EVH Frankenstein Pickup VS MCP 2nd Degree Black Belt

[romanianreaper]

Just in case anyone was thinking about picking either of these up and wanted a comparison (AND wanted to hear my crappy playing) , I did a bunch of riffs with both. A bunch of noodling at the end. Wondering if it is obvious which pickup is at the end:

https://soundcloud.com/romanianreaper/e ... -degree-bb

Both great pickups!

 

[xtcbeast]

I like my Franky I put in my Charvel..open chimney and ballsy at the same time

 

[metalsoup]

There seems to be a panning of effects to the right side of the stereo field in the first take that is absent in the second take. This tends to make the second take sound more up front and slightly fatter but be less clearly defined, perhaps skewing one's impression of the two pickups. I lean towards the clarity of the first take, but again this may be due more to the panning of effects.

 

[romanianreaper]

There seems to be a panning of effects to the right side of the stereo field in the first take that is absent in the second take. This tends to make the second take sound more up front and slightly fatter but be less clearly defined, perhaps skewing one's impression of the two pickups. I lean towards the clarity of the first take, but again this may be due more to the panning of effects.

That is strange because I basically played the riffs with one guitar, unplugged, then plugged into the other guitar with no changes.

I'll double check to see if something got affected when I was moving the clips around to match them up. I will say that the Frankenstein does have more of a clarity but less low end when compared to the Black Belt.

 

[MrDowntown]

The first take of each riff sounds better to my ears....and the last riff starting with on fire sounded like the first pickup. Guessing that's the Franky.

 

[xtcbeast]

I noticed too that the Franky has to be pretty close to the strings and has less low end than some of my other pickups

 

[hammered]

I like my Franky I put in my Charvel..open chimney and ballsy at the same time

I`m guessing your Charvel has a Floyd ? How do the strings lineup with Franky pole pieces ? I`ve heard the Franky is not tremspaced

 

[HilltopExplosion]

Great job man! Great playing! The BB clip does sound more mono, but still kicks ass!

 

[evhfan]

EVH Frankenstein is the greatest pickup known to man

 

[charvelstrat81]

I liked the EVH better on this clip

 

[xtcbeast]

I like my Franky I put in my Charvel..open chimney and ballsy at the same time

I`m guessing your Charvel has a Floyd ? How do the strings lineup with Franky pole pieces ? I`ve heard the Franky is not tremspaced

Correct std spacing but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference that I can hear.

 

[charvelstrat81]

I like my Franky I put in my Charvel..open chimney and ballsy at the same time

I`m guessing your Charvel has a Floyd ? How do the strings lineup with Franky pole pieces ? I`ve heard the Franky is not tremspaced

Correct std spacing but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference that I can hear.

I agree with duncan and gibson style buckers i use reg spaced pu's on floyds all the time
BUT with reg spaced dimarzio's they have a more narrow spacing than duncans so i have to use F-spacing with those or the High E is way off from the pole piece and loses a lot of volume and power.

 

[romanianreaper]

I need to figure out that mono/stereo thing and maybe do another clip. I'm not really hearing that for some reason. Losing my hearing?

Believe it or not, the last noodling part is the Les Paul with the 2nd Degree Black Belt. The one difference is that I bumped the presence up a bit and slightly dropped bass and depth settings. To my ears, each pickup adds something to the VH tone. The Black Belt has better separation IMO with chords, etc. but I think the Frankenstein captures the Eddie tone better.

I really like both pickups and glad I have them in two very different guitars.

 

[AmpliFIRE]

Two totally different types of guitars...not much of a fair pickup comparison IMO. Both sound good though...

 

[romanianreaper]

Two totally different types of guitars...not much of a fair pickup comparison IMO. Both sound good though...

Yeah, I know but at least I'm putting up a clip and not sitting at home eating steak fries on the couch like you...
JK

Seriously though, you are right. There are going to be tones that one guitar really won't be able to mimic. I just wanted to give folks an idea of how the 2nd Degree BB roughly compares with a Frankenstein. I guess I'm trying to show how it can cover a lot of bases. To be honest, I always seemed to put "one trick ponies" into my guitar and would have a hot pickup that couldn't clean up, or something that couldn't do heavy. I'm trying to find a better balance.

 

[charvelstrat81]

Two totally different types of guitars...not much of a fair pickup comparison IMO. Both sound good though...

Yeah, I know but at least I'm putting up a clip and not sitting at home eating steak fries on the couch like you...
JK

.

 

[John 14:6]

The Frankenstein sounds much better at least for the Van Halen stuff. I just ordered a Duncan Screamin Demon for my Jeff Beck Strat. I am am thinking maybe I should have gone with the Franky.

 

[romanianreaper]

The Frankenstein sounds much better at least for the Van Halen stuff. I just ordered a Duncan Screamin Demon for my Jeff Beck Strat. I am am thinking maybe I should have gone with the Franky.

Totally agree. I think obviously they put so much work into the Frankenstein that you anticipate hearing Van Halen tones thru your speaker. I know when I first got it installed, it was instant EVH. In fact, I had Wolfgang guitars in the past and like the Frankenstein pickup much more. I think the Frankenstein does Van Hagar just as good.

Well you can try the Screamin Demon and see if it fits your style, etc. and then always go back. Years ago I was going to get one of those and just didn't seem like it would fit my style. From what I've read, I think I personally would like other pickups better but everyone is different.

 

[HilltopExplosion]

The Frankenstein sounds much better at least for the Van Halen stuff. I just ordered a Duncan Screamin Demon for my Jeff Beck Strat. I am am thinking maybe I should have gone with the Franky.

Totally agree. I think obviously they put so much work into the Frankenstein that you anticipate hearing Van Halen tones thru your speaker. I know when I first got it installed, it was instant EVH. In fact, I had Wolfgang guitars in the past and like the Frankenstein pickup much more. I think the Frankenstein does Van Hagar just as good.

Well you can try the Screamin Demon and see if it fits your style, etc. and then always go back. Years ago I was going to get one of those and just didn't seem like it would fit my style. From what I've read, I think I personally would like other pickups better but everyone is different.

I'm glad you did the comparison. Sounds great! I'm going to replace my EMG's because I found the frankie pup can do that tone (EMG) plus.. from country, to 80's big hair, to bash your head against the wall metal. And now hearing the two, I know which one I'm going with. Thanks man!

 

[hammered]

I know the spacing isn`t a big deal for the most part but seeing as Ed has used a Floyd darn near 100% of the time onstage since 1980 you`d think the Franky would be offered in Tremspacing. For me and my OCD it would bug me that the strings aren`t lining up over the pickup