The DSD/Mighty Mite on VH1 theory

[stef]

As pointed out, the DSD is very dependent on how close it is to the strings. It can easily turn to mush and be too heavy metalish.

Whatever pickup EVH had in his strat on VH1 it was pretty close (not all the way though) to the strings. The chirps (strings occasionally hitting the poles) are all over the place...

[EJSLPlexi]

You have brought up a very important point and i totally agree with you!
I also hear the string hitting the polepiece or some part of his pickup when he digs in!
so IF he did use this dimarzio he had it very close to the strings

[dirtycooter]

Those chirps may not be that. Possibly it sounds like a pre tube microphonic thing almost. And with the output of the dsd it is actually pretty noisey for as far as passive pickups go. My practice vox valve tronic amp gets all chirpy weird when I am rapin its front tube with the dsd. Don't happen with the 59.
Notice though that palm mutes like atbl...... they have that attack with the dsd. Like a very distinct punchiness.
Personally?? I liked the tone Pete was gettin when he switched to the paf-that fuller woodier vh2 and later thing. Alot more body and a more pleasing crunch with not ao much fuzzy sizzle.
For leads??? The dsd did its thang with sheer awesomeness. Maybe that explains the 3 channels on the 5153. The first two channels are like petes paf demo and the third allows you to use the paf but has oodles of gain.
Almost like Ed is just waiting for someone to invent a pickup he can switch between a super drive and a paf in the same pickup in the same pu position.
Rockstah did confirm his clips were a new dsd. (Due to manufacturing variances) One thing some may have to check is their pots if there are differences though. I crammed my dsd into my pv wolf standard and I think it could maybe be further away from the strings still.
But the dsd definitly shines in a lower gain pre circuit. Almost like a tube screamer with that kinda sensitivity.
I don't recommend the dsd for hi gain circuits though-its far too much.

[stef]

on atomic punk I hear strings hitting the poles, chirp sound plain and simple

[Tone Slinger]

I agree with DC,when you attack the muted stuff (like 'ATBL') the DSD has that articulated PUNCH and crispness. NO alnico pu I've tried has that, through ANY amp. I dont think Ed had accsess to Seymour by the time of the first album. He had a zebra MM DSD clone in his ALL black Franky in '77 photo's. There was also a double creme MM (or was it a DSD ?) in that sun burst strat, just before the Franky (all black). I think Ed had a MM or a DSD in the Franky on VH1 all the way to the 12/31/77 Whiskey gig. The '78 World tour was less gain and attack, but warmer tone (A2 paf ?).

I'm not sure when Dimarzio started making the DSD in non cream color, but R. Rhoads had solid Black ones in his 3 pu Black Les Paul Custom in '82. I guess Ed had a zebra MM or double cream DSD in the B & W Franky before he put the 'Seymour' Paf in it .

[fivecoyote]

About the chirps, not saying one way or another about pickup height but don't forget Ed has super strong hands and hit those light strings very hard. Crazy hard. He might be pushing those strings down a bit to where us mortals can't. Who knows!

[EJSLPlexi]

II dont think Ed had accsess to Seymour by the time of the first album..

Sure he did IF he was hangin out at wayne charvels shop.
according to wayne EVH was going to him as early as late 76 and in turn would make it very likely that EVH asked about "who is a real good pickup winder around here in santa barbra"
Guess what wayne charvels answer would have been?

http://p.twimg.com/AzzoMfeCAAAdONd.jpg:large" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[rgorke]

II dont think Ed had accsess to Seymour by the time of the first album..

Sure he did IF he was hangin out at wayne charvels shop.
according to wayne EVH was going to him as early as late 76 and in turn would make it very likely that EVH asked about "who is a real good pickup winder around here in santa barabra"
Guess what wayne charvels answer would have been?
http://p.twimg.com/AzzoMfeCAAAdONd.jpg:large" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Holdsworth lives in Santa Barbara?

[EJSLPlexi]

II dont think Ed had accsess to Seymour by the time of the first album..

