Alnico II vs Alnico V (for early EVH)

[StuntDouble]

Interesting...I do like the 59 clip the best, but I hear elements of the Pickup 1 clip that have the VH1 sound wheras the 59 does not and the Blisterbucker does sound a little too soft and less lively. It doesn't jump out at you the way the other two do.

The pickup1 clip does seem to be lacking in the mids a little, but has that shimmer and bite on the top that is very VH1, and for lack of a better way to put it...the vibe and feel seems closer even thoguh I would agreee that the 59 overall sounds better. I'm wondering if this could be do in part to the fact that...at least as far as we know, the Super 70 was in a thicker sounding guitar with more mids than a strat...i.e. the Destroyer. Ed went looking for a replacement pickup when he ruined its sound... I'm guessing something with more mids.

Mark, what are your thoughts on the Ultra7T with an EQ in front boosting the mids a bit?

[F#m7]

The '59 is the best mass produced pickup money can buy for Paf type tones IMO. I use them in alot of my guitars in the neck position. Great pickup. There are better pickups out there, but not for under a c-note.

ive tried afew have suggestion for a "better" 59?

i sd custom 5 looks good to me - thats next - a 59 with a little more and its a good indication as far as im concerned that the numbers dont change from the 59 to the custom 5 on seymours tone chart - so a 59 with just alittle more sounds interesting.

The custom 5 has alot more output wise, but that might be exactly what your after. Again, the great thing about duncans is, you don't have to spend the money of alot of "custom" made pickups, and you don't fell like you've been punked if it's not great. I've gone through my fair share of high dollar pickups, and been left feeling like I got kicked in the junk. There are some really great ones, ones I wouldn't sell for any reasonable amount of money because I love 'em so much, but they are all in the 7.8k-8.5k range. It sounds like you want more of a push. try that duncan, I'd be really interested to hear the results. For a pickup with more grunt, have you tried Bareknuckle's Rebel Yell? 14.4K, A5, and they sound really great. There is a dealer in San Antonio, Century Music Systems.Tel: 210 496 2050. There are plenty of soundclips and vids around. Also have you tried the VHII from Bareknuckle? 9k, A5, I have an extra I'll send you to try if you like. My favorite new Pafs are the Throbaks bar-none. But again, more vintage sound, and lower output.

[MARCO]

For the money you cant beat HighOrder Pickups out of Florida. Jeff is amazing at making pickups. His A2 assymetric wind 8.7k is very old school EVH!! Ask around, you can get 2 of his pickups for the price of some other boutiqe makers.

+2 On the Rebel Yell!! Awesome pickup that can do both modern and vintage tones!!

[Ruben]

Just a qiuck thought here

13/14 Kohm A2 is almost the same sounding as 7/8 Kohm with A5?

[StuntDouble]

by that rationale, a Duncan Custom Custom would be more similar to 59 than a Pearly Gates would. But I would have to say that I think that a Custom 5 is much closer to a 59 than a custom custom, and the pearly gates is still closer than the CC.

I think that the increased dc resistance of hotter pups increases the mids and the A2 adds a fullness/furriness to the low-mids and lows that take it even further away from PAF land....just my ears though.

[rgorke]

Ok, Mark is right.

After relistening to my Dim Super D with an A2, I didn't like it. I put an A8 in there and it went from like driving a 1970s Cadillac with a V8 to a Corvette with a V8, if you know what I mean.

[StuntDouble]

Why hell yes, and an MXR 6 band or Boss GE-10 is the super charger to further pimp your ride! A frown curve/mid-boost EQ setting will round out the mids a bit and help get rid of that A8 "quack"...good times!

[nitro]

Stuntdouble hear are the stats of the pickups that you mentioned above: Pearly gates alnico 2 magnet 8.35k - Duncan 59 alnico 5 magnet 8.13k - Custom custom alnico 2 magnet 14.4k - Duncan custom 5 alnico 5 magnet 14.4k,in my opinion the duncan 59 is far from the duncan custom custom tone wise,what i mean is the cc will take you further away from Eds early tone,way further way,people who play a cc should play along with the recording of van halen 1 and just hear from themselves.

[StuntDouble]

ummm...agreed; that was my whole point, and I do agree that for EVH tones the 59 does a pretty good job

[cary chilton]

Can you unsolder and re-solder many new pickups to test with ruining the pot posts?

[dirtycooter]

Here is my take on all of it.

