Alnico II vs Alnico V (for early EVH)

Ruben · Post by **Ruben** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 12:56 am

In my Les Paul , the 59 A5 sounds alive, transparant and chrystal clear.
The AII just seems to be to polite. Anyway, maybe an AV works best for Les Paul type guitars while A2 seems to sound better in ash type guitars?

MARCO · Post by **MARCO** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 8:53 am

so we know go back to the debate of why his frankie and evh duncan are Alnico II......no one knows what his original pickup was BUT we all know what the frnakie and the evh duncan are so......I'll stay with Alnico II thank you!

Ruben · Post by **Ruben** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 8:56 am

@ Marco: whatever suites you best dude! Every guitar - amp combination tends to sound different so if AII works best for your set up, than great!

Maybe he did use AII on the other hand; the frown shape curve (mid boost) on his EQ's suggests he used a pickup with less mids -> A5

Furthermore: even Gibson says old PAF's came with A2's and A5's

nitro · Post by **nitro** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 11:00 am

I will take a alnico V magnet all day long over alnico II for eds early tone,i have done alot if experimenting with alnico II and alnico V and in my opinion the alnico V captures eds tone the best.

908ssp · Post by **908ssp** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 11:02 am

nitro wrote:I will take a alnico V magnet all day long over alnico II for eds early tone,i have done alot if experimenting with alnico II and alnico V and in my opinion the alnico V captures eds tone the best.

I go along with this plus to my ear the alnico V just flat out sounds better.

sadwings75 · Post by **sadwings75** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 1:26 pm

MARCO wrote:so we know go back to the debate of why his frankie and evh duncan are Alnico II......no one knows what his original pickup was BUT we all know what the frnakie and the evh duncan are so......I'll stay with Alnico II thank you!

The pickup that he supposedly took to Seymour Duncan had an A2 in it, but that doesn't mean that that's what he used exclusively. You know he had to have a million pickups laying around his workbench, especially when they started making money. Maybe that was one of a hundred PAFs he had. Your ear is a better way of determining what gets his old sound best, not what Seymour Duncan says or what they put in the frankie replica. If an A2 gets you the sounds you like then that's what's important.
Do you have any clips of the tone you're getting?

nitro · Post by **nitro** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 1:45 pm

Thats how rumours start,"Ed took his alnico II paf to have seymour do something to it"the person that started that(im not saying you sadwings75)has no idea.

bmf5150 · Post by **bmf5150** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 1:51 pm

sadwings75 wrote:
MARCO wrote:so we know go back to the debate of why his frankie and evh duncan are Alnico II......no one knows what his original pickup was BUT we all know what the frnakie and the evh duncan are so......I'll stay with Alnico II thank you!
The pickup that he supposedly took to Seymour Duncan had an A2 in it, but that doesn't mean that that's what he used exclusively. You know he had to have a million pickups laying around his workbench, especially when they started making money. Maybe that was one of a hundred PAFs he had. Your ear is a better way of determining what gets his old sound best, not what Seymour Duncan says or what they put in the frankie replica. If an A2 gets you the sounds you like then that's what's important.
Do you have any clips of the tone you're getting?

im not sure if im suppose to say this or not but marco talked to the guys involved in copying the frankenstrat guitar,they told him that the pickup they came up with was 14k wind with an alnico 2 magnet..if i had to guess it would be 43 guage wire...a standards paf wire would never fit on the bobbin at 14k..

nitro · Post by **nitro** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 2:01 pm

The specs that are given are the same specs for the seymour duncan custom custom pickup,which is a alnico II with a 14k res.In my opinion that pickup is a mud bomb,the highs are not there and its not a open sounding pickup what-so-ever,no clarity.

bmf5150 · Post by **bmf5150** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 2:43 pm

from what i have been told the pickup sound nothing like a custom custom...by the way incase you didnt know a custom custom is 14.4k..i big difference than 14k when you get into tone of a pickup...a stock wolfgang bridge pickup is 13.85k.the dimarzio super distortion is 13.6k..

nitro · Post by **nitro** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 2:51 pm

I know what you mean, but still.......

beaulieu · Post by **beaulieu** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 2:57 pm

the people the came up with the frankie guitar did not come up with the pickup. Ed went to Seymour Duncan for 2 days till they, S.D. got the pickup right. I also agree with the statement someone made..theres so much of a bigger picture other then a pickup. You have amps.cabs speakers,tubes,strings hands,MOOD you ever notice how your amp and setup dosent sound the same everyday?? It's also very easy to over-analize and what sounds great today will sound horrible three days later when you first pick up your guitar!!

MARCO · Post by **MARCO** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 7:44 pm

I AGREE THAT DUNCAN CUSTOM CUSTOM IS A MUD BOMB BUT THAT IS NOT THE SAME PICKUP IN THE FRANKIE. I PLAYED THE FRANKIE TIL MY FRIGGIN HANDS BLED AND A-B'D AGAINST ANOTHER ASH GUITAR THAT JUST SO HAPPENED TO HAVE THE CC IN THEIR......THEY ARE NOT THE SAME FOR THE MILLIONTH TIME!!! LET IT GO GUYS!! I AM HERE TO HELP DISPELL THE SO CALLED MYTH. THE FRANKIE AD MORE BALLS, WAS VERY CLEAR AND HAD ALOT OF CUT......IT WAS DEFINITELY ALOT BETTER THAN THE EVH 78' DUNCAN. I KNOW ITS HARD FOR YOU GUYS TO ADMIT SINCE I PLAYED THE DAMN THING FOR HOURS BUT ITS THE TRUTH.

IF YOU DONT BELIEVE ME, GO AND TRY IT YOURSELF....UNTIL THEN DEAL WITH IT.

beaulieu · Post by **beaulieu** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 9:09 pm

I bet alot of people would be suprised if you did sound tests with all these diffrent pickups and didnt tell them what was what. I bet alot of us would be suprised what you thought sounded the best. Power of suggestion is very powerfull!! You could probally tell some that this pick up is this and the other is that and after they agree you say no I had them reversed. If everybodies trying to get EVH sound just ask Rockstah or Ralle what they are using. Can't get no closer then them guys!! This EVH stuff gets beat to death..

MARCO · Post by **MARCO** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 9:17 pm

no shit, some of you guys are chasing ghosts!!! i guess thats the fun part but for me, i have no patience for it. i get frustrated. part of the problem no one here is probably trying it at stage/studio volume like he did anyway. this "ive got the best bedroom evh tone nailed" is friggin stupid. your missing 90% of the equation right there by not cranking it but how is that practical? I guess I am crabby so I am going to bed.....until tomorrow gents!!