Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: Swlabr on December 09, 2010, 10:16:34 AM

Title: Advice Stormy's, Mules or PG's
Post by: Swlabr on December 09, 2010, 10:16:34 AM
I want to upgrade my Epiphone LP standard. At first I was focussed on Mules or Stormy Mondays. The last few weeks I also considered PG Blues pu's. Can someone explane the difference in sound of the mentioned pu's. My playing style is 70's blues and  rock. I sometimes like to play withe a jazzy touch.   

Title: Re: Advice Stormy's, Mules or PG's
Post by: FELINEGUITARS on December 09, 2010, 10:39:38 AM
Both the stormy mondays and the PG blues have alnico 2 magnets , but the PG blues has it's neck pickup wound with Formvar wire (which has a thicker insulation than plain enamel wire )and there is a difference in sound.

From experience I would favour PG Blues a lot for blues playing - that neck pickup is fab and is also very sweet for jazzy playing

If you do go for the PG blues I would suggest ordering the set in 4 conductor (that is the version I keep here in stock on the shelf) as it easily allows you to chose NOT to have the neck pickup out of phase with the bridge - or as I sometimes do put a phase reversal switch on a push pull pot on one of the tone controls, so you can chose to have it when you want it.

Having said all that all 3 pickup choices are fabulous and will be nice in your Epiphone.
Title: Re: Advice Stormy's, Mules or PG's
Post by: Swlabr on December 09, 2010, 11:20:24 AM
Thanks for the response. A question conserning the PG's. Will there be a lost in sound volume when using the out of fase possibility?
Title: Re: Advice Stormy's, Mules or PG's
Post by: Nolly on December 09, 2010, 12:16:07 PM
Thanks for the response. A question conserning the PG's. Will there be a lost in sound volume when using the out of fase possibility?

Yes, but that's part of the sound! You can actually make it sound much less phasey if you back one of the volumes off a tad, very surprising how little it needs before it starts to sound normal again. That said, if you don't specifically want that particular sound, you should definitely consider making it switchable as Feline suggests.
Personally I would go for a set of Stormy Mondays, since I don't really enjoy the out of phase sound, and they really are the pinnacle of that wonderful open and dynamic LP tone with a very pure and clear sound.
Title: Re: Advice Stormy's, Mules or PG's
Post by: Telerocker on December 09, 2010, 09:40:55 PM
The clips I heard from the SM's AII show great vocal qualities and dynamics.
Title: Re: Advice Stormy's, Mules or PG's
Post by: gordiji on December 10, 2010, 09:06:46 AM
i have a sm neck and it's superb clean or driven, think bb king or gary moore depending on your amp set up.i'm
sure the bridge is great too but the neck will pair (purrrrhh) well with any of the vintage bkp's. i have a bridge vhii
which it compliments well.