Sure he did IF he was hangin out at wayne charvels shop.
according to wayne EVH was going to him as early as late 76 and in turn would make it very likely that EVH asked about "who is a real good pickup winder around here in santa barabra"
Guess what wayne charvels answer would have been?
http://p.twimg.com/AzzoMfeCAAAdONd.jpg:large" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Holdsworth lives in Santa Barbara?

http://www.seymourduncan.com/tales-from ... 00x208.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[rgorke]

Just yanking your chain.

A buddy of mine did an internship at SD in the late '80s...we went to UCSB. He didn't get paid but he got an amp out of it. One of those 8331 or whatever. If I would have known then what I know now or even cared, I would have been rifling through drawers and what not to get info.

[EJSLPlexi]

it is a strange chain of events back then wayne showed EVH how to pot pickups who learned it from seymour.
seymour was THEE pickup guy back then if you didnt just opt for a super distortion from dimarzio. wayne carried mighty mite pickups and parts at his shop and seymour worked for them(mighty mite) so they knew each other rather well.
if you wanted custom wound he was the dude to go to. he never set up shop until late 78 but was doing work before on other peoples recomendation like wayne charvel was one.

[Tone Slinger]

This stuff is SO hard to decipher, but I'm leaning towards this hypothesis:

1) Ed is shown in '77 with a double cream hex poled pu (SB strat) and a zebra hex poled pu (all black Franky). My own experimentation with a DSD is VERY convincing that Ed probably indeed was using a DSD (or most probably) a Mighty Mite clone. The MM used bonded wire, which prevented the squill somewhat. I hear a DSD type ceramic sound up to and including the 12/31/77 Whiskey gig.

2) The '78 tour has photo proof that Ed had a slug/slotted PAF pu in the Franky. The SOUND was DIFFERENT from '77. It was a tad warmer and rounder, BUT, had less sting, gain and sizzle. This to me is where the Duncan rewind thing happens. Seems Ed probably wanted a hotter PAF, but maybe not TOO much hotter. I think the Duncan '78 is a pretty valid assumption, though Eds was probably a REAL PAF that had been rewound by Seymour, instead of a new build.

3) You start seeing more slug/slotted pu's by '79 (like in the photo of Ed with the maddox).

4) I think that the SH5, like Dirty Cooter has said, is maybe Seymour's attempt at improving the DSD/MM design, so he called it the EVH Custom or something like that, since he knew it WAS similar to what Ed used on that first album (DSD/MM).

[garbeaj]

Bear in mind that there was the Destroyer on the first album...so that means that there wasn't necessarily one pickup for the entire recording. I tend to think he used a Super 70 in the Destroyer. I of course have switched to the Super 2/DSD in my Destroyer, but that is more a function of my Mod 5 Marshall. Strat78 has theorized of late that it may have been the Super 70 after all in the Destroyer, but no conclusive proof. He tried the DSD without the pickup covers in his Destroyers and he went back to Super 70.

I'm having good results with my Super 2/DSD with the pickup cover on. To my knowledge, no one I know of has tried a DSD with a pickup cover on and I think that, along with my lower resistance pickup is getting me closer...what that has to do with what is on the record is anybody's guess.

[stef]

About the chirps, not saying one way or another about pickup height but don't forget Ed has super strong hands and hit those light strings very hard. Crazy hard. He might be pushing those strings down a bit to where us mortals can't. Who knows!

good point, been thinking the same thin today while playing atomic punk and stuff, when i dig hard it chirps especially on a guitar tuned to e flat

[stef]

These days I use a new SH-5 - kne azusa hard ash with a warmoth vintage modern maple neck, old fender 6 crew bridge. A f spaced dsd in the same guitar sounds a little hotter, looser and fuller on the low strings, but thinner and harsher on the e and b strings. One important thing about the SH5 is that it's the only pickup that gave me those instant cardboard-like mids and a tight bass (eruption, atbl, ito).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhjl-hxbIuA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

but somehow the dsd sounds better for ice cream man- loose, bassy and fuzzy on the lower strings... what a nightmare!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTK52a3IYvc[/youtube]