Pickups

[Nitro Express]

We've all read all those old EVH interviews where he says he liked old Gibson PAF's Apparently the pickup in the Frankenstrat is out of a Gibson 335 that Ed trashed trying to learn how to do guitar work without knowing what he was doing.

I've heard rumours that that old PAF was rewound. Eddie did say he potted it with parafin wax. Wayne Charvel showed Ed how to do it.

The 5150 Kramer apparently has a pickup that Ed got at the Kramer factory. A former employe of Kramer guitars also mentioned he helped Ed build a guitar and Ed brought his own Seymour Duncan custom made pickup to use.

Many say the Seymour Duncan Custom Custom pickup is what Seymour himself used to wind for Eddie. A PAF with more windings to make it a bit hotter apparently.

Other people say Eddie would only have one bobin over wound while leaving the back bobin to the original Gibson PAF specs. Apparently the Custom Custom isn't spot on and the Seymour Duncan will custom wind you one of the offset pickups as a custom order.

Lot's of things have been said about Eddie's gear over the years. Who knows what he really was using and who knows if he even remembers himself.

One thing for sure, the Peavey Wolfgang pickups won't get you that classic VH sound. They sound great through a high gain amp but are lacking through a classic non-master volume Marshall. They are great pickups for what they were designed to do but you arn't going to get that classic VH sound with them.

I guess the best way do choose the right pickup is to use our ears. Everyone has an oppinion on this. Share what you know...

[BrownSound1]

The Seymour Duncan EVH 1978 is the pickup that'll get you the closest. Apparently THAT is the design that Seymour did for Ed, and the Custom Custom is a relative of that.

[Don Corleone]

It's funny that this topic should come up. I was talking with Frankenstraat a few nights back about Pick Ups. Watch out in the next few weeks for a "How to make your own Pick Up/EVH Pick Up" thread. The idea as it stands (correct me if I get anything wrong here Frankenstraat) is that the pick up that will be shown being built in the thread will be based a vintage PAF (as Eddie used in his Frankie).

[Frankenstraat]

its coming soon! Seymore did rewind a paf for Ed, it wasn't out of a 335 though, they had pickups that were as wide as a trem spaced guitar, there were some models that came with PAFS though and Ed's pickup had 2 different wound coils, one was vintage original with the paf wind which Seymore didn't touch and the other coil was wound like a custom 5 with less windings, they swapped out the magnets and slapped it together.

[Nitro Express]

That's what I heard as well. Eddie's pickup had mismatched windings which tended to make it sound more like a single coil when played clean but still would cancel the hum. When cranked you got Ed's famouse sound.

I think the Wolfgang pickups are wound offset as well but they either have more windings, stronger magnets or both. But the harmonics just jump out at you and if you play them clean, they almost sound like a Telecaster. In fact, I've seen country western pickers using Wolfgangs through a Fender Twin and it's a great sounding Telecaster with a whammy bar. LOL!

A big part of Eddie's tone is those pickups though. Eddie knew it and wanted it to be a big secret. He actually threatened to sue Seymour for selling those pickups in the late 70's.

[Frankenstraat]

the evenly voiced comes from the 2 coils being different sized wire. The rear coil has 7800 turns of 42 guage plain enamel coted wire and the front coil has 8400 turns of 43 guage wire. Becuase they have the same output they were call evenly voiced, they average around 9 ohms. Some burstbuckers come with that same output.

[Nitro Express]

I've read sevral posts from people that claim Burstbuckers are the shit for Eddie's tone. I've never tried those pickups but I've heard three different people and three different websites say they get a killer brownsound with the Burstbuckers. So that is pretty consistant from what I've read.

[ashstralia]

i have a di marzio paf pro i bought in the late 80's
which nails the 1st album tone.

i think the guitar it's in has a large bearing on that, though.
it's a heavy slab of a thing, with a maple neck/ f board.

i have other guits with that p/up, but they don't sound as chunky.

with regards to the mismatched coils, i believe that was the theory behind
di marzio's 'fred' p/up.

and if you wanna hear how great a tele can sound, put on the 'stairway to heaven' solo!!!

