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Hi Guys.My first post.Im a quot;new geekquot;....Heres the deal...I have a 3 PU Les Paul Custom that I have had re wired with 2 push pull tone controls that allow 7 PU configureations, one of my favorite's being the MIDDLE hot wired to bypass all of the controls...And I'm thinkin' it could be VERY cool to put a Phat Cat P 90 in the middle position.But would it be OK to put a BRIDGE P 90 there??? Goodness knows I dont need any more BASS from this guitar!!!! Any input would be GREAT!!!!!! I have no idea how different the EQ is on a bridge PU from a Neck PU.... Thanks In advance..Oh , it has 1983 humbuckers in it now...PZ

Welcome to the Forum!!!!!

I assume it would work well off the top of my head but, I am not 100% positive. Maybe someone else will chime in here soon to shed some light on it for you.

well, it would work ok.....especially if you keep it lowered in the pickup ring.....but the big difference between neck and bridge versions of the same model is that bridge versions are wound hotter, which gives more mids and more bass......the neck version of the same pickup will have less bass......so that might be want you want

So That's it??? Ive heard the neck Phat Cats are wound out of phase to the bridge Pu's ...but I dont know what the means in relation to my 1987 humbuckers??? Which should I put in the middle of my 3PU LP Custom????...Comeonn guys....you can do better than THIS....Please!!!gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;PZ

Well it's kind of unclear what you are asking...quot;would it be ok?quot;? If it's ok with you it's ok with me

Anyway, all kidding aside, the tried and true 3-pickup config is neck-neck-bridge. I bet a set of Phat Cats would be nice in there or maybe a full-on HB in the bridge like a Pearly Gates. You could wire it for series-parallel and have humbuck and psuedo-P90 sounds coming from the bridge pickup plus whatever else you have going on with the other pickups. Just a thought.


Originally Posted by paul zahlSo That's it??? Ive heard the neck Phat Cats are wound out of phase to the bridge Pu's ...but I dont know what the means in relation to my 1987 humbuckers??? Which should I put in the middle of my 3PU LP Custom????...Comeonn guys....you can do better than THIS....Please!!!gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;PZ

Ignore them all, I say! I'm the man you must consult!

Seriously, the Phat-Cat-in-the-middle idea is exactly what I'm going to do when I get the 3-pu Historic Custom to go with it.

Phat Cats will not cause you any sort of out-of-phase problems in conjunction with other pickups. As proof, I have one in the neck of my LP Standard and there are no phase issues with the Burstbucker #3 in the bridge. (Even if there were, all you'd have to do is flip over the magnets in the Phat Cat.)

The Phat Cat is a great choice for a middle pickup precisely because it is a single coil -- by which I mean the pole pieces on a single coil line up exactly under the right harmonic node to get the classic Strat quot;cluckquot; tones in conjunction with the bridge or neck pickup. (No, I'm not saying it sounds like a Strat exactly, just that it quot;clucksquot; like it should.)

I know this because I had a Lucille that I routed for a middle pickup and the regular humbuckers I tried were just too dull sounding. I got desperate and bought a gold minihumbucker and -- voila! -- the cluck was THERE. It looked weird but the sound was righteous.

The reason for that is the minihums bobbins are so narrow that the magnetic field is so concentrated that it's almost like a single coil, while the two rows of poles on regular humbuckers bracket that quot;cluckquot; node of the string but don't hit it.

A few recommendations, though:

1) If your guitar is too bassy for you, a bridge Phat Cat might be ideal in the bridge position for you.

2) You only need one push/pull pot to get all 7 pickup combinations. Just wire the hot lead of the middle pu to the switch, and wire the switch directly to the hot side of the jack.

3) My Phat Cat is custom wound to 7.0k -- 8.0k is too hot for the neck position on this pickup (it ain't called Phat for nothin') and therefore too hot for the middle too.

I orginally got my Phat Cat to put in the middle position of a 3-pu LP but tried it in the neck of my Standard and it sounds SO good that I'm going to have to order another one (or just get one off the shelf and unwind it by hand) whenever I do get that 3-pu LP.

My LP isn't quot;too bassyquot; It's quot;Bassy Enoughquot; And I love the sound of the un potted humbuckers that are in it.My guitar guy did the rewiring and the 2 nd push pull puts on just the middle pu.But the middle pu only sounds a LITTLE different than the neck....I WANT MORE!!!! Summa that P-90 thang!!!!Hence the Phat Cat Idea.But I'm still not sure which one I should get for the middle position.....Frankencat says NECK NECK BRIDGE.But Zhangliqun says that the stock neck Phat Cat is too hot and needs to be un wound.Which I am not qulafied to do...So shound I just drop a stock neck Phat Cat in there and cross my fingers???? I'm all the way over here in Belgium and will be getting it shipped over so I'd like to get it right. But on the other hand if it
doesen't work out for my LP custom,I'll wager I'll be able to find a good place for it in another of my guitars........And thanks for all the info....PZ

Got my Neck Phat Cat yesterday.Dropped into the middle position of my LP.took 30 minutes.....Sounds FANTASTIC!!!! Now my Les Paus Custom does it ALL!!!!! AWSOME!!! Thanks for the input.........gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;PZ