FGJ Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 I was watching a clip of that "What it means to be an American" segment with EVH wherein he explained how he came up with wax-potting his pickups, after which I read all the comments ripping him for making such a claim. I found the criticism quite annoying because it's a fact that multiple people can invent the same thing. The real trick, obviously, is to invent something first, or at least be the first person to document your invention. But it's both arrogant and ignorant to believe that only one person can invent the same thing. This same kind of stupidity occurs in history claims as well when we're told, for example, that the Chinese actually invented printing. Well, yeah, they may have invented it first, but that doesn't diminish the accomplishments of a Guttenberg, as if he somehow copied them. Anyone familiar with searching patents before submitting one's own idea will discover quickly that many people have already thought of that widget before you did. As a designer working in a studio decades ago, I was always annoyed when a co-worker would look at something I just came up with and tell me that a competitor had already designed the same thing. And a Hollywood writer/producer friend of mine once told me that whenever has has an idea, he just assumes ten othe people have the same idea. All of of this to say, I haven't a clue who first invented wax-potting and I don't know if Eddie actually thought of it on his own, but the criticisms against him for making a claim to have discovered the process on his own are annoying enough to have led me to raise the issue. (Of course, Eddie's peddled enough lies that perhaps he's lost credibility with many fans and/or he may actually be telling the truth and his past lies are now causing him to experience what it's like to cry "Wolfie!" too many times.) End of rant. Feel free to discuss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gino Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 I like my pickups wax-free! And they don't squeel, either! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murkat Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 Seth Lover was potting pickups back in the 50's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARM OF HAMER Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 "Seth Lover was potting pickups back in the 50's". Yes he was!............................ but like you said Jay even though there may have been others that got there before Eddie it does not take away from the fact that Eddie Van Halen brought it to the general guitar building and playing world. He didn't invent finger tapping on the guitar either but I doubt many people took notice of it before he did it. Eddie has brought a lot to the guitar world IMHO,.....................now its almost popular to slam him these days and he has own some of that................but back in the day he was "THE MAN". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ting Ho Dung Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 I've kind of "moved on" from EVH just because I didn't like where the band went after DLR but I remember reading in Guitar World back around 1980 that Eddie ruined several pickups while trying to perfect his wax job. As Arm of Hamer said, no one noticed these things until Eddie perfected them. As for the haters, they are everywhere. I just joined a hate group on FB who are supposed to be united against one business in my profession. Guess what? The haters all hate each other too. The group is new, only a few days old and it has grown exponentially. I told the admin he invited a bunch of haters into his living room so now he has a room full of haters. I just don't understand why these folks need to express everything negatively. Even when they agree with each other. It's just plain idiotic and does nothing for a purpose or society as a whole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunchee Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 Early on, and in pursuit of God-knows-what, EVH sawed a chunk out of his Ibanez Destroyer, which (supposedly according to EVH's own opinion) destroyed the tone: https://projectevh.com/2014/11/04/eddie-van-halens-ibanez-shark-destroyer/ and legend has it that he belt sanded a hole in a ES-335 in an attempt to refinish it. Invented pickup potting? I don't think so. Potting his pickups on his guitars as an innovation for using his gear? Perhaps. But I wouldn't necessarily have wanted him working on MY gear, especially 40 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhuber Posted June 4, 2017 Share Posted June 4, 2017 On 6/3/2017 at 2:41 AM, Gino said: I like my pickups wax-free! And they don't squeel, either! I've never tried an unpotted pickup, but I've often thought being I don't do a lot of high volume or high gain I could get buy with unpotted pickups.