HERE WE GO AGAIN. Which pup for Van Halen

[SoCalSteve]

I know, this has been asked dozens of times, but on the old forum. Can't find anything on this new one. His sound has a sort of wah to it. I'm wondering how the pickup is eq'd. Which one will get us in the ballpark. I know it has alot to do with his amp, hands, use of whammy bar but how 'bout it?

 

[dudeman08]

Re: HERE WE GO AGAIN. Which pup for Van Halen

I hear that the '59b would do the trick. It's a low output PAF pup. I don't own one, but that's what I've been told before on this forum.

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: HERE WE GO AGAIN. Which pup for Van Halen

Several will get you close....the tone IMO is much more in the amp and the variac than the pickup. However, there is a custom shop pickup called the 78' model, or EVH (Evenly Voiced Harmonics) that is about as close as you can get to the first album sound. It will run you about $140, but sounds like it's well worth it.

Other people almost nail the sound with a 59'. CC will do the 1984 type stuff.

 

[rspst14]

Re: HERE WE GO AGAIN. Which pup for Van Halen

A '59 with an alnico 2 or 3 magnet will get you pretty close, and it'll cost about half of what the custom shop EVH will.

Ryan

 

[SoCalSteve]

Re: HERE WE GO AGAIN. Which pup for Van Halen

How do you get that '59 w/alnico 2 or 3?

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: HERE WE GO AGAIN. Which pup for Van Halen

How do you get that '59 w/alnico 2 or 3?

You buy the 59' either here - Blackrose or here - Lews Guitars

Then go here to buy magnets - Mangets and Parts

and do this- Magnet Swap Tutorial

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: HERE WE GO AGAIN. Which pup for Van Halen

You buy the 59' either here - Blackrose or here - Lews Guitars

Then go here to buy magnets - Mangets and Parts

and do this- Magnet Swap Tutorial

And get yourself a vintage Marshall...that's the most important piece of gear. ( after chops and talent ) The right pickup (59B, EVH/78, Custom Custom, etc ) through the wrong amp ( Fender Twin Reverb, Crate, Blues Jr., etc. ) won't sound like EVH...regardless of how hot your chops are.

But any good humbucker through the right amp will...IF you have the chops.

Lew

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: HERE WE GO AGAIN. Which pup for Van Halen

What you need, my friend, is a set of Distortion Strings! Yep, that's right, Distortion Strings. Nothing nails the early VH tone like a set of corroded strings that just came off an old guitar, sitting in my closet. I'll even put them in a wooden box with a signature that looks just like Eddie's on top. Serial number #1. Forget Ed's hands, :biglaugh: his variac'd 71 Superlead, his striped guitars etc. The long lost secret was his Distortion Strings. For the BIN price of $39 plus shipping, you too can capture that elusive tone! LOL :nana:

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: HERE WE GO AGAIN. Which pup for Van Halen

Stop messing with the newbie's Jonsey. I bought a set of those distortion strings and all they'll play is Air Supply covers.

fftopic: :smack:

 

[Mac-P]

Re: HERE WE GO AGAIN. Which pup for Van Halen

What you need, my friend, is a set of Distortion Strings! Yep, that's right, Distortion Strings. Nothing nails the early VH tone like a set of corroded strings that just came off an old guitar, sitting in my closet. I'll even put them in a wooden box with a signature that looks just like Eddie's on top. Serial number #1. Forget Ed's hands, :biglaugh: his variac'd 71 Superlead, his striped guitars etc. The long lost secret was his Distortion Strings. For the BIN price of $39 plus shipping, you too can capture that elusive tone! LOL :nana:

Are the Distortion Strings true bypass?

And by the way, I hear the old Distortion Strings were made differently and sound WAAAY better. Any truth to that?

 

[shred-dog]

Re: HERE WE GO AGAIN. Which pup for Van Halen

that is because the old distortion strings have had to be tuned, untuned exposed to heat and humidity, ect !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :laugh2: :laugh2:

 

[captain cavman]

Re: HERE WE GO AGAIN. Which pup for Van Halen

You can get good VH tone with a '59 or a PG and several others , to me it's more related to the Marshall plexi head crancked and the MXR P90 kind of thing.

Also , there were some discussions on the old forum about "hybrid PUs" the way great Ed modded his.

I copied the post from a friend on the old forum (don't remember his name!) and still have it . So here it is about the Hybrid :

"Hey there... I am a newbie to the board... been using Duncans for about 20 years now!
Been checking out all the talk on the fine variations of the Duncan Custom and thought
I would register and get involved in helping others reach the pinnacle of tone.
Many years ago, I had the fortune of meeting EVH backstage and chatted guitars for awhile...
luckily, he was a bit sauced and revealed to me his "secret" pickup!
This was the time period of Fair warning...
Being fond of the 59 and Duncan Custom models but wanting something in the middle ground,
he made a pickup with one 59 coil and one Custom coil...
he described it as a WOOFER and a TWEETER combined to capture the full tonal spectrum of the guitar...

the mismatched coils also cancelled less frequencies and had 2 different resonant peaks
producing a more balanced tone.
The only drawback is that is cancelled just a tiny bit less hum...
which is barely noticeable(NOTE: this combining of different coils is patented by Dimarzio
and is the basis of almost all of their pickup designs starting with the FRED)
Anyway... I immediately fabricated one of the pickups and have not looked back since...
they are in most of my guitars...
it's ABSOLUELY FANTASTIC SOUNDING!
The coils add up to approx. 11.5k and the pickup retains it's tone and clarity while rolling
down the volume control WITHOUT the resistor/capacitor trick across the lugs of the potentiometer.
You can fine tune it with A2 or A5 magnet depending on the particular instrument.
If you are handy with a soldering iron and fine wiring this is not that difficult of a project.

