Mulecaster goes from -1 to 11 | Amazing Dynamic Range

[@strem17694]

I own a Mule resonator, and I can confirm that Matt is a great guy. Just wish I had the funds to purchase one of every model that Matt makes!

[@TheSoundCoop]

He really is a solid dude and he's built a warm and inviting community around his guitars. I got a Reso about a year after getting the Mulecaster. I don't regret getting it at all. It's a beautiful instrument. The action is pretty high though. My Mulecaster has amazingly low action. I'd love a Mavis but I'm nervous about having the action be high like my Reso, since they have a similar bridge type compared to the Mulecaster tele style bridge. One day you'll get a crack at another Mule. If you got a Mulecaster do you think you would go with the Tele shape, or would you go with the Posen Strat shape?

[@gTuya11]

@@TheSoundCoopI have a Mavis and can confirm its set up with action more similar to the mulecaster. It’s just a touch higher, like maybe by .5 mm

[@TheSoundCoop]

@@gTuya11 I really need to get one. Matt has been puting out some amazing ones lately. The colors and tops are to dye for 😉

[@gTuya11]

@@TheSoundCoop he finished mine using a torch, so it’s black but a unique shade.

[@TheSoundCoop]

@@gTuya11 where do I see pictures of this burnt piece of amazingness?

[@Sammywhat]

Dylan Adams is a big fan of these guitars. He's a fine young slide player if you haven't seen any of his work yet. Definitely worth checking out! The tones you were getting with the light/heavy touch is outstanding. And very pleasing. That guitar is SO sonorous. Do you happen to know what pickups are in this guitar? Thanks for the share!!

[@TheSoundCoop]

Dylan is an absolute monster slide player! I love watching the man work. Same with Posen. And Landreth. There's so much expression in their playing. The Mule seems to help facilitate that. I wish I had the ambition to pursue more slide playing. It's a real art. I'm pretty sure the pickup are a Mule proprietary recipe. I don't know for sure that Matt winds them in house. But I haven't seen them available anywhere else. I have seen some people claim they have gotten Matt to sell them pickups without a guitar but can't confirm this. The pickups are truly lovely. They're a low output Humbucker (less winds of copper). Definitely hotter than a typical Strat pickup. But maybe not quite as hot as a typical P90 (but close). Thanks so much for watching and leaving a comment!!! Glad you enjoyed the tones 🙌🏻

[@Tord79]

What kind of fretboard is that? My mulecaster is almost finished as we speak. I could choose between maple and ebony. yours look like rosewood with that red between the first frets. Nice demo you highlight all the reasons why I ordered mine.

[@TheSoundCoop]

Congrats on getting your future favorite guitar 😂 You're gonna be so in love. I'm pretty sure my board is Ebony. I had seen a bunch of pics on Matt's IG where he had ebony boards with stripes down them. So when I ordered my Mulecaster and my Resonator, I asked Matt specifically for stripey fretboards. There may have been a little up charge for this but it was well worth it. He picked out beautiful boards for both of my instruments. They both have very different vibes. But the Mulecaster's is probably my favorite Let me know how much you love that thing after you get it and get settled 🙌🏻

[@Tord79]

@@TheSoundCoop I will let you know, i live in Norway and it cost 600$ to ship it, i also have to pay 25% tax on the shipping as well, plane tickets is around 450$ so i have decided to go to Michigan and pick it up myself. I had a good look at Ariel Posen’s mulecaster the last times he was in Norway. He actually borrowed my Two Rock amp. I love how that amp sounds while i play it, but when i played it…….. that was amazing. Sure know it handles the mulecaster, very dynamic amp. And pair that with dynamic guitar. Got to be great😎

[@TheSoundCoop]

@@Tord79 Congrats on meeting the man. I dig Posen big time. Do you by chance have an IG? I'd love to see some pictures of that Two Rock. I've got a Studio Signature myself. Killer amp. Regardless, that's awesome you're going to see Matt. He seems like the nicest dude. I know it's gonna be some extra to get you a Mule. But you won't regret it. I'm lucky to have a few nice instruments that I love dearly. If I had a fire I'm still grabbing the Mulecaster first. And if you're not intending it as a main standard tuning guitar. The whole down tuned Posen/Landreth thing is really fun. I had it in standard with 11s for a few years. Only recently decided I wanted something different from it. I put 13s on it and tuned down to C Standard. It's just lovely how it handles the low end. It doesn't get bassy s d out of line. The instrument has so much dynamic range, it was tending to away from me in E standard. Something about the bigger strings and lower tuning makes it feel more manageable. An amazing tonal shift for writing songs too. The guitar ends up so low, even Tenor vocals have a higher airy character to them. Really easy to get into the RnB vibe without needing to hit all those high notes. Enjoy Sir! 🙌🏻

[@ksharpe10]

It's got that metallicy sound that a Magnatone amp. has. NICE DEMO!!!!

