Fat Covered Bastard - just some thoughts...

[-CB-]

Well.... I got the fat covered bastard today.

At first look, I'm not all that impressed with the build.  Thing is hugely tall.  Damn near a full inch tall - and a huge glob of some sort of black wax holding the cable connections in place.  Hmm.  I tried it in the HB route on my new Tele project.  It fits in the route ok, but I'm not sure if the pickup can adjusted low enough to work, as it sits about 3/8 inch or more above the top of the body.  And.... the poles go a good 1/16 inch taller yet, and cant be lowered any more.  Its a heavy pickup, that much I'll grant it.

Mounting issues aside, I'm hoping it fits and will work.  Stay tuned.

 

[Alfang]

Yo, duh and/or hence the name fat bastard,  guess it should be called tall bastard and/or tall drink o water.

Sorry, just watched the turtle commercial

 

[jackthehack]

It'll fit in a Gotoh HB Tele bridge just fine, quit yer bitching and fire that bad boy up!

 

[-CB-]

Yah Sir!

 

[-CB-]

The Fat Covered Bastard - I'm not impressed.

Its getting a 57 Classic +.

Fat Bastard goes for sale here as soon as the 57 comes in.

 

[Wyliee]

CB, can you elaborate a bit?

 

[-CB-]

I've tried

P94, Phat Cats, and now the Fat Bastard.

By far, the P94 was the most powerful, retained the best big ass in your face tone, with more than ample lows and snarly biting highs and a midrange that slaps you silly.

The Phat Cats are GREAT in a hollow body, like the ES-335 and the Hamer thinline guitars.  I tried them in a Strat, and while "phatter" than a Strat pickup, they didn't have the P90 tone there.  Just a phatter single coil tone.  In a hollow body... I call them very "musical".  They remind me of chimey and solid and balanced 60's lighter rock.

The Fat Bastard seems a bit muddy.  MUCH less power than the P90.  It lacks character.  Just seems drab.  It might be GREAT as a bridge pickup in a Strat.  In fact, I know it would.... retaining that single coil tone, but adding meat over the regular Strat bridge.  However in a Telecaster Thinline, paired with a P90 in the neck (8.1k P90 vs 11.5k Fat Bastard), and with the P90 way down low and Fat Bastard way up high... it still lacks power.  The P90 kicks its ass in tone and chime and sparkle.

I'm ordering a 57 Classic Plus tomorrow, if I cant get one locally cheap.

And thats that!~

 

[jackthehack]

Curious; wonder if you got a bad PU? I've got a Bluesbar (12.5K) in the neck and a Fat Bastard (12.5K) in the bridge of my Thinline Special, and it's the first P90/Humbucker combo I ever liked the mid toggle "combined" switch setting on. I wired mine with a 500K vol pot and a 250K tone pot with a .022 cap. Can't believe you find it "muddy"/underpowered.....

 

[-CB-]

This one is 11.5k on the nose.  500k vol pot.  250k tone pots.  Similarly .022 Mallory 400v little yellow caps (overkill, but I had em)

Yah... it just ain't got that zip that tells you its hip.  I think 12.5k would be muddier... as usually any extra impedance will kill highs.

The only thing I can think of... is maybe they stuck the wrong magnets in it?  Dunno.

 

[-CB-]

Yah....

Just compared P90 in BFG (essentially the same at 8.4k) to the Tele.  I've got the one in the Tele cranked so low it really losing flavor, but is about volume matched with the FCB.

In the BFG (and in memory on Vic's Tele) the P90 was up pretty close to the strings and the BBucker pickup had a good amount of spank.... The FCB has no spank. 

The tone is that of Wet Toilet Paper.    I'm gonna call Rio Grande see what they have to say.