I’m noticing that all the ceramic mag pickups are the closest, especially the VH1 stuff…even in the Frankies. He needs to put the right Super 70 in the Destroyer tho. EVH was a huge KISS fan and wanted to join KISS. They were having Larry D wind those Super Distortions way back in the day.
It didn't sound a little low endy and out of control to you? Maybe the pickup needed lowering a little... I totally agree it sounded right, it was just that slight nuance that made me think there's a little too much going on there to sound exactly like the record - but without a doubt it was the closest out of the 3 destroyer sounds... Maybe the old mighty mite 1300 in the destroyer is IT... That's what's in that guitar to this day
One thing for sure, that Eddie didn't want anyone copying his tone, and he never told anyone and never showed anyone. I think that encourages the guitarist to find his own style, and not just be a copycat.
Get in touch with Wolfgang and show him this video. Maybe he’ll get together with you and bring some of the originals or maybe he’ll invite you down to 5150 where you could do the sequel to this excellent video.
Things I learned from this video: - there are indeed tonal differences between pickups but at the same time I am hard pressed after 2 watchings to come to any conclusions about which ones I actually like versus which ones I think come closest to the respective EVH original tones; - Pete Thorn is a stellar guitar player [DUH!]. Quite frankly, the one biggest thing that was reinforced from this video is that while the gear itself can indeed matter, everything comes down to the player and his hands. That's just the plain truth. ALL the pups sounded great but that's because all the playing from Pete was superb; - Pete, Dave and company with these EVH tone videos have done it right. They approached these projects with just the right "nerd" attitude, with just the right amount of obsession and tongue in cheek reality. Too often the gear community tends to get stuck on the gear, forgetting that the gear is really only part of the whole story rather than the whole story itself; - It's pretty much guaranteed that this vid will be discussed, dissected and analyzed by the legions of EVH lovers out there for years to come. Hopefully, the discussions are rational, fun and not toxic as the gear community can often be. What else can I say but THANK YOU PETE, DAVE, AVI and all the companies who pitched in for this monumental effort. EVH will indeed live on forever...CHEERS!
You're soooo right.... I'm sure Eddie himself didn't remember all the pickups he used .... Each guitar might have received several different pickups. When you read all the stories about Van Halen you have Charvel saying he used a super distortion that needed wax , then he put a Mighty Mite ( about the same period) then alnico 2... thena JB...then dimarzio again lol Personally I hear a ceramic on VH1 and alnico 2 for the rest of Dave's era. Soooo...... Take whatever PAF and play your guitar 😂
I feel like I slept outside a party store all night waiting for the store to open so I can buy tickets to Pete Thorn's =VH= Pickup demo... That's right kids... THAT'S how you used to have to buy tickets- first come first serve, a lonnnng night partying at the party store... In a lawn chair or sleeping bag-😂 The good ole days! 🤟🏻💎
@@soofitnsexy in 2018, i visited the Tower Records in Ireland; one of the last ones left...... it felt so cool, having grown up where TR began. Got a TR Dublin shirt, which i keep in good shape, and try not to wear too much!
@@allendean9807 thats awesome ! i didnt realize towere made it to 2018...they were awesome here in nyc...and yes.I worked in the jazz dept for a year! tower records lincoln center nyc!
@devolve42 I wear my headphones on the wrong ear, I work in a machine shop, and am right handed, so that hand gets dirtier, the on/off/pause button is on the right headphone, so I switch it to the left side.
When it’s all said and done, we can only reasonably conclude that the secret sauce wasn’t the pickups at all…it was all just God-given talent! RIP, King Edward!
Man this has to be the best pickup resource ever recorded. You have saved a lot of people a lot of hours. Your touch on the instrument is superb. Thank you Pete.
Man, that Duncan '78 kicks ass. The Tonerider Rocksong is around 11k with A2 magnets and sounds similar. It's that crunch and harrmonic thing. Really love my EVH pickups also. The harmonics fly effortlessly off the EVH pups and the crunch is amazing.
Pete's playing is absolutely second to none. His ear and relentless search for certain tones is inspiring. Thank you Pete for the hard work and dedication to the cause, you're a true gem.
@@PeteThorn I watched this again (for the 100th time…) and I really like the sound of the Vintage Might Mites, as I am looking for something a bit hotter than my Duncan78. However, it says ”old” in the video - does that mean that they are not what Might Mite currently manufactures? Thank you for your help!
The bare knuckle VH II Bridge was the clear winner, I think second place is tied slightly with the Mighty Mite and the Duncan 78’. The difference to my ear listening through focal reference monitors is that the bare knuckle pick ups had the best string separation and the right amount of fiery sizzle on the top to let the notes sound other worldly as soon as you hit the phase 90 that closed the deal for me. Listen the entire bunch sounded great. It helps having the right amp bigtime and having the voltage set to 90v. Which I’m sure Pete did in this video. Pete, were you playing through the Marshall plexi that Dave dialed in with the correct plate voltages for the tubes at 90 V?
I know this is a pickup video but as far as amps go: I'm glad for Eddie that he got his own amp company to get the sound he wanted..... ...but at the same time I wish he never stopped playing Marshalls. This is my favorite EVH tone.
It would be really cool if the EVH brand did some kind of marshall recreation based off of his old amp like they're doing with the Franky and all the relic stuff
@@mjsquared1 i think theyd miss the mark. These fellas here probably have more info on the amp than evh would be able to get. Unless ed gave them the recipe book at some point.
I'm guessing the reason he never released a Marshall style amp for his old sound was because it would just be the same plexi clone everyone else has been making for years.
