Suggest A Good EVH Style Humbucker

  • Thread starter Thread starter dfrattaroli
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I think it is pretty tough to argue about what Seymour Duncan did for Eddie back in the day when as shown above, from Guitar Player magazine 1979, the Seymour Duncan ad shows a Duncan Custom and in parenthesis it says "Van Halen".

There was no hype, no lunatics obsessing over Van Halen's tone, no industry or company or forums devoted to getting Eddie's tones. Just a tiny little company in Santa Barbara advertising a pickup like what they built for Eddie Van Halen.
 
Chubtone":3ppxnpys said:
You want EVH style but limit it to A2?

My favorite EVH sounding pickup is the Duncan 59/Custom Hybrid. It just kicks ass. The Duncan Custom is great too.
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Weren't you speaking highly of some boutique brand a few years back for "that" tone?
 
rupe":3ekrhnw7 said:
Chubtone":3ekrhnw7 said:
You want EVH style but limit it to A2?

My favorite EVH sounding pickup is the Duncan 59/Custom Hybrid. It just kicks ass. The Duncan Custom is great too.
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Weren't you speaking highly of some boutique brand a few years back for "that" tone?
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I'll throw it out there that I had a Wolfetone Marshallhead in my Frankenstrat for a while and loved it. Now I have them in my EVH Wolf Spec. and Les Paul too. Suhr has a pup that does the Brown Sound pretty well. I forget the model.
 
rupe":1igar295 said:
Chubtone":1igar295 said:
You want EVH style but limit it to A2?

My favorite EVH sounding pickup is the Duncan 59/Custom Hybrid. It just kicks ass. The Duncan Custom is great too.
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Weren't you speaking highly of some boutique brand a few years back for "that" tone?
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Yes, the Arcane Brownbucker, which was a boutique version of the Duncan 78 (that cost $40 less than the Duncan) with an A5 magnet instead of the A2. I liked that pickup better than the Duncan '78 because the A2 magnet can be a little soft and saggy in the lows and with a cranked EL34 amp, I don't need something else giving me soft and saggy.

Then I tried a Duncan 59/Custom Hybrid and like one or two other guys on the forum throughout history, I changed my mind and found something I liked better. ;)

Which is a good thing because Arcane has pretty much dried up completely for any stores or customers trying to buy their products. They are so busy building OEM stuff for manufacturers that they have basically just become an OEM supplier. They won't even return my emails or phone calls for a year and a half now and completely ignored my 24 piece order from November 2014.
 
Chubtone":2ngcnta0 said:
rupe":2ngcnta0 said:
Chubtone":2ngcnta0 said:
You want EVH style but limit it to A2?

My favorite EVH sounding pickup is the Duncan 59/Custom Hybrid. It just kicks ass. The Duncan Custom is great too.
Click to expand...
Weren't you speaking highly of some boutique brand a few years back for "that" tone?
Click to expand...

Yes, the Arcane Brownbucker, which was a boutique version of the Duncan 78 (that cost $40 less than the Duncan) with an A5 magnet instead of the A2. I liked that pickup better than the Duncan '78 because the A2 magnet can be a little soft and saggy in the lows and with a cranked EL34 amp, I don't need something else giving me soft and saggy.

Then I tried a Duncan 59/Custom Hybrid and like one or two other guys on the forum throughout history, I changed my mind and found something I liked better. ;)

Which is a good thing because Arcane has pretty much dried up completely for any stores or customers trying to buy their products. They are so busy building OEM stuff for manufacturers that they have basically just become an OEM supplier. They won't even return my emails or phone calls for a year and a half now and completely ignored my 24 piece order from November 2014.
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That was it. Very uncool that they don't even have the decency to return your correspondence :thumbsdown:
 
The Seymour Duncan/George Lynch Screamin Demon is a medium output tweeked Duncan 59 that sounds great in every guitar I have installed one in, and it does the Van Halen thing really well.
 
I'm really digging the EVH Frankenstein pickup. I think it's an A2 mag.

I have it in a Charvel SoCal and maybe it's the body wood/style, but it's a lot tighter than I thought it would be. It doesn't have huge lows, but it's perfect for classic EVH or rock in general. Really vibrant highs, harmonics are insane. I'd say it's a little scooped in the middle, maybe just a little less than a Duncan 59.

It's definitely got some mojo that sets it apart from a lot of other pickups I've tried over the decades. I still use a number of the other suggestions mentioned here, but the Frank is one of my favorites.

Depending on the VH era you're talking about, and the guitar being used, I've had great luck with a really old Dimarzio Super D (mine's from 79 and is unbelievable), Duncan 59 (heard clips of others that are nearly spot-on with a 59). The closest I've personally come to "nailing" VH1 EVH was the Duncan '78. I still prefer the Frank if I had to pick though. It's just got more vibe and I think it can cover a little more ground beyond the VH1 thing.
 
