P-90 with a 'Bucker in the Bridge?

Z

Zeppelin'73

New member
I've got an old Les Paul that the neck pickup just fizzled out in, and the bridge pickup could do with a change as well. I've been considering putting a Phat Cat in the neck and a Pearly Gates in the bridge. Would this work and if not, can someone make a suggestion for a better bridge pickup to go with the Phat Cat?
 
Re: P-90 with a 'Bucker in the Bridge?

I think that combo would be fine if not a little dark in the neck.

I used to have a Mean 90 neck and a 500T bridge. One of the best combos I've ever had in a guitar.
 
Re: P-90 with a 'Bucker in the Bridge?

The phat cat and PG would be great in an LP. Have not personally tried that combo, but I'm played many p90/bridge humbucker combos. You get all the sweet p90 neck mojo with the bite of the humbucker in the middle position. Is your p90 stock or does it have different magnets?
 
Re: P-90 with a 'Bucker in the Bridge?

why not 2 phatties?....it'll sound cool and make setting uo your amp/pedals easier.
 
Re: P-90 with a 'Bucker in the Bridge?

I like the P-90 in the bridge and the hummer in the neck better than the other way around.
 
Re: P-90 with a 'Bucker in the Bridge?

GuitarDoc said:
I like the P-90 in the bridge and the hummer in the neck better than the other way around.
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I've tried that too and the pickups just didn't balance well. The neck pickup always sounded so thick compared to the P90 in the bridge.
 
Re: P-90 with a 'Bucker in the Bridge?

SilverPurpleRoxies.jpg
Covered A2 59/Custom Hybrid in the Bridge... Phat Cat in the Neck... the GMP in my Avatar now has that exact setup!
 
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Re: P-90 with a 'Bucker in the Bridge?

Andrew Lamprecht said:
I think that combo would be fine if not a little dark in the neck.

I used to have a Mean 90 neck and a 500T bridge. One of the best combos I've ever had in a guitar.
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+1. HB's have more output, more mids, and less treble, which adds 'beef' where it's needed, while P-90's have a sharper high end that works very well in the neck slot. The HB bridge/P-90 neck is a great pairing and should be commonly seen on factory guitars.

Problem with Phat Cats is the A2 magnets, which in most guitars are very dark. In the average LP, expect no discernable treble. But all it takes is a mag swap (A5/A5, A5/A4, or A5/A3) and it comes alive. Or if you don't want to swap mags (which only takes a few minutes) get a Mean 90.
 
Re: P-90 with a 'Bucker in the Bridge?

Andrew Lamprecht said:
I've tried that too and the pickups just didn't balance well. The neck pickup always sounded so thick compared to the P90 in the bridge.
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Because you're EQing the amp to bridge PU. The solution some of us here use is to put warmer mags in the bridge P-90 (A8/A4 and A8/A5 are especially good) to get more mids and shave off the excess treble. You figure most P-90's have two A5's, so that's about as bright as you're going to get the neck, so you need to fix the bridge, which is the real problem. Then bridge and neck P-90's EQ's balance very well with the same amp setting. But with twin A5's in both the neck and bridge, you're probably not going to be thrilled with the tones of one of them.
 
Re: P-90 with a 'Bucker in the Bridge?

I ran a Phat Cat at the neck with a '59 at the bridge on one of my Tele builds for about a year. Alder body. The Phat cat was pretty dark compared to the '59. I ended up swapping out the A2 mag's for A5 in the Phat Cat then putting a standard A2 Phat Cat at the bridge.
 
Re: P-90 with a 'Bucker in the Bridge?

I have a jb in the bridge of my Paul and a dragon fire screamer in the neck, its an ok combo. But I really want to put a p90 in the neck....
 
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