Is the EVH pickup a scam?

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donkey

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I believe the idea of this pickup being a little-known custom shop item has been a slick marketing scam all along. I'll bet the EVH is one of the best-selling Seymour Duncan pickups! And they've got people paying $160! Eddie Van Halen is putting them in his new limited edition guitars – so even if there was a conflict between Seymour Duncan and Eddie Van Halen, it's obviously been resolved. Also, Eddie's use of the pickup on the Charvel guitars is another backdoor endorsement.

The pickup hounds on this website may think otherwise, as they've probably known about the "78 model" or "EVH wind" for years. But, think of the general Gibson/Fender buying public. It's a brilliant move – fooling people into thinking they've "discovered" the secret to one of the most coveted tones in Rock guitar history. :smack:
 
Re: Is the EVH pickup a scam?

Doesn't the Duncan EVH stand for "Evenly Voiced Harmonics", and not Eddie Van Halen?
 
Re: Is the EVH pickup a scam?

FretFire said:
Doesn't the Duncan EVH stand for "Evenly Voiced Harmonics", and not Eddie Van Halen?
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They changed the moniker to "'78" on the CS page.

I dunno if they help nail the early VH tone but they're great pickups in their own right. They way they respond when you smack the strings is phenomenal.
 
Re: Is the EVH pickup a scam?

Am I missing some kind of point?
To go onto Duncan's web site and decry one of their products, not based off first-hand experience or a bad customer service experience, but because you feel there is some kind of conspiracy going on ... that's just idiotic.

A word of advice, Donkey: Don't go to Bare Knuckle's site!! You may buy a Miracle Man pickup thinking it will make you play and sound like Zakk Wylde!!
 
Re: Is the EVH pickup a scam?

donkey said:
I believe the idea of this pickup being a little-known custom shop item has been a slick marketing scam all along. I'll bet the EVH is one of the best-selling Seymour Duncan pickups! And they've got people paying $160! Eddie Van Halen is putting them in his new limited edition guitars – so even if there was a conflict between Seymour Duncan and Eddie Van Halen, it's obviously been resolved. Also, Eddie's use of the pickup on the Charvel guitars is another backdoor endorsement.

The pickup hounds on this website may think otherwise, as they've probably known about the "78 model" or "EVH wind" for years. But, think of the general Gibson/Fender buying public. It's a brilliant move – fooling people into thinking they've "discovered" the secret to one of the most coveted tones in Rock guitar history. :smack:
Click to expand...

my friend grew up with eddie van halen back through his high school years to his getting signed with warner brothers
and he told me that eddie used a gibson PAF pup from a 1961 ES-335 for his first strat(fender) in high school then used it in a boogie bodies/charvel homemade strat(black/white striped on the 1st record)
that same pup wound up being rewound by seymour duncan back in early 1979
NOW you tell me?
is the 78 custom shop pup a clone of that rewind ?:dance:
 
Re: Is the EVH pickup a scam?

FretFire said:
Doesn't the Duncan EVH stand for "Evenly Voiced Harmonics", and not Eddie Van Halen?
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1. Correct, the Name was "Evenly Voiced Harmonics"

2. The current Pickups fopund in the EVH Art series and the EVH Standard series are custom wound by FENDER, not Duncan. This Info is directly from Evan Skopp at Duncan (the post is buried somewhere deep in the forum) and Mike Kotzen at the Jackson CS........

3. Nowhere in any marketing literature published on behalf of SD (other than the website) has the EVH / ´78 even been MENTIONED, much less touted as "THE Eddie Van Halen Pickup" or similar. In fact, if you were to call up SD right now and talk to customer supoport, I´d bet you 50 bucks that for a "Tone like Eddie´s" they´ll recommend a CustomCustom first ;)

The "EVH" pickup has been around since 1978, and anyone that didn´t know about it has only their own lack of research (or interest) to blame. It was even a consideration early last year to even turn it into a "normal" production pickup. (Though I´m not 100% sure how far SD "initiated" the polls or whether it was a "Forum Idea")

As far as the best selling Duncans.... http://www.seymourduncan.com/website/news/newsletters.shtml#top_10

1. JB Model™ Humbucker
2. ’59 Model™ Humbucker
3. Hot Rails™ for Strat®
4. Woody™ Acoustic Pickups
5. Jazz Model™ Humbucker
6. Pickup Booster™ Pedal
7 Invader™ Humbucker
8. Duncan Distortion Humbucker
9. JB Jr.™ for Strat®
10. Little ‘59™ for Strat®
Click to expand...

I hoinestly have no Idea where you have this Information from. But I would be interested to know, as I know for a fact that most of it is blatantly wrong ( Otherwise this post wouldn´t have been necessary ;))
 
Re: Is the EVH pickup a scam?

