I don't have any "before/after" clips, but here are a few pics:
Before:
After:
I did a hack job on the neck p'up's cut-out, if you look you can see it's not exactly straight/square, but I really don't care, it's about the sound...I need some new knobs, the 2 volume pots say "tone" & the tone knob says "volume"...I also plan on another 3-way switch with a white tip (the switch I have is cheap, & the cap doesn't come off btw)...
Here's my review of the new pickups:
The "MuttBucker" Bridge
Humbucking mode:
Raunchy, dirty rock & roll tones that has a very favorable lean toward the early VH tone, Slash's AFD album tone, & Angus Young's earlier tones (all of which are tones I'd kill for, & Angus' early tones in particular, to me, are the benchmark for rock guitar sounds)...It's got the percussive, biting attack that's not harsh at all, & it's there in spades...Up until I got these p'ups, I thought those sounds (or close anyway) were only attainable with a gained-up, plexi-style amp at window rattling volume, which I've been drooling to have again...But to my surprise, I can get in the ballpark with the Strat > Mini Jubilee > ISO cab, & at tv volume room noise level...
It responds well to the volume knob on the guitar too, just roll it back slightly & the sound cleans up very nicely, but doesn't loose it's chunk or definition...
Split Coil mode:
The split coil sound really caught me off guard, & is a very welcome addition to my little arsenal...Ran through a dirty amp, IMO, it's got the Texas blues thing like SRV/Kenny Wayne Shepherd/Jonny Lang/etc...Again, it's the biting, percussive top end that's not harsh at all...I'm sure it can sound Hendrix-y too, I've not gave that a shot yet, but I will...In my humble opinion, it shouldn't be too far off from the SRV-ish tone because Hendrix was his hero...
Another welcome surprise with the MuttBucker's split coil is the old-school country/rockabilly sounds...Instant Bob Wootton (Johnny Cash's guitarist), Pete Anderson (Dwight Yoakam's guitarist), Merle Haggard & Carl Perkins type tones...This is a sound I've tried to get my whole life, especially when I was gigging, but no matter what I tried, I just couldn't get there...With the split coil MuttBucker, it's there, even through a Marshall amp...I can only imagine how it'd be ran through a proper Fender amp like most of these guys used...
The split coil MuttBucker responds very well to the guitar's volume knob too...Roll it back, even a dirty amp cleans up really well & it doesn't lose the "twang"...
I bet you guys are kinda shocked that I like Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Dwight Yoakam, etc., because I usually post 80's hair metal-ish tones, but you gotta remember I'm really just a hillbilly country boy...My Dad always told me "You can take the boy from the country, but you can't take the country from the boy"...
The "Ripper Rail" Neck
Humbucking mode:
Where this p'up shines is exactly why I wanted it, full humbucker into a dirty amp, for some mean sounding blues slide guitar, for that, it just kicks ass...It's not flubby in the low end, & seems to have the right amount of "bite" to make it cut...Responds well to the guitar's volume knob, it goes from clean, to mean, to everything in between...While it's not a hot pickup, especially by today's standards (like the cookie-monster metal bands
), run it through a juiced-up amp & even though it's in a strat, it's got the Duane Allman/Warren Haynes/Derek Trucks-ish sound, which is exactly what I wanted from it...Split Coil mode:
Another very welcome surprise is the Ripper Rail's split coil sound...Very old-school & when combined with the split bridge, can get those "quacky/in-between" strat sounds like clean-ish Hendrix/Trower/SRV...On it's own it's great too, enough bottom/chunk to sound fat, with enough high end that cuts, but without being harsh...
And just like the MuttBucker, the Ripper Rail responds really well to the guitar's volume knob, whether it's in split coil mode, or full-blown humbucker mode...
My overall impression is these pickups turned a $300 strat that had been in it's case for about 4 years into a real tone machine...I highly recommend Mutt's P'ups, talk with him to tell him what you're looking for, sound-wise, & I'm positive he'll deliver...
Great pickups...
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