Was curious, what pup do you guys use to get the older EVH tones?

[WICKED LESTER]

Re: Was curious, what pup do you guys use to get the older EVH tones?

I have to agree with him to a point, but not all of those will get close. Like you said, the Seth is too weak and mid scooped and so is the '59 (not too weak though). The PG may have too much top on it.

Of all the vintage style PAF's, the '59 is the best choice. Eddie probably dimed his mids on the amp like everyone else did back then. Remember, his Frankenstrat pickup was a PAF with some windings taken off.

However, without having to dime everything, use a Variac and all that jazz, with a hotter pickup the CC IMO is the best choice.

I heard he used a 1961 PAF that had a alnico II in it?
but had seymour rewind one coil that had been broken by eddie's trying to take the cover off

 

[ErikH]

Re: Was curious, what pup do you guys use to get the older EVH tones?

I heard he used a 1961 PAF that had a alnico II in it?
but had seymour rewind one coil that had been broken by eddie's trying to take the cover off

Something like that. I know it came from an ES-335 that he butchered. I think it was even the neck pickup.

 

[shredaholic]

Re: Was curious, what pup do you guys use to get the older EVH tones?

a 59 would be the best one to use out of the ones you mentioned, because Ed used an EQ before and after the amp to boost his mid frequencies (frown shape), there's pics posted of his gear showing this somewhere on this site if you search for EVH gear pics

 

[ErikH]

Re: Was curious, what pup do you guys use to get the older EVH tones?

a 59 would be the best one to use out of the ones you mentioned, because Ed used an EQ before and after the amp to boost his mid frequencies (frown shape), there's pics posted of his gear showing this somewhere on this site if you search for EVH gear pics

But, without use of those EQ's, just going right in to a Marshall with maybe an OD slamming the front a little more, the CC is the one to use.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Was curious, what pup do you guys use to get the older EVH tones?

Eddie didn't use a hot pickup like the CC for his earliest albums...but I agree that through a nice Marshall it will yield a very EVH friendly tone! But through a "nice" Marshall, so will a 59B or 59 Trembucker. The "nice" Marshall is the key ingrediant, IMO...moreso than the pickup. I have a 59 Trembucker in my single pickup Strat...couldn't be happier. You might want to go to: http://www.legendarytones.com and read up on the Duncan EVH pickup, now known as the "78". That would probably be the ultimate choice for the early EVH tone. Of course, you have to have that "nice" Marshall...and also the chops! Lew

 

[Mephis]

Re: Was curious, what pup do you guys use to get the older EVH tones?

I think the DiMarzio Virtual Hot PAF is looking promissing by the stats.

I'm dieing to hear one, I betcha that'd get pretty darn close.

 

[mind_transplant]

Re: Was curious, what pup do you guys use to get the older EVH tones?

That is true, the JB was originally done for Jeff Beck but the EVH (Evenly Voiced Harmonics) was not done for Eddie. I don't think he even used it.

Though I'm not sure if Eddie used it, the EVH/'78 model is descended from a Duncan once made for Eddie:

"There's another guy too...See, I've rewound my own pickups before, and a guy named Seymour Duncan, I got pissed at him too. He called me up and said, "Can we use your name for a special pickup?" And I said no. Next time I pick up Guitar Player magazine, there's a special Van Halen model customized Duncan pickup. I called him up and said, "What the hell's goin' on?" So he stopped finally. It's just kind of weird you know."

That's from an old ('79) Guitar Player interview, and I guess proves Eddie being tempremental is hardly a new thing. :scratchch

On the other hand, I also recall Eddie taking a Dimarzio (pretty sure it was an SD) and popping in a PAF magnet and sticking that in the guitar off the VH2 cover, which he felt sounded thin. So it doesn't even really need to be a PAF, though he did abandon that guitar pretty quick. And as Lewguitar mentioned the right amp is a big factor, but that's a whole other can of worms...

 

[MattPete]

Re: Was curious, what pup do you guys use to get the older EVH tones?

I've tried a CC and a 59. The CC was just a little much in the mids and a little too hot. The 59 was a little too scooped and jangly (actually, it did a good job of capturing his early crappy live sound). Out of curiosity, I put the A2 from the CC in the 59, and that came pretty darn close.

