Looks like Pariah reverse engineered the EBMM EVH/Axis pickups......did they succeed?

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harddriver

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This may be old news.............but I don't remember seeing much about the Pariah Poundcake pickups....:dunno:
I wasn't aware that anyone had attempted cloning the EBMM EVH pickups....I guess I missed it....

 
When I was trying to build a cheaper version of my EBMM EVH, I contacted Steve Blucher regarding which pickups would be closest to my EVH,

He suggested that I wouldn’t hear or feel any difference from the Tone Zone B / Air Norton N combo.

He said the (Tone Zone) is so close, only Eddie chose one ‘slightly’ more times over the custom one when A/B ing them.
Steve said he personally couldn’t tell the difference.

Just what he told me.
I never did finish the project.
 
EBMM EVH PUs, as were early Axis, were 2-conductor. The later Axis PUs transitioned to 4-conductor.

SIN PUs did a clone of the Dimarzio EVH/Axis PUs. I've read, through other sources, that SIN is a one-man operation.

I concur with the Tone Zone/Air Norton reference. Others, on various forums, say the Andy Timmons (AT-1)/Air Norton combo also are very close.
 
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I thought I read that Ed and Steve Lukather narrowed it down to two versions and they ended up flipping a coin to decide which neck and bridge pickups EBMM would go with for the EVH guitar. EBMM's agreement with DiMarzio was that they could not sell these pickups separately. So they ended up selling the ones Ed didn't pick, which became the Tone Zone and Air Norton.
 
I have a Locke Amadeus/Wolfgang kit being built now with the Pariah Poundcakes.
I’ll update the thread when I get the guitar finished.
 
Didn't Seymour Duncan recreate this pickup in their CS ? I think it was the IM1 pickup
 
SQUAREHEAD said:
When I was trying to build a cheaper version of my EBMM EVH, I contacted Steve Blucher regarding which pickups would be closest to my EVH,

He suggested that I wouldn’t hear or feel any difference from the Tone Zone B / Air Norton N combo.

He said the (Tone Zone) is so close, only Eddie chose one ‘slightly’ more times over the custom one when A/B ing them.
Steve said he personally couldn’t tell the difference.

Just what he told me.
I never did finish the project.
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I heard the very same thing and bought a TZ for a basswood bodied Meanstreet Kramer clone and didn't think it was that close to my EBMM Axis that I had at the time.

To be fair that guitar sucked no matter what pickup it had in it.............:LOL: After cycling every pickup imaginable I sold the guitar for cheap.......:thumbsdown:

I had a J Frog superstrat that was a piece of shit dog guitar as well that had a spongy neck...................but I would never buy from Meanstreet again but this was a long long time ago.
 
harddriver said:
I thought the IM1 pickup became the 78 model if I am remembering correctly.
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My understanding is Duncan made the IM1 to replicate the sound of their Frankenstein pickup, which could only be sold by EVH.

The deal changed so now Duncan can sell the Frankenstein pickup through the Custom Shop, except for the configuration EVH sells (double black open coils). As such, the IM1 is discontinued.
 
SQUAREHEAD said:
When I was trying to build a cheaper version of my EBMM EVH, I contacted Steve Blucher regarding which pickups would be closest to my EVH,

He suggested that I wouldn’t hear or feel any difference from the Tone Zone B / Air Norton N combo.

He said the (Tone Zone) is so close, only Eddie chose one ‘slightly’ more times over the custom one when A/B ing them.
Steve said he personally couldn’t tell the difference.

Just what he told me.
I never did finish the project.
Click to expand...
Read the same thing they basically brought ED 3 pickups A B C
He picked C which would be in the MM
A was the Tonezone and that was taken by Paul Gilbert
B was the Norton and apparently he almost chose that
 
Rick Lee said:
I thought I read that Ed and Steve Lukather narrowed it down to two versions and they ended up flipping a coin to decide which neck and bridge pickups EBMM would go with for the EVH guitar. EBMM's agreement with DiMarzio was that they could not sell these pickups separately. So they ended up selling the ones Ed didn't pick, which became the Tone Zone and Air Norton.
Click to expand...
Yep
The Air Norton in the Bridge is pretty damn good
The Air Zone is probably close to it as well , I believe the air or lower magnet pull was one of the special things about the Axis ones at the time
 
GreatRedDragon said:
My understanding is Duncan made the IM1 to replicate the sound of their Frankenstein pickup, which could only be sold by EVH.

The deal changed so now Duncan can sell the Frankenstein pickup through the Custom Shop, except for the configuration EVH sells (double black open coils). As such, the IM1 is discontinued.
Click to expand...
So basically if you want a Seymour Wolfgang it the Franky Frannky +
Is there any differences other than aesthetics
 
harddriver said:
This may be old news.............but I don't remember seeing much about the Pariah Poundcake pickups....:dunno:
I wasn't aware that anyone had attempted cloning the EBMM EVH pickups....I guess I missed it....

Click to expand...

It’s very hard to tell with an Eventide
2 delays and WDW yes it sounds like ED but clean into a Marshall what does it sound like
 
gtr31 said:
So basically if you want a Seymour Wolfgang it the Franky Frannky +
Is there any differences other than aesthetics
Click to expand...
It's not a Wolfgang, that's a true Fender pickup with Fender's weird baseplate.

The Franky, Franky Plus and Franky Classic are Duncan pickups. The Franky was designed for the 2004 aged Frankenstein. The Franky Plus is an overwound version. The Franky Classic is lower output.

EVH only sells the pickups in double black with short legs, vintage pole spacing and four conductor wiring. Duncan sells them in other colors and with covers, and also with the option for trem-spacing, single conductor and long legs.
 
Jalen makes them in any form you want. I have one that's a clear bobbin with four conductor wire, two in double cream in a Les Paul, a few zebras, all in four conductor wire and wired up for parallel or coil-splitting. Fender missed the boat here. I thought the Frankenstein pickup would be total snake oil, but I grabbed a used one and love it. I have lots of Jalen copies now because Fender won't make them in the formats I want.
 
Rick Lee said:
Jalen makes them in any form you want. I have one that's a clear bobbin with four conductor wire, two in double cream in a Les Paul, a few zebras, all in four conductor wire and wired up for parallel or coil-splitting. Fender missed the boat here. I thought the Frankenstein pickup would be total snake oil, but I grabbed a used one and love it. I have lots of Jalen copies now because Fender won't make them in the formats I want.
Click to expand...
Does Jalen make an EBMM AXIS/EVH pickup like the Pariah Poundcake which is like 18K A-5 magnet?

I know Jalen makes a Franky+ P/U the Pinnacle which is 14.4K A-2 magnet just like the Duncan Frankenstein because I just bought one to try.
1742508955345.webp
 
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