New guitar time... it will need some BKP's

[Daniel G]

Ok, so i'm in the process of ordering a custom guitar from a local builder, and now i need to think of what pickups to get...
And i figured since i've been really doing a lot of Bluesy stuff these last few months (and consistantly borrowing a friend's custom LP that comes with a set of pearly gates pickups because they do the blues a lot better then my current BKP sets), i should get something more geared towards that kind of playing.

The guitar will consist of an unchambered mahogany body (and yes, i know it will be very heavy ;-) ) with a quilted  maple top, mahogany neck and rosewood fingerboard (or perhaps Ebony, not 100% on that yet).
So i need some pickup suggestions.
I've been thinking about getting a set of Mules, but i'm worried they might be slightly too hot still.

So... any ideas, suggestions and advice would be welcome.

And for anyone wondering what kind of sound i'm after, something like Gov't Mule, or the guitar parts on Tom Waits' "$29.00", aka a fairly typical warm, smooth blues tone.

[Dubn 57 Goldtop]

seems as you are going for that gov't mule sound... get a mule! perhaps an alnico 2, or an underwound alnico 4 mule. others to consider for the bluesy sound: stormy mondays, pg blues, hell the riff raff too. check out the clips in the players section. what amp are you using?

[Dr. Vic]

If you like the Pearly Gates, I don't think the Mule would be too hot for you. 

It's one for your best bet for your project imo. BUT if you are leaning toward something less hot AND smoother you have the PG Blues (I've seen somewhere that Gary Moore loves to play it), and of course the Stormy Monday, the top of the line for sweetness in the BKP range.

I guess it is all about choosing between AII or AIV/AV magnet, versality and how much distorsion you put in your sound. Here are the words of Tim about the differences between those Magnets :

« Alnico II is the softest and generally has a smooth bass and treble although this is more pronounced the hotter the windings get .... Alnico IV is probably the best vintage tone IMHO and along with II and III was used in the earliest PAFs-this is a fact and not myth as we've had them analyzed and a colleague of mine has also seen original Gibson purchase orders that clearly state AIV bar stock being purchased. The tone of AIV is balanced and extremely organic, it produces the most authentic vintage tone and sits better in slightly hotter vintage winds than AII which tends to get very mushy if used incorrectly. » 


Any of those will work with either a rosewood or ebony fretboard, with more warmth and sweetness tones expected with rosewood, as you may already know.

cheers !

[Twinfan]

AIV Stormy Mondays are nice  :)

[Daniel G]

what amp are you using?

Several.
Fender Blues Jr, Hughes & Kettner Statesman Dual 20, and a Marshall DSL 401, so enough different possible sounds.
Anyway, thanks for the suggestions so far guys, i should add that although we have some really nice clips of a lot of pickups, i can't quite find something that gets close to that Gov't Mule sound.
If all else fails, i'll pm Tim, but for now, i'm just hoping for some more opinions first, as i'm sure Tim already gets swamped with these questions about pickups all the time.

[FernandoDuarte]

Gov't Mule

Don't the name say for it all? The Mule :D