Are mules right for me?

[JCN1218]

Hi, I'm back again with another question that I hope I can get some help with.

I'm having a custom guitar built, and naturally I'll be installing BKPs in it. It's going to need 2 humbuckers and one soapbar P90.
Through my research on the internet and my experience with the pickups I play on a daily basis (BKPs and others) I ended up favoring the mules for the 2 humbucker positions and a nantucket 90 for the P90. I'm pretty set on the Nantucket for the P90 spot, but I'm still not so sure about the mules.

-I'll be playing mostly power metal with this guitar (think early Helloween, Edguy etc.) but I also want it to be as versatile as possible.
-I like the feel of lower output pickups, especially with a good high gain amp.
-The guitar will have a maple neck through with mahogany wings and a maple top.

I've been back and forth a lot with humbuckers, and I just can't seem to make up my mind. I'm leaning heavily toward the mules right now. I'm sure I'd be happy with any BKP that I get, but I want this guitar to be perfect, so I'm trying to get as much info as possible, so I'd really appreciate any advice anyone has for me. Thanks!

[Telerocker]

I second the idea of vintage(hot)pickups -> highgainamps.
Whether Mules are a good choice depends on the natural brightness of your guitar. I thinks the amount of maple and the necktrough design asks for a tad more mids and less topend. Therefore the Abraxas (a hotter, middier Mule) could be the better option here. I also think the bridge needs a little more output to make a good balance with the Nantucket-neck.

[littleredguitars2]

telerocker knows his stuff. ^^^ definitely something at least in the vintage hot category for powermetal.

thumbs up for Edguy too by the way. love them

[JCN1218]

Thanks for the input! I really appreciate it, especially since I wasn't even considering the Abraxas. And thanks littleredguitars2, I think I agree that something from the vintage hot category is exactly what I'll need. I definitely like the idea of some extra mids. I just have a few more questions though. How's the versatility of the Abraxas? The sound clips sound really great, but there are only two. Is the Abraxas a tight pickup? And one last one while we're talking about more mids, how about the Black Dog? That's what I was initially looking at before being captivated by the mules, as I really liked the look of its tone chart.

[metale]

I'm not familiar with the bands you named or the genre of Power Metal, but the Abraxas sounds more PAF-ish than the Black Dog, yet more compressed.

The Black Dog has a more present top-end (not very bright/thin, but less rounded) and sounds more modern, yet feels more open/airy.

It's hard to describe sound and feel.

[littleredguitars2]

yeah i'm pretty sure the abraxis is a little more on the open side than tight. im not sure if any of the vintage hot pups can be really classified as "tight"

[Telerocker]

Yeah the BD is another good option. It's quite tight (tighter than the Abraxas) and therefore often used by metalplayers who seek low output PAF-flavour. It does well in sevenstrings.  It's centermids are it's main asset, but the topend is still present. It's not way smoother than that of the Abraxas from what I read on the forum. The BD is a bit less PAF-ish: different wire (polysol) and magnet (AV). I can't predict how the BD performs in your guitar. There's a recent Black Dog-bridge-review from Dark Blue Murder in the pickup-section.

[JCN1218]

Thanks again for all the great advice. It sounds like either the Abraxas or the Black Dog would suit me very well. I just emailed Ben too, I'll be interested to hear his take. Right now though, i think I'm leaning toward the Abraxas. After reading Dark Blue Murder's Black Dog review, I'm afraid it might be too bright in a guitar with as much maple in it as mine is going to have. My main concern at this point would again have to be the tightness of the Abraxas. You guys are saying that it's not a very tight pickup, and I'm sure it's not as tight as a Miracle Man or a Black Hawk, but as long as it would be tight enough for the kind of music I play, then that would be perfect.

[metale]

I'll quote myself from another topic: the Abraxas is tight enough for Metallica's Black Album. This is on a semi-hollow body (laminated maple; mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard) which is a brighter sounding guitar.

Keeping with the Metallica comparations for reference, it can't do the scooped thing (AJFA, S^M) because it hasn't got enough highs for that and the bass is typical of AIV, but keep it's natural mids on and it's at home with Load+Reload blues-metal.

[JCN1218]

The Abraxas sounds perfect then! Tight enough for the Black Album is plenty tight enough for me. I just do a lot of riffing on the lower strings and wanted to make sure that all the notes would still be defined. As for playing not being able to play scooped stuff, I'm totally fine with that. I really dislike the sounds of scooped mids. For me, the more mids the better! Thanks metale! I think I'll most likely be going with the Abraxas!

[metale]

The thing with scooping, is that most of the Abraxas' weight is on the bass and mids. The treble is rounded, a bit trimed. So if we take away the mids, we are left with all the bass, gets a bit boomy.

Sure, this can probably be corrected with a pre-gain 10-band EQ, but if one is doing that maybe there are better pickup options :)

Keep the mids in (don't have to boost them) and it's happy. Also responds well to little EQ changes.

Oh, and I love the split coil tone.

[JCN1218]

Awesome! Thanks for all the info, the Abraxas just keeps sounding better and better. I do have one last question if you don't mind. I see on your tag that you have the Mule, Black Dog, and the Abraxas. I'm just curious, how would you compare the three of them overall? Thanks again!

[metale]

I have a recent review topic somewhere on this section.

The Mule I have is a neck version, so I can't directly compare it to the other 2. Plus, I have them on diferent guitars (Mule neck + Black Dog bridge on Les Paul; Abraxas bridge on single pickup ES-333). I'll try though :)

The Mule is obviously the more vintage/classic sounding. The usual words versatile and balanced describe it well. However I can imagine the bridge version sounding bright on a bright guitar. Littleredguitars2 and Telerocker can fill you in better since they have it.

The Black Dog is more powerfull, more modern in the mids, and still has all the treble despite the mids making it sound rich. Some find it dark, but not me.

The Abraxas is equally powerfull, yet has more classic/balanced mids and is lighter in the treble and fuller in the bass. More compressed too IMO.

Comparing metal bands, if the Abraxas can be more Black Album/Load, the Black Dog reminds me more of early 2000s Black Label Society. Not exactly tones these are associated with :)

[JCN1218]

Well, I though I was pretty set on the Abraxas, but I just got Ben's response and he made a very strong case for the VHII. Decisions decisions...

[metale]

I just got Ben's response and he made a very strong case for the VHII.

Tell us  :)