What HB for early VH tone?

[Mr. Willy]

A friend of mine is building an Eddie guitar like the Kramer model with the hockey stick headstock. He's wondering what pickup to use.

The EVH Frankenstein pickup is an obvious choice, as is the Bareknuckles VHII.

I told him to look for a low/medium output humbucker. I seem to remember reading that the HB he used in his original guitar was taken out of a Gibson 335 and was a low output paf style.

You guys who've nailed the tone, what pickups should he consider?

 

[Badronald]

Wasn't Eddie's original pickup a potted Gibson P.A.F.?

 

[Mr. Willy]

Voodoo Pickups. Never heard of them. Thanks, I'll check it out.

I was thinking too that if he didn't want to spend too much money he could go with a SD59. I wouldn't, but he might want to save some cash.

 

[Bishop5150]

I've got a Seymour Duncan in mine sounds great.

 

[Mr. Willy]

I've got a Seymour Duncan in mine sounds great.

Nice job man! Looks great! Any tips for mounting the HB directly to the body and adjusting the height? I'm going to wire it up and set it up for him, but I've never mounted a HB directly to the body. I assume I'll have to put all the hardware on first and string it up so I can measure it.

 

[Mailman1971]

I always thought the Duncan CUSTOM CUSTOM fit that tone pretty good.

 

[TeleBlaster]

I'm going to go out on a limb and give credence to the shorted out coil theory for early VH.
There is a story going around that Eddie got a string hung up on the bridge pup and shorted it, and it was essentially functioning as a single.
I was going for a different tone for a project using a Strat, and much to my surprise I was screwing around with the bridge pup on only and all of a sudden had Fair Warning tone...

Whatever humbucker you choose, throw a switch in there to try it coil tapped, you might be surprised.

 

[troublehead]

SD Custom Custom.........without a doubt

 

[Anonymous]

SD Custom Custom.........without a doubt

Not even close if you are looking for the tones from the first 4 albums. Here is what I have tried that will really get you there with the right amp and guitar:

Mojave Pickup
Tom Holmes 455
Duncan '78
Voodoo '59
High Order 8.3K

Basically, you are looking for an 8.3-9.3K resistance, low output PAF-like pickup. There are plenty of them. Probably a Duncan '59 or a Dimarzio PAF would work just as well for this tone as the expensive pickups I've noted here. To me the best for this tone I've tried is the Mojave pickup, closely followed by the Duncan '78...

Here is a clip of the Mojave pickup:

Jamie's Cryin'

Here are clips of the Duncan '78:

Solo Clip I
Solo Clip II

Steve

 

[reverymike]

Here's the Duncan Custom Custom. . . sounds pretty close to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SXMmKUUVIY

 

[the rossness]

Gibson Burstbucker

 

[mentoneman]

What steve said

Any recent plexirod developments?
Some new cranked clips on the horizon?

Or have you already moved on

 

[thegame]

I'm going to go out on a limb and give credence to the shorted out coil theory for early VH.
There is a story going around that Eddie got a string hung up on the bridge pup and shorted it, and it was essentially functioning as a single.
I was going for a different tone for a project using a Strat, and much to my surprise I was screwing around with the bridge pup on only and all of a sudden had Fair Warning tone...

Whatever humbucker you choose, throw a switch in there to try it coil tapped, you might be surprised.

+1. What sounds even better than a tapped bucker, IMO, is wiring the two coils in parallel. Sounds in between a tapped bucker and full humbucking mode.

 

[Anonymous]

Any recent plexirod developments?

I learned a ton from the prototype, but I have found limitations to the design that I don't find acceptable/optimum. I have figured out a much easier way to deliver an even better amp...

I have done some re-design of the layout and switching that will make the amp far easier to build and require far less relay switching circuitry without compromising anything I wanted in the amp. The new design will have only 3 relays in the amp and none in the footswitch (my current design has 6 relays in the amp and 4 latching relays in the foot switch!!!) You live and learn...

I also decided to put in separate tone controls for the modes. This requires a totally different layout because I need to have two new 12AX7s - I'm effectively putting in completely separate premaps for the Plex and Rod modes now...

New schems are done - should have the new layout designed soon and am working with someone who is going to make my chassis, and the V 2.0 amp built and tested by the end of the year, going into production in 2011... Doing this as a side business makes things take much longer, but whaddaya gonna do?

Steve

 

[Superunknown]

Motor City 2nd Degree Blackbelt.....

 

[Anonymous]

Motor City 2nd Degree Blackbelt.....

I totally agree for Michael Anthony tone.

Steve

 

[Motorpud]

I'd say MCP black belts. I have a set in my LP and they're never coming out. I saw a guy on here put up a pretty good van halen clip on YouTube, was like bmf5150 or something I'd check that out, sounded the best out of all the VH clips to me

 

[mentoneman]

Motor City 2nd Degree Blackbelt.....

I totally agree for Michael Anthony tone.

Steve

i haven't heard this pu but i assume you think it may have a taste too much lows

it's funny how after being a seymour fan for years, then meeting vic and him turning me on to holmes pickups, how much bass i hear now in other pickups i used to love and how unattractive that is, and how much it interferes with how i set up my tones.

good to hear you are refining the plexirod to your tastes. i spoke with vic today mentioning how much i miss having a mojave in my stable and expressing my desire for an amp that's part plexi 45 for clean to dirty with gtr volume, then a second channel that's peacemaker dimed tone at any volume, with a solo boost to go "rockstah"!

he says there are some cool new mojave developments on the horizon....

 

[Anonymous]

I'd say MCP black belts. I have a set in my LP and they're never coming out. I saw a guy on here put up a pretty good van halen clip on YouTube, was like bmf5150 or something I'd check that out, sounded the best out of all the VH clips to me

Steve

 

[Bishop5150]

I've got a Seymour Duncan in mine sounds great.

Nice job man! Looks great! Any tips for mounting the HB directly to the body and adjusting the height? I'm going to wire it up and set it up for him, but I've never mounted a HB directly to the body. I assume I'll have to put all the hardware on first and string it up so I can measure it.

Wish I could take credit but I can't. I did make one from a cheap online kit that I keep at home to noodle on now an then. I bought this one from a guy who had it custom built. It's a sweet guitar and came with an older style Floyd with the flathead screws instead of the hex and D-Tuna like I wanted. Plays like butter. The neck is amazing. The paint job is flawless. I wanted one that was in brand spanking new condition so I could put all the dings and scratches and chips and rust marks in myself over time for however long I'm around and then pass it down to someone in the family when I'm gone. Whoever built it put in a nice touch on the back of the headstock with the EVH Art Series logo.

As far as installing the pickup and setting the height and so forth I think you have the right idea.