[@TheSoundCoop]

Thanks so much!!

[@ksharpe10]

@@TheSoundCoop What color is yours done in??

[@TheSoundCoop]

It's weathered like a rusty piece of metal

[@druwk]

Great post! These guitars are very intriguing. I hear they’re heavy? Is that true? They sound amazing.

[@TheSoundCoop]

They're a blast for sure. The weight isn't bad at all. The body is totally hollow and the steel isn't as thick as a Resonator. My Mulecaster is a little over 8lbs. It's like a light Les Paul, but way more fun 😉

[@davemayfield4985]

????What tuning & gauge strings are you using? I have 2 Mules & enjoy how they can tolerate such a wide range of tensions & tunings. THX. great video

[@TheSoundCoop]

I appreciate you bringing this up. When I first got it I was a 12s on Strats guy. So my Mulecaster got 12s. A year or so ago I moved down to 11s on my Strat. And about 6 months later the Mule followed. So this video is 11s. But I'm really thinking about changing this. Do you have any advice? I'm really considering a lower standard tuning. I've been thinking about trying C Standard. If you've gone low, do you have any recommendations in terms of gauges. I know Matt has some. I'm just curious how it's worked for you.

[@Mr.Krinkle]

Beautiful instrument! Just curious as to how much it weights?

[@TheSoundCoop]

Haha. It's not as bad as you might think. It's a touch over 8 and a half pounds. Like a Les Paul, but without all the heavy body vibes. The Mule has a nice center balance.

[@ElmoRitter]

7:20 p90s are well known for going from clean to dirt in a second and are (audibly and in measurable signal variance) pretty famous for being the most expressive (frustratingly so for most players) pickup option. Did you mean to use the literal most dynamic pickup as an example of non-dynamic?

[@TheSoundCoop]

P90s are probably my favorite pickup, so there's no hate here. And it's definitely possible I did a less than satisfactory job demonstrating the wide dynamic range of this guitar. But I can't get either of my P90 guitars to exhibit this range of dynamics without using the volume knob. It's a bit hard to show this off after the fact. But if I had pluged my Strat into the exact same signal chain I used in this video, it would NOT drive the amp into distortion. Meanwhile if I plugged my Jr or Novo with P90s into the same chain, it would be impossible to get clean tones without using the volume knob. This is all I meant.

[@ElmoRitter]

Oh that makes perfect sense. p90s have a blistering output. I get caught up in the semantics of describing tone as I'm usually trying to mentally picture what values in a circuit people are describing. Thanks for describing it more! They sound like they've got a low output/underwound vibe which whatever it actually is, sounds great. They seem like really good work guitars especially for live or travel. I think I'm going to reach out and see if I can't have him put one together for me. Great playing btw @@TheSoundCoop

[@TheSoundCoop]

@ElmoRitter No worries. I appreciate you leaving a comment and opening up a discussion. I'm a sucker for gear talk 🤗 I think when I said P90s would "eat up all the dynamics", I meant in reference to these Mule pickups (probably didn't make this totally clear in the video). That would be a terrible way to describe P90s in general. Because you are absolutely correct that P90s have a wonderful dynamic range. And probably more importantly, they have a killer output level. On average, they are about 6dB hotter than a single coil and about 6dB softer than a humbucker. I'd say the Mule pickups are about 3 or 4dB hotter than a single coil and 2 or 3dB softer than a P90. And I do think they have a wider usable dynamic range compared to any pickup I've ever tried. I say "usable" because some pickups can sound wimpy when playing lightly, or crap out when playing too hard. These pickups and guitar give great tones with any amount of force. Also, when you play harder, it doesn't just get louder. It actually gives more midrange. It's really silky when played lightly and really forward when you dig in. Very expressive. Which makes it both inspiring, and ever so slightly more difficult to control. You're absolutely correct about the pickups. They are a low wind, low output humbucker. I think the shell size is the same as a Mini Humbucker. It's definitely smaller than a P90 shell. If you talk Matt from Mule into selling you one (or a set) of these pickups, please let me know. I'd not only be interested in your opinion of them. I'd love to know if he's selling them separately from a guitar. It would be fun to try them out in a non Mule guitar. I'm kinda curious how much of a role they play in the overall tone of this guitar, compared to the hollow metal body, and neck through design. They really are a fun sounding pickup. The closest comparison would be Filtertrons. Very similar output. The Mules just have a little more dynamic range, and I think they have a little more of that silky vibe when played lightly. Cheers Sir 🙌🏻

