Fnder/EVH Wolfgang - neck pup hotter than bridge!

[greengriff]

Does anyone know anything about whether Eddie Van Halen likes anything a bit 'odd' with his pickups? I'm not a Van Halen fan, but I bought a new EVH Wolfgang after being finding out the specs of the guitar matched my 'dream' specs. I love everything about it - except the neck pickup tone, which is a bit thick (and not in a good way) and which sounds nowhere near as good as, say, a SD Jazz or a Fender Sidewinder.

Out of curiosity I tested the resistance and the neck pup is 15.9k, which is 2k more than the bridge pickup! No wonder it sounds thick. Could this be a mistake perhaps? Or poor tolerances (perhaps it's meant to be exactly the same pup as the bridge). Does Eddie have the same spec pups in neck and bridge? Any thoughts would be welcome!

 

[AudioWonderland]

Re: Fnder/EVH Wolfgang - neck pup hotter than bridge!

Resistance is not a measurement of output

 

[jimo]

Re: Fnder/EVH Wolfgang - neck pup hotter than bridge!

Resistance is not a measurement of output

And yet it sounds hotter and muddier.

 

[AudioWonderland]

Re: Fnder/EVH Wolfgang - neck pup hotter than bridge!

And yet it sounds hotter and muddier.

Its not listening to the same section of the string. Of course it will sound different. A little research would be your friend here...

 

[greengriff]

Re: Fnder/EVH Wolfgang - neck pup hotter than bridge!

Resistance is not a measurement of output

Theoretically true, but I've found over years of swapping pickups around that *generally* hotter pickups have higher resistance. Anyway, your comment doesn't help answer my question.

 

[orpheo]

Re: Fnder/EVH Wolfgang - neck pup hotter than bridge!

whats the problem? just swap it out for another pickup of your liking! air norton, duncan jazz, pearly gates, whatever.

 

[AudioWonderland]

Re: Fnder/EVH Wolfgang - neck pup hotter than bridge!

Theoretically true, but I've found over years of swapping pickups around that *generally* hotter pickups have higher resistance. Anyway, your comment doesn't help answer my question.

If you are going to argue with science then no one will be able to

 

[ACE 4080]

Re: Fnder/EVH Wolfgang - neck pup hotter than bridge!

acutally, I have considered doing this on one of my future guitars, I really never use the bridge for solos, unless it is mixed with a warm, high output pickup. so it makes sense for the few like me for it to be like that.

 

[greengriff]

Re: Fnder/EVH Wolfgang - neck pup hotter than bridge!

If you are going to argue with science then no one will be able to

Sigh. How am I arguing with science? All I have said was that I have noticed during my own bouts of pickup swapping that generally louder/higher output pickups are wound to a higher resistance. No doubt there are many exceptions (although the DiMarzio HS3 is the only one that springs to mind for me), but I have not personally come across them.

Besides all of that, my actual question was about the EVH wolfgang pickups and Eddie Van Halen's ideas about pickups, not about hotter pickups generally.

 

[xxxplorer]

Re: Fnder/EVH Wolfgang - neck pup hotter than bridge!

Eddie has always liked a 'hotter' neck pickup... my peavey wolfgang had a hotter neck... I didn't like those pickups at all actually, so I swapped em out completely.

But yeah, the neck is supposed to be hotter, and the bad part is you can't lower or raise the pickups as they are direct mounted.

 

[dominus]

Re: Fnder/EVH Wolfgang - neck pup hotter than bridge!

Sigh. How am I arguing with science? All I have said was that I have noticed during my own bouts of pickup swapping that generally louder/higher output pickups are wound to a higher resistance. No doubt there are many exceptions (although the DiMarzio HS3 is the only one that springs to mind for me), but I have not personally come across them.

Besides all of that, my actual question was about the EVH wolfgang pickups and Eddie Van Halen's ideas about pickups, not about hotter pickups generally.

Dimarzio - Steve Morse Bridge - 9.94k
Dimarzio - Steve Morse Neck - 21.0k

They measure output differently than SD, Bridge output is 450mv, neck is 250mv. Both pickups have ceramic magnets.

As for EVH himself, doubtful. One of his signature guitars had something similar to the Dimarzio Air Norton neck / Tone Zone bridge combo -

Air Norton - 12.58k, 270mv
Tone Zone - 17.31k, 375mv

 

[ErikH]

Re: Fnder/EVH Wolfgang - neck pup hotter than bridge!

Dimarzio - Steve Morse Bridge - 9.94k
Dimarzio - Steve Morse Neck - 21.0k

They measure output differently than SD, Bridge output is 450mv, neck is 250mv. Both pickups have ceramic magnets.

As for EVH himself, doubtful. One of his signature guitars had the Dimarzio Air Zone neck / Tone Zone bridge combo -

Air Zone - 17.49k, 323mv
Tone Zone - 17.31k, 375mv

Incorrect on the EVH DiMarzios. The neck was actually closer to an Air Norton and around the 12-13k range. The bridge was most definitely hotter than the neck in that guitar. The bridge was not a Tone Zone but was close. IMO, the Air Zone got closer to the B1 pickup in his EBMM than the Tone Zone.

Some players just like a hotter neck pickup. There's nothing wrong with that. It's his sig model and he can put in what he wants.

 

[dominus]

Re: Fnder/EVH Wolfgang - neck pup hotter than bridge!

Incorrect on the EVH DiMarzios. The neck was actually closer to an Air Norton and around the 12-13k range. The bridge was most definitely hotter than the neck in that guitar. The bridge was not a Tone Zone but was close. IMO, the Air Zone got closer to the B1 pickup in his EBMM than the Tone Zone.

Some players just like a hotter neck pickup. There's nothing wrong with that. It's his sig model and he can put in what he wants.

Yup, I meant Air Norton, just have Air Zone on the brain. It's my answer to just about everything.

 

[WoodyTone]

Re: Fnder/EVH Wolfgang - neck pup hotter than bridge!

gg, that is a very interesting Q and one that as an EVH fan/"scholar" I have no info on. Crap!

If I find anything I will post it here.

 

[greengriff]

Re: Fnder/EVH Wolfgang - neck pup hotter than bridge!

Everyone's answers are much appreciated. Given that the guitar is great and the tone from the bridge pickup is outrageously good, I'm open to suggestions about what would make a more 'transparent' sounding neck pickup in this particular type of guitar. It has a very thick basswood body and a fairly thick maple top. Not a wood combination I'm at all familiar with, so the opinions of anyone who has owned other guitars with this tonewood combination would be very welcome.