I stand behind the SD Custom Ceramic all day. Sure the Super D has more of that crazy gain we all look for, but the Custom seems right up there with useability! No outta control feedback and cleans up better than the super D.
Amazing how the 3 most influential guitarists of the 80s (EVH, the Edge, and Hetfield) all used Explorer-types as a significant part of their signature sounds.
@@lightningstrikes7314 Tell them to speak with all the dotted rhythms, and metal tinges in mainstream music and gear culture. Both are great players though.
I was just going to say I really enjoyed the tone of the Explorer, especially Ibanez Super 70 and when he played Feel your Love Tonight, that combo was like the exact tone from the record. Great wood, great neck, and the pickups seemed to have great placement and spacing on the body of the guitar. The pick lands right between both pickups. Pete, great rhythm chops man. Awesome video.
That Seymour Duncan 78 (9) just sounded like EVH to me. I noticed I liked the way a lot of the A2 pickups sounded. There was a lot more variety in the characteristics of the ceramic pickups than I was expecting. I usually think of ceramics as sounding ice picky, but that wasn't entirely true. The Rewind Electric VH (15) and Vintage Mighty Mike (16) sounded really good. The Suhr SSH+ (19) sounded really really hot, but in a really full way? The Motor City Pickups both had a really cool thing with how the notes sort of compressed/bloomed when the guitar was being played more aggressively, but it was definitely more pronounced on the Distortion Prototype (14) than on the 2nd Degree Black Belts (6). I'm going to have to think on this and listen again.
The Rewinds, Mighty Mites and the Suhrs seem to be the most accurate to Ed's 'voice' in my humble opinion. And the Super Distortion also with regard to VH I.
I gotta be Honest ...when I think of van Halen tone it's the first four albums that come to mind....so I agree and appreciate you defining that particular era
Always loved Ed's inventive rhythm work....he's probably most famous for his soloing, but for me it was always the rhythm....no chugging or power chords for him, no siree
I thought the Wolfgang sounded great but then they all did really! Your playing is the nearest I’ve heard to Eddie’s tone Pete regardless of the instrument. Eddie and his original band mates created a large part of the musical theme to my adolescence, I so wish I could have met him. Love your channel Pete.
I've probably watched this 50 times. Maybe 100. But something cool is, when I'm dissecting the tone, I change my monitor to a different window. Then I'll hear something that really catches my ear, and I'll flip over and see what it is, then capture it in a long running Word document. I list time stamps, what PU it is, and what riffs are being played. I then repeat the process maybe once a week. From that point, I start to look for which ones made the list into a top 5. You'd be surprised how often the repeats are. Pete's playing is awesome, he really nails this stuff but I do try to imagine how he's interacting off of the pickup. Good stuff. Nicely done Pete, thank you!
These EVH themed videos are fun just to listen you play the van halen stuff. I knew floyd makes guitar darker and so on, but that difference was big. Never realized until now when there were basically two of the same, one with floyd and one classic.
I am surprised how much I like the SD ‘59. They all sound great. I like the Frankenstein and the Pariahs, but man the ‘59 is like the all-rounder to me. Great playing, great job
Pete, You've outdone yourself! No small task. For me, the A2 PAFs in the 9k sounded right for a certain tone and the 13K pickups with ceramic or A2 sounded right. I was amazed how well the Wolfgang pickups did. You can really see where Ed was going with the Wolfgangs being the final destination. Great stuff!
The base tone & the chops contribute in this case to 80% of the tone, great playing Pete! For the remaining 20%: super distortion for the songs Eddie played with the destroyer, SD 78 IMHO totally nailed the tone with the Frankenstrat in the first album, and the Frankenstein is spot on for the FW and 1984 tone. Greatest video ever made on brown sound!
PARIAH PASADENA BLACK was SPOT ON....My ears are good... I love DiMarzio Super Distortion and it's ALL I PLAY, but the Pasadena Black was AWESOME!! 😎😎👍👍👍👍👍 If you CLICK back and forth between the DiMarzio Super Distortion and back to Pasadena Black, the Pasadena is #2, but close #1...the DiMarzio Super Distortion are simply the best EVH 1 & 2 pickups... I'm sorry Pete, but it's true. LOL GREAT VIDEO! 😎😎😎😎😎😎
Awesome playing! I honestly think the biggest thing in EVH’s early sound was the fact he was playing LOUD through 4@4x12” cabinets. My favorite sound was the 78
i don't know about the "evh sound" but i once put an evh frankenstein in a strat i had, and it was a GREAT pick up. very articulate. expensive, but worth it.
This continues to be one of my favorite videos to watch. Even if someone isn’t a huge fan of EVH, it’s a good lesson in the differences in resistances and the difference in tone, balance, and gain a magnet can make. Also, the more I watch the more I’m thinking it’s like what Eddie said he originally did: took a PAF pickup from an ES-335 (obviously vintage now), removed the A5 magnet, replaced it with an A2, and had a resistance of about 8-9k.
Seems (to me, after blasting through these once) like the A2's are more even, the A5's and the ceramics even more so seem to have tons of bass, though they're not lacking in treble. Resistance seems to be either around 9k or around 14k. Would have been interesting to see inductance readings on these. I remember in old magazine interviews Eddie would say he liked PAFs, and say things like, "let the amp do the work", and so on, but he was also known for saying things to throw people off the scent. Interesting video.
Agree completely, I think the A2's have better mids. I really liked #21, that Pariah pickup. The DiMarzio PAF was a cool sound as well, but not even close to EVH.