Like Chubtone said, custom/59 hybrid is a pretty sweet one that should work well
 
Mighty Mite Motherbucker, Dimarzio Air Zone or TZ, Gibson 500T.

When It comes to VH tones, the guitar is about playability, but I'd focus more on the amp. FWIW, I played the EVH replica frankenstrat and honestly, its a POS. Ed's tone comes more from his fingers/ boogie style, and his amp.
 
the rossness":2ajqj1ma said:
Mighty Mite Motherbucker, Dimarzio Air Zone or TZ, Gibson 500T.

When It comes to VH tones, the guitar is about playability, but I'd focus more on the amp. FWIW, I played the EVH replica frankenstrat and honestly, its a POS. Ed's tone comes more from his fingers/ boogie style, and his amp.
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Yes and yes.

When they first changed the EBMM EVH to Axis I a/b'd a blue one against a LP with a 500T and was shocked at how close they sounded. LP beat it on sustain of course. But man they were close through a triple recto.

I was going to point out Hot For Teacher is a Flying V and sounds like any other VH song. His amp has a lot to do with it.
 
To build on CP5150's point, some of Ed's best tones IMHO have come from relatively weak PAFs. Now, his iconic tones are from the Shark w/a A8 Ibanez Super 70 (Jamie's Crying, RWTD, YRG), or whatever was in the Frank when VH1 was recorded (and there is much speculation about that). But I do know that Girl Gone Bad, Hot For Teacher and Drop Dead Legs were all his '58 V with the stock PAFs (long magnet A2 but maybe A4). These would have been in the high 7s dc resistance. Also, the solo on "Push Comes to Shove" on Fair Warning is one of his vintage Les Pauls with the stock PAF.

Furthermore, Ed used the V again on Top of the World. The amp is the biggest part of the gain aspect with the pickup providing the tone foundation. For me, give me the tone on Girl Gone Bad. That is the absolute top for me, and not surprisingly very similar to his hero Clapton's Cream tone from Wheels of Fire.
 
Rdodson":1qkqxiyd said:
To build on CP5150's point, some of Ed's best tones IMHO have come from relatively weak PAFs. Now, his iconic tones are from the Shark w/a A8 Ibanez Super 70 (Jamie's Crying, RWTD, YRG), or whatever was in the Frank when VH1 was recorded (and there is much speculation about that). But I do know that Girl Gone Bad, Hot For Teacher and Drop Dead Legs were all his '58 V with the stock PAFs (long magnet A2 but maybe A4). These would have been in the high 7s dc resistance. Also, the solo on "Push Comes to Shove" on Fair Warning is one of his vintage Les Pauls with the stock PAF.

Furthermore, Ed used the V again on Top of the World. The amp is the biggest part of the gain aspect with the pickup providing the tone foundation. For me, give me the tone on Girl Gone Bad. That is the absolute top for me, and not surprisingly very similar to his hero Clapton's Cream tone from Wheels of Fire.
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Agree, Girl Gone Bad is some really killer tone. I've always loved how he sounds on that track.

Had no idea that the solo on Push Comes to Shove was played on a Les Paul. Did you pick this up from an interview somewhere? I think that is the coolest solo he has ever recorded, but I always assumed it was done on the Frank.
 
MichaelR/T":2ug4k1u8 said:
I find the AT-1 does the early VH thing really well, plus it also can cover a number of other different tones as well making it very versatile.

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Damn it, I want that amp! That sounds awesome!!
 
littleguitars":3pi8obzl said:
MichaelR/T":3pi8obzl said:
I find the AT-1 does the early VH thing really well, plus it also can cover a number of other different tones as well making it very versatile.

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Damn it, I want that amp! That sounds awesome!!
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hammered":3pi8obzl said:
MichaelR/T":3pi8obzl said:
I find the AT-1 does the early VH thing really well, plus it also can cover a number of other different tones as well making it very versatile.

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Not to get off topic but this is some inspiring stuff right here :thumbsup:
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Thanks a ton guys, you're all so very kind and I greatly appreciate it. :thumbsup:
 
Chubtone":2z5oamqd said:
You want EVH style but limit it to A2?

My favorite EVH sounding pickup is the Duncan 59/Custom Hybrid. It just kicks ass. The Duncan Custom is great too.
Click to expand...

I'd never heard of the Duncan 59/Custom Hybrid but I've been watching videos of and it seems like it can run all the way from clean to dynamic, mid-gain to modern metal. I like the idea of it being a Van Halen sound with a tighter low end.

I'm about to change up a USA So Cal to H-S-S. Have you ever tried matching it up to single coils? Not sure what but maybe Area 67s. I'd like the singles to be able to go from Wind Cries Mary and funk rhythms to Pink Floyd Pulse type leads.

If that sounds like a lot, I guess it is. I'm trying to put together a guitar that can cover a lot of ground rather than be for a specific style.
 
Motor city pickups 2nd degree black belts. I hear they get a great VH tone!!!
 
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