Right now I'm using a 59/Blues hybrid (Theodie loves it!) with an A2 magnet. That's even closer than the 59 (really good VH2 and WACF), but slightly too throaty. My guess would be that a SD EVH/78 would be similar to my hybrid, but much closer to the early sound.

enough of my rambling...

On the cheap: 59 for VHI, CC for Fairwarning. If you want some thing that can cover VH1 through Fairwarning, slap an A2 in the 59 and you'll be awefully darn close.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Was curious, what pup do you guys use to get the older EVH tones?

I use a Harmony acoustic with a 1977 Telecaster neck pickup in the soundhole and I plug into a Roland jazz Chorus for my brown sound...It sounds just like the first VH record!

 

[ranalli]

Re: Was curious, what pup do you guys use to get the older EVH tones?

Eddie didn't use a hot pickup like the CC for his earliest albums...but I agree that through a nice Marshall it will yield a very EVH friendly tone! But through a "nice" Marshall, so will a 59B or 59 Trembucker. The "nice" Marshall is the key ingrediant, IMO...moreso than the pickup. I have a 59 Trembucker in my single pickup Strat...couldn't be happier. You might want to go to: http://www.legendarytones.com and read up on the Duncan EVH pickup, now known as the "78". That would probably be the ultimate choice for the early EVH tone. Of course, you have to have that "nice" Marshall...and also the chops! Lew

Definitely...the amp is SO much more important than the pickup....

 

[Majestic]

Re: Was curious, what pup do you guys use to get the older EVH tones?

A Hybrid should be a nice compromise between the CC and the '59.

BachtoRock sells them at a price similar to the CC or '59, I believe.

I believe their resistance is around 11k, maybe 11.5k.

 

[schcully]

Re: Was curious, what pup do you guys use to get the older EVH tones?

I agree that the '59 works well for the older stuff, with a hot-rodded Marshall. But, I have a mahogany body frankenstrat with a Custom 5, and get lots of compliments on it when I cover the older VH stuff. Of course, the mahogany body and Boogie I'm using would suggest a completely different tone, but I tweak the gain and EQ and get considerably close. I run an old Phase 90 and wah throught the front end, and a DD5 through the loop.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Was curious, what pup do you guys use to get the older EVH tones?

i dont buy this man
eddies tone has a certain elusive middy tone to it i feel the CC may have?
the 59 is too scooped, the PG may be good never tried one
the seth is too weak also mid scooped
eddie had real cool mids in his older tone

The BIG SECRET IS!!!!!!!:



Volume, man.


Crank the hell out of a non-master Marshall and you'll get all the magic sauce you need. :burnout:

 

[Johnny Q]

Re: Was curious, what pup do you guys use to get the older EVH tones?

i dont buy this man
eddies tone has a certain elusive middy tone to it i feel the CC may have?
the 59 is too scooped, the PG may be good never tried one
the seth is too weak also mid scooped
eddie had real cool mids in his older tone

I agree with this 100% Most folks say an 8.5-ish PAF is what Eddie used in the FrankenStrat, but I bet if we can go back in time and measure that sucker I bet it was re-wound a LOT hotter. I'm not even sold that it was an A2 pickup, I think a lot of that "sag" came from the amp.

JQ

 

[Majestic]

Re: Was curious, what pup do you guys use to get the older EVH tones?

So many different ways to do this. The bottom line is to not go too hot. You've got to have string definition without being "spikey".

At the end of the day, everything was Marshall-y.

Whether it was tight, bright, saggy, brown, flat, etc.

I think you'd be better off boosting a low output, clear pickup, than backing-off of a hot one.

I don't agree that a '59 is the ideal choice, but that's me. Especially since very *few* of us have the technical abilities of Edward, or even VHaHolic.

Anything between 9-12k should be clear enough. Any annoying frequencies can probably be dialed-out.

Half the slappies out there are using waaaay more gain than Eddie used, much, MUCH higher wattage speakers, and way, waaaay less power-amp distortion.

.....and that group includes me.