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Another EVH rumor?


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I just heard a passing comment in a video about strats that EVH used a neck pickup from his 335 in the bridge of Frankenstein. Any truth? I know it's been rumored to be a PAF but I've never heard neck pickup from a 335. 

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I’ve heard many times that he took a PAF from a 335 but never whether it was the bridge or neck pickup…

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There was an early interview in Guitar Player, I believe, where Ed spoke of enjoying the sound, look and feel of the 335 but that visually it didn’t work in the band. To paraphrase, “skinny kid, large bodied guitar”.  He said the first time he put a PAF in a strat shaped guitar, “the sound got close” to the 335/ what he was looking for.

He went on to discuss his methods for (wax) potting pickups to prevent squeal, saying that (again paraphrasing) “ a PAF will melt if you leave it in the pot too long, but a Dimarzio (I believe) could soak longer.”  Look for that old interview.

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31 minutes ago, topekatj said:

There was an early interview in Guitar Player, I believe, where Ed spoke of enjoying the sound, look and feel of the 335 but that visually it didn’t work in the band. To paraphrase, “skinny kid, large bodied guitar”.  He said the first time he put a PAF in a strat shaped guitar, “the sound got close” to the 335/ what he was looking for.

He went on to discuss his methods for (wax) potting pickups to prevent squeal, saying that (again paraphrasing) “ a PAF will melt if you leave it in the pot too long, but a Dimarzio (I believe) could soak longer.”  Look for that old interview.

Yeah, I remember that interview. It was in '81-'82. I remember taking it to the tech school I was jailed in and reading it instead of doing my work. I remember the quotes about the [Sex] Wax but I don't remember about the 335. I may not have known what a 335 was by name. I knew the guitar though. I also don't believe I knew what PAF was so probably dismissed that too. 

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I remember the article - definitely mentioned using a 335 PAF.

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Pretty sure the real story on this is that Ed pulled a pickup out of his 335 and had Seymour Duncan rewind it and change the mag to a ceramic. The rewind story is well documented in interviews Ed gave over the years...and Seymour started running ads in Guitar Player in '79 that included a listing for the ~14k ceramic magnet "Duncan Custom (Van Halen)" model.  IIRC, Ed wasn't happy with Seymour for commercializing it.

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12 minutes ago, Biz Prof said:

Pretty sure the real story on this is that Ed pulled a pickup out of his 335 and had Seymour Duncan rewind it and change the mag to a ceramic. The rewind story is well documented in interviews Ed gave over the years...and Seymour started running ads in Guitar Player in '79 that included a listing for the ~14k ceramic magnet "Duncan Custom (Van Halen)" model.  IIRC, Ed wasn't happy with Seymour for commercializing it.

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Who the hell is C.A.T.?

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58 minutes ago, Biz Prof said:

Pretty sure the real story on this is that Ed pulled a pickup out of his 335 and had Seymour Duncan rewind it and change the mag to a ceramic. The rewind story is well documented in interviews Ed gave over the years...and Seymour started running ads in Guitar Player in '79 that included a listing for the ~14k ceramic magnet "Duncan Custom (Van Halen)" model.  IIRC, Ed wasn't happy with Seymour for commercializing it.

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70 $ for a 59/SH1 in the late 70's. 79 $ for a 59/sh1 in 2021. Not a huge price increase in about 40 years. https://www.seymourduncan.com/single-product/59-model 

Took me a couple of minutes to figure out that "ld" and "rhy" stood for. 

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1 hour ago, tbonesullivan said:

Did Gibson even use different pickups for the neck and bridge back then?

Gibson produced some PAFs with narrower pole spacing for use in the neck position on some hollowbodies (ex.  Byrdland) but from what I’ve read (in general) it’s entirely possible for a stock PAF neck pickup to be wound a little hotter than the stock PAF bridge PU.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
56 minutes ago, Armitage said:

Yeah... they didn't generally make bridge or neck pickups... they just pulled them out of a box and installed whatever came next.

So its shit like that where vintage guitars get their "vibe and mojo"?

And people still believe things EVH revealed about his gear in interviews? 😄

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I remember an article from Guitar Player magazine late 80's era, Ed is described how he was waxing/potting pickup him self , putting a pot on the stove with wax in it & guess how long to dip it into wax with out melting the pickup.  Noted he had ruined some.  

 

 

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4 hours ago, Stike said:

So its shit like that where vintage guitars get their "vibe and mojo"?

And people still believe things EVH revealed about his gear in interviews? 😄

Eddie was long quoted about pulling a PAF out of his 335, I don't remember him saying it was a neck or bridge pickup, (but it wouldn't matter), and putting it in one of his guitars.

The whole idea of markeying a separately wound bridge and neck pickup came from Seymour Duncan as far as I know, and probably had more to do with selling pickups.

When you ordered a replacement Gibson pickup you didn't get to choose a neck or bridge, or a higher wound one, you got the same pickup.

I don't remember my early Duncan or DiMarzio catalogs ever having dedicated neck pickups either... but some did say a certain pickup mixed well in the neck with a hotter bridge pickup. But even that pickup was marketed as a bridge pickup first and foremost, like a PAF or Super II.

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I suspect Armitage is right in that it was either/both Seymour/Larry who conceived the idea of designated neck/bridge pickups.  Their idea for  intentionally mismatching output between the units makes sense to me, as the string vibration at the end of the fretboard is so much more pronounced (and louder) than it is at the bridge.

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2 hours ago, Armitage said:

Eddie was long quoted about pulling a PAF out of his 335, I don't remember him saying it was a neck or bridge pickup, (but it wouldn't matter), and putting it in one of his guitars.

The whole idea of markeying a separately wound bridge and neck pickup came from Seymour Duncan as far as I know, and probably had more to do with selling pickups.

When you ordered a replacement Gibson pickup you didn't get to choose a neck or bridge, or a higher wound one, you got the same pickup.

I don't remember my early Duncan or DiMarzio catalogs ever having dedicated neck pickups either... but some did say a certain pickup mixed well in the neck with a hotter bridge pickup. But even that pickup was marketed as a bridge pickup first and foremost, like a PAF or Super II.

I remember reading that in Guitar Player too but over the years Ed got a bit of a Gibbons-esque reputation for not being 100% forthcoming about accurate details of his gear.

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On 8/28/2021 at 1:05 PM, Travis said:

I’ve heard many times that he took a PAF from a 335 but never whether it was the bridge or neck pickup…

 

2 hours ago, Armitage said:

Eddie was long quoted about pulling a PAF out of his 335, I don't remember him saying it was a neck or bridge pickup, (but it wouldn't matter), and putting it in one of his guitars.

The whole idea of markeying a separately wound bridge and neck pickup came from Seymour Duncan as far as I know, and probably had more to do with selling pickups.

When you ordered a replacement Gibson pickup you didn't get to choose a neck or bridge, or a higher wound one, you got the same pickup.

I don't remember my early Duncan or DiMarzio catalogs ever having dedicated neck pickups either... but some did say a certain pickup mixed well in the neck with a hotter bridge pickup. But even that pickup was marketed as a bridge pickup first and foremost, like a PAF or Super II.

This. Or more appropriately: These.

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1 hour ago, Stike said:

I remember reading that in Guitar Player too but over the years Ed got a bit of a Gibbons-esque reputation for not being 100% forthcoming about accurate details of his gear.

Exactly.  How many 100w heads burned up over an ill-informed Variac installation…

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26 minutes ago, cmatthes said:

Exactly.  How many 100w heads burned up over an ill-informed Variac installation…

I'm more curious how many people think they are actually hearing a Magnatone when they see ZZ Top live? 😄

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