[@ElmoRitter]

Incredibly helpful. I'm almost sad that youtube doesnt make your response here easier to find. Very well said. I've got a tele with some lollar filtertrons in it and yeah they totally have that vibe you're describing I'd say. Well, I've got a hunch he won't sell me just pickups based on his website, but if he does I'll absolutely give them a go in a solid and hollow tele.@@TheSoundCoop

[@TheSoundCoop]

It is rather odd that using the @ feature doesn't give notifications or let me know you wrote back. I don't see this as much with guitar stuff, but often the KZbin comment section is a mud slinging pit. Maybe YT intentionally doesn't encourage returning to posts/comments because they can be so awful 🤷 Regardless, I appreciate the chat and suggestions 🙌🏻

[@RasBuyaka]

Your mulecaster is raw finish, right? Is the orange that's visible on yours rust? It looks kind of like when rust starts to get powdery. Is that on the surface or something that came sealed from the factory? Your arm and clothes aren't picking up any red are they?

[@TheSoundCoop]

@RasBayaka thanks for watching. So, this is exactly how I ordered it for Matt. I wanted a rusty look. Admittedly, I saw another guitar Matt made that had the metal looking weathered. I asked for something similar. But I think he treated mine a bit differently. The one I saw first looked like Matt had sprayed a chemical on the metal which made it look dirty/not shiny. He definitely did a little of that on this guitar, but he might have also used some brownish paints. I just can't tell if the texture is from heavy corrosion or from a paint. It looks super natural. Not like rust though. But like a piece of metal that's been sitting out too long. I can't say with 100% certainty that I have the nastiest looking Mulecaster out there, but I have yet to see another one that looks as corroded as mine. But to answer the more important question, it leaves absolutely no residue on any of my clothing whatsoever. The surface doesn't feel powdery. It doesn't flake off in any way shape or form. I wear white t-shirts 50% of the time and this guitar hasn't left a stain on a single one of them. If you're thinking about ordering one and a worried about the rust coming off on your clothes, I wouldn't worry about it. It hasn't been an issue and I've had this guitar for almost 3 years at this point. If you want some close-up pictures of the wear on my Mulecaster just dropped me your email and I'll send you a few, so you can see it up close. One more thing I should point out. I have a resonator from Matt as well. I ordered it after I got the Mulecaster. I asked for a similar amount of metal wear on the resonator and I remember Matt telling me he wouldn't be able to get it to look the same. I think it has something to do with the stainless steel that he uses for the resonators. I think if you buff off the oxidation on the stainless steel it comes back relatively quickly. So I think with the resonator Matt had to buff it off and then hit it with a heavy solvent to get the metal to degrade, then repeat. I don't think the Mulecaster is stainless steel so maybe it degrades easier. These are probably questions best directed at Matt. He's a really nice guy and has always been very open to answering any questions I have.

[@TheSoundCoop]

So, this is what Matt said when I asked for a dirty look on my Resonator: "The patina will look different on the reso since they are stainless, and the edges are soldered instead of welded. So the edges will be smooth instead of having the bead left on. But it will be dark and nasty!" So, ya the Mulecasters aren't stainless like the Resonators are. If you look me up on Instagram you can see closer pics of both the Mulecaster and the Resonator. Still happy to send more pics to your email. Instagram = TheSoundCoop

[@RasBuyaka]

​@@TheSoundCoopi saw it on your ig, it looks incredible!

[@TheSoundCoop]

It's really a magical guitar 🙌🏻