There were a lot of great sounding pickups. My top picks are : 1. Duncan Custom Custom 2. Pariah Pasadena White 3. Suhr Thornbucker 4. Bareknuckle VHII 5. Duncan 78
recently bought a schecter tempest custom with the sd custom custom in bridge and 59 in neck ..... always been a sh4 guy ...but fuck me that custom custom is sooo good ..im converted
In the main test guitar, the PARIAH DESTRUCTION 70 was closest to the early Van Halen tones. Ceramic Magnet is most obviously part of those first two Van Halen albums. It's in the attack part of the sound where you can hear the difference with this particular pickup. The Seymour Duncan Frankenstein was second closest to sounding like the tones on actual Van Halen records. This pickup has a nice bloom to it similar to what Edward could get and the great sustain Edward sought out and was known for. It offers a warmer but still signature Edward Brown Sound tone that leans more towards the slightly warmer and rounder version of the brown sound heard on the Fair Warning album. For Van Halen and Van Halen II albums, the PARIAH DESTRUCTION 70 has the sound - the aggressive attack and a frequency response, bloom and sustain qualities closest to the first two albums. The attack, decay, sustain and release characteristics of the PARIAH DESTRUCTION 70 is haunting and spooky. When Pete plays with that pickup, Edward's ghostly head enters the room and grins his impish smile over top of Pete's crown of Thorn.
When EVH cut the Destroyer and repainted it (Shark) he did two things: 1- He used it in the VH1 promo video singles. 2- He went on tour with it. My point is that there are pictures from the first half of 1978, and the guitar did not have a DiMarzio Super Distortion in it. It had a chrome covered bridge pickup, as it did through 1977. There were a lot of options then, so it be either a Gibson, a Seymöur Duncan or (IMHO) a Super70. The double cream pickup only appears in July 1978, upon returning from Japan, and it is a Mighty Mite. It is still in there to this day. The neck position is a black DiMarzio of unknown specs: a Super or Super II by the looks of it, and probably not even connected. Super Distortion (IMHO) don’t appear until mid-1979 in the Charvel Bee guitar. Per EVH, with an Alnico magnet replacing the Ceramic magnet. Since this is essentially a Seymour Duncan Custom5 (the alleged late ‘70s and early ‘80s EVH pickup), I would guess that Ed used an A5 magnet !?!
Man, anyone who pays $4-500 for a Rewind is nuts after hearing a $130-150 Duncan sound just as good. Also check out the wonderful customer service they describe on their about page for that wonderful premium. They are correct, those terms are unacceptable and I will gladly get a pickup just as good at a normal price from another maker…sheesh. In fact almost all the pickups sounded pretty good with only a couple of definite No’s. A lot of differences maybe felt more than heard.
There's so much great stuff here my head's spinning. First of all, as always, top notch playing Pete! For my money I'm going with the Ibanez Super 70's in the Destroyer. After that the Ducan '78 is another winner. Super Distortion is a classic and you really can hear that ceramic magnet and the 2x DC output of the windings. Thick and kickass. You, Dave and the team are very gracious and patient to have put this together. A true geek's paradise!
And I thought the Super 70's was the worst, much like I experienced when I owned a real Destroyer that just did not really have a Van Halen style tone.
@@mbreinin Interesting. It's amazing how everyone's ears hears something they like or don't. So you had a Destroyer? How did you like the feel of the guitar...minus the pickups?
@@SteveOuimette it was a nice guitar for sure. Frets were a little small, but it played very well. I just expected more of a VH-1 sound when I plugged it in and it never nailed it. Probably would have with a 13k ceramic in it! LOL
I think a few of them really hit the tone but he is playing the perfect amp with everything on 10 so the differences are super subtle. That being said I should probably be watching this with over the ear headphones.
@@mbreinin I hear you on the 13k ceramic! Maybe he never had the Super 70's in that guitar. So many factors. Interesting on the small frets, not really my thing either.
Can't believe I've just spent 1 hour and twenty minutes watching a pickup comparison video haha! Outstanding work Pete, this is GOLD! My favorites: Pariah Pasadena white, Rewind Electric (both), Seymour Duncan 59 and 78, but I think the Mighty Mites really nail that VH1 snarl and aggression in the upper mids!
the SD is the one, and as we consider it was a standard rock upgrade pick up back then it makes lot of sense. And btw, you can't beat the early VH sound, not even EVH himself did it.
@@freedomination2 of course it does that one's just a classic combo. But after trying an EVO neck with a super d in the bridge on a Les Paul I highly recommend that combination
@@jefflitchfield4950 Have you tried a Super 2 neck pickup with the Super Distortion? I've been curious about it since it's just supposed to be the neck version of the SD but I've never heard one played
To my ears, the custom customs have the most definitive evh tone here, he definitely used that pickup on some of the early stuff. Thanks for sharing this PT!
You get more of the string sound with the A2 pickups around 9k. You get that twangy chirp you hear sometimes with VH and they sounded overall smoother than the ceramics. I really like the ceramics around 13k. When they got too far above 13k they sounded too metallic with the higher notes. You can hear it a lot in the chords to unchained. I think my favorite was the pasadena black 14.5k alnico 2. Thanks Pete.
Pariah Pasadena black had the bite. The old Mighty Mite had the bloom the other pickups didn’t have. Great video!!!! I am so glad there are Van Halen gear nerds that are as obsessed as I am with his tone. Keep up the great work.
Pete: this is genuinely remarkable. Just... astonishing. I can't imagine a heavier lift in terms of artistry or engineering, let alone both. Grand slam, man. BRAVO.