[Hardrock69]

I am pretty much an active pickup fan. Gimme EMGs and I am happy.
:)

[kentuckyklira]

Originally posted by Hardrock69
I am pretty much an active pickup fan. Gimme EMGs and I am happy.
:) Tried that, didn´t like it.

Nowadays, if it weren´t too expensive, I´d kick out all humbuckers and replace them with Duesenberg P99 humbucker-sized single coils.

[BrownSound1]

I've used EMG 85s...to sterile sounding. I'll stick with my Duncans. I use the JB, the Custom Custom, and the '59, as far as humbuckers go.

[ashstralia]

Originally posted by Hardrock69
I am pretty much an active pickup fan. Gimme EMGs and I am happy.
:)


emg's are great. ultimate chunk, and quiet.

my bass has 2 j's, and it sounds sweet!

duncan's rock, too, bs1. i particularly dig the jb.

but i love those di marzio's!!!

years ago i had a microphonic pickup, in a second hand guit that i bought.

so i sent them a fax.

not abusive, just like 'any way i can fix it?'

4 weeks later a new pickup arrived, with a letter from steve blucher

saying, 'hope this one's okay'. for free. unbelievable service.

fucking, the legendary steve blucher!!!!

i gotta frame that letter.

[Hardrock69]

I had a similar problem in the early 80s...a Dimarzio Super Distortion humbucker.

I sent it to Seymour Duncan to have it potted.

Got it back (with a small note from Seymour), plugged into my roommate's 200-watt Marshall head and turned it up to 10.

The pickup would not squeal anymore, but of course getting anywhere near the stack at that volume was impossible...as even moving my hand on the guitar sounded like a freight train or a 747....

[ashstralia]

too cool hr, those guys love their work, huh!

[Coyote]

This might sound a bit looney, but you guys ever try a Gibson "Super Ceramic" (aka 500T) ?

I'd say that gets extremely close...

[Don Corleone]

Never tried one, but i'll have to keep an eye out for one.

[GAR]

I have:

- tried every pickup known to man and Goblin.
- wound, de-wound, and rewound most types pickups.
- used differnt magwire gauges from as thick as 38 down to a 47

And; my favorite STANDARD configuration in an affordable, all-purpose production pickup is at this time a Duncan 59 or Pearly Gates in the bridge, and a Gibson 500T in neck position.

Now if I was making pickups, I'd recommend something more exotic and specifically suited for a range of purpose.

Either way I'd mount the pickup directly to the guitar body by cutting off pieces of 3/8" wooden dowel the exact height to the pickups' feet
from the bottom of the rout, and silicone-gluing a dab to it into the body. Then, using those #3 wood screws (or pickguard screws) going thru the feet into the wood dowel.

That will give more resonance than anything, in a good pickup.

[GAR]

Some dope will argue "mounting direct to the body does absolutley no good because wood is not magnetic, You Idiot" to which I would reply, Please explain why a pickup goes KunkKunkKunk!!! thru your amp, when you rap it with your knuckles?

70 years of amplification. They still mount the pickups to some stupid mounting frame of PLASTIC.

Plastic. Nice n'resonant! They don't make violins outta plastic... that's my point.

[Nitro Express]

You would think direct mounting would catch on more with guitar manufactures because it's less work to mount a pickup with two screws than it is to install the hieght adjustement screws and springs and then screw four screws on the bezel to the wood and then fine adjust the pickup hieght in the bezel.

With the direct mounting method the depth of the route already determines the pickup hieght and then two screws keeps it there.

I deffinately think it's better to have the pickups mounted solidly. The problem with most bezels is that pickup and move around back and forth too easy. Fender uses a three screw bezel on their humbucking mounting and Carvin uses four screws. Both are much better than the traditional Gibson two screws.

A pickup is a transducer in which a magnetic field encompasses wire windings. When the magnetic field is distrupted in any manger, a small amount of electricity is generated in the coils. In other words, the pickup kind of works like a mini generator.

The natural ressonance of the guitar effects the way the strings vibratate and amazingly the pickups can sense the tiniest variation in string vibration. It's the way the string vibration effects the magnetic field of the pickup that makes the difference.

