Help me replace a MQ neck in a LP

[metale]

Hi guys.

So, I have a Mississippi Queen + Black Dog in my Epi Les Paul:



The MQ is a great pickup, but let's say I want to replace it with a humbucker, matching the tones and looks a bit more.

As for the tone I like the most on a LP neck position, think November Rain's solo. Creamy, warm, sweet. I don't like neck pickups that turn into mud, or get tooooo boomy on the thicker strings.

Nice cleans is a bonus, but don't need split or parallel tones.

Thinking:

• Black Dog - Would match as a set, but may be too middy/modern for what I want.
• Mule - Strong possibility
• Riff Raff - The anti-mud pickup, but maybe too bright?
• Abraxas - Would it match the Black Dog volume-wise? I rather have a slightly hotter bridge than the oposite.

The Stormy Monday would be warm and sweet, but I think would struggle to keep with the Black Dog.

Let me know what you guys think. The Mississippi Queen will have a new home :)

[bandmaster188]

the mule and abraxas are very very close in spec , so i would say either of those will do the trick nicely. i have both mules and abraxas sets in les pauls and the neck positions on both are open clear and warm.

[metale]

Would the neck Mule struggle to keep up with the bridge BD?

[bandmaster188]

i don't reckon so. when you look at the specs for the abraxas and crawler, the bridge pickups are 14 to 15k and the neck pickups are around 7.5k, so quite a big difference.
in my lp custom i've been experimenting a bit and i currently have a mule neck 7.3k alnico IV and a wcr filmore bridge 14k alnico V. there are certainly no issues over power or balance, the only thing i would say is that the middle position is quite a bit brighter. but i think that is a characteristic of mixing AIV and AV pickups. don't quote me on that though!!

[Brow]

I have a Riff Raff neck paired with a Black Dog bridge in my Gordons Smith Graduate60 LP style and it's a good pairing. Neither seems to overpower the other, but the Black Dog does sound a lot 'snarlier' due to it's big midrange push, which I think makes it feel hotter than it actually is.

I think a Mule could be a good fit too, and don't think it would be overpowered by the BD bridge. I have a pair of Mules in another Les Paul, but have never tried a neck Mule in direct comparison with a bridge BD, so can't say with 100% certainty, but in my mind it would be fine.

[metale]

Thanks, guys.

Just ordered a Mule, zebra coils. It was also recomended by Tim.

The Mississippi Queen will most likely go into a guitar that I'm buying today from a friend.

[Telerocker]

Thanks, guys.

Just ordered a Mule, zebra coils. It was also recomended by Tim.

The Mississippi Queen will most likely go into a guitar that I'm buying today from a friend.

Very good choice and you shouldn't worry about balance. There are several players with the BD/Mule-combo in a Les Paul. Works fine.

[bandmaster188]

The MQ is hot enough IMO. The neck version on my LP almost overpowers the bridge Black Dog unless set far away from the strings.

The bridge version is hotter and AV. Also, Matt Bellamy from Muse has it on the bridge of his main recording guitar.

Slightly off topic, but was just reading your comments above on another thread.
Just wanted to say I agree with you about the MQ neck being quite over powering. I picked one up a while back and put it in the neck position of my strat alongside the stock middle pickup and a gibbo 57 classic in the bridge. It's quite a bright sounding maple neck strat, but I found the MQ too fat and bloated in the neck position. I've since moved the MQ to the bridge position where it is really at home. It's really fattened things up where other humbuckers I've tried, have failed.
It's got me wondering how it might sound in my les Paul alongside the Abraxas bridge. Might have to get the soldering iron out

[metale]

It's not a combination I would do, because the Abraxas is supposed to be very smooth (I'll tell you in a few weeks, as I have one ordered for another guitar) and the MQ isn't what I would call smooth, albeith being fat.

I could see me pairing it with a Nailbomb (famous combination), a Stockholm or of course another MQ.

[metale]

Something new came this way.

[darrenw5094]

Lol......why don't BKP put the two pickups in the same box just like a calibrated set. :)

[metale]

Sshhh... because that way we wouldn't get 2 sets of strings and 2 picks ;)

Seriously though, I think it makes sense like this if they are for two different guitars. Also, the price on sets is already adjusted for coming on the same box.


A side note: bkp picks always felt the same thickness to me (quite thick), but one of this is .50mm or less. Cool to know they have some variety.

[darkbluemurder]

i don't reckon so. when you look at the specs for the abraxas and crawler, the bridge pickups are 14 to 15k and the neck pickups are around 7.5k, so quite a big difference.
in my lp custom i've been experimenting a bit and i currently have a mule neck 7.3k alnico IV and a wcr filmore bridge 14k alnico V. there are certainly no issues over power or balance, the only thing i would say is that the middle position is quite a bit brighter. but i think that is a characteristic of mixing AIV and AV pickups. don't quote me on that though!!

The DC resistance is misleading in all these cases as the wire gauge is different - 43AWG in the bridge models and the WCR Fillmore and 42AWG in the neck models. The thinner 43 wire has more resistance than the thicker 42 wire.

Cheers Stephan

[darrenw5094]

If the DC resistance not much use to us, a volume level or indicator would be of more use to us, as some BKP are louder or higher volume than other.