VH1: Distortion or ‘59B

BenPerkins

BenPerkins

New member
Good morning,

I’ve got a DD H103B (which is similar to a Distortion, from reading online). Would that be fine for VH1 tone? I also have the option to trade for a ‘59 bridge.

Guitar is an Epiphone Strat copy.

Thank you
 
I love the Distortion but for that what you are asking about, I think the 59B would be better suited.

Can you do VH1 with a Distortion, sure you can, if you are approximating to the tone with some EQ'ing, playing with pickup height and presence tweaking. Again, if you are just trying to get into the general neighborhood and not the same street it would work.
 
BenPerkins said:
Good morning,

I’ve got a DD H103B (which is similar to a Distortion, from reading online). Would that be fine for VH1 tone? I also have the option to trade for a ‘59 bridge.

Guitar is an Epiphone Strat copy.

Thank you
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I am of the opinion that Frankie had a PAF style pickup at the time of the VH1 recording sessions while the Destroyer had a Super Distortion or similar in it. Frankie and the 5150 both had hotter pickups later on with Frankie having what I believe was essentially a Custom Custom and the 5150 having a JB. Its likely many other pickups had runs in those guitars but I think that's what he settled on

So that said, Historically, I would have gone with a PG if shooting for the PAF/Frankie setup. That is the closest in spec and from experience I found it to be the closest sounding from the production catalog until they moved the 78 into production.
 
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Hsb said:
I love the Distortion but for that what you are asking about, I think the 59B would be better suited.

Can you do VH1 with a Distortion, sure you can, if you are approximating to the tone with some EQ'ing, playing with pickup height and presence tweaking. Again, if you are just trying to get into the general neighborhood and not the same street it would work.
Click to expand...

Again, it depends on which guitar's tone you are trying to emulate. The Destroyer is on about half that first record
 
That's what I was going to say. Half the record is a Mighty Mite Distortion in the bridge of an Ibanez Destroyer, the other half is a PAF in the bridge of a Strat. You can't go wrong with either option. I'd say stick with the HB103 since you already have it. If you don't like it, the 59B is also a good pickup. I think the HB103 will be more versatile in the end though, unless you really like the dynamics of lower winds.​
 
I appreciate all the feedback in this thread.

Where can I find an angled HB pickguard for Strat? I found a seller on eBay located in another country, but he’s on vacation until late September…

Any links would be appreciated, or even if someone has a pickguard they’d want to sell. Or trade
 
The routing in the body of this Epiphone Strat is unusual. The bridge position looks it would fit a Tele bridge pickup (or an angled humbucker). I guess maybe I was thinking it would have a swimming pool route
 
BenPerkins said:
How about Distortion vs SH-5 Custom? Mainly looking at VH1 and 2…
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There is a huge ongoing debate about wether the SH-5 was actually designed for EVH during the time of VH1.

FWIW, I think the Custom does have the VH-1 vibe, but it also depends what guitar it's in.


Check around the 12:40 mark.
 
Rex_Rocker said:
There is a huge ongoing debate about wether the SH-5 was actually designed for EVH during the time of VH1.

FWIW, I think the Custom does have the VH-1 vibe, but it also depends what guitar it's in.


Check around the 12:40 mark.
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Thanks! I’ll check out the video. Epiphone Strat copies generally came with a laminated Alder body and Maple neck.

For amp, I’ve got a Friedman Little Sister. Effects are a Catalinbread DLS (Super Lead side) or a Wampler Plexi Drive mini. Dirty Little Secret might be the best choice…
 
BenPerkins said:
How about Distortion vs SH-5 Custom? Mainly looking at VH1 and 2…
Click to expand...

Between those two, Custom all day long.

As you probably know, since you're getting into it, one pickup won't do all VH1 because he used several guitars on that. My understanding (and I'm sure an internet full of VH Psychos will jump in) is that non-vibrato songs were done with the Ibanez Destroyer with either a DiMarzio Super Distortion (or Mighty Mite clone?) or the factory Ibanez Super70 in it. Vibrato songs were done with the Frankie guitar with a PAF or rewound PAF, which is where the '78 Model and Custom, and alternately Custom Custom come into the picture. He also had a Les Paul Junior and a Les Paul with only one pickup in it floating around at the time. I don't believe it's known if or what songs those might or might not have been used on. IME the '78 Model, Custom or Custom Custom can do a lot of it. I think your amp and pedals will certainly cover the rest.
 
I think I want to go a little bit more down the rabbit hole (if that’s even possible). I’m thinking of doing a SH configuration. Kind of like a mix of both Frankie and Destroyer.

If I were to put a Super Distortion S in the neck, would that get me close to the tonality of the Destroyer?
 
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BenPerkins said:
I think I want to go a little bit more down the rabbit hole (if that’s even possible). I’m thinking of doing a SH configuration. Kind of like a mix of both Frankie and Destroyer.

If I were to put a Super Distortion S in the neck, would that get me close to the tonality of the Destroyer?
Click to expand...
Not really.

I don't think EVH was much of a neck pickup guy.
 
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