If the pickup is allowed to move and rock in even the slightest way, this effects the magnetic field in relation to the strings and you are going to hear a difference. That's why screwing the pickups into the wood body is a good method. The pickup can't move. Now in a traditional Gibson Bezel, that pickup vibrates and moves slightly but as sensative as pickups are, it makes a difference. The key is if you use a bezel, use one that holds the pickup securely! Three or four hieght adjustment screws.

If that pickup is held in the bezel securely, it's just as good as screwing it to the wood. So the rule of thumb here is to mount that pickup where it won't move, jiggle, or rock.

I would say this becomes more of an issue the louder the guitar is amplified or how much gain is being used. It makes those pickups oh so sensative. Any little vibration in the strings is picked up. It sounds like the pickup is amplifying the wood but that is technically impossible. The stings are making those subtle vibrations and the pickup is sending them to the amp. AT lower amp setting they are amplified less or not at all.

So the higher you have the amp cranked the more sensative the pickups become and they will pick up every little thing. So, you deffinately need a good solid mounting surface for that pickup. A good bezel or the tried and true direct mounting into the wood.

[Coyote]

I wonder what this one's based on? :p

http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/ZH-vhii.html

And, based on newly gained personal experience, a Duncan Custom'll get you pretty close too...

(Although, my only problem with the Custom is that it doesn't clean up until the final run of the pot.)

[GAR]

I like how BareKnuckle names their pickup models after rock songs, because the specs match their respective guitarsists' spec pickups for that song.

[Coyote]

What better way to get the correct pickup? (If one doesn't know how to make one, that is)

[dustyr]

Check out these handmade British pickups from: http://www.swinesheadpickups.co.uk/
They're cheap & sound absolutely superb.

Dusty R.

[indeedido]

My fav pickup is the Dimarzio Super Distortion. BUT, in my Frankenstrat I use the Tone Zone to get the CVH tone. It cleans up REALLY good when you turn the guitar volume down. It is a high output pickup without being high output, if that makes sense. It isn't going to make things clip quicker like the super distortion, but it is sweet. I think it is like a PAF with more eq.

I still don't buy into direct mounting the pickup. I've done both, can't honestly tell you there is a difference. It might theoretically pickup overtones in the wood, like if you bang on the back of the guitar, but I really don't know if can pick up the string vibrations in the wood. Possibly if the strings were through the body, but not with a floyd rose. It's all about the magnetic field and the strings.

[Matt White]

JUst put a HS-3 in the bridge & a YJM in the neck of my Strat.....


UH HUhuH UhuHU huHU huhu hu HU huhuhuhu

KEWL

[jhale667]

Originally posted by Matt White
JUst put a HS-3 in the bridge & a YJM in the neck of my Strat.....


UH HUhuH UhuHU huHU huhu hu HU huhuhuhu

KEWL

I'm dumping my EMGs putting an HS-3 in the neck of my main guitar in a bit here.
I'm waiting for a Duncan Custom-Custom I had to special order for the bridge position...

[Matt White]

Right on..............

always cool to upgrade the gear

[Eddie's Booze]

Originally posted by Matt White
JUst put a HS-3 in the bridge & a YJM in the neck of my Strat.....


UH HUhuH UhuHU huHU huhu hu HU huhuhuhu

KEWL

HS-3's are great pickups, very clean sounding.

All I use now is Dimarzio PAF Pro's in the both the bridge and neck :)

They are GREAT sounding pickups.

:D

[jhale667]

OK, just won a Duncan Classic Stack and another Trembucker Custom-Custom on Ebay...putting them in similar guitars...I put my refurbs on hold because I wanna change out all the pickups at once...:cool:
I remember liking the HS-3 when I had it in originally, but will be interesting to do a side-by-side shootout with the Classic Stack
One cool thing I noticed is the TB-11 I just won is a full 1k hotter than newer ones (like the other one I bought recently)...wonder if they changed/lowered the specs over the last few years, or did the winder have a 3-martini lunch that day....? :D