Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: markr76 on October 28, 2014, 09:09:43 PM
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Hi there, I was hoping for suggestions as i'm not too sure about the pickup combination in my prs single cut satin. which is all mahogany with a rosewood board.
I originally had a riff raff in the bridge and the mule in the neck which worked really well together. But the riff raff was sounding a little bright for the job i wanted it to do. I loved the sound of the mule pickup when i had this combination.
I changed the riff raff for an emerald in the bridge position. The emerald is perfect in this guitar as it adds brightness and is a lot thicker sounding than the riff riff. The guitar being all mahogany is quite dark and midrangy so I was looking to open it up a little. The stock pups (prs#6) sounded good but mushed out a little so i wanted the added clarity and dynamics that BKP's add.
The problem now is, while i love the mule by itself. It doesnt sound as good in the middle position with the emerald. I've tried adjusting the pup heights and can't get them sounding like i like.
Its strange as in the middle position its only slightly different to the sound of the mule by itself, but if the emerald is rased up it over powers the mule as its higher output. I've checked all the wiring and the switch and thats all ok.
I was wondering if the emerald neck pup would be a better match for the emerald bridge than the mule. The sound clips on the website sound good in the clean demo!
I generally play hard/classic rock and blues. So i don't want my pups too high output as i like the amp to supply the overdrive, plus i find they clean up better with the volume on the guitar.
What do you guys reckon?
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The Emerald set has a very nice neck pickup. I installed a set in a friend's Les Paul Studio and he was in love with the neck pickup from day 1. He didn't really like the bridge pickup so much until he got a clean boost pedal for it and now he loves it. It is a calibrated set so the balance issue should be okay with the Em neck. The sound of the Em neck is very nice, great for the expressive player who uses a lot of string bends etc
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You want a Mule-bridge. A calibrated Mules-set is fab, certainly in the middleposition. Complex 3D-esque tones and a perfect balance from top to bottom. The Mule opens up a midrange guitar. It has a snappy topend, clear but by no means shrill or nasty. The Mule can handle loads of gain.
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I did think about changing to an all mule set, but I really love the emerald bridge pup in this guitar. It suits the guitar perfectly. So it is more likely that will stay in the guitar. I talked to Ben at BKP last night and he said it might be the added midrange punch the emerald has over the riff raff pup that makes the middle position sound the way it does. I think I'm going to put an emerald neck in there so I have a calibrated set.
The mule could always be used in my les Paul as that is getting a make over soon. I reckon that will work in the neck with a black dog in the bridge. Or a mule.
The only worry might be it has the short legs on and les Paul's usually use the long legs.
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Short legs are generally fine on neck pickups. I wish I had short leg neck pickups in my SG and Explorer, that would make them easier to install in other guitars if necessary.
You just need a long leg Mule for the bridge of your LP. Usually 50mm spacing.