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hey guys,
I'm new to the world of electric guitar dissassembling and the quot;attemptingquot; of reassembly. I'm just wondering if anyone could help me find the ultimate pickup to throw in my Fender lookalike to get that awesome sound of Eddie.

Welcome to the forum. The best pickup for that classic Van Halen tone is the custom shop '78 model. It's $160, but it'll nail that tone. The next best thing is a Duncan '59 model in which the stock Alnico 5 magnet has been replaced with an Alnico 2 or Alnico 3 magnet. After that, the third and fourth best choices would be the Custom Custom and the stock '59.

Ryan


Originally Posted by stung65hey guys,
I'm new to the world of electric guitar dissassembling and the quot;attemptingquot; of reassembly. I'm just wondering if anyone could help me find the ultimate pickup to throw in my Fender lookalike to get that awesome sound of Eddie.you will get at least 2 dozen different answers, all of them very good. I will tell you to do a search on this forum. This has been discussed several times and there are several very good threads on this topic.

BTW...welcome to the forum!

from : localhost//forum/s...ad.php?t=33469

that one's pretty recent

After the pickup dont forget the Plexi Marshall...

Just my opinion: Any decent vintage pup will do. Get a Duncan Designed HB 101. The rest of the VH tone is modded Marshall plexi, a couple of vintage effects, and of course Ed himself. The pup won't matter unless it's something with an extreme tone curve like big mid boost ultra scoop, or really bright etc. VH yanked a stock Gibson pup from a 335 or something like that.

I've heard great VH tones from A5 pickups, but to really nail the old stuff that was recorded with an A2 pickup, you need an A2 pickup as well. Eruption and Hot For Teacher were done with A5 pickups, but a lot of those early tones you hear were done with a PAF-style pickup with an A2 magnet. That's why I like the '59 with an A2 or A3 magnet, it's a great way to get that type of tone without going for the custom shop model.

But I agree, the amp is probably way more important than the pickup.

Ryan


Originally Posted by AcemanThe rest of the VH tone is modded Marshall plexi, a couple of vintage effects, and of course Ed himself.Ed's Marshall was 100% STOCK!

What was Hot For Teacher recorded with? THat's my favorite VH tone, and one of my favorite guitar tones ever.


Originally Posted by twoheadedboyWhat was Hot For Teacher recorded with? THat's my favorite VH tone, and one of my favorite guitar tones ever.

A stock 1958 korina Gibson Flying V, IIRC.


Originally Posted by the guy who invented fireEd's Marshall was 100% STOCK!

Yeah, but didn't he run it with a Variac that pushed it harder or something?


Originally Posted by the guy who invented fireEd's Marshall was 100% STOCK!

LOL I was waiting for you to chime in with that.


Originally Posted by Jester700Yeah, but didn't he run it with a Variac that pushed it harder or something?

The Variac actually reduced the amount of juice the Marshall got. It let him run the amp wide open without killing everybody in the room.

BTW, the way he used the Variac is kinda dangerous, and not at all recommended

Ok - so the amp was stock. Point is theres some funky sonic mojo on that thing (VH I). SO it was a variac ran in a way that would void the warrantee - and the user if he wasn't careful. I dare someone to tell me that wasn't a plate reverb!

My main point is there is a whole signal chain there, and after ed's heart/head/hands, there's a blastin' marshall, a plate verb turned up, a mutt strat (although some may have been recorded with a paul or other guitars?) and some mystery pickup included mainly because it was a hb. The pup was not a big part beyond the fact that it wasn't a single coil!


Originally Posted by MikeRockerA stock 1958 korina Gibson Flying V, IIRC.it wqs not a Gibson, it was an Ibanez lawsuit V copy...


Originally Posted by Jester700Yeah, but didn't he run it with a Variac that pushed it harder or something?no...Ed ran the variac DOWN...this reduced everything about the amp, making it much lower in volume but still pretty nasty sounding...like an attenuator.

hmm, I don't see why I shouldn't be able to achieve some very van halen-esque tones with a '59 in an SG through my amp, which is essentially a plexi copy.


Originally Posted by AcemanOk - so the amp was stock. Point is theres some funky sonic mojo on that thing (VH I). SO it was a variac ran in a way that would void the warrantee - and the user if he wasn't careful. I dare someone to tell me that wasn't a plate reverb!

Much of VH1's sonic mojo comes from the producer, not Ed. From what I understand, it's a combination of panning the dry signal to the left and the wet reverb signal to the right along with some radical post-equalization. If you listen to Ed's live tone during that era, it kinda sucks.


Originally Posted by the guy who invented fireit was not a Gibson, it was an Ibanez lawsuit V copy...

He supposedly used the Ibanez on the first album, but on quot;Hot For Teacherquot;, it was a korina '58 Flying V. I remember reading this is an interview. He set the neck volume low and had the bridge all the way up, switching back and forth was how he got the sound to clean up during the verses.
Check out:
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I think there were less than 100 '58 korina Vs made, so if you're trying to truly nail the quot;Hot For Teacherquot; tone, I hope you've got some seriously deep pockets.


Originally Posted by twoheadedboyhmm, I don't see why I shouldn't be able to achieve some very van halen-esque tones with a '59 in an SG through my amp, which is essentially a plexi copy.

I don't see why not...While there are more accurate things, I've got a fairly decent sound with a Paul with stock pups and my boss multi-effects. Just have to set the knobs right.