What to do with EVH 78

[Chistopher]

Morning gang,

I recently acquired an EVH 78 that I picked up and was just the most fantastic guitar and I had to leave with it (being 40% off sticker price helped too). It looks like the black/white Frankenstrat. That being said, I'm not big on replica guitars and it's tone is almost entirely overlapped by my Wolfgang with the same bridge pickup. I've got a few options for what I might do with it.

Probably going to keep it master volume, but I'm thinking of possibly putting a Lawrence 500XL in it, or perhaps making it into an "xSx" configuration where the only pickup is a 5-2 in the middle position. or perhaps I'll try a P90 in the bridge.

I'm open to any additional ideas.

 

[cliffenstein]

Sometimes you just want something simply because it looks cool. Who cares if you have overlap...let this beautiful thing just sit out in your house, in your music room or whatever, inspiring you to play!

 

[beaubrummels]

Put a Duncan '78 Model in and enjoy it for what it is

 

[Chistopher]

I guess that would be more historically accurate than the 14k humbucker in there now. The unfortunate thing about this guitar is it's reliced, so I'm probably gonna end up getting an Antiquity version of whatever I end up putting in there

 

[Ashurbanipal]

I've got an old Ibanez that's basically a Baretta copy and I've been toying with the idea of putting a P-Rails in it. Maybe something like that might be fun in a single pu guitar, where initial looks would belie functionality.

 

[Artie]

Put a Duncan '78 Model in and enjoy it for what it is

Yup. (And pics would be sweet.)

 

[Chistopher]

I'll get the pictures, but I'm trying to find a goofy little EVH inspired guitar I did to join the picture.

 

[Chistopher]

Here's picture. The guitar on the left is a Bullet Strat that I added a couple of GFS parts, a Super Distortion, and a bunch of paint to. It's not the easiest to play, but very fun. Tonewise the Super D is amazing and the stock Squier pickups are okay. Super D is broken at the moment, I think one of the coils has a short. I have one other black/white guitar I painted, but the nephew has it at the moment.

The 78 is a really great guitar though. The volume knob has just enough treble bleed to where it still fattens up a little when I clean up with the volume knob. The tones on this thing are great. The factory setup was perfect. It stays in tune perfectly if you don't use the tremolo (I don't). Neck feels amazing. It really let's my versatility as a player shine; I can get warm round tones using my pick attack and location instead of using a pickup selector and tone control as a crutch. I've been able to get passable country, rockabilly, EVH, and funk tones out of it with the only control I touched being the volume. Only downside is the slanted pickup doesn't make sense because it already has F-spacing, so the high e drops out a little bit when playing clean, but that's sometimes a good thing.

Playing them side to side has me thinking. One of them is a guitar that cost me in total a little over $100. The other is an expensive guitar based off of a guitar that a teenager put together for round about $450 after inflation. I hope that if I ever get my hands on the real Frankenstrat, I would notice that it feels a lot closer to my Squier than to my EVH.
The 78 is a great instrument designed for people with money, but my Squier has much better lore to it. All the places I've taken it because I wasn't worried about it losing value or getting it stolen. All the people I've let borrow it over the years to do small shows purely because they thought it looked cool. The fact that nothing sits perfect on it, but I made it work where it mattered. Or even the fact that it started out as my friends first guitar, that he converted to left handed and then let fall into major disrepair. Man I love that little guitar.

I'll keep to playing with it, maybe we can find something worth recording. Definitely a keeper though for sure.

 

[Chistopher]

Aw man, the SDUGF compressed my picture, the Squier is a little more worn out than the picture would have you think

 

[EmiAba]

What I noticed with evh products (I have a wolfgang special) they seem to sound almost identical regardless the shape. Yes they are all basswood and maple after all but those pickups tend to eliminate the differences. Hen I both the wolfgang I tried three different models (with ebony fingerboard, with maple cap and without) and they sounded all the same. If I were you I will put a black super distortion in it

 

[Chistopher]

I was also considering a Super Distortion. Maybe with a nickel cover just to be different

 

[Chistopher]

Put a Duncan '78 Model in and enjoy it for what it is

How does a 78 bridge compare to a Custom Custom? The Wolfgang bridge is basically a CC

 

[beaubrummels]

How does a 78 bridge compare to a Custom Custom? The Wolfgang bridge is basically a CC

'78 is lower output, thinner and brighter. The Custom Custom has the brightness but a notable mid-hump to it, and it's louder. IME the '78 allows you to get the 'starved plate / Variac brown sound' without having a Variac on a standard Marshall amp.