Phat Cat/Tele

[bluesbend]

One of the Tele's I built last summer had a Phat Cat at the neck and a '59 Trembucker at the bridge. It sounded pretyy frickin' good.
This past Sunday I swapped the '59 for another Phat Cat. Purrrrr!
I think I'm going to take Blueman335's oft' given advise and do a mag swap on the neck pickup though. I'm thinking of changing one of the A2's with an A5.
Any thoughts?

[xntrick]

i'd luv to try one of those in the neck position of my SG but i hear mixed reviews about them...

[bluesbend]

i'd luv to try one of those in the neck position of my SG but i hear mixed reviews about them...

I know that Warren Haynes has an SG equipped with a pair of them. The only time I've seen him use it was to play "Like Flies" and he was tuned to I believe, open G.

[blueman335]

Phat Cats come with A2's, which I don't understand. The mags just don't have much treble, and the neck PC is wound kind of hot, so unless you have bright wood, a PCN can sound like it's in a closet.

I was originally disappointed in my first set of Phat Cats, and no one here was posting anything about swapping mags in P-90's. Members talked about how wonderful P-90's were, but those were Gibsons with A5's. The neck PC was way too dark and overpowered the thin, puny bridge. It finally dawned on me to swap out the mags, and use two different kinds (aha!). I tried an A5/A2 first which was an improvement (more clarity and definition), then an A5/A3 which was a little too bright and chimey (at least in an SG, but not bad in an LP). Then I tried A5/A4 and A5/A5, which were the two best for clarity and definition, and that's currently what I have all my neck P-90's and Phat Cats. I've got a bunch of PC's now, and they sound like true P-90's.

[bluesbend]

Thanks blueman. I was kind of going back and forth whether to do a A2/A5 or A5/A5 swap.
You convinced me. A5/A5 is what I'm going to do.

[blueman335]

Thanks blueman. I was kind of going back and forth whether to do a A2/A5 or A5/A5 swap.
You convinced me. A5/A5 is what I'm going to do.

You'll probably like that better. Twin A5's are what Gibson uses these days, and although that's a bit bright in the bridge (especially in a Tele), it ought to be what you want in the neck. If not, an A5/A4 would be the next step.

[bluesbend]

I put the A5's in the neck pickup yesterday. It sounds much better than with the standard A2's.
Thanks blueman.

[bluesbend]

Here's a pic of said guitar.



Attachment 24223

[hamerfan]

I like that look and i bet it sounds great. I have a PCb A3/A5 in the neck paired with a C8

[Kam]

That looks awesome, man.

[bluesbend]

Thanks guys.