Of course, I still use the regular 59(Alnico 2 or 5), Custom(Alnico/Ceramic variations)
and JB in some guitars, but if you need that something right in-between...
this is the pickup that will do it! "

There you're man !

 

[51501984]

Re: HERE WE GO AGAIN. Which pup for Van Halen

Who`s tried the 59b with an A2 or A3 for the hard rock?

 

[WARRENLEELYNCH]

Re: HERE WE GO AGAIN. Which pup for Van Halen

Who`s tried the 59b with an A2 or A3 for the hard rock?

The 59 with a II or 3 is better suited for older VH than the stock 59.
if you guys really want to zero in on that EVH tone,get a marshall have it modded by david bray http://www.davidbrayamps.com/second.htm
and Email this guy http://mywebpages.comcast.net/skgs/sk/Index.htm
and have him make you a copy of a exact 1961 gibson P.A.F and have him pot it. the rest is up to your hands!

 

[MattPete]

Re: HERE WE GO AGAIN. Which pup for Van Halen

I tried the 59b with an A2 and liked it a little more than the normal A5 59. A little less scooped.

Having said that, the neck and body of my swamp ash Warmoth strat came in last week. My single coils hadn't arrived yet, so I slapped a 59 into a spare pickguard and wired it directly to the output jack. Boy, was it ever twangy! That swamp ash strat will sound great once my single-coils come in...

...I figured the wood + lack of tone and volume controls were making the 59 sound twangy, so I figured I'd switch the A5 magnet for an A2. I took the 59 apart and what did I find? A magnet with a blue line on it ("blue = A2")! I guess I had forgot to put the A5 back in. Just goes to show you how much of a role wood plays in the sound of a guitar (I had earlier tried the A2 and A5 59's in a chambered mahogany strat).

So...A 59 will get you close, and= A2 59 closer. I think a big key is using an old Marshall. Also, keep in mind that Ed used an EQ between his guitar and amp, with the mids boosted and highs and lows cut (which would explain why he can use an ash strat and not sound so twangy, but there is a bit of twang there if you listen for it).

Also, keep in mind that some of his best recording were done with an Ibanez Destroyer. Ed says it was korina, but there is some confusion because Ibanez at some point switched from korina to ash dyed to look like korina.

 

[WARRENLEELYNCH]

Re: HERE WE GO AGAIN. Which pup for Van Halen

I tried the 59b with an A2 and liked it a little more than the normal A5 59. A little less scooped.

Having said that, the neck and body of my swamp ash Warmoth strat came in last week. My single coils hadn't arrived yet, so I slapped a 59 into a spare pickguard and wired it directly to the output jack. Boy, was it ever twangy! That swamp ash strat will sound great once my single-coils come in...

...I figured the wood + lack of tone and volume controls were making the 59 sound twangy, so I figured I'd switch the A5 magnet for an A2. I took the 59 apart and what did I find? A magnet with a blue line on it ("blue = A2")! I guess I had forgot to put the A5 back in. Just goes to show you how much of a role wood plays in the sound of a guitar (I had earlier tried the A2 and A5 59's in a chambered mahogany strat).

So...A 59 will get you close, and= A2 59 closer. I think a big key is using an old Marshall. Also, keep in mind that Ed used an EQ between his guitar and amp, with the mids boosted and highs and lows cut (which would explain why he can use an ash strat and not sound so twangy, but there is a bit of twang there if you listen for it).

Also, keep in mind that some of his best recording were done with an Ibanez Destroyer. Ed says it was korina, but there is some confusion because Ibanez at some point switched from korina to ash dyed to look like korina.

this is quite a discussion over at www.plexipalace.com
it has been confirmed that mr VH used a 1961 gibson P.A.F that he potted.
I personally think the 59b is not perfect for VH but is damn close.
what players who want ED's tone should really do is get a copy of a 1961 P.A.F not copy of a 59 which in 59 P.A.F's sounded very different.
you can also go to peter florence at http://www.peterflorance.com/voodoohome.html
and talk to him, for $140 he will make you a exact dupe of a '61 like VH used
I have a '61 P.A.F i got recently for a amount i am embarassed to post,but it sounds :eek2: i want to get it copied so if i decide to go with the duncan CS, i will tell MJ to name it the "brownbucker" and others can just order one from her by asking for it by name :bigok:

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: HERE WE GO AGAIN. Which pup for Van Halen

What magnet did the 61 have??

 

[WARRENLEELYNCH]

Re: HERE WE GO AGAIN. Which pup for Van Halen

What magnet did the 61 have??

the majority in the early 60's used 5's(small bar) mine has a small bar 5(shorter in length) as well

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: HERE WE GO AGAIN. Which pup for Van Halen

What magnet did the 61 have??

ALNICO 5...almost for certain!
That would make the a5 59B very close to a '61 Gibson humbucker...like we've been saying all along. I use the 59B Trembucker in two of my Strats...it's my fave in a Strat. Lew

 

[WARRENLEELYNCH]

Re: HERE WE GO AGAIN. Which pup for Van Halen

ALNICO 5...almost for certain!
That would make the a5 59B very close to a '61 Gibson humbucker...like we've been saying all along. I use the 59B Trembucker in two of my Strats...it's my fave in a Strat. Lew

IMHO after finally owning one if you put a alnico III in a 59b, it will be so close to a original '61 you wont know they difference.
here is the thing the 59b in stock form has less midrange than my '61 and the 59b stock has too much bass, the output is fine as is,but to get those more creamy mids,and a looser bass like mr VH the III is the best bet, this is a extremely easy,low cost way to get a old VH pickup.
the 59b is already potted all ya gotta do is slap a III in her! oh yeah a vintage marshall helps! :laugh2: