and hase a very nice country feel to it in this guitar. A tele with more mids ... like it should have to my ears. What I especially like is the combined tone of these PUPS. When used together they have a nice airy jazzy feel clean. While I do not play well, you can hear them for rhythm at www.geocities.com/smokey_blues2/ especially on practice tunes 1, 2 and 9. These PUPS seem to respond to various amp emulations on the POD well, making play very nice. As they do not muddy up as quickly as a bucker, they have a great deal of utility. I still like my buckers for some things, and will never stop being a tele person, but these are very well worth it for the P-90 feel. Excellent.

Overall Rating
Comments: If they were stolden I would save up for another set. They are not cheap, but are not outside of the cost of other similar pups. I have played on and off for the past 25 years, but pretty steadily from the past 2.5. They round out my guitar tones excellently. I am very satisfied.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this pickup a: 10 Fantastic value

Submitted by: Dale
The neck pickup is on a par with my Paul's P-90, The bridge is much hotter than a standard P-90. A very full-range sound. Like a good P-90, they clean up nicely when turned down, while at full volume they thicken up. Smooth yet punchy
(After installing the pickup) I played the before-and-after tape and received the following comments about the Harmonic Design Z-90: "Wow." "Whoa, that's a great sound." "Big sound." "Very Cool." "It has that full range where you just seem to hear and feel everything." And finally, the most bottom-line comment of them all: "Where can I get one?"
Scott G. Laurence, Rock City Music
The p/u's I ordered from you were the last perfect touch, after
experimenting with two different brands that weren't quite happening.
I'm completely in love with the tone and response of these pickups and
this is now my favorite guitar. The Z-90 is rich and fat and the Super
90 does an incredible job of giving you that great Tele bridge tone,
only fatter and at an output that can finally keep up with a strong neck
p/u like a humbucker or your Z-90.
I've already done a few sessions with it where everyone was knocked out
by it's tone, and at the college where I play and teach I've had several
students ask where they can
get them.
Excellent work, thanks so much! Ken
VP-90
Model of guitar or bass: Paul Reed Smith McCarty
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock PRS P 90s Made special by Seymore Duncan for PRS
Reason for pickup change: I would listen to the guitar"unplugged" and felt the stock pickups were not doing the job as good as they should....Neck too muddy...Bridge to harsh .You either adjusted you amp for one or other for optimum sound...


Sound
Perceived output level: Powerful to vintage depending on pickup heighth.......Very adjustable.
Tone: Excelent ...Better than I expected very clear & full .with a good balance between the two
Sonic evaluation: I play a variety of amps from old brown Fenders,Marshalls to newer hand made Dr.Z amps.These pickups greatly improved my tone ...We're talkin about a guitar that already is stunning and the H D pickups made it sound over the top tonefull...I should add that they are also designed to be hum cancelling when used in the middle pos (both on)

Overall Rating
Comments: P 90 players should have these on their fiddles..They make a great guitar sound even better.I'll probably get some of the other product H D makes based on the quality and tone of this set..definately first rate..

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this pickup a: 10 Fantastic value

Submitted by: Chuckington
Web review:
I have tried some Harmonic Design pickups previously in various guitars.   They were all killer-sounding pickups and I was really happy with them.  So when I heard that HD was making an improved P-90, I immediately wanted to try them.   "VP" stands for Vintage Plus -- as the name suggests, these are improved versions of Gibson's P-90 design. The idea being to make them work better but to still retain the best tonal qualities of the vintage pickups.  I was lucky enough to get one of the very first production pairs of these pickups.
I bought these to replace the stock P-90s in a Les Paul Gem. They made a big difference... with dual P-90 guitars, often if you set up the amp for the neck PU, then the bridge position sounds doinky and thin, but if you set up the amp fatter for the bridge PU, then the neck position is usually real muddy and dark.  People reading this, if you own a dual P-90 guitar, you know what I'm talking about.  These pickups fix this problem!!!  The bridge PU is fat and sweet sounding, especially with an overdriven or cranked amp. The neck pickup has more clarity on the top, and is useful for solos, especially blues or jazz -- without having to tweak the amp EQ.  I use this guitar with a VHT Pitbull amp -- before I changed the pickups I was not very happy with this guitar, usually with all the features on the VHT I can get almost any guitar to sound OK but I was having trouble with this Les Paul until I put in the VP-90s.
Scott Peterson, who makes these pickups, told me that they he did two totally separate designs for the neck and bridge pickups to maximize the tone for each position... most people just sort of over-wind the neck PU and call it a day, but these are each really optimized.  The neck PU is voiced for a clearer, less bass-heavy sound while the bridge PU is voiced fatter and smoother on the top end.  While they are a definite improvement over the old P-90, they still have that traditional tone of the best of the old pickups, the fat, sweet midrange and growl... I know that "good" tone is subjective, but these just work "better"!  Very impressive.
The bridge pickup has a beautiful creamy tone when the amp is pushed, not thin and edgy like the stock Gibson was.  The neck PU can get a hot blues tone but also can work great for a traditional mellow jazz sound, and it stays clearer on both the bottom and the top end than the stock P-90 did.  The guitar became a lot more versatile with thse pickups in it.  I'd recommend them to anyone who is not happy with their stock pickups, or to anyone looking to restore an older guitar, you might want to give these a try. 
Like all of the Harmonic Design pickups I've used, (I have put HD pickups on three of my guitars) these are really well-made with great attention to detail and quality.  Scott Petersen's customer service and support is also tops.
Submitted by: Al ark@aa.net