Changing from Antiquities to Mules

[Telerocker]

Congrats! Hope they work fine in your Goldtop.

[ericsabbath]

no pics?  :(

[Landis]

no pics?  :(

Eric - This is a recent pic with the Antiquities. You may have noticed that the guitar is slightly modified, ha ha. It is a '53 Gold Top Converted by Scott Lentz.
Since the pic the rings have been changed for a better colour.



Back to the Stormy Mondays. Wow - the neck pickup is wonderful! I am not sure about the bridge  - It ticks every box for tone range, sweetness of treble, response, but is there a bit of magic missing.....?
So let's see - my favourite bridge pickup seems to be a Tim Shaw. Stormy sounds fantastic in the neck. I have 2 x Tim Shaws in another LP (an early re-issue) and I now have 2 Stormy Mondays. Can you guess what I am thinking? Also - I now want to know what the Mule bridge is like. In fact I am going to order one in a minute. I won't be looking for an exchange - whatever ends up surplus can be sold. Seems to be a healthy market for these pickups.

And, (I said I want to experiment), I am going to find out why the Ant bridge was unusually quiet. Will get it checked out and I am open to trying it again with a different magnet maybe.
All this will take a while but it is fun, and who knows, I might stumble across a combination that means I don't want real PAFs for this guitar.. :o

[Telerocker]

The gold has gone  :(, still a beauty!  :D

[ericsabbath]

amazing guitar  :D :D :D

trying messing with the bridge pickup height
try it as close as possible to the strings without touching them while holding the last frets
play it a couple minutes, then lower the pickup just a bit and try it again, until you find out your favorite sounding height

[Landis]

amazing guitar  :D :D :D

trying messing with the bridge pickup height
try it as close as possible to the strings without touching them while holding the last frets
play it a couple minutes, then lower the pickup just a bit and try it again, until you find out your favorite sounding height

Thank you
Will try messing with the pickup height . The bridge (Stormy) sounds good today. Because it is louder than the ant I had turned the amp down. Amp settings are now back where they were so I now have a fair comparison, but louder, if that makes sense. It is doing the Beano thing just with pick attack. Mule bridge is ordered - this is gonna be interesting.
Just found an old thread with Feline Guitars saying he really likes Stormy neck + Mule  bridge and uses that combination often.

[Landis]

Eric was right.
I should not have judged the Stormy bridge pickup before seeking out the sweet spot - a very basic error. I like these pick-ups (Stormy Monday set). A lot.
However - the Mule bridge arrived on Saturday so Mule + Stormy has now had a good test.
Here are my conclusions: Mule Bridge + Stormy neck. Hugely impressive. Versatile across a range of styles. If I want the safest choice this is it.

However - the Stormy neck + Stormy  bridge had me reaching for the guitar at every spare moment. And the moments that had me swooning (am I allowed to talk about "bloom" without being ridiculed?) all came with the Stormy Mondays.

So - Head says Mule bridge. Heart says Stormy bridge.
 
Stormy it is then. But I will keep the Mule and may try it again in six months.


Generally impressive - and I am not exactly a stranger to vintage Gibson guitars, PAFs, Patent No Pickups and T-tops. £220 a pair does not seem expensive.

[Telerocker]

They're both great, just different. Enjoy the Stormy's.