Yngwie's ORIGINAL Pickup Configs

SO, even casual searching suggests:

FS1's (Alcatrazz)
HS2's
HS2/3
HS3's
HS3/4
YJM
YJM Furies

Pfft - I give up. Just getting an HS3 and an HS2 and moving on.

Let me screw that up even more for you.

The yjm was renamed the hs4 when Yngwie jumped ship.

So sorry.
 
And - Banjomikez for the win! I changed my order to 2 HS3's at the last minute and they made it happen!!!!
 
I've never been a fan of Yngwie. Then again, I'm not sure if I've ever listened to him. But, that video interview was good.

If wanted to listen to him, what album, and/or song, should I start with?
 
I've never been a fan of Yngwie. Then again, I'm not sure if I've ever listened to him. But, that video interview was good.

If wanted to listen to him, what album, and/or song, should I start with?

Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force from 1984. That's the album that put him on the map. Blackstar, Evil Eye, Icarus' Dream Suite, Far Beyond the Sun...This album is the birth of Neo-classical shred and Bach & Roll. Nothing before it as intensely focussed and seething in classical chops as this. First album since Van Halen 1 to really move guitar players to say WTF?!?!?!?! I'll recommend the album

After that I recommend Odyssey (88), Eclipse (90), or Fire and Ice (91) - Working with really good singers, and the song writing is strong.

And alternative option is Trial By Fire: Live in Leningrad. I'll point out that the impressive part is that it is live. Incase you were wondering "Yeah, he can do that in the studio, but can he pull it off live..." It's a cool greatest hits, plus has Spanish Castle Magic.

You might actually enjoy Inspiration, which is his covers/influences album. A lot of Deep Purple, etc on that.

And, just for fun, you gotta watch Arpeggios From Hell....

 
Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force from 1984. That's the album that put him on the map. Blackstar, Evil Eye, Icarus' Dream Suite, Far Beyond the Sun...This album is the birth of Neo-classical shred and Bach & Roll. Nothing before it as intensely focussed and seething in classical chops as this. First album since Van Halen 1 to really move guitar players to say WTF?!?!?!?! I'll recommend the album

After that I recommend Odyssey (88), Eclipse (90), or Fire and Ice (91) - Working with really good singers, and the song writing is strong.

And alternative option is Trial By Fire: Live in Leningrad. I'll point out that the impressive part is that it is live. Incase you were wondering "Yeah, he can do that in the studio, but can he pull it off live..." It's a cool greatest hits, plus has Spanish Castle Magic.

You might actually enjoy Inspiration, which is his covers/influences album. A lot of Deep Purple, etc on that.

And, just for fun, you gotta watch Arpeggios From Hell....



You never know what you'll get with Live Yngwie, because sometimes he's really drunk and plays pretty much what he wants and ignores the band, other times he's GD brilliant and can do things no one else can. I saw him in Clearwater last month and got the latter; he was at the top of his game.
 
And the HS-3's are not a beautiful tone. Plain Jane Vanilla. No real character. Although they did work fairly decently for Yngwie. I would never recommend them. And they sound old now.
 
And the HS-3's are not a beautiful tone. Plain Jane Vanilla. No real character. Although they did work fairly decently for Yngwie. I would never recommend them. And they sound old now.

First of all, they are the sound of his first albums

Second, this is for a YJM guitar project

Finally, I'm old.


But let's explore.....you have some bold opinions:

1. What is a beautiful tone to you? Please suggest pickups and/or songs/artists

2. The terms "Vanilla" and "Old" are hardly well known tonal characteristics. Please describe your thoughts on what is "Rocky Road" or "New" compared to the HS3
 
They sound very old. Compare them to the Area 67, Area 58, Area 61. Or the Virtual Solo etc. on and on. They sound outdated because they are. Yngwie landed here in about 1982 or 1983 and that's what was available back then. That's a long time ago. They sound old. Dimarzio has since put out much better sounding pickups. And Yngwie has put out better albums since his first one.
 
OK - 58, 61, and 67, are all pickups that would, how shall I say this....sound old.

I play Duncan Distortions, 59's, JB's etc. All also from the same "era" as Yngwie and those pickups don't sound "old"

I have newer DMZ's Liquifire and Crunchlab, for example. They are not what I want for this guitar.

What do you consider a "Better" album by YJM? And why?
 
OK - 58, 61, and 67, are all pickups that would, how shall I say this....sound old.

I play Duncan Distortions, 59's, JB's etc. All also from the same "era" as Yngwie and those pickups don't sound "old"

I have newer DMZ's Liquifire and Crunchlab, for example. They are not what I want for this guitar.

What do you consider a "Better" album by YJM? And why?

His second one. That's the best one! :lol:
 
​ But to make a serious point, I also think that anything that sounds closer to a 60s (or so) Fender single will work better for most people, the same way sth hotter like a Fender Texas Special would work better than SRV's actual A3 singles in the hands (and rigs) of most people.

Not that I think the HS sound outdated or old, but that Yngwie's tone, his sustain, comes from having a cranked 50W Marshall with a booster in front. Like, his tone has that natural loudness, bite and compression because it has that giant tyrannosaur-like amp rig powering it.

Personally I would just get pickups with that kind of punch without the need for that kind of rig. But I also play digital.​
 
OK - 58, 61, and 67, are all pickups that would, how shall I say this....sound old.

I play Duncan Distortions, 59's, JB's etc. All also from the same "era" as Yngwie and those pickups don't sound "old"

Which is quite a paradox since 59 is farther in the past than 61 or 67... <:0)

More seriously, I personally love the tone on the first albums. The instrumental track at the end of Marching Out still gives me shivers.

When I'm in an Yngwie crisis, I use a regular Strat, but with a primitive dummy coil in it. It rises the inductance of B or N around 3.6H, not that far from HS-3. I don't need more because it doesn't last long generally before I find myself with ringing ears and sore fingers (0.10/46 strings being still not the easiest to play YJM, especially when youth is far in the past)... and my home made DOD250 clone (currently changed in a 308) makes all pickups sound the same through a Marshall anyway. :-P

As an anecdotical and off topic note: it's also a paradox to see how the name of DiMarzio pickups evolved: "HS-3" sounds "advanced", like the version .3 of anything. "58", "61" and "67" seem an attempt to disguise more modern stack designs in time machines. Not logical but somehow instructive.

Sorry if I sound very old. I probably sound outdated because I am. I landed on Earth a long time ago. I sound old. ;-)


Enjoy with your "twisted leads" HS-3's, Aceman.
 
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