Agonising over pickup bridge pickup for LP

[ECWeagles]

Hi gents,

First post but had a few sets of BKS in my time.

I'm struggling with the choice for the bridge of my new les Paul.

It's a Classic Custom which means weight relieved but not chambered, maple top and baked maple fretboard.

Therefore, it seems to be a bit brighter than the average old school LP.

I used to have a studio LP which also had a maple top and i had a set of mules in it which I loved. I really liked the top end kick you got with the pickup, whilst also being balanced.

With this new guitar, I tried to be cheap and put a set of Tonerider AC4s in as a mule alternative.  I'm not that impressed. I think the added brightness of the guitar just makes the sound a little bit brittle, though I'm also pretty sure the neck pu is faulty.

At present, I'm planning on replacing the 57 classic that came with the guitar in the neck, but I want a new bridge pu.

I initially thought an Abraxas was the answer, but after listening to some YouTube vids im not so sure. I think it might be a bit too compressed and lose the top end kick.

I wondered whether a black dog might fit the bill? Or whether the mule would be ok?

I should add I need a decent split coil sound out of it.

Thoughts much appreciated!

Thanks!

[Kiichi]

I canīt quite find the answer right now as I am not that familiar with the vintage / vintage hot range, but I can start asking the usual questions.

Now what you say about that high end kick helps, but which styles do you play? Can you generally describe the tone you want more?

Also it might help if you give as a short summary of which sets you had and what you liked about them and what not. They might have been in different guitars but it is something that can give us a better view as to what you are looking for which we then can match the guitar to.

Also what makes you think the neck is faulty? When someone assumes that I always recommend double checking the wiring (learned that the hard way). You can always get a faulty one, but most times there is another reason.

[ECWeagles]

Thanks.

I had a set of Stormy Mondays in an LP once ( about 10 years ago) I liked the warmth but grew to dislike the flabbyer looser bass.

The Mules, I liked for their balance, clarity and punch.

Music style, think Oasis, Verve, Manics.

As to the faulty neck PU, the D string volume is way down on the rest of the strings, which is not the case when played on the bridge pickup or acousticly.  I have not fidled with the pole pieces yet.

[Kiichi]

Well, the Mule seems to be a logical choice. The abraxas is very simply put a hotter mule, so that might work too. Dunno what clips you heard and how they compare to the real thing though.

With the next too I have little experience, but some thoughts from lurking around here for some time now are:
One step more towards rock stuff would be the Riff Raff, which would be brighter and tighter than the mule but would still work nicely I think, might be a step too big for you in an already bright LP.
The BD has nice growly mids but suprisingly nice definition, could also be a ticket, but with these two people who know more about them would probably have to chime in.

My personal route I would explore are P90s, probably the Bluenote, maybe the MQ or Nantucket (if you ask nicely BKP usually makes the normal P90s in HB size and vise versa). Now I am someone who digs HBs a lot but also has a taste for P90s, which you gotta have if you wanne go this route. I like them for their great attack, a certain liveliness that SCs have compared to HBs (without loosing the fatness), and their low end definition is just amazing to me (more like the actual string amplified if that makes sense). It just has the certain character I just love for what it is. Certainly great for those low to mid gain (brit) rock things me thinks.
If you donīt have experience with P90s you got a music store near by I can recommend you drop by and get an impression of the basic characteristics of the p90 compared to a HB and then think of how good BKP90s are ;)
Might not be for you at all, but if it is and you get that taste of a good P90...wow!

[Telerocker]

For the styles you mention Mules would do great. You can cover anyway a lot of styles with Mules.

[TheyCallMeVolume]

My vote goes for Mules as well. Maybe throw a Black Dog in for consideration as well?

[bandmaster188]

If you want a decent split coil tone out of the pickup you would need to consider something with more output. Abraxas would definitely work and the crawler may be worth a look. Not tried the crawler myself but apparently has a
good heavy weight vintage voice and splits well too.

[Telerocker]

If a split is a must I would pick something hotter then a Mule, but if not, you can get stunning cleans with Mules  with bridge and neck combined. A Crawler won't give you that open, complex tone like a Mule does.