Welcome to the Mother of All Rabbit Holes! That was a marathon baby! My ears need a nap! Bravo Pete, I think this baby has been put to BED! So many great options here. I put a Duncan 78’ in my EVH “Circles” and couldn’t be happier. Was cool to hear it here and was in my top 3 of all tested! Bare Knuckle VH II, Pariah Pasadena White, Thornbucker and COTTDAMN if that Duncan 59’ wasn’t legit! A bargain at $80 quid!
He did use the Destroyer a lot as well as some others, like his Les Paul. Later on, his Vintage Gibson V was used a lot. Another thing, early on, he messed with re winding a pickup as well as dipping pickups in wax. The Mighty Mite and the PAF were the main part of the first couple of albums.
Great vid thank you!!! For me the Wolfgang was best followed by the Custom Custom and the Pasadena black. Ceramics sound thin to me. A2 around 14k is the sweet spot for me
Really I think for the “Frankie” sound the 59 or the custom custom really did it. The 78 and Friedman classic plus are close seconds for me. You can’t beat or get closer to the “shark“ sound than a destroyer and a super distortion. Period. Great job Pete! Amazing playing and thanks for making these awesome videos from the guitar nerds like me and you.
@@Murphy_R9 Sorry for the maybe dumb question but...is the 59 in the video the neck 59 or is there a difference?🤔 I really liked it and have seen recently some 59 pickups for sale but it says neck🤷 ...and sorry for my bad english 😅
@@foldigeri Duncan makes both a neck and bridge model. in this vid pete used the Bridge model which is slightly hotter and no questions are ever "dumb". by the way you can use the neck model and it will work fine it will just be a little less hot in output.
@@foldigeri The neck model sounds a little brighter/clearer due to the lower resistance. it will have more cut and clarity then the bridge one. So you will have slightly less output and more brightness than if you used the bridge one. To me the neck one sounds sort of like a old Gibson T-top pickup.
PETE had to go back and watch this video over & Over!!! Never have I Seen Such Great work and Time that was put into This!, If U have not watched this Video And U Have Questions On Humbuckers??! U Need to Watch it!! Thanks Again Pete, & everyone who Helped*****5stars!!
It’s late evening here - I didn’t think I’d make it through nearly an hour and a half of pickup demos, but I have just sat mesmerised the whole way through. Mind blown! Thanks very much Pete and everyone who helped you out with putting this together. Your playing and passion for all things VH is inspirational.
8:31 that is my favorite photo of Van Halen ever. All 4 of them look invincible, immortal and cooler than anyone else alive. Pete thank you for doing this video. The video for Jump changed the trajectory of my life and Edward is my biggest musical hero ever. And I know millions of people can say the same thing.
Actually thought the Pariah Pasadena white was the best with the snarl. Some of the higher wind pickups and ceramic turned to mush. Great playing as ever Pete.
jamies cryin definitely has the most bleed from the first album. You can clearly hear the guitar in the drum microphones which matches the picture in studio 1. If you listen to the guitar isolated track from RWTD before post production, you can actually hear lots of bass bleed, which was high-passed after the fact.
This guy is incredibly knowledgeable. I’m not a huge guitar nut. But I do play Van Halen stuff the most. And always found the deep dives into gear very interesting even though I know very little on the technical side. Lol.
I absolutely love how that TV Jones pickup sounds in the Destroyer. It’s got so much more spank than the others, even if it isn’t an identical match to Eddie.
What a great world we live in when we watch over an hour of the same Van Halen riffs and geek the F out!! Gotta say I love the mystery creme DiMarzio 70s pickup!
The "mystery dimarzio" is a old DP-103 PAF. I have one and they are killer and very underrated! These usually paired with a super d to go into the neck with the super in the bridge but sounded great in the bridge or neck.
@@marko6831 What body wood is your guitar? I was going to order one myself but thought about yy charvels body wood, I play a Charvel custom shop TMZ natural mahogany and pete has the Duncan in a solid ash body? Mahogany is probably too dark of a tone wood for this pu?
Ya just can't go wrong with the Duncan '59. Once I tried one in my Les Paul Standard ( bridge position ), I kept it there from that day forward. All the other guitarists went crazy over my LP after that.
What I learned from this video is that Pete is a hell of player.
Thanks!
Yes…the guitar professor. I could watch this stuff all day.
Absolutely stellar.
Pete is a GEM!
This is amazing Pete! You did such a great job. An insane amount of work went into this video. So many great pickups!!!
o.o
Love how you guys comment on this video. I think the Duncan Custom nailed the tone the best.
America runs on Duncan
The 78’ in my Northern Ash Strat definitely nails the VHI Strat tones!
@@stephenfrancis303 Never weighed mine but would say by feel about 8lbs.
Dude this is amazing!
Thx Robert!!!
@@PeteThorn So out of all of that, did any one or two pickups stand out for you?
Oh yeah it is
My brain is blown into complete dust. Haha
I'm getting pickup anxiety and I haven't even started the video !!
The Destroyer and Super Distortion combo sounded dead-on accurate.
I’m noticing that all the ceramic mag pickups are the closest, especially the VH1 stuff…even in the Frankies. He needs to put the right Super 70 in the Destroyer tho. EVH was a huge KISS fan and wanted to join KISS. They were having Larry D wind those Super Distortions way back in the day.
Stunning. There it is!
