Pickup combo thought

[Hsb]

I have a DD in the bridge of my Iceman but still have the original Ibanez pu in the neck, quite muddy and lacks some articulation. Had an idea that will probably not work but wanted to see what others thoughts were on it. Thinking about replacing the stock neck pickup with something like a PhatCat P90.

Not sure how well that would pair up with the DD. Guitar is mahogany with a maple cap, mahogany meck and rosewood board, 1 volume, 1 tone.

Like I said, probably would not be a great match but the look and tone of the P90s has alway caught my ear

 

[Artie]

Re: Pickup combo thought

I have GFS Dream 90's in my Iceman. Absolutely love it. I bet the Phat Cat would be even better.

 

[MikeS]

Re: Pickup combo thought

Tone wise it’s an odd pairing, IMO. The DD has significantly more output and is much brighter. Might depend on how you use the guitar. I have a PhatCat paired with a C5, and splitting the C5 via push/pull does wonders in the middle position.

That said, I do love P90s in the neck position.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Pickup combo thought

Generally, the amount of distortion that the Distortion pickup needs to sound its best is quite a bit more than sounds the best with the Phat Cat. I might go for something like the 59, Sentient or Jazz. They have tight lows, too- and sound great with any gain ranges.

 

[Hsb]

Re: Pickup combo thought

I figured the DD and PhatCat wouldnt be great matches but thought why not ask and see what folks have to say. I have a Jazz in my LTD which I really like and I have a Sentient in my Jackson which Im unsure of, not really gelling with the Jackson, so not sure if Im skewed against the Sentient or not. Also thought about one of the flavors of the Alnico Pro. I know they are close cousins to the Jazz, so that may be a better idea.

Not too concerned they are great matches as I just play at home. But do want some sort of compliment to each other.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Pickup combo thought

The Alnico II Pro is sort of the EQ opposite of the Distortion, with a lot of mids and not so much lows. Under a lot of gain, it will sound mushy- it is really made for clean to about a boosted Marshall-level of distortion. Modern high gain will just smear the sound all over.

 

[Hsb]

Re: Pickup combo thought

I run my Marshall boosted with a bit of Tumnus so Im not really delving into high gain realm. If I do run high gain its through the Dracarys but by then the neck pickups are out of the realm.