Good neck match for a Bareknuckle Mule

[Karan D. Taktawala]

So I've been looking for a pickup to replace on my PRS 594 Singlecut for a while now.

Overall I love the guitar, it's got all the meat in all the right places I need it to be in. Could not ask for a better acoustic response in an electric guitar.

I've just never been comfortable with the bridge pickup from the moment I 1st plugged in.
Overall, good pickup but there's just too much weakness in the output @ roughly 7.5K. Even with it raised up to the strings, the neck is a tad overpowering in the low frequencies.

Going by what I've used and been comfortable with before, I'm changing that to a BKP Mule @8.4K

I've placed an order through the custom shop already and I'm speaking with Arwin to get something custom wound for the neck.
However I'm totally confused on which production PAF type Duncan Neck pickup would be a close enough match to modify a bit here and there to get a more woody sounding neck but still a good match with the Mule bridge.

I've also gone all out and had Jonesyblues wire a bumblebee harness with CTS pots. The Neck pickup I intend to retain the coil split. Actual image below

Recommend please!!!

 

[AlexR]

Re: Good neck match for a Bareknuckle Mule

If you've already spoken to the custom shop about what you want, then its pointless for us to add in our less expert opinions. The custom shop will take the requirements you expressly asked for and wind to that.

 

[Karan D. Taktawala]

Re: Good neck match for a Bareknuckle Mule

I get that, and agree. However, I'm just lost on a reference point for a good match to the BKP. Seeing as that's from another company I'm wondering how they'll pair.

For Eg: I used an Alnico II neck & Mule bridge in a Les Paul once with disastrously different tones from the neck & Bridge

 

[AlexR]

Re: Good neck match for a Bareknuckle Mule

To be fair, you'll never know how even a matched set will pair in any guitar......nor even a single pickup. Its almost a total lottery, even if you know the pickup set well and have it in other guitars. I have swapped a set of Tim Shaw Gibson pickups between Les Pauls of same wood and construction and found huge variances......such that they were practically unusable in one, and overcame all the shortcomings in another.

If you've given the custom shop all the details, then you have the best shot.

 

[Karan D. Taktawala]

Re: Good neck match for a Bareknuckle Mule

Sounds good

 

[AlexR]

Re: Good neck match for a Bareknuckle Mule

Good luck!!

 

[VinceT]

Re: Good neck match for a Bareknuckle Mule

Why are you swapping the neck pickup? You said only the bridge was underwhelming.


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[Karan D. Taktawala]

Re: Good neck match for a Bareknuckle Mule

The Bridge is underpowered but the neck just seems a tad boomy in the bottom end and a hair sharp on the top. It’s sounding a bit too glassy for my ears in short

Plus I have a lot of free time on my hands right now <sigh>

 

[Nagisa]

Re: Good neck match for a Bareknuckle Mule

That sounds correctable by raising/lowering the pickup and poles. Did you try that?

 

[Karan D. Taktawala]

Re: Good neck match for a Bareknuckle Mule

Yes, repeatedly. The neck is sitting really low right now almost 2.75 mm from the bottom of the low & high e. The bridge at 1.4mm. Still not working out. Tried to adjust the pole pieces too. At first I just wound up with a horrible imbalance in either position. Then I got the height ok with the radius but it still didn’t solve the problem where the bridge just isn’t driving the amp as hard as the neck and the neck is sounding to bassy and shrill top ended and slightly mid scooped at over 8 on the volume at any height

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: Good neck match for a Bareknuckle Mule

Karan.....given that you didn't get on well with the APH, I'd knock that and the Jazz off your list, as the Jazz is just an APH with an A5 magnet. For production pickups, my favorite is the Seth Lover. It has a nice chime and openness to it, while not being overly bright or overly warm. It's nicely balanced and handles gain nicely up to about hard rock levels (depending how close you stand to your amp). It's great for many styles of music and not being wax potted gives it a nice 3D tone.

If you want something in the same vein, but not quite as sweet with a little more bite and treble, the PG is great. It can handle blues to classic rock and hard rock.... even metal actually. It has a sweet rudeness to it with a slightly rolled off bass response. My 2nd favorite neck pickup.

Now, you would happen to mention the Greenie. I have a Greenie set and it's one of the best PAF style pickups I've ever played, period. I love the neck specifically. Reminds me of the Seth, but it has that something extra that is hard to describe. Umami. If it were food it would have Umami. Love it, but don't wax pot it.

Now, I've never paired any of these with a Mule bridge, but given it's specs and knowing all of these pickups pair well with SD bridge pickups of similar specs; I'd say you can't go wrong. It just depends on the flavor you prefer. However, if forced to choose one production pickup it would be the Seth Lover.

But, since you're already going custom shop, I completely recommend the Greenie neck with your own tweaks thrown in. It's a spectacular neck pickup. Good luck and let us know what you decide.

Oh, and welcome to the forum.

 

[Karan D. Taktawala]

Re: Good neck match for a Bareknuckle Mule

Hi Jeff,

1st off, thank you so much for the warm welcome.

This is pretty much exactly what I wanted to hear.

So I know I’m being chastised for doubting the Custom shop’s abilities but really I’m just new to custom wound pickups so I needed a bit of reassurance that I’m headed in the right direction. I’ve just been worried seeing that the Mule is by another company and I don’t know how accepting they’d be of making something that works with that. I contemplated getting a set wound by them but the Mule’s just been something that’s always worked for me so I want to say “don’t fix it if it ain’t broke”.

I’ve had experience with the APH & PG and both are brilliant individually and even combined. However I can tell that the Mule won’t play well with them because it’s got a very warm and full sound with a hair of top end to cut through. Which is what I need because I love the guitar’s acoustic response.

I was veering toward the Greenie & Seth because I take it they’re using a very similar formula and parts so it won’t be so far off the mark (purely an assumption)

I’ll let MJ and her team take care of me though because I’ve shared everything possible down to the guitar weight, my preferred setup & a clip of the guitar’s acoustic response. Regardless I will ask them how the Greenie works with the Mule.

Thanks a ton for the comments


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[Jeff_H]

Re: Good neck match for a Bareknuckle Mule

Karan...... you're more than welcome. I hope that your Custom Shop pickup is exactly what you want. I can tell you this from personal experience; I've had several pickups wound by the custom shop and each one has been fantastic, without doubt. Many people want vintage pickups from the 80's wound by MJ because of their unique sound (and so do I by the way), but I also contend that due to her 35 years experience winding pickups that she has never made better pickups than she's making right now. All of that experience with the vintage machines and how to wind this way to get that sound translates into fantastic sounding pickups. You should be thrilled. And if for some reason it's not exactly what you want, the Custom Shop and the SD Company are very good at working with you to make it right. They want you to be happy.

I also totally get wanting to have a base point of reference to start your custom wind. I know the tone I like, but sometimes it's difficult to articulate that tone into words. I can do much better if I can say "I want something like the APH, but not quite so smooth, a tad brighter with a more open 3D quality". I also think it gives MJ a better point of reference to work from; a starting point she is familiar with. I'm sure plenty of people can describe their idea of a pickup in words much better than I am able to, but it's important to realize that everyone is different and needs different points of reference to be comfortable. Besides, you don't need any reason to want to change your pickup other than the very simple "I want to".

Best of luck and don't forget to check back in.

 

[Karan D. Taktawala]

Re: Good neck match for a Bareknuckle Mule

I shall keep all of this in mind.

Thanks once again for the pointers. Really appreciate it


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