Seymour Duncan Phat Cats

Grampa · February 2023

The below was messaged to a fellow member who suggested I posted it in the reviews section....

Firstly a bit of background with regards my amateurish review below....First picked up a guitar around 3yrs ago, late 50's bucket list. Decided a couple of years ago that I wanted to actually learn to play the thing. Have absolutely no interest in music theory, just play for my own pleasure (and frustration). Therefore please excuse my lack of the right words when trying to explain in layman's terms my thoughts on the Phat Cats. I've learned I have three pet hates, slim necks, single coils and trems'. Owning just 2 x hardtail humbucker electrics (and a recently acquired acoustic) I wanted something a bit different, hence the P90's in the PRS SE.

Installed and played for a couple of hours during the weekend and found the Phat Cats to be extremely articulate and pleasing to the ear but also a wee bit over whelming. Still being what would be regarded as a beginner I found the range of sounds available using even the most subtle changes in guitar volume/tone controls to be a bit mind blowing. Chuck in the 3 way switching and there is a palette of available sound that is immense. To keep things as simple as possible I plugged directly in to a 633 Dragonfly (reverb & tremolo set to 0, tone & power set to 12 o'clock). I (try to) play mainly 50's/60's stuff, Shadows etc, picking with a plectrum. The clarity of each note, whatever the guitar settings, was insane, to the point where when I got it right Hank would be proud, but also punishing me for even the slightest of errors. I then experimented playing the recently learned 'Wish You Were Here" intro for the combination of picking and strumming. Once again superb clarity with absolutely no muddiness on the strums, almost acoustic like. With the guitar controls set at 10 for both tone and volume the pickups sound a bit too much like an overdriven single coil for my liking, but that's a personal thing that others may find appealing. I did wonder if I'd ever have the need to do anything more with this guitar than plug straight into an amp, the Whiskerbuckers the P90's replaced only come alive with a bit of help from the FX.

Am I pleased with the result? Abso-bloody-lutely, worth every penny. I now have two very different sounding electric guitars that I probably don't have enough years left on this planet to explore all of the tonal possibilities.
Do I prefer them to the Humbuckers they replaced? To my ears Humbuckers rule but I love the range of sounds I'm getting from the Phat Cats. Besides, the Cream T's are on their way into a 2000 McCarty so something else to look forward to.