SD Phat Cats vs. Gibson P-94 vs. SD SP-90 Vintage?

[FuelGTRX]

How do these 3 compare? I really want the true (or close proximation) P-90 tone for my Les Paul Standard. After band practice tonight, I realized I like the Seymour Duncan SP-90 Vintage pickups in my Les Paul Special alot more that the Alnico II Pros in my LP Standard. I would like something close to those. How do Phat Cats and Gibson P-94's compare to the SP-90s? Should I be looking at anything else?

 

[Karn Evil 9]

Re: SD Phat Cats vs. Gibson P-94 vs. SD SP-90 Vintage?

just keep in mind that they are different guitars so the same pickup combo isn't going to necessarily work; the lp specials are just a slab of mahogany, while the standards obviously have the maple cap.....
but hamer use the phat cats in the talledaga, which is a set neck with a mahogany/maple body (albeit a longer scale; and IMO usa hamers are far superior usa gibsons....) and i think they sound great, so maybe you should give them a whirl....
(apologies for this rather useless comment!)

 

[jeremy]

Re: SD Phat Cats vs. Gibson P-94 vs. SD SP-90 Vintage?

the p94 isnt that great imo. kinda lifeless

the phat cat bridge is awesome just as it is, the neck is a little too dark/round/fat stock but i think if you tried a different mag combo a3/a5 maybe it might balance better. when i was playing around with the neck i took some turns off to open up the sound and used a pair of a3 magnets and the result was great. taking 1000 winds off a pup isnt something that i would recommend to a novice but the mag swap is pretty easy.

the alnico2 magnets in the pc make it sound different than a typical p90 with a5 magnets. ive never tried a pair of a5's in a pc but i bet it would be very similar to a classic gibson p90

 

[blueman335]

Re: SD Phat Cats vs. Gibson P-94 vs. SD SP-90 Vintage?

the phat cat bridge is awesome just as it is, the neck is a little too dark/round/fat stock but i think if you tried a different mag combo a3/a5 maybe it might balance better. When i was playing around with the neck i took some turns off to open up the sound and used a pair of a3 magnets and the result was great.

I've just put an A5/A3 & A5/A4 into two PCN's on a couple SG's. The A5/A4 guitar has a darker tone (heavier wood?) and really sounds nice, similar to the HB on the bridge, with some bite to it too. Wow. The A5/A3 guitar is brighter (light wood) and really brings out that clear single-coil sparkle.

I had previously tried a pair of Phat Cats in a guitar (stock magnets) & they didn't balance as well as I had hoped. Neck was dark & loud, and the bridge seemed bright and weak in comparison. I just tried them again in a LP but this time with an A6/A4 in the PCB, and a A5/A3 in the PCN. Volume & EQ match up well, and the tones are excellent, and ballsy with overdrive. All of these turned out even better than I thought they would.

Phat Cats are the platform for experimentation. Players really need to pull a few HB's and swap them for PC's. Mix it up boys. This is good stuff.

 

[FuelGTRX]

Re: SD Phat Cats vs. Gibson P-94 vs. SD SP-90 Vintage?

Well, I think I am going to get a Phat Cat set and start playing around with them, if need be. My Les Paul Standard is a bit brighter than most Les Pauls I have played, so I think the Phat Cats might fit the bill in stock form.

Well, if the guitar shop near me has them in stock, I will have them in this weekend. I'll be sure to give my own review of them.

 

[SFW]

Re: SD Phat Cats vs. Gibson P-94 vs. SD SP-90 Vintage?

Have you thought about a P-Rails set? That way you could get some true P90 tones along with some super fat humbucker tones.

And yes, I know that I've been a P-Rails whore lately, but I think that they are that **** good!

 

[FuelGTRX]

Re: SD Phat Cats vs. Gibson P-94 vs. SD SP-90 Vintage?

Have you thought about a P-Rails set? That way you could get some true P90 tones along with some super fat humbucker tones.

And yes, I know that I've been a P-Rails whore lately, but I think that they are that **** good!

I have thought about them. How do they compare to regular P-90's?

 

[FuelGTRX]

Re: SD Phat Cats vs. Gibson P-94 vs. SD SP-90 Vintage?

Well, I read up on the P-Rails a bit and I think I am going to get those. Now for the important question, which color should I get? I don't know if I should get black or creme. Here's a pic of the guit-box, if that helps: