Pots for Phats?
- Thread starter BlueMoose
- Start date
super rad stuff
Skaforlifeologist
Re: Pots for Phats?
i treat'em like humbuckers, 500k for the most part and possibly 250k on the bridge if it's giving you too much treble in that spot.
i treat'em like humbuckers, 500k for the most part and possibly 250k on the bridge if it's giving you too much treble in that spot.
blueman335
Mojo's Minions
Re: Pots for Phats?
I've got a bunch of Phat Cats myself. The neck definitely needs 500K's. I use 250K's in the bridge of my HB guitars (and HB's have a focus on midrange), and with a single coil, P-90 or otherwise, which have much more treble & clarity than a HB, so I think 250K's are required; you don't need to add treble on top of treble.
Now with Phat Cats we have to talk about the magnet issue. I'm a 335 man myself & the stock magnets in Phat Cats (twin A2's) leave something to be desired in a warm-toned guitar. Duncan baffled me on this one. The neck is strong and very dark, and the bridge is weak & thin, all courtesy of the A2's. The neck overpowers the bridge. Not sure what they were aiming for.
Once I decided to try some magnet combinations, things totally changed. I've put Phat Cats in a number of my guitars now. Love them. Getting an A5 in the neck gave a lot more treble & definition. I've tried A5/A2, A5/A3 (bright & chimey), and A5/A4 (ample treble with good mids), and all were far superior to the stock A2's. Really opened up the sound so you can tell they're P-90's. You can get 'bite' from them, that you normally only get with a bridge PU.
I didn't know what to do about the bridge PC, so I have several guitars with a HB bridge/PC neck, which is a very good combination BTW. Then I finally decided that the right magnets should be able to give me the bridge tones I wanted. I tried an A8/A4 pair, and it's excellent. The PC itself has an open, bright tone from being a single coil; the A8 gives high output and fills in the mids, & the A4 with its balanced EQ reinforces the tones. Now my PCB's are full & rich and yet raw sounding, and have enough output to balance with the neck. Just what the doctor ordered.
So, you can try a pair of PC's with the stock magnets & see what you think. May have the tones you want. If not, magnet swaps take minutes and since each one has a pair, you have many more potential combinations, so you can really dial in your tone, much more so than with a HB. If you're new to this and need help with swapping magnets, let me know. Since I started swapping magnets in them, I've become a big fan of P-90's and HB-sized P-90's. Hopefully they'll work for you too.
I've got a bunch of Phat Cats myself. The neck definitely needs 500K's. I use 250K's in the bridge of my HB guitars (and HB's have a focus on midrange), and with a single coil, P-90 or otherwise, which have much more treble & clarity than a HB, so I think 250K's are required; you don't need to add treble on top of treble.
Now with Phat Cats we have to talk about the magnet issue. I'm a 335 man myself & the stock magnets in Phat Cats (twin A2's) leave something to be desired in a warm-toned guitar. Duncan baffled me on this one. The neck is strong and very dark, and the bridge is weak & thin, all courtesy of the A2's. The neck overpowers the bridge. Not sure what they were aiming for.
Once I decided to try some magnet combinations, things totally changed. I've put Phat Cats in a number of my guitars now. Love them. Getting an A5 in the neck gave a lot more treble & definition. I've tried A5/A2, A5/A3 (bright & chimey), and A5/A4 (ample treble with good mids), and all were far superior to the stock A2's. Really opened up the sound so you can tell they're P-90's. You can get 'bite' from them, that you normally only get with a bridge PU.
I didn't know what to do about the bridge PC, so I have several guitars with a HB bridge/PC neck, which is a very good combination BTW. Then I finally decided that the right magnets should be able to give me the bridge tones I wanted. I tried an A8/A4 pair, and it's excellent. The PC itself has an open, bright tone from being a single coil; the A8 gives high output and fills in the mids, & the A4 with its balanced EQ reinforces the tones. Now my PCB's are full & rich and yet raw sounding, and have enough output to balance with the neck. Just what the doctor ordered.
So, you can try a pair of PC's with the stock magnets & see what you think. May have the tones you want. If not, magnet swaps take minutes and since each one has a pair, you have many more potential combinations, so you can really dial in your tone, much more so than with a HB. If you're new to this and need help with swapping magnets, let me know. Since I started swapping magnets in them, I've become a big fan of P-90's and HB-sized P-90's. Hopefully they'll work for you too.
Re: Pots for Phats?
Thanks for the input.
Blueman, I'm probably going to just replace the neck PU for starters so I can see how I like them. The bridge PU on this one will suffice for now.
Swapping magnets sounds easy enough but, um, where do you buy them? Will probably be posting for help soon
.
Thanks again.
Thanks for the input.
Blueman, I'm probably going to just replace the neck PU for starters so I can see how I like them. The bridge PU on this one will suffice for now.
Swapping magnets sounds easy enough but, um, where do you buy them? Will probably be posting for help soon
. Thanks again.
