Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: RetRockhardt on July 27, 2006, 10:09:23 AM
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Hey all. I'm planning on getting a new set of humbuckers to go in a Les Paul, for a 70's prog-rock kinda sound (Zappa, King Crimson, etc).
The Mule seems to have a really nice tone to it, but would it be articulate enough when overdriven to handle more unusual stuff like tapping and jazz chords? Or should I maybe look into something a bit brighter/bitier like the VHII?
Cheers for any suggestions.
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I think I would go for the Mules. I'm after that Crimson/Gong sort of tone as well. There's a good clip of Mules on the last page in the players section called Windpane.
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If you want to capture that 70s Robert Fripp tone the Mule should be fine as he was playing two 1959 Les Pauls in 70s King Crimson.
As to versatility - the mule can do it all.
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Cool, cool. Just one more thing: Will using a coil tap change the tone when it's switched off? As in... Would a humbucker sound better without a coil tap installed?
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It will sound exactly the same. I'm pretty sure as I have phase switch on my guitar and when it's off it is bypassed.
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:D I have a set of Mules that are coil tapped. They do have a slightly different sound when tapped but there really good !!!
Very Very useable. The sound is "Jangerly" that`s the only way i can discribe it.
You can drive your amp hard with as much levels of gain as you like the Mules still sound great. Very versatile. They`ll handle the Prog type stuff no problem.
:D 8)
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Cool, cool. Just one more thing: Will using a coil tap change the tone when it's switched off? As in... Would a humbucker sound better without a coil tap installed?
Do you mean split? Coil tap is when you take a feed off the coil part way through the winding process so you can get 2 different outputs (say one at 6,000 winds and one at 7,500). Coil split is when you have 4 conductor wiring and can have series/parallel/screw coil only/slug coil only wiring.
In the first case the pickup will have to be made specially to do this, and I don't know of a humbuker with it as you would need 6 wires off the pickup (unless you only tapped one coil, but then it would not be a humbucker any more). Usually coil tap is on single coil pickups - the PRS 513 has this I believe, but it uses 5 single coils in different wiring.
When you get 4 conductor wiring, there is no sound change in series from 2 conductor, you are moving the connection of the coils about 8-10 inches (whatever the length of the lead out wire is from the pickup), but that will make such a small difference that you won't be able to hear it.
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Yeah, alright. You got me. I didn't know what I was talking about. Guess it must have been "split" I meant.
Whatever it is that allows humbuckers to mimic single coils, that's what I meant.
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Yeah, alright. You got me. I didn't know what I was talking about. Guess it must have been "split" I meant.
Whatever it is that allows humbuckers to mimic single coils, that's what I meant.
I wasn't trying to get at you - it is an expresion that many people use wrongly. If you want the single coil sound then using a switch to select one coil is the way to go - you will get hum then, but that is part of the single coil sound anyway. I have several BK's set up like this and they give a great split sound. You will not find that the normal tone changes. I actually like the series/parallel option because it keeps the pickup as a humbucker and still gives you more of a single coil sound.
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:D Yep your right Phil, we should`ve said coil split, but as you also pointed out every body refers to it as "tapped".
And it doe`s change the sound slightly, both my VHII , Mules & Cold Sweats sounded slightly different when the coil split is active. The difference isn`t drastic but it doesn`t sound the same as when on full H/B mode.
At least to my ears.......but then i have been told i have the ears of a fish :P
:D 8)
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Rebel Yell humbuckers are worth a try too-Steve Stevens is a huge prog fan/player.
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:D Yep your right Phil, we should`ve said coil split, but as you also pointed out every body refers to it as "tapped".
And it doe`s change the sound slightly, both my VHII , Mules & Cold Sweats sounded slightly different when the coil split is active. The difference isn`t drastic but it doesn`t sound the same as when on full H/B mode.
At least to my ears.......but then i have been told i have the ears of a fish :P
:D 8)
Hi jt, I was saying that it doesn't change the normal sound. If you have 2 wire or 4 wire and have the pickup in series wiring (which is the standard), then the sound will be the same.
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:D sorry Phil misunderstood what you`d ment. :D
:D 8)