Zerberus said:
1. JB Model™ Humbucker
2. ’59 Model™ Humbucker
3. Hot Rails™ for Strat®
4. Woody™ Acoustic Pickups
5. Jazz Model™ Humbucker
6. Pickup Booster™ Pedal
7 Invader™ Humbucker
8. Duncan Distortion Humbucker
9. JB Jr.™ for Strat®
10. Little ‘59™ for Strat®
Click to expand...

I'm always surprised when I see this list . . .

First, that the "Woody" is #4, and second, by the fact that none of the Customs made the top 10. :smack:
 
Re: Is the EVH pickup a scam?

Zerb,

You are the man. Nice response.

Donkey,

To quote Shrek, "Go climb a mountain and get off my ass!".
 
Re: Is the EVH pickup a scam?

1. The EVH in the Charvel guitars is definitely a Seymour Duncan.

2. This is my first posting in the forum, but I was active in the old forum. I thought the EVH would be a production pickup by now.

3. I am a troll, there's no doubt about that. But, anybody who tells you "EVH" isn't a coded name is fibbing.
 
Re: Is the EVH pickup a scam?

donkey said:
1. The EVH in the Charvel guitars is definitely a Seymour Duncan.

2. This is my first posting in the forum, but I was active in the old forum. I thought the EVH would be a production pickup by now.

3. I am a troll, there's no doubt about that. But, anybody who tells you "EVH" isn't a coded name is fibbing.
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1. How do you know? All the info I've seen simply says "Custom wound EVH pickup"

3. You're right, it is a coded name, it stands for Evenly Voiced Harmonics, as I've seen it labeled on this very site. Anything else is purely assumption by the individual.
 
Re: Is the EVH pickup a scam?

donkey said:
3. I am a troll, there's no doubt about that. But, anybody who tells you "EVH" isn't a coded name is fibbing.
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No Donkey... Just a coincidence :D. Like the JB, wound for Jeff Beck but if fact stands for Jazz/Blues. Same happens with EVH... Imagine you pull out a new strat single coil called SRV and you say it stands for "Strat Raw Vintage".

IMO it's just a valid maket strategy... BUT obviously not a coincidence.
 
Re: Is the EVH pickup a scam?

donkey said:
1. The EVH in the Charvel guitars is definitely a Seymour Duncan.

2. This is my first posting in the forum, but I was active in the old forum. I thought the EVH would be a production pickup by now.

3. I am a troll, there's no doubt about that. But, anybody who tells you "EVH" isn't a coded name is fibbing.
Click to expand...

What a knob........ You picked the right screen name.

The San Dimas uses the 78 but the Charvel doesn't.

No **** EVH is a coded name. What are you going to reveal next? There is no Santa Claus?

More importantly, WHO GIVES A RAT$ A$$
 
Re: Is the EVH pickup a scam?

If you want to learn more about the Custom Shop '78 Model pickup, start by readin the FAQ response. It should clear up some mis-conceptions and confusion about the name and the fact that it's not associated with any particular artist.

About Charvel, they did a 25th Anniversary San Dimas guitar which used the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop '78 Model. But that's not the Edward Van Halen guitars (EVH Art Series). Those instruments do not use Seymour Duncan pickups. They use Fender EVH models. You can learn more about the guitars here.

But to repeat, the pickups in the Charvel EVH guitars are Fender EVH's. The pickups in the 25th Anniversary San Dimas are Seymour Duncan Custom Shop '78s.

Any questions?
 
Re: Is the EVH pickup a scam?

I've read the faq information.


I really didn't expect this much negativity. If you search this forum you'll find several postings from regular users asking why the 78 model isn't a production model. All I'm saying is that Seymour Duncan has used some clever marketing (read: scam) to charge a lot more for this pickup due to the romance and mystery associated with the early Eddie Van Halen sound. I guess that makes me a "knob."

Let me ask this: Is the pickup worth the cash or is it a scam?
 
Re: Is the EVH pickup a scam?

I think its easy to understand why you're recieving much "negativity". Its too clear to even explain.

What in the world is wrong with "clever marketing"? Should they only use dumb marketing, to be percieved as honest? How about full page ads in "PMS Monthly"? Would that be a good marketing strategy. I don't get your point.

Ever heard of "supply and demand"? Its what makes our country tick. I like the concept. ;)
 
Re: Is the EVH pickup a scam?

donkey said:
Let me ask this: Is the pickup worth the cash or is it a scam?
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In the classical economic sense, it's worth what folks are willing to pay. SD might be able to sell more at a lower price. An interesting question is whether they'd be more profitable doing so.

It it a scam? I don't think so. It's a premium product at a premium price. If that falls within your definition of "scam", then Fender (CS), Gibson (RI), and PRS (non-SE) are probably ripoffs, too. I've plunked down the $$$ for a set of EVH's and would do it again. In fact, I probably will.
 
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