weak mule bridge pickup???

[leerocker]

right ok i dunno whether anyone else has encountered this but ive just installed mules on my 57 gibson les paul historic and the neck pickup sounds great and the bridge pickup well, its nowhere near as powerful as the neck ,i have  the bridge pickup as close to the strings as i can get it and the neck one  below the pickup rings, any idea why the power is almost half what the original classic 57s bridge pickup was?? just wondered if anyone else has encountered this as there is a lot of love on the forum for mules. especially in les pauls!

thanks lee

[AndyR]

It doesn't sound right...

Mine are in a Tokai Love Rock, and the bridge is closer to the strings than the neck... but not nearly by the amount you describe, and mine are balanced how I like them (with more adjustment to spare if I wanted...)

Even allowing for different tastes, amps, etc... doesn't sound quite right for a matched set.

There's the obvious, er, "is it wired right, dry solder joints, and did you swap them by accident?" question.

But I can also suggest "what state's the selector switch in?" - I've had a failing selector switch make it sound like the bridge pickup was dying. I have to admit that was an intermittent thing though.

I'd say check it all out and then contact Tim at BKP.

EDIT: Ah! Just seen the "bridge is bridge etc" on another thread :D
Have you got 2 or 4 conductor? I always go for two, but I believe there is room for confusion on 4?

[leerocker]

ive swapped pickups loads of times before and never come across this,the solders are solid and i swapped the wires like for like. the pickup selector is fine., i have a feeling that maybe the pickups were labelled wrong, im gonna swap them round and see if that works!

[FELINEGUITARS]

The difference in winding spec between a neck and bridge isn't likely to be enough to be the culprit if the bridge is sounding very weak.
Do check the switch but also to see if something is shorting out somehow and losing much of the power

[Fourth Feline]

Hi ,

I just wanted to sign in and mention something that ( I've just remembered ) happen to me when I had my S.G.

I had soldered everything correctly, but failed to insulate , or correctly route all the cables. As a result, it sometimes all worked fine with the backing plate off, but the bridge 'failed' upon re-assembly. I made sure all the cables / pickup braid / pots only touched when and where necessary - and Success !  So not the parts, but the routing of cables, and angle of the pots / tags.  This also could provide extra earth paths, and of course bypass the capacitor on the tone control, making the tone control fully muted , or volume control only responding to half it's slider .

Just a thought.  :)

[leerocker]

hmm, i measured the dcs on the pickups and they are fine, so could it be the pot thats knackered maybe???? it doesnt crackle or anything im tearing me hair out here!

[Twinfan]

Could well be the pot.  I'm guessing the middle tag isn't connecting properly to the wiper of the pot.

Have you swapped pickups a lot/used a lot of heat?

[leerocker]

the culprit as i was suspecting was that damn gibson volume pot! put a new cts 500k one in and guess what!
well to say i have a smile as wide as a country mile is an understatement! my les paul now has big balls and im so glad i ditched them poor old classic 57s! they are still better than burstbuckers, that has to be gibsons worst ever move!!

[Fourth Feline]

the culprit as i was suspecting was that damn gibson volume pot! put a new cts 500k one in and guess what!
well to say i have a smile as wide as a country mile is an understatement! my les paul now has big balls and im so glad i ditched them poor old classic 57s! they are still better than burstbuckers, that has to be gibsons worst ever move!!

 Brilliant !

I'm really chuffed that you got sorted !  Kudos to you for persevering and emerging victorious.  :D  :D