Having had a bit more time to play this, I'm delighted with it. The pickups sound great; as far as my cloth ears can tell, just as clear and punchy under high gain as the EMGs in my V, maybe a little bit warmer, and I don't think I've heard a guitar sound as good as this clean. This was only through my Pod at home though so I can't wait to fire up the 5150 and give it a crack.
One thing I was mildly concerned about is that the previous owner replaced the bridge with one that seems to be wider spaced and the top string doesn't pass directly over the bridge pickup polepiece, but this doesn't seem to have negatively affected the string's sound as far as I can tell. Other thing I was initially unsure about was the "witch hat" knobs, but I'm totally sold on them now, both in terms of look and feel. Half tempted to try and source some to put on the V.
Anyway, chuffed to bits with this; sounds great and plays nicer than a lot of real Gibsons I've played. Once payday rolls round again I'll be paying Jonathan at Feline a visit to get it set up with some nice fat strings in the tuning I use for my main band (C# std.) – anyone have any thoughts on if the Mules are likely to have any issues with the lower tuning?
