Gibson Les Paul Standard: DiMarzio 36th Anniversary or BareKnuckle Mules?

[Boydie]

Hi All

I need to change the PUPS in my newly acquired Gibson Les Paul Standard

I am a strat player so Les Paul's and humbuckers are quite a new thing for me!

The Les Paul Standard is Ebony black in colour, quite "beaten up" and has a set of Original Bill Lawrence (HB-L & HB-R) pups, which have a nickel cover

The neck humbucker is faulty and I am finding the bridge pup a bit too hot (I think it is 13k)

I play mostly rock, blues, heavy rock, modern rock in a cover band so I want a versatile pick up that will give me the "classic" Les Paul sound to cover most genres

I think I have narrowed my search down to the DiMarzio 36th Anniversary or the Bare Knuckle "Mule" to give me what I think I am after

Any pros / cons I should be aware of - or any other PUPs to consider

In my mind the DiMarzios are significantly cheaper (I think around £150 a set) but it may be difficult tracking down a set to suit - i.e. cream & black Zebra, ideally aged

The Bare Knuckle MULES seem quite expensive - BUT, they are hand wound and can be made exactly how I want them (Zebra, aged to match the worn guitar) and the service I have received so far has been absolutely top notch!  (which does count for a lot in this day and age!)

The cost of this set is going to be in the region of £220 + another £50 or so for CTS pots, caps etc.

Any pointers, opinions, help and advice would be greatly appreciated for a Les Paul and humbucker newbie!

[gwEm]

dimarzio pickups are totally ok, but BKPs are in a different class.

fit mules, you won't regret it!

[Twinfan]

My only comment would be that I found Mules to be very bright.  Greta if you have a darker sounding guitar, but if it's naturally bright you find Mules aren't the best fit.

It's all about getting the guitar/pickups to match appropriately  :)

[Philly Q]

Haven't tried the 36th Anniversary model, but I have owned a few DiMarzio PAFs.  They're good, I liked them as neck pickups but always found them a little bright/thin in the bridge position.

I haven't tried the Mule either ( :oops: ), but I'd expect the AIV magnet to soften the highs a bit and give a more "balanced" tone than the DiMarzio.

But I'll defer to Twinfan since he has actual experience of both pickups!  :) 

[Madsakre]

Maybe a black dog instead :)

[Kiichi]

I do like my dimarzio Liquifire / Crunchlab very much and I ain´t gonna switch Pus in the guitar I have it in, but I have to say, as said here before, BKPs are whole ´nother level. So as an answer to the main question: go for the BKP, it simply is better. You can almost feel that it is handwound with love ;)

The Mule is a great PU. I use it in the neck of a fairly bright Ibanez S series (with a Rebell Yell bridge, which is freaking awesome) and it does everything from blues to metal in a smooth singing way, with character. Great vintage qualitys and everything I wanted.
Keep in mind the standard Mule (at least neck) is rather soft and round, so if you want more attack you might want to concider a Alnico V version.

[ericsabbath]

how about a riff raff bridge/mule neck set?

[Boydie]

Thanks guys - I am now pretty much set on a pair of BareKnuckles - but the choice is a bit overwhelming

I guess I will give the guys a call tomorrow and see what they recommend (with my credit card nearby  :D )

[choucas09]

 I've got a Parker Fly with DM's and a V with two Mules and A JJ with A mule in the bridge. To my ears the DM's sound OK for clean to light crunch, but as you turn the wick up they're pretty horrible. I discussed changing them to BK's with Tim at one time and he described them (in a Parker) as "dry as a witch's tit". Meanwhile the Mules kill me.
 
 The ones in my V are standard and the one in my JJ is an A2. This one is wired for split coil and is a revelation as it is the only pup in split coil mode I've had that sounds good ie like a mahogany Tele. Afford some BK's my friend, I can't believe machine wounds will get on the starting block with them. Yes they're expensive, but I've never regretted spending money on decent gear.

 Also; My nephew played support to Tim's band once and he suggested Mules for his LP. I put them in for him and I heard the guitar transform from an axe that had never really impressed me to the best LP Standard I've heard to date. It has to be said that when I really studied the guitar it's core tone unplugged was exceptional, it just needed the pups to realise it.

[Boydie]

Thanks choucas09

That is really helpful

Especially the last few lines about your nephew's LP Standard

My one also has the best acoustic tone I have heard from an LP - I just think the Original Bill Lawrence PUPs were a bit overpowered for my needs (and being broken probably isn't helping!)

It is great to hear a set of MULES got this tone "out there"

[Catalyst77]

My only comment would be that I found Mules to be very bright.  Greta if you have a darker sounding guitar, but if it's naturally bright you find Mules aren't the best fit.

It's all about getting the guitar/pickups to match appropriately  :)

Quite, i'm actually considering taking the mules out of my feline les paul as they're not bright enough!

And i'm no treble chaser :D

[Brow]

I have a Gibby LP Standard with AIV Mules in and it's easilly my favourite guitar. It covers so much ground, and will do metal too with the right amp and some elbow grease to play harder  :lol:

[Telerocker]

I love Mules. The way they crunch in Nolly's Blackmachine is georgous. But if AIV doesn't cut, ask for AV Mules.

[Tellboy]

I have an 89 Les Paul Standard which originally had the Bill Lawrence circuit board pickups. Replaced them a few years ago with a set of BKP Crawlers - a big improvement but (as I have another guitar with a Crawler bridge pickup) last year changed to an unpotted calibrated set of Mules. Did this mainly because I wanted the guitar to sound as near as possible to how the 57-60 Les Pauls used to sound with PAFs. Twinfan mentioned that he found the Mules to be bright - I have a set of original Patent Number pickups in my 1963 SG Standard and I find them to be voiced very similar to the Mules, so I think that they are a fairly accurate copy of what early PAFs sounded like - and I find that any brightness can be sorted by the guitar tone control (as of course did Clapton, Kossoff etc). Although Mules are comparatively low output to modern humbuckers I find them to be very versatile. As Twinfan mentioned you have to get the guitar/pickups matched - I assume my 89 Les Paul is similar to yours ( Gibson QC were having a relatively good day when mine was made ) but I suppose that's not a guarantee that they will suit you.

[Boydie]

Cheers Tellboy

That is all fantastic advice and yes, it appears that 1989 was a bit of a golden year or Les Paul Standards - I seen quite a few references to late eighties and early nineties guitars being particularly good when researching my new axe  :D

Back on topic...

...after much deliberation I pulled the trigger on a set of BareKnuckle MULES - aged Zebras  :lol:

While I had my credit card out I also went for 3 BKP Custom Audio Taper 550k CTS pots, a 500k Push/Pull pot to split the neck humbucker into a singlecoil and a pair of Jensen "Paper In Oil" caps

I can't wait to get all of this stuff in my sweaty mits and get them in the guitar

Thanks again for all of the help and advice - I will post an update when I have given it all a blast in a few weeks