Wolfgang: alnico or ceramic magnets?

daniel80

New member
I already searched in the net, but there are a lot of disagreeing informations on these p’ups. :eyecrazy:
Can somebody tell me FOR SURE if they are ceramic or alnico?
They are high output and bright at the same time, so I would think ceramic.
 
Re: Wolfgang: alnico or ceramic magnets?

I thought the wolfgang was a half aired Tone Zone/Air Norton set
 
Re: Wolfgang: alnico or ceramic magnets?

It doesn't really matter what they're made of. They sound AWESOME! There's a clip somewhere of a guy with Peavey Wolf pickups in a Les Paul and it just smokes. I would imagine the new Wolfie pickups could enhance most guitars.
 
Re: Wolfgang: alnico or ceramic magnets?

Original pickups on the Peavey are made by DiMarzio, w/ AlNiCo-V.
Original pickups on the EVH are made by Fender, w/ degaussed AlNiCo-II [link].

Both are good pickups... but blown away by the Seymour Duncan '1978 for EVH, which you can get easily via the Custom Shop.
I have a balanced pair w/ push-pull coil-tap on a solid basswood Wolfgang Standard (without maple top) and they are extremely vivid and versatile, giving me 6 different sound options...

Also check the new Wikipedia article on the Peavey EVH Wolfgang...
 
Re: Wolfgang: alnico or ceramic magnets?

Original pickups on the Peavey are made by DiMarzio, w/ AlNiCo-V.
Original pickups on the EVH are made by Fender, w/ degaussed AlNiCo-II [link].

QUOTE]

Actually, the EB/MM EVH model had Dimarzios. The Peaveys had Peavey Wolfgang pickups, which were hotter and darker. Both were Alnico 5's

The current Wolfgang, I hear, has ceramics
 
Re: Wolfgang: alnico or ceramic magnets?

I was always under the impression that the Peavey pickups were thin ceramic mags, not AlNiCo V. Eddie prefers more "full-range" sounds from pickups these days and AlNiCo (except for A8) mags are usually limited in their sonic range, whereas ferrous magnets have lots of sonic headroom depending on many factors. The new ones Fender made are very close... the whole "80+ revisions" thing is pure marketing nonsense. They used the Peavey pickups on his prototype to get a basic idea and they probably only changed a few things to get it "right".

Wikipedia is not a very reliable source for accurate information... ESPECIALLY on topics that are not scholarly (math, science, etc). Remember, it's written by fans and people who think they know things, even if they have no real source and Wikipedia is very lax about editing bad information, unless it is a "hot button topic" like 9/11 Truth or something.
 
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Re: Wolfgang: alnico or ceramic magnets?

"Original pickups on the EVH are made by Fender, w/ degaussed AlNiCo-II"
This is the frankenstrat

"Both are good pickups... but blown away by the Seymour Duncan '1978"
Also this pickup is the imitation of the frankenstrat pickup.


I never tried one of these guitars or pickups, they're expensive and hard to find. Anyway I think they would sound different from the wolfgang, so they are not what I'm looking for.
 
Re: Wolfgang: alnico or ceramic magnets?

The Frankie pup is made by the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop, not Fender. The Fender pups are just re-engineered Peavey Wolf pickups, from hearing the two guitars. The Frankie pup is basically what is sitting in the original guitar after it was retired in '83, for which Ed had rewound at some point to deal with the thinner-sounding Floyd setup. I my opinion, this pickup was an early prototype of the "custom", only with the original PAF magnet from Ed's original.

Since Ed started using 6L6-powered amps, he needed more pickup power to push the amp harder to get the breakup he wanted. The Kramer had a JB or something similar, which---in my opinion---pushed his Plexi a little too hard, hence the ugly, overdistorted tones of 5150 and OU812. When he switched to the Soldano and Peavey amps, the hotter pickups sounded better.

I'm pretty certain the Peavey pups are ceramic.
 
Re: Wolfgang: alnico or ceramic magnets?

with all this discussions about VH here in the forum I started listening again to all VH discography. After this I decided that everything past women and children first sound to my ears (I repeat, to my ears) weak if not ugly, although 1984 has some good tones too somewhere. I think it depends on the songs too, very so-so compared to the first 3 album.
the latest ones, particularly, seem more out of date than the first albums, where songs and guitar tones really shine.
Am I the only one who think like this?
 
Re: Wolfgang: alnico or ceramic magnets?

with all this discussions about VH here in the forum I started listening again to all VH discography. After this I decided that everything past women and children first sound to my ears (I repeat, to my ears) weak if not ugly, although 1984 has some good tones too somewhere. I think it depends on the songs too, very so-so compared to the first 3 album.
the latest ones, particularly, seem more out of date than the first albums, where songs and guitar tones really shine.
Am I the only one who think like this?

I dunno. I tend to think F.U.C.K has the most powerful tones he ever had, but that might be because of the SLO-100 and Suhr custom preamp he used, in conjunction with those MM guitars.

I've been really digging VHIII's tones lately. Like the tunes or lump them, I think Ed's search for "clean sustain" that "kicks ass and screams" was right there on that record. That Peavey guitar definitely kicks butt and his last Peavey amp line was very good too!

As far as dated goes, the guitar sounds in the early days are amazing and do stand up to today's sounds, but Alex's drum sounds (except the snare drum) were VERY dated all the way until F.U.C.K. That kinda hurts the overall sound... that and the obvious under-mixing of the bass guitar.

Sadly with the consistent issues with Ed and Al and dysfunction with them and lead singers, as well as their constant denial of any new material or record, makes the current "sound" a mere fantasy for fans. Will we ever have a "new" Van Halen record? Who knows....
 
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Re: Wolfgang: alnico or ceramic magnets?

I dunno. I tend to think F.U.C.K has the most powerful tones he ever had (...).

I've been really digging VHIII's tones lately. (...)

Will we ever have a "new" Van Halen record? Who knows....

I also think F.U.C.K. had a great guitar sound and production.
How did he do it with a MM/EB is unbelievable... I love the guitar but it's just not versatile... and he did the A-to-Z with it.

Also think there are hidden gems in VH3, both musically and tonally... the sound on "From Afar", the chill-out vibe on "Once", the funk on "Without You" verse riff... a second album with Gary would have been really welcomed 'cos there was a new creative direction... oh well.

The next VH record is due next spring... tour will follow!

Regarding the pickups, I cannot be 100% sure... as someone pointed out, info was gathered from the web and it's not from an official source. Can someone ask Eddie?
 
Re: Wolfgang: alnico or ceramic magnets?

I also think F.U.C.K. had a great guitar sound and production.
How did he do it with a MM/EB is unbelievable... I love the guitar but it's just not versatile... and he did the A-to-Z with it.

Also think there are hidden gems in VH3, both musically and tonally... the sound on "From Afar", the chill-out vibe on "Once", the funk on "Without You" verse riff... a second album with Gary would have been really welcomed 'cos there was a new creative direction... oh well.

The next VH record is due next spring... tour will follow!

Regarding the pickups, I cannot be 100% sure... as someone pointed out, info was gathered from the web and it's not from an official source. Can someone ask Eddie?

Year To The Day... that's just pure emotion. I don't know how someone could not like that song.

A P-90 Wolf??? Seriously? I've never seen one.
 
Re: Wolfgang: alnico or ceramic magnets?

Year To The Day... that's just pure emotion. I don't know how someone could not like that song.

A P-90 Wolf??? Seriously? I've never seen one.

There were alot of photos of that guitar floating aroung in `98
 
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