I had Phat Cats in my Newport and swapped them for Seth Lovers. Now I'm missing that single-coil thing again.. Who's heard or used them both? How do they differ?
i too am on the verge of buying phatcats....but if i dont, it'll be the seth's, so were kinda in the same boat.... ive had the seths a couple times and loved them.....but im dying to try the phatcats...im just a bit nervouse that i MIGHT not like them...so im still up in the air....
Well maybe I can help a little with it as I have had both in the same guitar. Course we know the diff between p-90s and humbuckers, but just the same... With the Phat Cats the Newport was like a giant Tele...lots of high and low end and very articulate. With the Seths it was super smooth and fat and singing. The Phat Cats gave it much more PERSONALITY.
I'm a huge fan of the P-94 pickups, I've got them in my Les Paul now and have had them in several other (since sold) guitars. I also recommend them to anybody who listens I tried the Phat Cats as well, in a couple different guitars, but just didn't like them as much as the P-94s. I found them overly bright and a tad shrill, as well as just a bit too hot for my taste. --chiba
If the P94's don't work out for you, you might want to give a try to Dave Stephens' Kay Bar pickups. While I haven't tried these exact models, I do have some of his regular soapbar P90's, and they rock. I would imagine that his Kay Bars wouldn't stray too far from the rockin' P90 tone, if at all. Very cool guy to do business with too.
Extending the Phat Cats vs Seth Lovers sub-conversation:---- (I play clean to overdriven tones. No high gain and very little medium gain. Currently playing a Hamer Newport Pro.) I took my Seths out. I'm just not a humbucker fan, they just dont chime and sparkle the way I like, even though the Seths are the best 'buckers I've ever played. Much more detailed and dynamic than a SD '59 or JB, for example. The Phat Cats were my next choice, and they are a HUGE improvement for my style. Detailed, chimey, yet deep and full also. Grind nicely, twang to hell, sparkly when needed. But they are SO FREAKING NOISY. I posted another thread about this, and it's possible that it could be related to the other guitar electronics (pots, grounding, ?). But I find the position 1 and 3 unusable because of buzz sometimes---even at jazz gigs. This is not Black Sabbath, folks. If I cannot fix this problem, I'm going to ditch the Phat Cats and try Vintage Vibes or Z90's next. Many people claim that their Phat Cats are quiet, so YMMV.
funny.... i have a Phat Cat Bridge paired with a Seth Neck in my Tokai Les Paul, and the Phat Cat is the best pickup i've ever tried. I hear no shrillness actually........it sounds awesome clean and overdriven, and the articulation on loud chords is amazing....it jingles and jangles with the best of them with the volume down, and it just always sounds lively and even, not bright, not muddy....combined with the Seth Neck, it provides a great rockabilly sound that those 50s cats had, great for those rhythm jazzy chords
+1 on the P-94 (as usual), but is it true that Gibson doesn't make them anymore? So what's the current price for them?
I know they're hard to find, but I wasn't aware that Gibson had stopped making them. I'll see what I can find out. --chiba
