NPDx2

[BigB]

Hi guys... New pickups day x2 here - well, got them on friday but had to wait until today to install them...

So first we have a Nailbomb neck to complement the ABomb bridge in the SG. Was exactly what I expected from Dheim's very excellent "great pickups shoutout"  clips (thanks again for the good job Dheim) and perfectly matches the official description: woody, bright, tight and focused. It's also - surprise surprise - a perfect match for the ABomb bridge wrt/ tone and output, it has the same character, just with this lovely vocal tone on the high notes and a wee bit of more vintagey vibe. Clean tones are obviously not as lush as the Mule but still really good for a hot pup, but when pushing up the gain it really rules - meaty and organic but never loosing it's definition and clarity. For you guys who wonder what neck pickup to match a Nailbomb bridge, guess what, there's a very obvious answer: get the matched set, it JustWorks(tm) :lol:

Then comes a (uncovered) Mule bridge, going in the LP Studio together with the (uncovered) Mule neck that previously was in the SG. While we're at it, I thought the Mule neck sounded good in the SG, but that was before I heard it in the LP  :oops:. What to say ? "Exquisite gorgeous deep crystal-clear lush singing snappy 3D vocal tone with dynamic and touch sensitivity to die for" is about as close as I can get I bet.

Now for the bridge... First thing is, I didn't expect it to be _that_ bright. To be honest it was not an instant love affair. While it was without a doubt better than the stock 498T wrt/ dynamic, definition, clarity and openness - and keeps all these qualities under gain where the 498 quickly turns to mush -, I first found it overly bright and a bit on the thin side too (now keep in mind I was playing the SG a few minutes before). Then I tweaked the pup's height a bit, adjusted my amp's EQ somewhat and rolled down the tone knob a bit on the guitar and... wow  :twisted:. Ok perhaps still not as sweet as I first expected but definitly not thin nor harsh, wonderful touch sensitivity, and this thing really sings and rock on a cranked up tubes amp, instant classic rock tones with and added touch of magic  8)

Also both the neck and bridge cleans up really beautifully even under massive gain, don't know if it comes from the pups or from the pots (all are above the nominal 500K - ranging from 516 to 564K - while on my other guitars they tend to be more around 460 to 495K), but even the RR on the Hofner don't clean _that_ well (and they are already quite impressive at this). 


So, lessons learned:

1/ matched sets are a GoodThing(tm)
2/ you just can not go wrong with Mules on a LP

[darrenw5094]

Mixed sets are a good thing too dude.  :P

The Mule neck probably better than the bridge version by a pinch. I would love to hear an Abraxas bridge and Mule neck in a LP though................maybe i will have to buy another guitar. 8)

[Telerocker]

Congrats! Potted Mules here, but I recognize a bit of your story. After playing my Crawler-loaded strat the Mule-bridge in my Saint Blues is certainly way more crispy. I tend to turn the volumeknob for the bridge just a tad down, but that depends on the amp I use. Mules work excellent on the The Valve 2/50-amp I recently purchased.  The voicing is different compared to my Rockerverb. You can set the amp for a thick, smooth and round tone, where the Orange has a more agressive character (pronounced uppermids that always cut trough).