Opinions on the Gibson Flying V Faded...

[Philly Q]

Philly Q tried the Black Dog bridge in an Edwards V and thought it was a bit meh. I have a Riff Radd in the bridge of a similar V and it work excellently for an open Schenker-y sort of tone. Maybe ask Philly Q for more details of his Black Dog'd V.

Yeah, I wasn't crazy about the Black Dog in the Edwards.  It was a little on the dark side, although I don't think it was muddy.  But a big part of the "problem" was that I combined it with a Stormy Monday neck, so I had a dark-ish bridge pickup with a bright-ish low output neck pickup, there just wasn't enough of a contrast for my liking (I've said that many times, apologies for boring everyone).

I should add that it was a very lightweight V - I have a feeling that the BD might work better in a heavier, less resonant lump of wood, but I could be totally wrong about that.

If I remember right, the guy who bought the V from me (Marauder on this forum) really liked the BD, but I don't know if he still has the guitar or the pickup.

I agree with Jonathan that Cold Sweats are excellent in mahogany guitars like Vs or SGs - and I would stick with the CS neck pickup, I can't imagine anything else being a better match with the bridge model.  If I was going for something lower-output, I'd probably pick a Riff Raff bridge with a Mule neck, or maybe a set of Mules.  I don't know about the VHII, I think of it more as a Strat pickup (can't really explain that, it's just how I think of it) but I expect it would be fine in a Gibson.

[Telerocker]

Doesn't Kravitz has Mules in his V? I don't know if they are AV or AIV.

[itamar101]

Doesn't Kravitz has Mules in his V? I don't know if they are AV or AIV.

Ah. Thats interesting. Im a big fan of lenny kravitz.

[Brow]

I have a Riff Raff/Mississippi Queen pair in my Faded Flying V and it makes for an extremely versatile guitar.

[itamar101]

I have a Riff Raff/Mississippi Queen pair in my Faded Flying V and it makes for an extremely versatile guitar.

I think I'd like to stick with humbuckers at the moment but thank for the suggestion.
I just had Hum sized P90s in my les Paul before and I really missed the humbuckers regardless of how bad they were because I wanted the characteristics of a humbucker back... Which is why I bought my Emerald Holy Dover set :)

I just feel like guitars meant for humbuckers are better of with humbuckers and same goes with and other type of pickup.

But I'm currently really liking the idea of either a clan rated mule set of a calibrated Cold Sweat set.
Still wondering about the VHIIs but they've sorta drifted of into the back of my mind now.

[ericsabbath]

the vhII set should work well
I might be wrong, but aren't they overwound A5 mules by specs?
long magnet, asymmetrical coils, 42 awg plain enamel wire, only 5-10% hotter wound

the black dog is the last model I'd try in a gibson V, though
I can hear the nosey mids in my head just by thinking of the idea  :lol:

[Philly Q]

the vhII set should work well
I might be wrong, but aren't they overwound A5 mules by specs?
long magnet, asymmetrical coils, 42 awg plain enamel wire, only 5-10% hotter wound

I remember someone on here once saying that technically the VHII is the hottest "true vintage" PAF-type you could get, as it's wound with as much 42 AWG wire as will fit on the bobbins (or one of the bobbins, at least).

I guess the difference from an overwound AV Mule is in how much "offset" there is between the coils?  I think the VHII is a bit more asymmetrical the the Mule, but that could be wrong.

[ericsabbath]

some of Tim's answers when I asked for an overwound riff raff or vhII (I told him that would into a maple neck '81 gibson les paul standard or a '96 PRS mccarty custom):

"To be honest the Riff Raff has the best bite of the 42 AWG PE wound h/buckers so maybe an idea would be to use a larger magnet so you get the same tone but more power - how does that sound."

"the VHII has a softer mid with more bass than the Riff Raff and I'm not sure I would recommend that for a maple neck LP plus I physically can't overwind a VHII as there's simply not enough room on the bobbins.
I still think the best idea is to go with a Riff Raff but with a larger magnet, that way you'll retain the bright edge and bite you want plus the vintage voice but get more output to push the amp along."

"I couldn't get the RR up to the VHII DC as the VHII has heavily asymmetrical coils to achieve that and simply replicating that would just produce a VHII*, the asymmetry gives it the softer mid range.However I can wind the RR up to @ DC8.3 - 8.4K before the highs roll back too heavily - the only way to go hotter is to move away from plain enamel and go to polysol like your McCarty pickups but then the voicing changes which spoils the point of the exercise."

