The Mule (N)/ Riff Raff (B) combo doesn’t sound right

[igor.c]

Hi guys,
I know that the Riff Raff/Mule combo is extremely popular but for some reasons it doesn’t sound right for me. I have installed in my Les Paul The Mule as rhythm PU and Riff Raff as lead. In addition to that I have the so-called Jimmy Page wiring.

All pots are 500k and both capacitors are .022.

The problem is that the bridge PU sounds very bright. While playing I have the bridge tone around 3-4. On the other hand is the neck PU quite muffled.
Do you guys have an idea what the reason for this could be? 

[Dave Sloven]

Riff Raff bridge is bright ... could be the 500K pots.  Les Pauls generally come with 300K pots, did you try them with the RR before changing pots?

Also check that you have not somehow wired the bridge pickup in parallel mode.

[igor.c]

Thank you, Dave!
I know that Riff Raff is bright but in my case it is just way too much. As  far as I know, most Les Paul have 500k pots. The wiring was done by an experienced guitar tech.

The thing is that the mule is too dull and riff raff is too bright and this makes it impossible to find an amp setting for both PUs.

[Yellowjacket]

I have an A-Bomb in the bridge of my LP and a Rebel Yell in the neck.  I set it up this way because with stock pickups, the guitar was very thin and bright sounding in the bridge position and boomy and dark in the neck position, to a point where I needed separate EQ settings for each pickup. 

You may need to put something like an Abraxas in the bridge instead.

[igor.c]

I've been told that this combo is a safe bet. I'm wondering why this doesn't work for me

[Yellowjacket]

I've been told that this combo is a safe bet. I'm wondering why this doesn't work for me

Tone is a combination of how the pickups interact with the 'voice' of the instrument as well as the amp and speaker / cab.  If you are recording, mic and interface factors in as well.

There are many variables and these all impact tone.  Sometimes it is just a case of trial and error.  What model / year of Les Paul do you have? 

[Dave Sloven]

Thank you, Dave!
I know that Riff Raff is bright but in my case it is just way too much. As  far as I know, most Les Paul have 500k pots. The wiring was done by an experienced guitar tech.

The thing is that the mule is too dull and riff raff is too bright and this makes it impossible to find an amp setting for both PUs.

There's still a chance that he got the colour codes on BKPs (which are different from DiMarzios, Seymour Duncans, etc) mixed up.  If this has happened and the bridge is wired in parallel that would explain the brightness

[Yellowjacket]

Thank you, Dave!
I know that Riff Raff is bright but in my case it is just way too much. As  far as I know, most Les Paul have 500k pots. The wiring was done by an experienced guitar tech.

The thing is that the mule is too dull and riff raff is too bright and this makes it impossible to find an amp setting for both PUs.

There's still a chance that he got the colour codes on BKPs (which are different from DiMarzios, Seymour Duncans, etc) mixed up.  If this has happened and the bridge is wired in parallel that would explain the brightness

Either this or it is a Swiss cheese production l.p. that has a boomy neck and treble bridge. 

In my l.p., even a rebel yell set was a bit bright in the bridge and boomy in the bridge.  Putting an a-bomb in there balanced things nicely.