What pickups for Gnr, Joe Bonamassa, black stone cherry style?

[surreyblues]

Hi all, first post so I hope i'm not doing anything wrong, im guessing this is the right section! I have an Epiphone les paul custom currently with a Dimarzio ToneZone in the bridge, run through a mrshall dsl50 with a 1960av cab. I used to play metal/metalcore (hence the tonezone) but now lean more to the blues/ classic rock/hard rock sort of vibe. The tonezone is a pretty high gain pickup and ive grown to dislike the sound of it, it's really not subtle enough and just wants to "go" all the time. So, new pickup time!

I would like to get a matched set as I still have the standard neck pickup which is nothing special, and have been looking at a set of "Mules". Now I dont know at this point whether this is the right choice, I play anything from nice, soft John Mayer style blues to Bonamassa, Guns n roses, and black stone cherry. As an example -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WHO7-uHjeo

Would the mules be suited to this or should I be looking into something different? Any help is greatly appreciated :)

[Telerocker]

Hi, welcome. You did everything right!

Mules are versatile. I have a calibrated set in an all mahogany bolt-on Saint Blues and I can cover everything from blues to even metal with the right amp. Very open sounding and touchsensitive with excellent stringseparation. You'll certainly love them for Bonamassa-stuff etc. It's Tim's (chef de BKP) favourite pickup.

[surreyblues]

Ok great thanks, so would I be better off going potted or unpotted? From what I understand potted loses some of the "magic"

[Alex]

Alternatively Black Dog (a bit more beef and grunt). That said, while I love the Black Dog, for GnR like cleans I guess the Mule is probably better. The overdriven sound is very GNR though (and I mean the old, real GNR) and the BD does Black Stone Cherry well too.

[surreyblues]

Cheers for the reply :) The only thing that worries me about going for anything in the vintage hot range is that I like to play the softer side of blues too, and I dont want to get something that's "too much" if you see what I mean. Really appreciate the help though guys!

[BigB]

Cheers for the reply :) The only thing that worries me about going for anything in the vintage hot range is that I like to play the softer side of blues too, and I dont want to get something that's "too much" if you see what I mean. Really appreciate the help though guys!

Well, I do get VERY great "about to break up" bluesy tones from my Crawlers, and they are kind of hot. Not to say you should get Crawlers - Mules are probably closer to what you're looking for AFAICT -, just that "hot" doesn't necessarily means "flat out metal" ;)

[Twinfan]

I would go for potted Mules - they'll still have plenty of magic  ;)

[Telerocker]

I would go for potted Mules - they'll still have plenty of magic  ;)

+1  :D

[surreyblues]

Cheers guys, very much made up my mind! I'm going to order them next month I think, new valves for the DSL are onthe cards at the moment, appreciate all the guidance!

[FELINEGUITARS]

If you are in surrey - you are most welcome to come along to my workshop and try a few LP type guitars with BKPs in them
May help you decide.....

We're in Croydon (I know surrey is big , but thought I'd make the offer)