Phat Cats in my H150

[mars_hall]

I am just so damn proud of myself today.  I have put together a true tone monster I will put up against any.

 

I dropped Phat Cats into my H150, setup my poles, added a TP-6 tailpiece, and changed the strings on it to D'Addario EXL125s, light tops/regular bottoms.

 

The thing I like best about this combination is the wide range of dynamic response it now brings forth.  If I tickle the strings. the tone comes through clean, clear, and pure with sustained singing.  Changing nothing in the setting, if I dig in on the attack, pinching the pick's edge/tip right at the string, it screeches out rich harmonics like pulling nails out of dry oak.

 

Special thanks to slider313 for coming through for me.

 

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/stormcrowin/20090424_0010.jpg[/img]

[Paul P]

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Looks like it was a good day for tone.  Glad to hear you've got yours.

 

Was the TP-6 a drop in fit ?  How are the adjusters ? 

It's a pretty expensive tailpiece at 120$US.

 

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[mars_hall]

I had to get new studs replacing the Schaller  $5.35

 

Got my TP-6 used on ebay ~$35

 

Screws are fine.  I have TP-6s on most of my guitars.  I lower it down as far as it will go and put electrical tape on the bottom of it to prevent any scratching.  I tune just a shade flat of the desired notes and then adjust in using a Korg tuner.  Works great.

[fxdx99]

Nice!  Good report, Mark.  Looking forward to hearing that one this summer... that'll be 2 of the 150s w/phat cats then.  Sounds like it's an awesome machine now... ain't too hard on the eyes, neither.

[shook494]

I like the way that looks.  I'm sure it sounds cool too.  Thanks for the tone report.

[Dick Seacup]

Jeepers that's a beaut, Mark. Why didn't I know you had that one? Is it made out of brown sugar? D@mn!

[yoslate]

Congrats, Mark!  Great looking plank!  I've had Phats in my stop-tail 150 for a year-and-a-half.  They'll never come out!  I put a pair of Seths I bought from Kuz (thanks again, John!) in my old LP a couple of months ago, and they're great, just what I was hoping they'd be!  But the Phat Cats in my 150 just do things humbuckers don't.  I've been playing that guitar out a lot recently, and I always get comments from other players.  Very gratifying!  Thierry played my 150 at PSPI, I don't think I ever fired it up.  That won't be the case at PSPII!!!  Phat Cats are Righteous in a 150!

 

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[slider313]

Hey Mark, nice 150!! I'm glad the pickups worked out. No two guitars are the same and what works in one may not in the other. I'm just a die hard humbucker head.

[brentrocks]

That looks amazing Mark...glad that worked out for ya

[Paul P]

[table][tr][td][table][tr][td][/td][/tr][/table][/td][/tr][/table]I'm starting to wonder what a couple of these would be like in my 535.  I find chords to be

a bit messy and I think it may be due at least in part to the humbuckers.  What is the

hum like going through a tube amp, Mark ?

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[mars_hall]

Using a single pickup (i.e. non-humbucking worst case), if I stay about 3 ft away from the amp, the hum is totally inaudible.  If I turn perpendicular to the amp, hum is greatly attenuated.

 

It should be noted that I generally am using a high gain setting, as well.

[Paul P]

[table][tr][td][table][tr][td][/td][/tr][/table][/td][/tr][/table]That's great.  I'm usually about 8-10 feet away and not on high gain so I should be ok.

I listened to some sound samples of the Phat Cats on the Seymore Duncan site :

 

  http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/audio...humbuckers_and/

 

I like the tone, it's a lot cleaner than what I'm getting out of my Schallers (if indeed

the pickups are what I'm hearing).

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[Gitfiddler]

[table][tr][td][table][tr][td][/td][/tr][/table][/td][/tr][/table]I'm starting to wonder what a couple of these would be like in my 535.  I find chords to be

a bit messy and I think it may be due at least in part to the humbuckers.  What is the

hum like going through a tube amp, Mark ?

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Paul, I have Phats in my 535 and they are clear, clean, warm and punchy.  Minimal hum.  Great for jazz and blues and every other genre.  They are similar to humbuckers, but different...in a good way.  I still love humbuckers, but for something a little bit unique, yet special nonetheless, go with Phat Cats in a semi-hollow.

 

The only problem is that they don't improve my playing.