It didn't sound a little low endy and out of control to you? Maybe the pickup needed lowering a little... I totally agree it sounded right, it was just that slight nuance that made me think there's a little too much going on there to sound exactly like the record - but without a doubt it was the closest out of the 3 destroyer sounds... Maybe the old mighty mite 1300 in the destroyer is IT... That's what's in that guitar to this day
I'm trying to find one that's closest to the live without a net sound from the Kramer 5150 anyone got any specific ones for me to check out?
@@scottfromboston8837 I always thought those guitars had off the shelf Duncan's in them
One thing for sure, that Eddie didn't want anyone copying his tone, and he never told anyone and never showed anyone. I think that encourages the guitarist to find his own style, and not just be a copycat.
Get in touch with Wolfgang and show him this video. Maybe he’ll get together with you and bring some of the originals or maybe he’ll invite you down to 5150 where you could do the sequel to this excellent video.
@fastguitar
Maybe 10.
Forget the tests, all thanks go to Dave Friedman for having to do all that solder work… 🤣
fat Boy
Did Dave Friedman ever work for Matchless?
Things I learned from this video:
- there are indeed tonal differences between pickups but at the same time I am hard pressed after 2 watchings to come to any conclusions about which ones I actually like versus which ones I think come closest to the respective EVH original tones;
- Pete Thorn is a stellar guitar player [DUH!]. Quite frankly, the one biggest thing that was reinforced from this video is that while the gear itself can indeed matter, everything comes down to the player and his hands. That's just the plain truth. ALL the pups sounded great but that's because all the playing from Pete was superb;
- Pete, Dave and company with these EVH tone videos have done it right. They approached these projects with just the right "nerd" attitude, with just the right amount of obsession and tongue in cheek reality. Too often the gear community tends to get stuck on the gear, forgetting that the gear is really only part of the whole story rather than the whole story itself;
- It's pretty much guaranteed that this vid will be discussed, dissected and analyzed by the legions of EVH lovers out there for years to come. Hopefully, the discussions are rational, fun and not toxic as the gear community can often be.
What else can I say but THANK YOU PETE, DAVE, AVI and all the companies who pitched in for this monumental effort. EVH will indeed live on forever...CHEERS!
Well said!!
Yeah i agree because if you have ever heard Jacob deraps he sounds exactly like EVH with any pu.
You're soooo right.... I'm sure Eddie himself didn't remember all the pickups he used .... Each guitar might have received several different pickups.
When you read all the stories about Van Halen you have Charvel saying he used a super distortion that needed wax , then he put a Mighty Mite ( about the same period) then alnico 2... thena JB...then dimarzio again lol
Personally I hear a ceramic on VH1 and alnico 2 for the rest of Dave's era.
Soooo...... Take whatever PAF and play your guitar 😂
@@Murphy_R9 so true
Pete's playing, Dave's expertise and their mutual dedication is what made this possible. Much respect.
I feel like I slept outside a party store all night waiting for the store to open so I can buy tickets to Pete Thorn's =VH= Pickup demo...
That's right kids... THAT'S how you used to have to buy tickets- first come first serve, a lonnnng night partying at the party store...
In a lawn chair or sleeping bag-😂
The good ole days! 🤟🏻💎
Shit, we used to camp out all weekend in the Annapolis mall parking lot!
Used to get our tickets at Tower Records, Sunrise Mall, Sacramento
tower records nyc...them wuz the dayzz
@@soofitnsexy in 2018, i visited the Tower Records in Ireland; one of the last ones left...... it felt so cool, having grown up where TR began. Got a TR Dublin shirt, which i keep in good shape, and try not to wear too much!
@@allendean9807 thats awesome ! i didnt realize towere made it to 2018...they were awesome here in nyc...and yes.I worked in the jazz dept for a year! tower records lincoln center nyc!
Truthfully, I don't really care about the different pickups. Just having nearly 80 min. of you playing VH tunes is why I'm here. ❤️
Same
It’s crazy how all these early VanHalen pickups know to pan mostly left!
Really sucks, too, because I'm mostly deaf in my left ear and I have to keep switching the headphones around.
When in doubt, pan left 🤣
@devolve42 I wear my headphones on the wrong ear, I work in a machine shop, and am right handed, so that hand gets dirtier, the on/off/pause button is on the right headphone, so I switch it to the left side.
@@scramblesthedeathdealer Heck yeah dude! Recon from the field, i am love it!
When it’s all said and done, we can only reasonably conclude that the secret sauce wasn’t the pickups at all…it was all just God-given talent! RIP, King Edward!
Man this has to be the best pickup resource ever recorded. You have saved a lot of people a lot of hours. Your touch on the instrument is superb. Thank you Pete.
Man, that Duncan '78 kicks ass. The Tonerider Rocksong is around 11k with A2 magnets and sounds similar. It's that crunch and harrmonic thing. Really love my EVH pickups also. The harmonics fly effortlessly off the EVH pups and the crunch is amazing.
1. sd 78 @29:44
2 . sd 59 @1:15:31
3. suhr tb @59:44
4. bare k vhii @26:13
5. dimarzio super d. for ceramic 90s evh sound @14:57
the '78 NAILS it on the Franky! I have one of the 2007s I would like to hear one of those through your rig! Keep up the killer work brother
Pete's playing is absolutely second to none. His ear and relentless search for certain tones is inspiring. Thank you Pete for the hard work and dedication to the cause, you're a true gem.
Thank u!
Pete is great Cameron cooper is my other Van Halen tone source on TH-cam. Both play as Eddie lives through them
@@PeteThorn I watched this again (for the 100th time…) and I really like the sound of the Vintage Might Mites, as I am looking for something a bit hotter than my Duncan78. However, it says ”old” in the video - does that mean that they are not what Might Mite currently manufactures? Thank you for your help!
