EVH tone pups

[cccc]

One of the biggest questions I have is the resistance differences . There's a lot of 14K and the others are between 7.5 and 9K .

Which are preferred for softer bodied guitars like Basswood , Alder and Poplar and which ones would work best with Hard northern Ash, Mahogany and Maple bodied guitars?

 

[ricksdisconnected]

One of the biggest questions I have is the resistance differences . There's a lot of 14K and the others are between 7.5 and 9K .

Which are preferred for softer bodied guitars like Basswood , Alder and Poplar and which ones would work best with Hard northern Ash, Mahogany and Maple bodied guitars?

yeah i thought Eds were way less than 14K too.

 

[jeffb]

I agree , Jim Gausted is his name I believe . He has spent thousands on gear and has been tweaking for decades to nail that tone and he does nail it.

Yep. I 'd also encourage others to check out his VHII and Fair Warning tone quests- good stuff.

 

[jeffb]

One of the biggest questions I have is the resistance differences . There's a lot of 14K and the others are between 7.5 and 9K .

Which are preferred for softer bodied guitars like Basswood , Alder and Poplar and which ones would work best with Hard northern Ash, Mahogany and Maple bodied guitars?

Don't be fooled into thinking DCR directly correlates to output. Its not always the case- Wire gauge, how the wire is wound, looseness/tightness of wire around the coils, turns per layer, etc all have major effects on DCR. A Super Distortion actually has similar characteristics as a PAF wind, it just uses a much thinner guage wire and (most importantly) a really strong thick ceramic magnet.

Generally speaking in the shootouts, the 14K DCR pickups are going for the Super D vibe, and the lower DCR (PAF-ish) readings are going for the early white body strat tone. Many people believe by the time of Fair Warning (or even VHII) Ed was using a wind with 43/44 gauge wire with A2 magnets, and that is why you see pickups like the Duncan Custom Custom, JB w/ A2, and the EVH/Duncan Frankenstein pickups in these shootouts too.

Unfortunately, nobody really knows *exactly* WTF was going on, and there is way too much speculation and even people who were there cannot agree on details of the recordings. Ed was all about misinformation in those days. Seymour was saying one thing about pickups, Ed was saying another (frankly, this has been an issue with Seymour since day one, he often touts all sorts of half-truths). And then you see pictures of gear that don't really match up with the story.

The whole VH tone quest is a rabbit hole of unprecedented scope, and it will drive you crazy if you let it.

 

[ibmorjamn]

I’m sure most of you have seen this but not about pickups, it’s about voltage.

 

[ibmorjamn]

Disregard this one, it’s a sales pitch.

 

[junk notes]

which pups do you guys think get closet to the VH1 tone?
not talking about custom wound bs but just regular pups.

I (we all) have many current production pickups choices (posted by members) that can do close EVH sounds, part of the reasoning why I picked up the Jalen, but besides the P.A.F. that he screwed up the windings on, there were possible choices of the VH1 era as previously mentioned.
Ibanez Super 70 was used on the VH1 album 100%, whilst the pickup in Franky was subjective.
(FWIW; revealed in recent years that an SM56 and a MD 421 were used to record the album)

which pups do you guys think get closet to the VH1 tone?
not talking about custom wound bs but just regular pups.

On the pickups for EVH, sounds logical any pickup of the VH1 era, that it would not be anything Duncan, with a tip of the aftermarket hat to Mighty Mite and DiMarzio Super Distortion and the model right before that, and additionally Ibanez, per Holmes Destroyer..

 

[junk notes]

Disregard this one, it’s a sales pitch.

ha, yep.

I’m sure most of you have seen this but not about pickups, it’s about voltage.

yep (said the dual vax guy)

 

[Rocktane]

The old Mighty Mite SD copy sounds right to me for the Destroyer VH1 stuff.

 

[ricksdisconnected]

The old Mighty Mite SD copy sounds right to me for the Destroyer VH1 stuff.

is that you bro?

 

[Rocktane]

is that you bro?

