Hello Zigmund,
I am one of the first people that originally responded to your frist sound clip on this Forum. You mentioned you had posted an evaluation of the Mules which at the time I had no idea how to find your post on the Mules so it has taken me this long to finally read it. Since my original response to your post I have so far purchased 5 sets of Bare knuckles pickups. The first set was a Custom set... a Miracle Man & a War Pig. They had the matching Warpig covers and had the upgraded Alnico magnets. That was a very quick lesson in pickups... I am not a metal or shred player so they were definitely not what I was looking for.. I got rid of them within a month and purhased a calibrated covered set of mules which was a significant improvent... Now although I find them to be amazing pickups.. very defined and accurate the increase in mids was not what I was looking for.. They do not have the brightness of tone in comparisson to the Jim Rolph pafs that I experienced prior to purchasing these. I have the Mules currently installed in a Les Paul with a solid Mahogany body & neck, an Ebony Fretboard and a 1/2 inch maple cap... and for sure they are one of the best pickups I have had in there. Don't get me wrong these are amazing pickups without a doubt and the more I use them the more I appreciate them for what they were designed to do but it comes down to personal tone preferences. These mules replaced a set of PRS McCarty pickups a few months ago and I would have to say they are definitely a little more expressive then the McCartys'. However I purchased them hoping to make the guitar a little brighter but in truth the Mules are not much brighter then the McCarty's.. ironically they are very similar in tone. They both have almost the same mid boost enhancment where I was looking for a even frequency response across the spectrum. Now just to let you know I have a degree in recording engineering, television & video production and computer graphics. I have worked in several of the Studios in Vancouver Canada and have been told by many in this industry that I have what they call Golden ears. I just thought I would bring that up so you don't think I am just another flunky rambling on. One thing I would like to say to you is that out of all the sound clips I have heard on this Forum your clip that I first commented to is still by far the best non pro clip I have heard on this Forum which leads me to ask you what your profession is? Also your writing skill is very articulate and informative. I am very cursious to know if you are a pro musician and if not what is stopping you. Do you work in the sound or film industry? Anyway Zig since I first left my comment to your sound clip I have purchased a Crawler, a VII, a set of Stormy Mondays and a set of Mystery BK pickups off of Ebay... I just paid for the Stormy Mondays and Mystery Pickups today and I should have them in about a week.. so I will let you know my thoughts on them when I get them.. Interestingly enough I also own a Yamaha SG1996 Model. The 30th Anniversary model which I believe is bassically the same guitar you have. I love the sound of it as it is and so far have not been compelled to change the pickups out of it. As a matter of fact I made a recording using my Les Paul Style guitar with the Mules in it and made the same recording using the stock SG and in truth after having listened to them both several times with AKG K340 headphones on and also thru my $2500 Monitor Audio reference speakers I would have to say yes the Mules have more definition to their tone but I still in some ways prefer the brighter tone of the SG as they don't have that mid boost that the Mules & the McCartys seem to have added.. which is exactly why I removed the McCartys in the first place. I would like to add here that there is a definite quality and definition of tone that the Mules have that the stock Yamaha pickups don't have especially when you push them a bit. The Mules stay true to form being very accurate and defined regardless of what you throw at them where as the stock Yamaha pups are nowhere near as accurate when pushed but for mellow playing they are amazing and for the average player/ear the stock Yamaha pickups are certainly better than any stock pickups I have ever used.. and certainly just as good if not better than your standard Dimarzio or Seymour Duncan pickup which also in their own right are very good pickups. When I put the McCarty pickups back into the PRS I added one of those Torres Engineering mid Cut tonal controls and it made those pickups sound amazing. I mean that.. the improvement was like from a 7 to a 9.5 on a scale of 1 to 10. I love the Mules and I think if I were to keep the them that is exactly what I would do with them as well. The tone pots with the mid scoop are about $25 and well worth the investment. From what I have researched I am thinking now that I probably should have originally went with the Stormy Mondays as they are supposed to be a bit brighter with a flatter response across the board... hence less mids.. might be exactly what I am looking for.. more like the Rolphs. So having said all of that I am going to be installing the Crawler in the neck position and the VII in the bridge in another one of my guitars to see how I like them... I would like to do that before I get the other two sets of BKs so I will really have a greater reference point. In my collection of guitars I also own two Telecaster Specials with the Humbucker in the neck positions which I will be trying many if not all of the BK pickups that pass thru my hands to see how they sound in there. I love telecasters but once having gotten used to having a humucker in the neck I can honestly say I will never go back to a traditional Telecaster... It's like having a Telacaster, Strat & Les Paul all in one guitar. I have even gone as far as routing out the center position on both Teles and adding a third pickup offering me an even more diverse spectrum of tonal options... Needless to say I am having a blast..! I have about 25 guitars and about 80 pickups laying around just waiting to be explored.. it just comes down to finding the time to do it all... the next BK pickups on my list to try are the Rebel Yell as the sound clips on the site sound incredible and the the Abraxas, the Emerald & Mississippi Queen. Oh and I forgot to mention the Trilogys for one of my Strats. Which I think when I have gone thru all of those pickups I am pretty certain I will know which BKs are for me.. So far the nicest sounding pickups I have tried to date are still the Jim Rolphs.. but I am crossing my fingers in hopes that I will find something I like better in the BK line. Jim Rolph makes Pickups for the likes of the Rolling Stones, Robbin Ford... and many greats.. Ford plays them thru his $25,000 Dumble amp.. They are about $275 US each... so you know you are getting into some serious quality at that point. Once I have explored all of these pickups I will let you know my perspective. But for now the Rolphs come out on top. It appears we have similar tastes in tone.. pickups... guitars and probably women... lol
Anyway I am glad I finally figured out how to find your post.
I look forward to hearing back from you and if you have since tried any other BK pickups that you like or love.. Or if you have any clips to post that would be greatly appreciated as well.
I am not as skilled at playing guitar as you are but I still love to play just the same. I would really be interested in hearing your set up as far as effects... amps.. mics... or how you get that sweet tone on your recordings..? How do you get your guitars to growl like that... is that a tube growl... a pedal... a plugin..???
You really are a gifted player... ! Which I am sure enough people have reflected that back to you by now... Stick with it and see where it goes.
For any newbies reading this if you start using high end pickups you will hear your music differently and therefore create on a much different level.. a quality pickup will inspire you to raise your level of playing and creativity, The only thing is be warned... when you start to play with a high end pickup you will never go back to the Seymour Duncans or Dimarzios.. they are just not in the same league.. so be ready to pay the price because they are not cheap.. but they are so worth it.
All the best to you Zigmund and keep the clips coming.
From Vancouver Canada,
Christopher
