#149805  by Rusty the Scoob
 
I'm finding you can get a pretty good Phil tone from a modified P... good enough for a bar or club, at least. Here's how I approach it:

Image

In case it cuts off, which it will on most screens:

http://i.imgur.com/QmREMyt.jpg
 #149882  by Rusty the Scoob
 
Yeah, the P bass pickup only really sounds distinctive in that midrage, which the tone knob removes. Then the bridge pickup and EQ both add clarity back into it. I tend to play over the P-bass pickup when picking but will move toward the neck for softer passages or times when I want a rounder fatter tone, or move a little toward the bridge when I want something tighter like the intro to Music Never Stopped.
 #149941  by Rusty the Scoob
 
I've tried just about every EQ on the market and really like EMG's 2-band for the John Kahn tone. Reminds me a lot of the Sadowsky preamp, which I do prefer but costs about 3x as much and takes a little soldering whereas the EMG system just plugs right in. And let's face it I'm a little lazy! I used it in my Steinberger for cost and space and ended up really liking it and putting one in the black P too.

My 2nd most played P has an ACG EQ-02, a really awesome system, that does an even better Phil. But I prefer the bridge pickup and the neck itself on the black and white above. If I was really building a Phil P I'd use a soapbar of some sort in the neck and an ACG. http://www.bestbassgear.com/acg-eq-02-preamp.htm