@@PeteThorn how do you like the Wilkinson locking saddles? Been considering getting em
The bare knuckle VH II Bridge was the clear winner, I think second place is tied slightly with the Mighty Mite and the Duncan 78’. The difference to my ear listening through focal reference monitors is that the bare knuckle pick ups had the best string separation and the right amount of fiery sizzle on the top to let the notes sound other worldly as soon as you hit the phase 90 that closed the deal for me. Listen the entire bunch sounded great. It helps having the right amp bigtime and having the voltage set to 90v. Which I’m sure Pete did in this video. Pete, were you playing through the Marshall plexi that Dave dialed in with the correct plate voltages for the tubes at 90 V?
Those Super Distortions...... holy smokes, what a tone and KILLER playing.
Yeah, they do a different thing. The ceramic magnet has a big broad sound.
The Duncan Frankenstein sounded pretty damn phenomenal!
These pickups all sound killer because the common denominator is that Pete Thorn is such an amazing player. Kudos on this mammoth undertaking!
I know this is a pickup video but as far as amps go:
I'm glad for Eddie that he got his own amp company to get the sound he wanted.....
...but at the same time I wish he never stopped playing Marshalls. This is my favorite EVH tone.
It would be really cool if the EVH brand did some kind of marshall recreation based off of his old amp like they're doing with the Franky and all the relic stuff
@@mjsquared1 i think theyd miss the mark. These fellas here probably have more info on the amp than evh would be able to get. Unless ed gave them the recipe book at some point.
I'm guessing the reason he never released a Marshall style amp for his old sound was because it would just be the same plexi clone everyone else has been making for years.
@@mjsquared1 Marshall Amplication might have something to say about that...
@@mjsquared1 hell yeah!!!!!!
I stand behind the SD Custom Ceramic all day.
Sure the Super D has more of that crazy gain we all look for, but the Custom seems right up there with useability! No outta control feedback and cleans up better than the super D.
No doubt the SD Custom (14K/ceramic) is spot on for VH1 tones. It’s the top end shizzle that is unmistakable.
Agree 👍🏼
Every pickup is great, but the CONSISTENT playing of these riffs is truly remarkable, they had better hire you for the EVH tribute tour my dude!
What tour?
While Satriani is no doubt one of the greats, Pete should seriously be playing on this 2024 VH tour.
This is the single, greatest video on TH-cam.
This video is insane and provides all the pick up info I could’ve ever wanted!
🙏
Amazing how the 3 most influential guitarists of the 80s (EVH, the Edge, and Hetfield) all used Explorer-types as a significant part of their signature sounds.
Mark Knopfler and Andy Summers want a word...
@@lightningstrikes7314 Tell them to speak with all the dotted rhythms, and metal tinges in mainstream music and gear culture. Both are great players though.
I was just going to say I really enjoyed the tone of the Explorer, especially Ibanez Super 70 and when he played Feel your Love Tonight, that combo was like the exact tone from the record. Great wood, great neck, and the pickups seemed to have great placement and spacing on the body of the guitar. The pick lands right between both pickups. Pete, great rhythm chops man. Awesome video.
Eww. The edge? Nah, I'll take knopfler, or even Vinnie Vincent, and that should say a lot
Edge and Hetfield... Dudes got jokes.
That Seymour Duncan 78 (9) just sounded like EVH to me. I noticed I liked the way a lot of the A2 pickups sounded. There was a lot more variety in the characteristics of the ceramic pickups than I was expecting. I usually think of ceramics as sounding ice picky, but that wasn't entirely true. The Rewind Electric VH (15) and Vintage Mighty Mike (16) sounded really good. The Suhr SSH+ (19) sounded really really hot, but in a really full way? The Motor City Pickups both had a really cool thing with how the notes sort of compressed/bloomed when the guitar was being played more aggressively, but it was definitely more pronounced on the Distortion Prototype (14) than on the 2nd Degree Black Belts (6).
I'm going to have to think on this and listen again.
The Rewinds, Mighty Mites and the Suhrs seem to be the most accurate to Ed's 'voice' in my humble opinion. And the Super Distortion also with regard to VH I.
the 1300, that was pretty good sound.
I thought the 1300 and a couple of other pickups with ceramic magnets nailed it. The Friedman pickup and Motor City were good.
Yes!!! Way to go on this one!!
Yea so I watched this video and jumped on my line 6 hz stomp made a patch and played . Thanks good playing sound awsome
After 3 years ! I keep coming back to this Monstrous work of a demo ! This should be a TH-cam Sticky !
I gotta be Honest ...when I think of van Halen tone it's the first four albums that come to mind....so I agree and appreciate you defining that particular era
Always loved Ed's inventive rhythm work....he's probably most famous for his soloing, but for me it was always the rhythm....no chugging or power chords for him, no siree
Did Ed ever STOP soloing?
I thought the Wolfgang sounded great but then they all did really!
Your playing is the nearest I’ve heard to Eddie’s tone Pete regardless of the instrument.
Eddie and his original band mates created a large part of the musical theme to my adolescence, I so wish I could have met him.
Love your channel Pete.
I've probably watched this 50 times. Maybe 100. But something cool is, when I'm dissecting the tone, I change my monitor to a different window. Then I'll hear something that really catches my ear, and I'll flip over and see what it is, then capture it in a long running Word document. I list time stamps, what PU it is, and what riffs are being played. I then repeat the process maybe once a week. From that point, I start to look for which ones made the list into a top 5. You'd be surprised how often the repeats are. Pete's playing is awesome, he really nails this stuff but I do try to imagine how he's interacting off of the pickup. Good stuff. Nicely done Pete, thank you!
