Phat cat vs Prails ash body

[King Halt]

I know this topic has been done to death, but here it goes....phat cat or prails. I just ordered an ash body, set maple neck guitar with a rosewood board. I've played the phat cat in an SG (set neck, mahogany body)and loved them ( didn't love the noise though). I play punk/hard rock with a medium/high amount of gain. How will the phat cats fair in the ash guitar and should I consider prails instead?

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Phat cat vs Prails ash body

I'd say keep it simple and just get a set of Phat Cats with a 3-way switch. Swap out the magnets and tune them to your taste. The P-Rails are good with the right setup and magnets, but even then you need a unnecessarily complex switching scheme to get full use of them.

 

[King Halt]

Re: Phat cat vs Prails ash body

I'd say keep it simple and just get a set of Phat Cats with a 3-way switch. Swap out the magnets and tune them to your taste. The P-Rails are good with the right setup and magnets, but even then you need a unnecessarily complex switching scheme to get full use of them.

I liked the A2 mags that come stock when I was playing the sg

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Phat cat vs Prails ash body

They are good pickups as is, but A2s don't give that P90 tone. They sound killer with twin A5s, but I can understand you wanting to keep them stock.

What rig do you use? If you go with the P-Rails be warned that in a darker setup they can sound a bit thick.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Phat cat vs Prails ash body

I prefer the P90 tone from the P-Rails to that of the Phat Cat. I'm not sure if this is the case, but part of that might be that the coils are narrower, like a real P90, and that the coils can be placed farther out toward the edge if the humbucker rout, so you get them a bit closer to how actual P90s are traditionally placed.

P-Rails also give you the option of adding a little boost by bringing in the rail in addition. If you don't want to wire the rail in, then you don't have to. But it's there, if you ever want to.

This being said, two things: 1) The only P-Rails I use are the neck versions – in both neck and bridge positions. I find the bridge version to be too heavily wound. 2) I opt to orient my P-Rails such that the P90 coils on both pickups are closer to the bridge than to the heel of the neck. This gets the P90 coils as bright as possible, and the rail coils as warm as possible.

 

[King Halt]

Re: Phat cat vs Prails ash body

They are good pickups as is, but A2s don't give that P90 tone. They sound killer with twin A5s, but I can understand you wanting to keep them stock.

What rig do you use? If you go with the P-Rails be warned that in a darker setup they can sound a bit thick.

I use a line 6 helix modeling a JCM800. I know the prails can be dark, but since it was an ash guitar (with a maple top and neck) it might balance out

 

[Mincer]

Re: Phat cat vs Prails ash body

I say P-Rails with Triple Shot rings. You'd be able to get a Phat Cat sound out of them, plus a lot more.

 

[King Halt]

Re: Phat cat vs Prails ash body

I say P-Rails with Triple Shot rings. You'd be able to get a Phat Cat sound out of them, plus a lot more.

My problem is that I've heard the the prails is a "jack of all, master of none" when it comes to p90, humbucker, and single coil tonesb

 

[Mincer]

Re: Phat cat vs Prails ash body

Not true. The P90 is a real P90 sound...as real as a Phat Cat. The entire P-Rails in parallel is a great sound, too. The other sounds are 'bonus' sounds, to me. If all the Triple Shots did were to switch between both of these sounds, it would be worth it, but they do a lot more.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Phat cat vs Prails ash body

Not true. The P90 is a real P90 sound...as real as a Phat Cat. The entire P-Rails in parallel is a great sound, too. The other sounds are 'bonus' sounds, to me. If all the Triple Shots did were to switch between both of these sounds, it would be worth it, but they do a lot more.

Yep.

The P-Rails P90 sounds more like a P90 than the Phat Cat does, IME. That is if you use the neck model in both positions.

My two modes on P-Rails are P90 (most of the time), and series (for a momentary boost on the bridge pickup, or just to play both pickups as humbuckers).

IMO, the P-Rails made the Phat Cats obsolete, because they do the Phat Cat's job better than the Phat Cat does it, plus they have more tones in them on top of that – including a series tone that rivals most Duncan PAF types.

All they need are trim rings and logo removals, then they're about the most perfect pickups ever made in standard humbucker size.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Phat cat vs Prails ash body

Not true. The P90 is a real P90 sound...as real as a Phat Cat.

I've heard members say the P-Rails P-90 sound is very good. From personal experience with several sets, I don't hear much P-90 in Phat Cats unless the magnets are changed out.