By Kevin Chisholm
Posted 07/04/2012
I’ve been trying out a set of the Seymour Duncan Phat Cat pickups recently, and I have to say: they really got it right on these. When I started this blog, for some reason I decided to add the links at the bottom first. When I was researching the Harmony-Central reviews, I started to read the first review. The more I read the review, the more I kept thinking to myself: “wow, this guy sounds like he has had the exact same experiences as me… and he seems to have the same sense of humor as me… wow, I really agree with the way this guy approaches his review on these Phat Cat pickups and the kind of feedback he is giving… this is bizzare!”
…then I realized that this guy was me… duh!
I figured the best testimonial is a real one, so, without further ado, here’s my orginal Harmony-Central review of the Seymour Duncan Phat Cat pickup:
I give these a 9 because the only thing I would change is that perhaps the Phat Cat bridge pickup could be a little hotter. That is, the neck pickup overpowers the bridge pickup a little.
With that said….
The Phat Cat pickups that I’m reviewing today are phenomenal! I took them out of the box only eight hours ago, put them in my Les Paul, and I’m finding them to be surprisingly quiet for passive non-humbucking pickups. I like to use a lot of compression, which can sometimes cause even more 60-Cycle hum than drive, or certainly make it worse once you add gain. My first crappy guitar had some horrible P-90s in it, and they squealed like hell all the time. That was almost 30 years ago, and quite honestly, I have had an aversion to P-90s since then (even my therapist couldn’t seem to rid me of this unrelenting P-90 anxiety :-). Today’s P-90s, when you use them together, are 100% hum-canceling… NICE!
What a relief! These babies are reasonably quiet (sure, when you add a lot of gain, there is hum, but at low to moderate gain settings, it ain’t too bad). These Phat Cat pickups are outstanding. The neck pickup has a massive sound — great bit and clarity. The bridge pickup also has a nice bit. I’m very happy with these pickups! Not only would I replace them if they were stolen, I’m going to grab another set for my Tele that is routed for humbuckers — I’m just that happy with these.
I’ll write another review after I’ve had these pickups for a while and used them on stage, but at first glance, I’d say they are first class! And, at half the price of Fralins, they are an incredible value. I haven’t used P-90s for 20 years, so I can certainly attest to how these compare to classic P-90 pickups. And as someone who uses totally hum-canceling pickups all the time (e.g., Dimarzio Virtual Vintage, Duncan mini humbuckers, etc.) I am very pleased with the tone and minimal 60-cycle hum of these Phat Cats. If you play Blues, you’re sure to be impressed with them!