Question concerning the Phat Cat P-90 vs regular Single Coil noise.

[JB6464]

I would like to covert one of my Teles that has two humbuckers to single coils and to get started and I have a couple ideas without having to mod the guitar.
Easiest way is to slap in a set of Phat Cat P-90's, the other way is to buy pickup conversion bezels that have cutouts for traditional single coil type pickups.
Before jumping in the rabbit hole of pickups I was wondering about a few things.


1) Are the Phat Cat P-90 pickups noisier than the traditional single coil pickup?

2) Is there a mod you can do to your guitar wiring to cancel the hum if it's ridiculously noisy

 

[GuitarDoc]

P-90s "can" be noisier that singles because they have 2 big bar magnets and higher output. I have never really had a problem with that due to my guitars being fully lined with grounding tape. But they can also feedback more that humbuckers or singles. In my mind, it's a tradeoff that's well worth it for the benefit of the P-90 tone.

 

[JB6464]

P-90s "can" be noisier that singles because they have 2 big bar magnets and higher output. I have never really had a problem with that due to my guitars being fully lined with grounding tape. But they can also feedback more that humbuckers or singles. In my mind, it's a tradeoff that's well worth it for the benefit of the P-90 tone.

Have you used the Phat Cats, with the A2 mags are they fairly quiet?

 

[Mincer]

The Phat Cats don't really have excessive noise, but shielding the cavity is never a bad idea. Also, make sure everything is wired correctly, so you are sure the wiring isn't adding to the single coil noise. If noise is a big issue, a set of noise-cancelling Tele pickups might be the ticket.

 

[Supernautilus]

I have a set of Phat Cats in an SG style guitar. They sound really good. They hum a bit but no worse than a standard single coil I guess. They hum cancel in the middle position though, which is nice. Then they are quiet as a mouse.

 

[Clint 55]

The opposite. PCs are quieter than traditional single coils because they are completely shielded. The baseplate is grounded, and the cover and pole screws contact the baseplate therefore they are grounded and the coil is completely shielded.

 

[Chistopher]

The opposite. PCs are quieter than traditional single coils because they are completely shielded. The baseplate is grounded, and the cover and pole screws contact the baseplate therefore they are grounded and the coil is completely shielded.

I was about to say the same thing. They are fairly quiet pickups as far as true single coils go.