Are mules right for me?

[Telerocker]

I have a VHII, but in an ash strat/rosewood fretboard. Sounds a bit leaner next to my Crawler loaded swampashstrat. Great rockpickup though. Dense midrange, good bass and cuts really well. Feels quite hot, but has little compression. If you want dynamics, this is the one. It's very touchsensitive. I keep some reservations about the topend of this pu in your guitar. All that maple could enhance the bright upperregister of the VHII.

[JCN1218]

Touch sensitivity and dynamics are something I value highly in a pickup, so that would definitely be something to put in the 'pros' coloumn for the VHII. Ben said to me in his email that based on my description of the guitar's construction, it might be fairly warm, so that's why he recomended the VHII, saying that it has plenty of power, mids, and high end/low end definition. He also directed me to a clip of the guitarist from Silvertide playing a custom guitar with a VHII/MQ combo and it sounded fantastic! He also said that the VHII would go very well the the Nantucket neck pickup. I'm realy liking the VHII, I think it would go well, since this guitar is going to have a pretty sizable chunk of mahogany. My last concern (I can't believe I forgot to mention this from the beginning) is that it's going to have a Floyd Rose. I've heard that Floyds can brighten a guitar up, so with that much Maple and a Floyd, it might be too bright for the VHII...

[Telerocker]

You can tweak the height and use a lower value pot.
Just to know: Mules and VHII's sound totally different.

[metale]

Your guitar does not strike me as particulary warm, with all the maple and floyd. I don't know if the wings can counter that enough. What is the fingerboard made of?

IMO I would keep the Abraxas sugestion, and I also think the split tones of it should match the P90 better, if you choose that config.

The VHII does, though, normally work well on strat-style guitars, so I can see it working even if you do have to tweak electronics like Telerocker said.

[Telerocker]

This is not an easy one since the guitar hasn't been played yet. Most of the time maple provides snap and brightness. But there are CS Fenders with maple necks that sound warm.
In the first case, I would stick to Abraxas, in the last case a VHII might do well.

[JCN1218]

It is a tough decision, and I appreciate all you help! I also emailed Ben back to tell him about the Floyd bridge and maple fingerboard and see what his opinion was on the brightness of the VHII. Here's what he had to say:

'The VHIIs are fatter than the Mules. The VHIIs are also popular in maple neck strats (bright guitars). You have a neck-thru design which adds warmth to the overall tone.

You could go up in power if you want, but then you lose that sweetness and character of the lower output pickups. The VHIIs can be pushed pretty hard.

You could opt for an Emerald bridge, VHII neck (in middle) and Nantucket neck. More crunch from the Emerald, but moves away from the vintage type wire.'

It just keeps getting harder to decide.

[JCN1218]

Well, I pulled the trigger today and placed an order for a calibrated set of VHII's and a Nantucket neck. I went back and listened to all the clips and read all the reviews for each one that I was considering. In the end, I followed my ears and went with the VHII. I'm not worried about the brightness, as it seems the VHII was made to be fit in strats. I also wouldn't mind if it turned out to be a bright guitar, I noticed while I was recording a little bit earlier that the treble on my amp was almost at max. Maybe with this new guitar I'll be able to roll back on that a little bit  Anyway, thanks again to everybody for all your help and advice! Expect sound clips and pictures once it's all finished!

[metale]

Expect sound clips and pictures once it's all finished!

We'll be waiting :)

[Telerocker]

The VHII topend is present, but not shrill. And like you said, you might to have to adjust the amps eq.