That Phat Cats Phunky!

house

house

New member
I did a conversion on a Fender Black Top that I had laying around. Pulled out the old pick guard out with everything intact, and did a whole new pick guard. I have an SSH setup, with APS-1's in the neck, and middle, and a Phat Cat (Neck) in the bridge. I was a little leery on the phat cat, and weather it was going to be too, bright. Not the case. That thing is fat and, funky. It's the Strat bridge pickup I've been wanting to hear. It's like a honky tonk woman kind-a-thing. Glad I did the build. Would put up a pic but it's not fancy or anything. It's black with cream pick ups and knobs, and w/ a rosewood neck. I really enjoy the APS-1's especially in Black Tops. They tend to be airy, and light in weight (due to less wood. That "Swimming Pool" takes away tone). The APS-1's keep the tone tight and pronounced. I'm really happy with this pick up configuration.
 
Re: That Phat Cats Phunky!

That sounds like a cool idea- I've thought of it before, but never done it. Might have to give it a try, or even a pair of Cats in a strat; I've got a pair sitting right now.
 
Re: That Phat Cats Phunky!

Good work. I think Phat Cats are probably best-suited for brighter guitars like Fenders. In Gibson designs, where the vast majority of them probably end up, they have a very dark neck and a thin bridge.
 
Re: That Phat Cats Phunky!

Cool. Similar to my strat setup. I have a phat cat (A5/A8) in the bridge, an APS1 in the middle and an ssl1 in the neck. I never got along with humbuckers in that strat so a phat cat seemed a great choice especially with the single coils. They match really well. I also have a stock neck phat cat in the bridge of a jazzbox. I was a bit worried about putting a neck pickup in the bridge spot like you, but it sounds great.
 
Re: That Phat Cats Phunky!

Congrats, it sounds like you've got a winner.

I haven't actually tried a Phat Cat, but I do have a bit of experience with other P-90's and I'm a real fan of that tone. From what I've learned from others on this forum, I'd say you made a very good decision to put the neck PC in the bridge of your Strat to get the best tone out of it.
 
Re: That Phat Cats Phunky!

blueman335 said:
It may not be, Doc. 'Stank' does not conjure up pleasant images.
Click to expand...

I know. But I can't keep up with the vernacular these days. The younger generation(s) seems to use words in the opposite than I'm used to. Eg: In my day if we said something sounded "bad" we meant that it didn't sound good. Nowadays when someone says something sounds "bad" they mean it sounds GOOD.

Aceman is young compared to me, but he certainly isn't the "younger generation" so I'm not so sure how he is meaning to use the word "stank"...could be good or bad.

In any case, P-90 IS goodness.
 
Re: That Phat Cats Phunky!

Yes, a neck PC in the bridge of a Strat is a great idea. I can also confirm that a bridge PC works in a Strat's bridge works -- not to mention in the neck position with a CC, a (degaussed) C5, a C4 ("When in doubt, C4," as the man said), heck a Canything in the bridge, especially with an SG-style guitar. (Kicks the crap out of the Jazz N I'd been using in that guitar.) I've even put the sucker on a 2x6 when I wanted a lap steel, and it performed magnificently. I just can't get it to sound bad.
 
Re: That Phat Cats Phunky!

I saw a wayne kramer strat with a phat cat in the middle position at my guitar center and thought it was badass. My friend had phatcats in his les paul studio and they were crazy good. Lot of spank, and they would growl when you needed them too. And actually surprisingly quiet at least compared to the older stock pickups I had in my strat.
 
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