These EVH themed videos are fun just to listen you play the van halen stuff.
I knew floyd makes guitar darker and so on, but that difference was big. Never realized until now when there were basically two of the same, one with floyd and one classic.
I am surprised how much I like the SD ‘59. They all sound great. I like the Frankenstein and the Pariahs, but man the ‘59 is like the all-rounder to me. Great playing, great job
The ceramic pickups sounded the best. The super distortion with the destroyer was spot on
Funny enough, I thought the TV Jones sounded more authentic.
Simpleton analysis
I agree...
Pete, You've outdone yourself! No small task. For me, the A2 PAFs in the 9k sounded right for a certain tone and the 13K pickups with ceramic or A2 sounded right. I was amazed how well the Wolfgang pickups did. You can really see where Ed was going with the Wolfgangs being the final destination. Great stuff!
That duncan frankenstein really surprised me! overall i think i liked it best.
@@Murphy_R9 The Wolfgang, Seymour Duncan Frankenstein and 78, and Rewind VHII are the best sounding
I think the Wolfgang does all tones well and in tour, Ed can cater to the specific sound with his playing.
Great video.
The base tone & the chops contribute in this case to 80% of the tone, great playing Pete! For the remaining 20%: super distortion for the songs Eddie played with the destroyer, SD 78 IMHO totally nailed the tone with the Frankenstrat in the first album, and the Frankenstein is spot on for the FW and 1984 tone. Greatest video ever made on brown sound!
That is a pretty solid assessment in my opinion. Great take away
Que bueno que le guste la historia....excelente video del estilo de Van Halen....un abrazo respetuoso desde Puerto Rico.
PARIAH PASADENA BLACK was SPOT ON....My ears are good... I love DiMarzio Super Distortion and it's ALL I PLAY, but the Pasadena Black was AWESOME!! 😎😎👍👍👍👍👍 If you CLICK back and forth between the DiMarzio Super Distortion and back to Pasadena Black, the Pasadena is #2, but close #1...the DiMarzio Super Distortion are simply the best EVH 1 & 2 pickups... I'm sorry Pete, but it's true. LOL GREAT VIDEO! 😎😎😎😎😎😎
black was good too
Awesome playing! I honestly think the biggest thing in EVH’s early sound was the fact he was playing LOUD through 4@4x12” cabinets.
My favorite sound was the 78
i don't know about the "evh sound" but i once put an evh frankenstein in a strat i had, and it was a GREAT pick up. very articulate. expensive, but worth it.
Wow, that Destroyer is one BEAUTIFUL piece of wood!
This continues to be one of my favorite videos to watch. Even if someone isn’t a huge fan of EVH, it’s a good lesson in the differences in resistances and the difference in tone, balance, and gain a magnet can make. Also, the more I watch the more I’m thinking it’s like what Eddie said he originally did: took a PAF pickup from an ES-335 (obviously vintage now), removed the A5 magnet, replaced it with an A2, and had a resistance of about 8-9k.
Insanely good, Pete! Nailed the tones the riffs and the leads!
Seems (to me, after blasting through these once) like the A2's are more even, the A5's and the ceramics even more so seem to have tons of bass, though they're not lacking in treble. Resistance seems to be either around 9k or around 14k. Would have been interesting to see inductance readings on these. I remember in old magazine interviews Eddie would say he liked PAFs, and say things like, "let the amp do the work", and so on, but he was also known for saying things to throw people off the scent. Interesting video.
Agree completely, I think the A2's have better mids. I really liked #21, that Pariah pickup. The DiMarzio PAF was a cool sound as well, but not even close to EVH.
20:08 - WOW! That’s the sound right there Pete!!!! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
There were a lot of great sounding pickups. My top picks are :
1. Duncan Custom Custom
2. Pariah Pasadena White
3. Suhr Thornbucker
4. Bareknuckle VHII
5. Duncan 78
recently bought a schecter tempest custom with the sd custom custom in bridge and 59 in neck ..... always been a sh4 guy ...but fuck me that custom custom is sooo good ..im converted
@tessmage_tesserasame,
In the main test guitar, the PARIAH DESTRUCTION 70 was closest to the early Van Halen tones. Ceramic Magnet is most obviously part of those first two Van Halen albums. It's in the attack part of the sound where you can hear the difference with this particular pickup. The Seymour Duncan Frankenstein was second closest to sounding like the tones on actual Van Halen records. This pickup has a nice bloom to it similar to what Edward could get and the great sustain Edward sought out and was known for. It offers a warmer but still signature Edward Brown Sound tone that leans more towards the slightly warmer and rounder version of the brown sound heard on the Fair Warning album. For Van Halen and Van Halen II albums, the PARIAH DESTRUCTION 70 has the sound - the aggressive attack and a frequency response, bloom and sustain qualities closest to the first two albums. The attack, decay, sustain and release characteristics of the PARIAH DESTRUCTION 70 is haunting and spooky. When Pete plays with that pickup, Edward's ghostly head enters the room and grins his impish smile over top of Pete's crown of Thorn.
When EVH cut the Destroyer and repainted it (Shark) he did two things:
1- He used it in the VH1 promo video singles.
2- He went on tour with it.
My point is that there are pictures from the first half of 1978, and the guitar did not have a DiMarzio Super Distortion in it. It had a chrome covered bridge pickup, as it did through 1977. There were a lot of options then, so it be either a Gibson, a Seymöur Duncan or (IMHO) a Super70.
