PAF tone with more clarity: Phat Cats?

[dr.barlo]

Howdy fellas,

Nowadays I am having lotsa fun playing with close friends. I think we are doing great music, but just for fun. Nothing serious. Anyway....

In this band as we are doing jazzy blues based stuff, I am using my 95LP standard loaded with antiquities, clean on my peavey classic 30. The best pickups I could come up with for this situation was the antiquities, because they are the clearest of the ones I own. I have an a4 magnet in the bridge ant and the stock dun-aged a2 in the neck.

Before you think of suggesting Jazz to me, I gotta say that I have tried my 59n; the same ant with a5's, a4's and a3's; an a2p again with a5's, a4's and a3's; timbucker neck (great pickup but not clear enough, sorta thick and woody); 2 gibson burstbucker I's; and an a5 loaded PGn. Did not give what I want.

Hence the question: Phat Cats for me?

I basically want what the ants are doing, I wanna keep the same overall tone but add noticable clarity to what I have. Indeed, the neck is where it is the most important. Don't get me wrong, ants are great clean. I am gonna keep them, and definitely use them elsewhere. Still at this stage I think they are not doing what I want them to.

For the bridge, I think I'd benefit from a more tele kinda bridge tone. More snap on the wound strings. But I am kinda afraid that the highs might jump over the edge.

So what do you say?

Best,

B

[itbepopples]

Re: PAF tone with more clarity: Phat Cats?

i hate to seem like a buzzkiller but ive found that if i try numerous pickups in a guitar and none are quite right it would be better to just look for a new guitar. ive had guitars like played like a dream and i couldnt expect more feel-wise from them yet plugged in there was always too sterile a sound too high output too muddy etc. i tried single coils hums p90s all different brands of pickups, different amps and i ended up just selling off the guitar and all the pickups at a huge loss. i would love to try the phat cats and i think they fit the description of what u want to a t but sometimes no matter what you do, the guitar will always fight you. i suggest trying the phat cats and if they dont do it for you....just move on. theres too many amazing guitars to settle for one thats lackluster in sound. i think ive heard clips youve made before (although i could be making this up) and i loved your playing so once you match the guitar with u ull be set for life. just my $.02 good luck!

[dr.barlo]

Re: PAF tone with more clarity: Phat Cats?

Thanks for the input.

In this case, I do trust my guitar. It is quite a good one that has beaten lotsa competitors, including a 01 flamey maple top R8 that I sold because of that 95LP standard of mine.

B

[Kelsey]

Re: PAF tone with more clarity: Phat Cats?

The Phat Cat neck can get pretty thick with OD, and is humbuckerish if you roll back the tone control, but it cleans up really well if you roll back the volume. I don't know if it will be better than the Antiquity for what you are doing, but it will be different. I really like the Phat Cat neck pickup in my ash/RW Tele (with JD lead pickup). I think Randy McFarland replaced an Antiquity HB with a Phat Cat in the bridge of his LP, so hopefully he will pipe in on his experiences.

I'd love to hear your impressions if you try them. I'm looking to replace the stock pickups in my '01 LP Studio, and I keep debating about a set of Phat Cats vs. PAF-style HBs for blues and blues-rock.

[dr.barlo]

Re: PAF tone with more clarity: Phat Cats?

Sure thing Kelsey.

Thanks for the input.

B

[dr.barlo]

Re: PAF tone with more clarity: Phat Cats?

Update:

It turns out that a friend of mine had 2 p94's in his drawer. I tried them in my LP.

Did not work for me! Kelsey you are right, that p90 thing is very different. It might be that I have to give them some more time for my ears to adjust. But they don't do what I was hoping them to.

This time I went a little weaker. The ant set I had in there measure 8.65K and 7.70K. Now I have a 8.05K timbucker in the bridge (a4) and 7.70K ant-neck with an a3 mag. Sure I get more clarity, but I lost that sweet dun-aged ant tone.

B

[Kelsey]

Re: PAF tone with more clarity: Phat Cats?

I guess this raises two issues. First, just as you probably wouldn't assume much about SD humbuckers from an experience with current Gibson humbuckers, I'm not sure that you should necessarily close the books on Phat Cats after trying P94s. However, it should at least give you a general flavor. The second issue concerns what amp you're using.

[dr.barlo]

Re: PAF tone with more clarity: Phat Cats?

I guess this raises two issues. First, just as you probably wouldn't assume much about SD humbuckers from an experience with current Gibson humbuckers, I'm not sure that you should necessarily close the books on Phat Cats after trying P94s. However, it should at least give you a general flavor. The second issue concerns what amp you're using.

Fender Bassman 59RI; Fender Blues Jr. Celestion Blue and JJ tube modded; Peavey Classic 30.

I agree! The thing is that the "general flavor" clearly indicated that what I get is very mid dominant (heavier on the uppermid side). So smoothness was gone unless I roll off the tone. But then clarity was gone.

BTW p94's were not bad. I don't know much about p90s for sure, but they gave instant P90 tones I heard on records. That's cool. I am gonna keep them.

B

[Kelsey]

Re: PAF tone with more clarity: Phat Cats?

I've heard that the P94s are nice, but I don't have any firsthand experience with them. Another pickup you might think about, although it might have to go in a Strat or Tele, is a Firebird-style mini-HB. The SM-3 neck pickup is very warm and full sounding, but has some of that scooped SC tone going on. The clips of the SM-1 sound fairly similar. It wouldn't work with a HB-equipped LP, but if you have a Strat or Tele that is routed for a HB, then you can get an appropriately cut pickguard to mount it. I'm not sure about the string spacing at the bridge of a Strat for the SM bridge pickups, so that may be an issue. The Tele would require a good Tele lead pickup and judicious use of the tone control -- the JD and Antiquity I should work great with the SM series.

Good luck!

[Inge Malmstein]

Re: PAF tone with more clarity: Phat Cats?

Hmm, i would suggest diMarzios Humbucker from hell, but maybe you already tried it?