phat cat neck: clean tone?

[dr space]

I'm debating over putting the Phat Cat in the neck of my tele Vs. the Antiquity mini-humbucker... and since more people have played the PC, I was curious as to how it sounds in the neck position when played with a clean tone?

I somewhat dislike the 'woofy' tone of a neck humbucker, but I am aware the PC is a P-90 so its not a humbucker. But I do hear it is quite fat and heavy on the mids, so I don't know if that means I can get a good clean out of it. All the sound samples I've heard have been distorted phat cats.

any ideas?

[Kelsey]

Re: phat cat neck: clean tone?

I have a Phat Cat neck pickup in one ash Tele, and an SM-3 Firebird-style neck pickup in another ash Tele. The PC can deliver a really nice open clean tone, but it is pretty hot like most P90's I've heard, so it will overdrive easily. It does have a lot of mids, so it sounds like a P90 or HB when overdriven rather than a traditional hollow Fender SC tone. The SM-3 has more low end and a nice blend of HB and SC tone, with some of that SC hollow neck tone and some of that smooth, compressed HB sound. It seems hotter than a traditional Tele neck pickup, but not as hot as the PC. They both have a real nice low-end growl. I'm sure tha Ant. Firebird is really nice -- probably more open but not quite as full sounding as the SM-3 -- just a guess.

In either case, you need a fairly hot Tele lead pickup to balance with it -- the Fender Nocaster and SD Jerry Donahue can just keep up with them and blend very nicely. I like them both, and have a hard time deciding which I like better from day to day. There are no losers in this race.

[Benjy_26]

Re: phat cat neck: clean tone?

I have a Phat Cat set in my Sheraton and a SM-1 mini at the neck of my tele. I think that the PC covers more ground than the mini. The mini is smoother than the PC but the PC has more clarity and push.

[Stevo]

Re: phat cat neck: clean tone?

Here's a quick, raw clip.. no background or effects..
Phat Cat Clean Clip - Les Paul
HiFi Version

[Stevo]

Re: phat cat neck: clean tone?

Here's another with more volume and some background music.
Phat Cat, Les Paul, Plexi

[rhmcfarland]

Re: phat cat neck: clean tone?

I have an Antiquity Firebird in the neck position of a Strat. Its very sweet sounding, with the tonality being in-between the humbucker fullness/compression and the greater clarity & definition of a single coil. The Phat Cat would probably be more open sounding.