No, that's not me. Sorry for any confusion, I just appreciate the video.

 

[ricksdisconnected]

No, that's not me. Sorry for any confusion, I just appreciate the video.

not at all bro. i thought it was cool if it were you lol.

 

[StrummerJoe]

I don't really understand the concept of that "one magic component" that will do the Brown Sound. Run any of these pickups across a Line 6 Spider on the Insane setting, and see how "brown" it sounds.

Not trying to be negative, but I would think that any decent hot humbucker of maybe 13K or better, combined with the right amp and effects, would get you there.

Take a decent tube Marshall
Add the right OD/Distortion box
Add a big helping of plate reverb
A touch of delay
A touch of phasing on some things
Dial in a nice, even EQ

You're there.

The pickup in Frankie was a low output PAF with mismatched coils.

 

[ricksdisconnected]

The pickup in Frankie was a low output PAF with mismatched coils.

yep. a lot of folks chased with a higher output pup. we just kinda expected that at the time.

 

[PowerTube44]

The pickup in Frankie was a low output PAF with mismatched coils.

I read an interview many years ago with Eddie, where he says it was custom wound to his specs. That is, if he was talking about the same pickup.

 

[PowerTube44]

yep. a lot of folks chased with a higher output pup. we just kinda expected that at the time.

It makes sense, though. I've gotten some really hot sounds from single-coils on Strats with my rig.

 

[freefrog]

I don't know if it has been evoked in this thread but there's an old story about the Frankenstrat that I rarely read nowadays in such discussions: according to some "rumors", the P.A.F. in Frankie worked but exhibited no readable DCR because one coil was shot.

I've already repaired working HB's with shot coils (two of them belonging to a same touring pro) so I'll underline what it does: when the wire is broken and stays aligned with itself, the pickup keeps working but the broken coil reacts like a series capacitor (with usually a readable capacitance around 4nF). It works like a "bass cut", giving to the PU a tight and honky tone... A bit like a Rangemaster but without the boost.

Knowing how the guitars sound in the first album, I wouldn't be surprised to know that a "capacitive" pickup has been used in it. After all, such "shot" pickups have been used in some famous records (Nancy, the Telecaster mainly used by Roy Buchanan, had a "capacitive" bridge single coil).

FWIW. Maybe an urban legend, maybe not.

 

[junk notes]

although, if what this guy put out is accurate, then...

Legendary Tones - The "Secret" Edward Van Halen Pickup!

We dig into Seymour Duncan's "Secret" Edward Van Halen Pickup in this feature, and how close it can get you to Van Halen's sound with the right equipment.

legendarytones.com

Aftermarket that has sounds of VH1, then yes..

 

[StrummerJoe]

I read an interview many years ago with Eddie, where he says it was custom wound to his specs. That is, if he was talking about the same pickup.

I was going by what Seymour Duncan, the guy who rewound it said.

Both guys are known for exaggeration, but only Ed was known for outright misdirection.

 

[StrummerJoe]

I don't know if it has been evoked in this thread but there's an old story about the Frankenstrat that I rarely read nowadays in such discussions: according to some "rumors", the P.A.F. in Frankie worked but exhibited no readable DCR because one coil was shot.

I've already repaired working HB's with shot coils (two of them belonging to a same touring pro) so I'll underline what it does: when the wire is broken and stays aligned with itself, the pickup keeps working but the broken coil reacts like a series capacitor (with usually a readable capacitance around 4nF). It works like a "bass cut", giving to the PU a tight and honky tone... A bit like a Rangemaster but without the boost.

Knowing how the guitars sound in the first album, I wouldn't be surprised to know that a "capacitive" pickup has been used in it. After all, such "shot" pickups have been used in some famous records (Nancy, the Telecaster mainly used by Roy Buchanan, had a "capacitive" bridge single coil).

FWIW. Maybe an urban legend, maybe not.

That soundsw right to me. Chip Ellis, the builder of the replica Frankies that go for a fortune said he couldn't get a reading on the p/u and thought he broke it but it still worked.