changing humbucker in my 1-humbucker strat to a......

[spookyelectric]

P90! A Duncan Phat Cat, more specifically.

I've been using a Dimarzio PAF Pro for a good medium output, cleaner sounding humbucker for clean and distorted stuff in my alder hardtail strat w/ maple fretboard and a single 500K volume pot.

Overall I've been pretty happy. I've tried a few other medium/low output pickups in it and nothing's sounded better than the PAF Pro, so it always ends up staying. I ended up getting a Duncan Phat Cat for a good deal recently, so I thought I might go that route and see if I can get something a little brighter and ruder sounding than what the PAF Pro is giving me.

Anyone else using a P90 in the bridge slot on their strat? How does it compare to a regular strat bridge pickup or a humbucker?

 

[stratter]

They hum a lot more, so unless you already have it shielded, you'd have to shield it. If we're talking P-90's now, I presume the Duncan Phat Cat is humbucker sized? If not, you'd need a new pickguard because humbuckers are slightly more rectangle-like. P-90's are thinner and longer. I've had great luck with the Gibson P-94.


Also, P-90's would be much brighter, so I would put in some bigger caps if you want the tone pot to work as effectively. You'd get more of a brighter tone, but not as beefy, as the P-90 is a single coil at heart, and the HB is two single coils stuck together. You'd get a nasty tone with an overdrive.

 

[Average Joe]

The Pc's is certainly clearer, brighter, snappier and less bassy than a comparable humbucker. I love them in the neck position but have mixed feelings about the bridge. The characteristics I mentioned are good Things in my book, but sometimes I feel they lack a but of girth. Nothing wrong with the sound per se, just a Little lacking in the mids for my preferences

 

[spookyelectric]

They hum a lot more, so unless you already have it shielded, you'd have to shield it. If we're talking P-90's now, I presume the Duncan Phat Cat is humbucker sized? If not, you'd need a new pickguard because humbuckers are slightly more rectangle-like. P-90's are thinner and longer. I've had great luck with the Gibson P-94.


Also, P-90's would be much brighter, so I would put in some bigger caps if you want the tone pot to work as effectively. You'd get more of a brighter tone, but not as beefy, as the P-90 is a single coil at heart, and the HB is two single coils stuck together. You'd get a nasty tone with an overdrive.

I have the guard and all the routing shielded w/ copper foil and conductive shielding paint, so it's set up to be as quiet as I can make it. I'm used to tele bridge pickup hum, so hopefully P90 hum in this particularly well-shielded strat won't be too bad.

Yep, the Phat Cat is humbucker sized, so no worries there.

 

[spookyelectric]

The Pc's is certainly clearer, brighter, snappier and less bassy than a comparable humbucker. I love them in the neck position but have mixed feelings about the bridge. The characteristics I mentioned are good Things in my book, but sometimes I feel they lack a but of girth. Nothing wrong with the sound per se, just a Little lacking in the mids for my preferences

I'm going to try the Phat Cat w/ the stock A2 magnets in it to see how it sounds. The PAF Pro isn't particularly bassy in the bridge position anyway, but I'm prepared for a more single-coil level of bass response out of the Phat Cat. If it ends up sounding too anemic w/ the stock magnets, I have an A8/A4 combo that I can drop into it. That should add a little girth

If I end up needing a tone pot added due to brightness, I can go with 500K or 250K for the pot value, and most likely a .047 tone cap so I have a wide range of roll off available.