Humbucker-size P90 Pickups: Check out this Shootout

[Zombiwoof]

Thought some of you might be interested in this:

http://www.premierguitar.com/article...roundup?page=1

Al

[blueman335]

Re: Humbucker-size P90 Pickups: Check out this Shootout

Good article, thanks. I can concur that Lollars are fairly warm. Tone quality is a matter of taste, but it's interesting that of the 6 HB-sized P-90's he evaluated, he rated Phat Cats in 5th place for tone.

[Rodney Gene]

Re: Humbucker-size P90 Pickups: Check out this Shootout

Thought some of you might be interested in this:

http://www.premierguitar.com/article...roundup?page=1

Al

Thanks Al! (Review below)

Awesome Phat Cat review. Excellent rating. Clear, Articulate, Crisp, Punchy. LOL. The clips and review speak for themselves.

BTW, the Fralin is not a stock pickup. They fabricated it for this shootout. Only the P-92 is stock and a split coil.
The Lollars ('the winner' by a pick) also use A2 mags. I doubt you could even order it any other way. Even custom. When Jason made my Charlie Christian, he would not change specs or mag types with his name on it.

Would have liked to see a few other brands.


Here is The Neck Phat Cat clip:



The review:
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Seymour Duncan Phat Cat Set

Duncan’s Phat Cats are bright and articulate single-coils that deliver strong note attack, with lots of “stringiness.” Chords and single notes snap and pop, making them a great choice for fingerstyle playing, funky rhythm work, country licks, or any other style where clarity is essential.

Despite their modest output and crisp, clean tones, the Phat Cats don’t disappoint when overdriven. They don’t gush like some of the hotter pickups in this group, but they provide fine high-gain sounds. Even at 11, tones stay focused, with sculpted low mids and tough-edged attacks—enough to convincingly pull off early Sabbath sounds. In fact, despite their name, the Phat Cats bark more than purr.

If your humbucker guitar sounds like it’s trying to sing with marbles in its mouth, a set of Duncan Phat Cats will make it spit ’em out, pronto. They excel at styles that demand crisp precision, and they’re a fine option for darker-toned guitars.And at $79, they’re a good deal.


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Cheers and respect,

RG

[ItsaBass]

Re: Humbucker-size P90 Pickups: Check out this Shootout

Based solely on the review, the Bluesbuckers and Phat Cats sound the most interesting to me. However, I don't lend a lot of credence to reviews in gearhead publications.

[blueman335]

Re: Humbucker-size P90 Pickups: Check out this Shootout

Based solely on the review, the Bluesbuckers and Phat Cats sound the most interesting to me.

Bluesbuckers are strange PU's. They coils are very unbalanced, like 6.5K and 3.5K with a ceramic mag under only one of them. Definitely not a P-90 or a P-90 sound, buy certainly not your every day humbucker. I took my Bluesbucker apart and used the coils to make a couple hybrid HB's (one neck, one bridge).

[Chickenwings]

Re: Humbucker-size P90 Pickups: Check out this Shootout

Interesting and informative article

[dr. ad]

Re: Humbucker-size P90 Pickups: Check out this Shootout

^+1, thanks zombiwoof for the linkage

[kilphody]

Re: Humbucker-size P90 Pickups: Check out this Shootout

I have Phat Cats in two of my guitars. The one I teamed up with a Lollar Jazzmaster for surf stuff. Killers.

PC

[Chad]

Re: Humbucker-size P90 Pickups: Check out this Shootout

Major omission not having the Kinmans and BG Pure 90s in there.

[elelpe]

Re: Humbucker-size P90 Pickups: Check out this Shootout

Good article, thanks. I can concur that Lollars are fairly warm. Tone quality is a matter of taste, but it's interesting that of the 6 HB-sized P-90's he evaluated, he rated Phat Cats in 5th place for tone.

I don't know how you came up with that result. There are 8 HB-sized P-90s in the article. He personally gave Phat Cat and Bluesbucker 4 score for tone, below Fralin P-90, HD Z-90, Lollar (each got 5 for tone); and also Fralin P-92 and Gibson P-94 (each got 4.5 for tone). The highly regarded Mean 90 got in the last place with 3.5 score. The interesting part is The Seymour Duncan Phat Cats win the Good Diction Award—they’re second to none in snappy clarity - far from dark, mushy attributes that often labeled to this pickup in this forum. And yeah, the clips speak for themselves.

[blueman335]

Re: Humbucker-size P90 Pickups: Check out this Shootout

I don't know how you came up with that result. There are 8 HB-sized P-90s in the article. He personally gave Phat Cat and Bluesbucker 4 score for tone, below Fralin P-90, HD Z-90, Lollar (each got 5 for tone); and also Fralin P-92 and Gibson P-94 (each got 4.5 for tone). The highly regarded Mean 90 got in the last place with 3.5 score. The interesting part is The Seymour Duncan Phat Cats win the Good Diction Award—they’re second to none in snappy clarity - far from dark, mushy attributes that often labeled to this pickup in this forum. And yeah, the clips speak for themselves.

The first six PU's in the article are single coils, the last two have double coils and are humbuckers, so the math was pretty easy. What I've found with my group of Phat Cats is that the bridge and necks (in their stock form) have very different EQ's (as do PG's), so I don't see rating them both the same tone-wise.