I bet through the years he has used the '59 8 k, super 70, something similar to the blisterbucker-on and on.
All kinds of stuff.
There is no doubting any of these will do it-listen to the clips.
I mean Vhoholics clips are 8k '59 and those sound absolutely fine to me. I really love the tone he gets. The clips bmf5150 has of his Blisterbucker are great too-I like them as well. There are great clips all over here-not precisely VH1 exact-but in the brown zone non the less for sure.

What you have to remember is you guys are chasing that VH1 tone-not Ed or anyone else has gotten that since. If anybody cracks it it will be you guys-but come on-lets not argue and just keep sharin info till we get the main mofo goin. Work together-don't argue.
If your ears tell you that you don't like it then thats up to you to decide not to use it. If I like burnt toast and you don't then is there any sense in arguing or getting jacked up?
I really want to get some recording stuff to post clips too-this is where the proof is in the pudding to me.
That is-if you tell the truth about what you're using then we can all benefit from the research here and work toward a common goal.
I like having the clips to refer to when making these choices-especially since they are all aimed at using the same or similar equipment to get the same sound we are all chasing.

For all we know it could have been one crazy and off the wall preamp tube doing the magic on VH1-who knows-all I do know is we've gotta step back and look at all the p/u's and clips posted and really think.
That super 70 next to bmf5150's Blisterbucker does have something I like, and to be honest I feel the 70 clip has more VH1 edge-but thats me. I still want my Blister bucker for my axe though.
I had never heard any of this info if it hadn't been for whats posted here and I'd be putting in a '59-which I wanna try too on my own later on.

[nitro]

It also depends on what amp,guitar wood,strings,speakers,etc,that the person is using,for example, we know that Ed used northern ash hard ash for his franky (early days),if someone is using another wood instead of northern ash then its going to sound different.You need to follow the items Ed used,now for the amp,well thats another thing,i think that what ever comes close (AMP WISE)then thats what you use,thats where alot of experimenting and trying different amps comes into play.

[bmf5150]

Here is my take on all of it.

I bet through the years he has used the '59 8 k, super 70, something similar to the blisterbucker-on and on.
All kinds of stuff.
There is no doubting any of these will do it-listen to the clips.
I mean Vhoholics clips are 8k '59 and those sound absolutely fine to me. I really love the tone he gets. The clips bmf5150 has of his Blisterbucker are great too-I like them as well. There are great clips all over here-not precisely VH1 exact-but in the brown zone non the less for sure.

What you have to remember is you guys are chasing that VH1 tone-not Ed or anyone else has gotten that since. If anybody cracks it it will be you guys-but come on-lets not argue and just keep sharin info till we get the main mofo goin. Work together-don't argue.
If your ears tell you that you don't like it then thats up to you to decide not to use it. If I like burnt toast and you don't then is there any sense in arguing or getting jacked up?
I really want to get some recording stuff to post clips too-this is where the proof is in the pudding to me.
That is-if you tell the truth about what you're using then we can all benefit from the research here and work toward a common goal.
I like having the clips to refer to when making these choices-especially since they are all aimed at using the same or similar equipment to get the same sound we are all chasing.

For all we know it could have been one crazy and off the wall preamp tube doing the magic on VH1-who knows-all I do know is we've gotta step back and look at all the p/u's and clips posted and really think.
That super 70 next to bmf5150's Blisterbucker does have something I like, and to be honest I feel the 70 clip has more VH1 edge-but thats me. I still want my Blister bucker for my axe though.
I had never heard any of this info if it hadn't been for whats posted here and I'd be putting in a '59-which I wanna try too on my own later on.

i hear ya,the blisster sounds better in person than the super 70,more accurate.

[StuntDouble]

Stan your clips with the A2 blister just absolutely floored me. FW is my favorite album tonewise, and I think for that era of tone, the A2 blister is as good as I've heard. I'm looking forward to trying mine out for sure.
I will say this though...from the clips I've heard, the Ultra 7T doesn't sound very good in strat style guitars, but I popped mine in my L.P. Custom and it was awesome...sounded pretty dead-on for sinner's swing...fwiw, the only song on FW that doesn't sound like an A2 to me. From everything I've listened to, I'm starting to think that the higher DC resistance pups provide that mid-push that thinner sounding guitars need. IMHO, the Ultra7T is a little too clear, open and scooped sounding for a strat, but is very well suited for thicker sounding guitars.

[bmf5150]

yeah i would say the super 70 would be my second choice for pickup..the voodoo 59 is 3rd but i need an eq with that pickup..