SE Bernie Marsden BKP Mules + Other Mods (Short Vid)

[Mikegarveyblues]

Quick clip of the Bernie fitted with Bare Knuckle 'The Mule' Calibrated set.

Other mods I made include:

Graphtec Tusq nut (The only essential mod)
Tonepros Locking Studs (Removed the lean but there's some side to side play until locked down - slightly annoying)
Bare Knuckle Custom 550k CTS pots (The first lot of CTS pots (Not BK) where awful but the BK ones are good. None felt as smooth to turn as the stock Alphas!

The bridge pups are the ones that have caused me issues. Wasn't keen on the stock SE 245 Bridge pup (Though I thought the neck was excellent). After playing around with the Mules I decided the bridge Mule didn't give me enough punch.

Now fitted with Mule in the neck and a Suhr Doug Aldrich in the bridge. So far so good...

 

[swede71]

Guitar sounds and looks great!Cool playing!

 

[ProgRob]

Awesome man! Love those Bernies... have to get my hands on one someday...

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

Guitar sounds and looks great!Cool playing!

Awesome man! Love those Bernies... have to get my hands on one someday...

Cheers guys!

Yeah, the Bernie is a great guitar.. Mind you, the whole SE line these days is pretty incredible. The 245 was initially top of my list as the Bernie wasn't in the shops but the neck shape wasn't for me - great guitar though! The Bernies neck is slightly bigger but for whatever reason that seemed to make all the difference. Funny how it all can come down to fractions of an inch in the end!

 

[andy474x]

Did you notice much of a difference in the sustain and acoustic resonance with the locking studs?

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

Did you notice much of a difference in the sustain and acoustic resonance with the locking studs?

Acoustic resonance... Definately. Regarding sustain, i'm less certain as it sustained very well to start with. I'd also not long changed the pups, pup heaight, strings... So I couldn't reliably say whether it increased sustain or not.

There's some side to side play with the Tonepros studs aas the actual post is narrower. Once locked down it's fine but there's a tendancy for the bridge to shift left or right s you're adjusting which is a bit annoying. I don't think it would take much to shear the heads off either.

Not completely sold on them as of yet. Certainly, if they break then I won't replace them. See how it goes...

 

[andy474x]

Acoustic resonance... Definately. Regarding sustain, i'm less certain as it sustained very well to start with. I'd also not long changed the pups, pup heaight, strings... So I couldn't reliably say whether it increased sustain or not.

There's some side to side play with the Tonepros studs aas the actual post is narrower. Once locked down it's fine but there's a tendancy for the bridge to shift left or right s you're adjusting which is a bit annoying. I don't think it would take much to shear the heads off either.

Not completely sold on them as of yet. Certainly, if they break then I won't replace them. See how it goes...

Thanks for the insight on that... Been thinking about getting one but I'm starting to think they're not really ideal for the SE's so I might hold off.