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff R Posted June 4, 2017 Share Posted June 4, 2017 18 hours ago, crunchee said: Early on, and in pursuit of God-knows-what, EVH sawed a chunk out of his Ibanez Destroyer, which (supposedly according to EVH's own opinion) destroyed the tone: https://projectevh.com/2014/11/04/eddie-van-halens-ibanez-shark-destroyer/ and legend has it that he belt sanded a hole in a ES-335 in an attempt to refinish it. Invented pickup potting? I don't think so. Potting his pickups on his guitars as an innovation for using his gear? Perhaps. But I wouldn't necessarily have wanted him working on MY gear, especially 40 years ago. My favorite of EVH's on-the-fly mods was cutting the tip of an SG Junior's bottom horn off so he could hit the high slide notes on "Dirty Movies" when they were in the studio recording it. And that Kahler hole in the 50s Junior ... talk about Schlitz Malt Liquor moments ... Before the madness -- outtake from the VHI album cover photo sessions ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diablo175 Posted June 4, 2017 Share Posted June 4, 2017 20 hours ago, Ting Ho Dung said: Eddie ruined several pickups while trying to perfect his wax job. Yeah, the bikini-ed chicks he was trying to pick up didn't appreciate his duplicity when he said he could provide them with a good wax job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadroller Posted June 4, 2017 Share Posted June 4, 2017 23 hours ago, crunchee said: Early on, and in pursuit of God-knows-what, EVH sawed a chunk out of his Ibanez Destroyer, which (supposedly according to EVH's own opinion) destroyed the tone: https://projectevh.com/2014/11/04/eddie-van-halens-ibanez-shark-destroyer/ Tone or no, it looks badass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobB Posted June 4, 2017 Share Posted June 4, 2017 On 6/3/2017 at 11:56 AM, crunchee said: Early on, and in pursuit of God-knows-what, EVH sawed a chunk out of his Ibanez Destroyer, which (supposedly according to EVH's own opinion) destroyed the tone: Prolly in pursuit of another eightball. They mind plays tricks when you're waitin' for the man... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
django49 Posted June 4, 2017 Share Posted June 4, 2017 Pickups are one of the things I like unwaxed. Whether or not they squeal is entirely up to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakeboy Posted June 4, 2017 Share Posted June 4, 2017 Other than Dirty Movie, I wonder if he used the SG on anything else recorded....plus that JR....did it end up on any tracks? we certainly know the Destroyer did.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FGJ Posted June 7, 2017 Author Share Posted June 7, 2017 I replaced the A5 magnet of the Dimarzio Slammer bridge pup on my 89 Cali with an A8 just to try it out. I didn't care for the tone of the pup with the A8, so I put the A5 back in. Doing all of this magnet-swapping must have caused some of the wax in there to crumble (or so I think it was potted), because the pickup began to squeal after all of that tinkering. Not wanting to completely remove the pickup by cutting any wires, I just pulled it out of the cavity a bit, unwound the tape, melted wax from a candle into a spoon and then spoon-fed the melted wax into the space between the bobbins. I did this until the nooks and crannies were filled with wax, and then I replaced the pup. Never squealed again after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamerhead Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 Chances are the pickup Ed carved into his Strat was potted before he got it. Ed and The Rev go to the same school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Studio Custom Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 Ed developed a reputation as a liar when he talked about the brown tone all those years, in all those articles, not to mention his versions of the VH singers departures. He can't now get upset when people don't believe him about other things. Trust is earned, and he failed pretty much every step of the way. Let's face some basic facts. He is an addict, and most addicts are not trust worthy, especially when using. Also, he's not very intelligent. He was the right guy, at the right time to reinvent guitar, but no one would seek financial, legal or medical advice from him. Now go suck a metal pick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobB Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 8 hours ago, Studio Custom said: Also, he's not very intelligent. Let's let this statement hang in the air for a bit, shall we? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FGJ Posted June 8, 2017 Author Share Posted June 8, 2017 9 hours ago, RobB said: Let's let this statement hang in the air for a bit, shall we? Yeah, there's a wide disagreement as to how to properly rate "intelligence." I'm not sure Ed, even with all of his problems, can be viewed as unintelligent. "Unwise," perhaps, but unintelligent? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspot Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 "Also, he's not very intelligent." Well...he is (was) friends with a certain Steve Stevens. ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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