What are the best pickups for EVH sound? - DiMarzio, Seymour

carlos seo · #1 04-13-2001, 07:52 PM

I was thinking about a pickup change in my custom guitar and I'll make it my EVH guitar. So, I was wondering what pickups from DiMarzio or Seymour Duncan or any other common brand would fit my needs?

I know that the Wolfgang has custom Peavey humbuckers and I won't be able to get them anyway, so I need to find something that sounds similar.

Thanks!

jem7vwh · #2 04-13-2001, 09:33 PM

Carlos, I have two ideas. *

1. *It's been rumored that the DiMarzio Tone Zone IS the pickup Eddie had EB/MM put in his endorsement models. * These have great sound and the perfect kind of EQ you're talking about

2. *The DiMarzio Evolution is a little too strong normally, but wired in parallel, it sounds amazingly like EVH. *If you don't want to limit yourself, consider getting an Evolution and installing an On/On/On switch where it is Full Humbucking/Single Coil/Parallel Humbucking. *It's great. *You get that full on screaming Vai tone, an almost SRV type single coil and then an EVH tone.

carlos seo · #3 04-15-2001, 12:56 AM

The Tone Zone is great for bridge. But I think Evos have too much high output, even wired in paralel.

I also tried the Seymour Duncan JB. It doesn't sound too much like EVH, but it has a great sound.

What about a good neck pickup?

dacmo · #4 04-15-2001, 02:49 AM

jem7vwh... do you have the wiring diagram for that On/On/On configuration.. sounds like a real cool mod.

pri0531 · #5 04-16-2001, 12:22 PM

The Dimarzio PAF Pros are pretty decent for the "Brown Sound".
Out,
GP *

rgr · #6 04-16-2001, 03:19 PM

The DiMarzio in the EBs is the Norton, not the TZ. *For a Seymour Duncan, Seymour designed the Custom Custom for EVH, apparently they had a falling out somewhere along the way so Ed never endorsed it. *The CC is buttery smooth sounding, the Norton (I have one in an ESP) is sweet but a littler rawer sounding than the CC. *

Roger

RSVampire · #7 04-16-2001, 05:27 PM

Yes, but going as far as getting the pickup isn't the only step. To get that really rich awsome Eddie tone you need to mount the pickups directly to the body. That has a big thing to do with his tone.

Allen Lee · #8 05-05-2001, 02:38 AM

some nut on ebay the other day had the Wolfgang pickups for sale. Just a thougth
Or I can sell you a wolfgang

Later
Allen

carlos seo · #9 05-05-2001, 12:37 PM

I could solve my problem by installing JBs and doing some EQ work here. Thanks for all the opinions!

PS- Allen, I don't need a Wolfgang right now (and I don't have enough money to buy ine, either! :biggrin: )

alienx · #10 05-06-2001, 09:12 AM

The rumoured Dimarzio pup is not the tone zone, it's the norton bridge pup. However it's difficult to address one pup as the EVH pup. In his early days of his carreer he used ash or alder bodied strat mutants with rewound PAF pups, some say the Duncan CCC (which is a C or CC with an alnico 5 magnet) comes very close to his early sound. Than he used the Duncan CC in all mapple strat mutants. Then came the stage where he used basswood Kramers with god knows what kind of Frankenstein pups he used to wound all by himself. As he went to EB/MM the pups became Air Norton and Norton they say. And, finally at Peavey they're some custom pups, and no one really knows if they're the pups on his own guitars. I think it would be easier for you to replicate his sound if you could focus on a specific EVH period regarding not only the pups he has used, but his complete rig. Then, there are still a few things you cannot have, which are his soul, his fingers and his inspiration for the new... Good luck anyway!

Cheers :beammeup