Early Duncan EVH pickup

Re: Early Duncan EVH pickup

The mxr 6 band EQ and the variac thing are NOT going to achieve the gain and distortion that Ed achieved on van halen 1,marshall plexi's when turned up all the way get loud and clean,nothing like the gain-distortion that Eddie achieved on van halen 1,i have tried the same BS as many other guitar players have tried with not so good results,go back and listen to van halen 1 and then try achieveing that tone with the equipment listed above,its just not going to happen,this thread is getting very old and this has been talked about for many years,plane and simply Ed is just NOT going to say the truth...........
 
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Re: Early Duncan EVH pickup

ratherdashing said:
Please just let this poor thread die in peace!
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+10

Unfortunately, EVH worship is a religion, and hence immune to inquiry.

Even if we were to build a time machine and provide video documentary of the actual gear he used at any given time -- hells, if we brought the actual gear back -- somebody would disagree and call us liars and heretics.

If people were more reasonable and less theological about it, we could discuss this, find some truth, learn something -- 'cause there's a lot to learn from his tone! -- and move on.
 
Re: Early Duncan EVH pickup

Granted, most people here are quite reasonable, so maybe I'm over-reacting.
 
Re: Early Duncan EVH pickup

pittbull said:
The mxr 6 band EQ and the variac thing are NOT going to achieve the gain and distortion that Ed achieved on van halen 1,marshall plexi's when turned up all the way get loud and clean,nothing like the gain-distortion that Eddie achieved on van halen 1,i have tried the same BS as many other guitar players have tried with not so good results,go back and listen to van halen 1 and then try achieveing that tone with the equipment listed above,its just not going to happen,this thread is getting very old and this has been talked about for many years,plane and simply Ed is just NOT going to say the truth...........
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You can get plenty of distortion out of a stock plexi. You can use a caple to bridge 2 of the 4 channels and turn it all the way up and get plenty of dirt. The Variac he used to lower the wattage probably had a good deal with it as well.
 
Re: Early Duncan EVH pickup

The Variac also let him push the low wattage speakers (Celestion marketing claims he was using 20W greenbacks, not the newer 25W) a bit without blowing them as often, and still have the amp wide open for maximum power stage compression/distortion. Did he just do it to the power stage, or the power supply for the whole amp, which has an effect on it's distortion character & compression at every stage? (I have heard the latter, but I can't recall if it was from a reliable source).

Good point about jumpering the inputs, that radically changes the behavior of old amps with that sort of preamp design.

As far as him using distortion or ceramic pickups, I could believe that on Fair Warning.
 
Re: Early Duncan EVH pickup

Take the equipment listed above and the play along with the van halen 1 recording and then report back and tell if it sounds the same.......
 
Re: Early Duncan EVH pickup

VH I is a tough target to try to duplicate, since it was heavily EQed by the engineer/producer. So you need to mic it, EQ it, and play it back and listen to that. Or use an effects loop, which tends to impact preamp/power amp interaction on plexis.

VH II is supposed to have more closely captured the room sound EVH was getting on VH I.
 
Re: Early Duncan EVH pickup

pittbull said:
marshall plexi's when turned up all the way get loud and clean,nothing like the gain-distortion that Eddie achieved on van halen 1,
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I have to respectively disagree. I have a Plexi (albeit a Metropoulos), and crank through greenbacks, it nails the VH (and the ZZ top) tone.
 
Re: Early Duncan EVH pickup

Despair said:
Good point about jumpering the inputs, that radically changes the behavior of old amps with that sort of preamp design.
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Radical? I'd call it subtle.

Yes, it does make a difference, especially in the bass department. But, it's nothing that you couldn't dial in separately (coupling cap for bass, bypass cap for treble). The remaining gain different (1 vs. 2 channels) isn't a big deal in a Plexi.
 
Re: Early Duncan EVH pickup

MattPete said:
Radical? I'd call it subtle.

Yes, it does make a difference, especially in the bass department. But, it's nothing that you couldn't dial in separately (coupling cap for bass, bypass cap for treble). The remaining gain different (1 vs. 2 channels) isn't a big deal in a Plexi.
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You're right, I was tired and carelessly exaggerated there. I don't think it's all that subtle, but that's far closer than radical. Mild difference, that's probably about right.
 
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Re: Early Duncan EVH pickup

So i take it no one has that old duncan ad in GP for the special VH pup? Damn i read through 6 pages here! Lol
 
Re: Early Duncan EVH pickup

Ed Hunter said:
So i take it no one has that old duncan ad in GP for the special VH pup? Damn i read through 6 pages here! Lol
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Oh my God... did you really just dig up this dumb-ass thread? Christ... someone close this thing.
 
Re: Early Duncan EVH pickup

I played a gig once through a friend's plexi and that thing had gain coming out of it's ears. Not like modern high gain amps though, it was clearer and extremely touch responsive, cleaned up beautifully from the guitar volume control. One of the most pleasurable playing experiences I've had. It was very close to the early EVH tone. Add a touch of tube screamer and it sang forever. I've played other plexis that were as clean as a whistle. They were not very consistent. That's why people hung on to the 'special' ones. They were definitely not all created equal. I offered my friend everything I had for that amp but understandably he wasn't interested.
 
Re: Early Duncan EVH pickup

An old fogie here Lol... I was reading thought this thread and was really amazed at the good information that was in it. I was also amazed that the one guy would not let the great information penetrate his thick skull,,, rant over Lol..


Talking EVH & tone etc.


I have an old 83 Charvel that has a very early Seymour Duncan "The Mag" pickup in the bridge. "not a stag mag" just "The Mag" the sticker is gone but was there.. That pickup give me pretty close to EVH brown tones. I play through a Peavey JSX 120w head create 4 x 12 cab loaded with celestial green backs. Oh and the duncan is a double cream, in the neck position it a red label 59


photo%202.jpg






JohnnyGuitarCA said:
Damn right Steve! What part of the I.E. are you in? I'm in Running Springs near Big Bear.
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