Another Phat Cat mag swap thread.

J

J. Burns

New member
I have Phat Cats in my SG Special. I dig them, but I'd like to open up the high end in the neck position and de-emphasize the high-mids in the bridge position while adding thicker lows and low-mids.

I have some magnets on order; I'm thinking of trying an A3/A4 combo in the neck and A4/A8 in the bridge.

Has anyone else tried these combos before? I'm pretty sure I also have a couple of A5s and a ceramic lying around.

The end goal is to try to get something that will complement my other SG with Fralin P-90's without being different enough to necessitate radically altering the EQ settings on my amp when switching between the two guitars at gigs.
 
Re: Another Phat Cat mag swap thread.

Only changed a neck Phat Cat from stock to 2 UOA5s–made it more authoritative and changed the tone quite a bit...got muddy with too much gain though.

I would think the A8 would be a good option to try and clear it up a bit...just my 2 cents.
 
Re: Another Phat Cat mag swap thread.

Definitely try running the bridge pup without a cover. When I tried a Phat Cat, Antiquity, and Seth in the bridge of my LP it made me think, "this could be cool, it sure sounds vintage". Then when I removed the cover of the Antiquity and put it right next to the strings it changed to, "this sounds good, it's full enough, and I can use it happily in many situations".
 
Re: Another Phat Cat mag swap thread.

Clint 55 said:
Definitely try running the bridge pup without a cover. When I tried a Phat Cat, Antiquity, and Seth in the bridge of my LP it made me think, "this could be cool, it sure sounds vintage". Then when I removed the cover of the Antiquity and put it right next to the strings it changed to, "this sounds good, it's full enough, and I can use it happily in many situations".
Click to expand...

I could be wrong, but isn't the cover on the Phat Cat holding the magnets in?
 
Re: Another Phat Cat mag swap thread.

Arrg I don't know. I've only removed the covers from humbuckers before. It's def worth a try tho. Even the high powered JB sounded a bit strangled with its cover on in bridge position.
 
Re: Another Phat Cat mag swap thread.

Clint 55 said:
Definitely try running the bridge pup without a cover. When I tried a Phat Cat, Antiquity, and Seth in the bridge of my LP it made me think, "this could be cool, it sure sounds vintage". Then when I removed the cover of the Antiquity and put it right next to the strings it changed to, "this sounds good, it's full enough, and I can use it happily in many situations".
Click to expand...

No can do, the cover literally holds it all together.

Magnet swaps do wonders to the Phat Cat (although I think it sounds great stock too) and the fact that there are 2 magnets allows for different magnet combos.
 
Re: Another Phat Cat mag swap thread.

As was stated, this would be a great idea if it wasn't a Phat Cat. I think different magnets are a cool mod, but you will need that cover to keep them there.
 
Re: Another Phat Cat mag swap thread.

treyhaislip said:
Only changed a neck Phat Cat from stock to 2 UOA5s–made it more authoritative and changed the tone quite a bit...got muddy with too much gain though.

I would think the A8 would be a good option to try and clear it up a bit...just my 2 cents.
Click to expand...

Vintage P90's from the 50's and early 60's would have had a pair of Roughcast A5 magnets in them. Since so many classic recordings (everything from Freddie King to Mountain to ???) were recorded with P90's using Roughtcast A5 magnets, that's what I'd use if I were swapping magnets in a P90 or Phatcat.
 
Re: Another Phat Cat mag swap thread.

It can be done but it must be done very carefully. Don't know why they don't just anchor the bobbin to the plate like a standard P90.
 
Re: Another Phat Cat mag swap thread.

Back to the original aspect of the topic -- I recently made a bridge P90 with an A9 on the neck side and an A8 on the bridge side. It was just plain, flat-out nefarious. Like an 8-foot tall 600-lb biker elbowing his way through the crowd to the bar.

Point being A8 (and A9) can be great in a P90. Don't know if it would work with A2/3/4/5 -- the 8 would probably degauss any of those pretty quickly, but it can't do any harm to try it.
 
Re: Another Phat Cat mag swap thread.

Desolder the cover from the baseplate and lift with extreme care. The bobbin will probably be stuck to the inside top of the cover. From there you can try warming the cover with a lighter to soften the wax and have it drop out, or be gently pulled out.
 
Re: Another Phat Cat mag swap thread.

Zhangliqun said:
Desolder the cover from the baseplate and lift with extreme care. The bobbin will probably be stuck to the inside top of the cover. From there you can try warming the cover with a lighter to soften the wax and have it drop out, or be gently pulled out.
Click to expand...

Good call on the bobbin being stuck to the cover. I'll keep this in mind.

Going to try the A8/A4 bridge and A3/A4 neck combos first. Interesting point about the A8 potentially degaussing the A4, I'll keep an eye on it. If it goes sideways, I might try dual A8s, A5s, or an A4/A5 blend.

The mags arrived yesterday so hopefully I can carve out a chunk of time tomorrow to do a swap. I've done quite a few humbuckers swaps but have yet to do a Phat Cat so hopefully I don't eff it up.
 
Re: Another Phat Cat mag swap thread.

Just swapped 'em out. Initial impressions are good! The A4/A8 in the bridge is punchy and and snarly. Similar to the Fralin P-90 in my SG Standard but slighty brighter and hairier. Definitely more body than stock.

Neck pickup (A3/A4) is middy without the mud and sounds great for leads. A little bit of that "cocked wah" thing. Not nearly as hot as the bridge combo but that's not a bad thing at all. Middle position gets a killer surf sound, which I wasn't expecting.

I accidentally broke the wires on the neck pickup--the wax was holding everything super tight. When the cover came off, the wires went too. But I was able to take a deep breath and patch everything back together without much fuss.
 
Re: Another Phat Cat mag swap thread.

Zhangliqun said:
Desolder the cover from the baseplate and lift with extreme care. The bobbin will probably be stuck to the inside top of the cover. From there you can try warming the cover with a lighter to soften the wax and have it drop out, or be gently pulled out.
Click to expand...

But how do you keep the pickup together and put it into the guitar without the cover?
 
Re: Another Phat Cat mag swap thread.

Can you post a clip of this? I'd love to hear it.
 
Re: Another Phat Cat mag swap thread.

I'd suggest asking SD for some photos of a phat cat being assembled
 
Re: Another Phat Cat mag swap thread.

J. Burns said:
I might be able to get to it in the next few days. Are you looking for clean or dirty sounds and any position in particular?
Click to expand...

In isolation, clean and dirty. Also, if you can post a few observations you noticed, as it might help other people wanting to do the same things.
 
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