Would a Riff Raff/Mule combo work in a standard ESP Eclipse over the FT model?

[AnnunakiMassacr]

I own a variety of Eclipses, my main ones being 2 Standard models, 2 Full-Thickness models, and one with a Floyd. I'm having a Rebell Yell fitted in one of my Standard ones, but I'm on the fence about the Riff Raff/Mule. I was originally going to put it in one of the Full-Thickness models, but was curious as to how it would sound in the standard? Would I be better off sticking to my original idea to bring out better qualities of the pickups? Just curious I guess. If anyone has done this though, please let us know :)

My pickups arrived this morning, and sending them off to my tech tomorrow. So hopefully someone will be able to chat to me about this :)

[darkandrew]

I had a mule set in one of my standard Eclipses for a while (ESP Eclipse 1) and while I found them very versatile, I found the bridge to be a little under powered and not cutting enough for what I wanted (I've now gone back to my Crawler set which actually fulfils my needs very well, despite my initial reservations about it). However I did find the neck pickup to be very good for low-gain "acoustic" type picking, so much so that when I went back to the Crawler set I was in two minds as to whether I should keep the Mule in there or put the matched Crawler neck back in. In the end I went for the calibrated set as I came to the conclusion that the slightly hotter and fuller Crawler neck would be better suited for leads in that guitar as I already had a BB Pro equipped Les Paul whose neck pickup I liked for the more "acoustic" stuff. That's not to say there's anything wrong with the Mule neck in an Eclipse - it's lovely and clear, very chimey and nicely balanced but in my particular circumstance it overlapped with other guitars I had. Likewise, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the Mule bridge in an Eclipse, it just didn't really fit in with what I wanted.

Just out of curiosity, which way around are you having your Mule / Riff Raff combo (ie. Mule bridge / RR neck or RR bridge / Mule neck)? I have often wondered if a Riff Raff bridge would have better suited my needs.

[AnnunakiMassacr]

I'm having Riff Raff bridge, and Mule neck. That's why I wondered about the thinner Eclipses as the Riff Raff is meant to be quite bright and Upper-Mid focussed. So was thinking the Full-Thickness may balance it out better. Just need to decide by tomorrow :/

[darkandrew]

I have 3 Eclipses, all of them the thinner "standard" type, although curiously the neck thicknesses on them vary considerably. To be honest, except for the slight difference that the neck thicknesses and shapes make to playing style - which you adapt to fairly quickly, I can find no discernible difference in sound between them. Do you find that the difference in body thickness affects the sound of the guitar more? I had always assumed that a thicker body equates to a fuller and darker sound however one the fullest and darkest sounding guitars I have is a Fender Telecaster HH with a mahogany body and maple cap yet it probably has the thinnest body of all of them (and by the way, the Mules really didn't work in that one - it sucked all the "sparkle" out of them).

[AnnunakiMassacr]

Yeah I found that, too. My Music Man Silhouette (Alder Body, Maple Neck, Ebony Fingerboard) actually sounds spongy on the bottom, with round highs. And my Eclipses definitely sound brighter. or maybe just more lively. The Full-Thickness defintely sounds more resonant. Funnily enough it sounds brighter, too. But again, I think this maybe down to being louder, livelier and generally having more presence. Maybe I will try it in the Full-Thickness in that case. Might give it extra tone :)

P.S. What pickups do you have in your Eclipses?

[darkandrew]

Currently (because I do have a habit of changing them quite frequently!) a Rebel Yell set, a Crawler set and an EMG 57/66 set. I have also tried Mules and A-Bombs in them but currently these sets are both "between guitars".

[AnnunakiMassacr]

I'm actually putting a Rebel Yell set in a standard Eclipse (giving it my tech tomorrow). How do you get on with them? I almost put them in a Full-Thickness. Also, how do they compare to the Nailbombs in the Eclipse, in your experience?

[darkandrew]

The RYs have out survived all the other pickups. They have just enough bottom end to not be thin, just enough top end to not be dull and mids that peak at just the right place. They are more modern sounding and more raucous than the Mules, as you'd probably expect, but I wouldn't describe them as being overly aggressive. I had also tried the EMG 81/60 combination but prefer the RY set for this role - basically anything the 81/60 can do, I found the RY could do better.

The Nailbombs were probably my biggest disappointment in the Eclipse - it just didn't have the resonance to carry them although from what you say, it sounds as though they'd go better in the full size version.

[AnnunakiMassacr]

I look forward to hearing the Rebel Yells in my Eclipse then :)

I decided on the thinner Eclipse for the RYs as I think I prefer a lighter guitar to rock out haha :P