The double cream pickup only appears in July 1978, upon returning from Japan, and it is a Mighty Mite. It is still in there to this day.
The neck position is a black DiMarzio of unknown specs: a Super or Super II by the looks of it, and probably not even connected.
Super Distortion (IMHO) don’t appear until mid-1979 in the Charvel Bee guitar. Per EVH, with an Alnico magnet replacing the Ceramic magnet. Since this is essentially a Seymour Duncan Custom5 (the alleged late ‘70s and early ‘80s EVH pickup), I would guess that Ed used an A5 magnet !?!
Man, anyone who pays $4-500 for a Rewind is nuts after hearing a $130-150 Duncan sound just as good. Also check out the wonderful customer service they describe on their about page for that wonderful premium. They are correct, those terms are unacceptable and I will gladly get a pickup just as good at a normal price from another maker…sheesh. In fact almost all the pickups sounded pretty good with only a couple of definite No’s. A lot of differences maybe felt more than heard.
I've watched this many times.. never gets old man
Got my parachute… some food… headphones… jumping down this rabbit hole with Pete and Dave with HUGE smile!
There's so much great stuff here my head's spinning. First of all, as always, top notch playing Pete! For my money I'm going with the Ibanez Super 70's in the Destroyer. After that the Ducan '78 is another winner. Super Distortion is a classic and you really can hear that ceramic magnet and the 2x DC output of the windings. Thick and kickass. You, Dave and the team are very gracious and patient to have put this together. A true geek's paradise!
And I thought the Super 70's was the worst, much like I experienced when I owned a real Destroyer that just did not really have a Van Halen style tone.
@@mbreinin Interesting. It's amazing how everyone's ears hears something they like or don't. So you had a Destroyer? How did you like the feel of the guitar...minus the pickups?
@@SteveOuimette it was a nice guitar for sure. Frets were a little small, but it played very well. I just expected more of a VH-1 sound when I plugged it in and it never nailed it. Probably would have with a 13k ceramic in it! LOL
I think a few of them really hit the tone but he is playing the perfect amp with everything on 10 so the differences are super subtle. That being said I should probably be watching this with over the ear headphones.
@@mbreinin I hear you on the 13k ceramic! Maybe he never had the Super 70's in that guitar. So many factors. Interesting on the small frets, not really my thing either.
Can't believe I've just spent 1 hour and twenty minutes watching a pickup comparison video haha! Outstanding work Pete, this is GOLD! My favorites: Pariah Pasadena white, Rewind Electric (both), Seymour Duncan 59 and 78, but I think the Mighty Mites really nail that VH1 snarl and aggression in the upper mids!
the SD is the one, and as we consider it was a standard rock upgrade pick up back then it makes lot of sense. And btw, you can't beat the early VH sound, not even EVH himself did it.
Don't know exactly what Larry knew back in the day, but, he got it right with the Super Distortion. Still one of my all time favorite pups.
I recently learned that a super distortion in the bridge and an evolution neck are incredible on Les Paul types. Best pair
@@jefflitchfield4950 SD pairs well with a PAF Pro in the neck also!
@@freedomination2 of course it does that one's just a classic combo. But after trying an EVO neck with a super d in the bridge on a Les Paul I highly recommend that combination
@@jefflitchfield4950 Have you tried a Super 2 neck pickup with the Super Distortion? I've been curious about it since it's just supposed to be the neck version of the SD but I've never heard one played
@@nicwilson89 The Super 2 is a lot like the DSD except with more treble and less bass. Has one in the bridge of an ash Strat that sounded killer!
Like Eddy said it's all in the fingers. All the pups sound fine.
To my ears, the custom customs have the most definitive evh tone here, he definitely used that pickup on some of the early stuff. Thanks for sharing this PT!
You get more of the string sound with the A2 pickups around 9k. You get that twangy chirp you hear sometimes with VH and they sounded overall smoother than the ceramics. I really like the ceramics around 13k. When they got too far above 13k they sounded too metallic with the higher notes. You can hear it a lot in the chords to unchained. I think my favorite was the pasadena black 14.5k alnico 2. Thanks Pete.
Pariah Pasadena black had the bite. The old Mighty Mite had the bloom the other pickups didn’t have. Great video!!!! I am so glad there are Van Halen gear nerds that are as obsessed as I am with his tone. Keep up the great work.
I hear a fizz in the Super Distortions like on the album 1 that I don’t hear with the other pickups….
I think ED did use the super D on VH I and just dissed it in the magazines to throw off the chasers. Eddie did not like people copying him.
That's because the first album used JBL speakers (with silver dimes) on the first album and tour. One track of darker Celestion one of bright JBL.
@@OFR Yeah i agree the JBL's made a difference for sure.
This is an EXCELLENT breakdown of pickup tones for the legend, King Edward. Pete you did EVH justice by doing this vid… 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 🤘🏻 🎸
Pete: this is genuinely remarkable. Just... astonishing. I can't imagine a heavier lift in terms of artistry or engineering, let alone both. Grand slam, man. BRAVO.
The super distortion! Man those On fire chords sounds HUUUGE! Love it, that's the sound!
Another awesome VH video by Pete and Dave Friedman! This confirms that the Frankie had an Alnico II pickup.
Incredibly in depth. Some didn’t work, some were like “that’s it” until the next pickup with was then like “that’s it”.
Welcome to the Mother of All Rabbit Holes! That was a marathon baby! My ears need a nap! Bravo Pete, I think this baby has been put to BED! So many great options here. I put a Duncan 78’ in my EVH “Circles” and couldn’t be happier. