We might perhaps finally know Van Halen's humbuckers magnet type

[Pat_rocks_and_rolls]

I finally found a way to find out which was the real magnet inside the frankenstein humbucker prototype (the super disortion inside the bee).

if this is right then people who bought the 25k replicas will not be really happy...

https://1978guitarsandspecs.wordpress.com/2023/04/05/van-halen-magnet-type-finally-found/

[orpheo]

My god, the obsession with EvH seems to be boundless. A few years ago we had someone who wanted to know the exact brand he used for his stripes, now half a book where it is discussed what length magnet the pickup is (not even what kind, just the length).

[GuitarDoc]

Well, actually, they found a way to "speculate" which magnet type was in his pickup.

Who even cares? (Especially since this is only speculation/theorizing).

Even if someone had the very same pickup that he actually had/played, they wouldn't sound like him anyway.

[JOLLY]

Even if someone had the very same pickup that he actually had/played, they wouldn't sound like him anyway.

They wouldn't sound like him even if the played on his exact guitar and amp.

[GuitarDoc]

^ Exactly.

[GuitarDoc]

My god, the obsession with EvH seems to be boundless. A few years ago we had someone who wanted to know the exact brand he used for his stripes, now half a book where it is discussed what length magnet the pickup is (not even what kind, just the length).

Totally agree.
Too much obsession with EvH and the JB pup.

People...just get a good guitar, a good amp, and learn how to make good tones, and learn how to play. Just be yourselves and stop obsessing over sounding like someone else.

Where would we be if all of the great and unique sounding guitar players (EvH, Hendrix, Vai, Gilmour, Page, Clapton, Beck, Stevie Ray Vaughn, etc, etc, etc) just tried their whole lives to sound like someone else?!

[Mincer]

Where would we be if all of the great and unique sounding guitar players (EvH, Hendrix, Vai, Gilmour, Page, Clapton, Beck, Stevie Ray Vaughn, etc, etc, etc) just tried their whole lives to sound like someone else?!

Sounding like someone else is the basis of the entire guitar industry.

[Rex_Rocker]

I'm going to disagree with you all. I honestly think that is a tone worth obsessing for.

I mean, not only is he one of the best players in history, maybe even the best. But The Brown Sound is like the most sought after tone... like... ever? And honestly, it's not hard to hear why.

What harm does it do trying to go for a tone like his? I agree with the quest for one's tone, but how boring would it be if we all just stuck for our one and only tone all the time? We're all tone nerds in this forum. Tweaking and tinkering is fun after all, no?

And I'm not even a Van Halen fan.

[ICTGoober]

^^^ You are NOT helping. ^^^

[El Dunco]

A bit of trivia never hurt anybody. A lot of unique tones were attempts at copping his tone or using it as an influence and becoming their own thing. So many models of amp and amp mods are inspired by his sound and been taken to places beyond his intentions.

One only needs to look at how many different heavy genres came from his signature amp. From grunge to the very heaviest modern metal. I would also argue that beyond education and trivia, if you’ve already copped the brown sound exactly for fun etc. you most probably don’t need the exact magnet he used and the influence on the sound will be imperceptible.

[ICTGoober]

If you want to get picky about Edward's view, the term "brown sound" did not originate in reference to his guitar sound. Edward was talking about the sound of Alex's drums having a "brown sound".

[Rex_Rocker]

Yeah, like a log, LOL.

[misterwhizzy]

No disrespect, but it's hard to take a pseudo-scientific blog entry that seriously when the author has trouble spelling "length."

[beaubrummels]

Yeah, it's fun chasing trivia that can never be proven or disproven. Makes for an endless chase. It's also well-covered territory. But it's probably unnecessary to go to that trivial level to replicate EVH's sound.

I was recording guitar in The Plant once many years ago and had a rare opportunity to play through Carlos Santana's former '68 Plexi half stack. The engineer plugged me in (wouldn't let me touch it) and let me wail for a bit. I had just bought a new Marshall, so I leaned in to look at the knobs on Carlos' to find out the settings. The engineer waved me off and said, "Don't bother looking at the settings. They aren't going to work on your equipment. Memorize the sound, and then you can figure out what knobs to turn on your rig to sound like that." That was a defining moment for me. That taught me all the trivia of how a sound was actually made doesn't really matter. Because you can find a way to make that same sound with different equipment - you just have to really know the sound you are chasing.

[Masta' C]