* not exactly, cause the riff raff has a short magnet, while the vhII has a long magnet like the mule and nailbomb

[itamar101]

some of Tim's answers when I asked for an overwound riff raff or vhII (I told him that would into a maple neck '81 gibson les paul standard or a '96 PRS mccarty custom):

"To be honest the Riff Raff has the best bite of the 42 AWG PE wound h/buckers so maybe an idea would be to use a larger magnet so you get the same tone but more power - how does that sound."

"the VHII has a softer mid with more bass than the Riff Raff and I'm not sure I would recommend that for a maple neck LP plus I physically can't overwind a VHII as there's simply not enough room on the bobbins.
I still think the best idea is to go with a Riff Raff but with a larger magnet, that way you'll retain the bright edge and bite you want plus the vintage voice but get more output to push the amp along."

"I couldn't get the RR up to the VHII DC as the VHII has heavily asymmetrical coils to achieve that and simply replicating that would just produce a VHII*, the asymmetry gives it the softer mid range.However I can wind the RR up to @ DC8.3 - 8.4K before the highs roll back too heavily - the only way to go hotter is to move away from plain enamel and go to polysol like your McCarty pickups but then the voicing changes which spoils the point of the exercise."

* not exactly, cause the riff raff has a short magnet, while the vhII has a long magnet like the mule and nailbomb

I'm actually really liking the idea of an overwound riff raff now... And even more so a VHII set.
Well... I guess I've got all the info I need...
I'll just have to make a desicion in the end (when, and IF I get the flying v).

Thanks guys.

[Brow]

I have a Riff Raff/Mississippi Queen pair in my Faded Flying V and it makes for an extremely versatile guitar.

I think I'd like to stick with humbuckers at the moment but thank for the suggestion.
I just had Hum sized P90s in my les Paul before and I really missed the humbuckers regardless of how bad they were because I wanted the characteristics of a humbucker back... Which is why I bought my Emerald Holy Dover set :)

I just feel like guitars meant for humbuckers are better of with humbuckers and same goes with and other type of pickup.

But I'm currently really liking the idea of either a clan rated mule set of a calibrated Cold Sweat set.
Still wondering about the VHIIs but they've sorta drifted of into the back of my mind now.

I wasn't offering it up as 100% what you're looking for, just that it works for me in that particular guitar  :lol:

[gwEm]

the vhII set should work well
I might be wrong, but aren't they overwound A5 mules by specs?
long magnet, asymmetrical coils, 42 awg plain enamel wire, only 5-10% hotter wound

I remember someone on here once saying that technically the VHII is the hottest "true vintage" PAF-type you could get, as it's wound with as much 42 AWG wire as will fit on the bobbins (or one of the bobbins, at least).

I guess the difference from an overwound AV Mule is in how much "offset" there is between the coils?  I think the VHII is a bit more asymmetrical the the Mule, but that could be wrong.

I was talking about what I wanted from my particular set of A5 Mules and he mentioned he was going to wind them with less offset than normal as a result. I realise that A5 Mules are a full custom non-endorsed option, however I also tried a guitar Philking has with A5 Mules (perhaps with 'normal' offset - though no such thing since as I say its a full custom option) and I also liked the tone alot.

As I say, Tim talks about the hard mids of the A5 Mule, and he might be right - but I do like my tone pokey in the mids and bright, to cut through the electronics in the music I make.

I've put my A5 mules in three different Vs and they've sounded different each time, but always great. The neck pickup has remained an A4. At the time I preferred a softer neck tone. In my red faded V, the A5 Mule has been by far and away the best pickup set that have been in there - for my tastes YMMV.

[ericsabbath]

a more symmetrical A5 mule should more be like a long magnet riff raff, then
I wonder how does the magnet length affect the results
apparently, my riff raff has a short A5 magnet, but 4mm thick (like the ceramic models), instead os the regular 3mm short magnet

[gwEm]

I don't know anything about pickup design, but I can tell you my A5 Mule has a lot more mids than the Riff Raff and it sounds less dry.

[Philly Q]

Shame we can't buy an A5 Mule any more, but I guess between the Riff Raff, VHII and regular A4 Mule we can get close enough for most purposes!

[gwEm]

Shame we can't buy an A5 Mule any more, but I guess between the Riff Raff, VHII and regular A4 Mule we can get close enough for most purposes!

Why is that? Will Tim not do a special if you call and ask him?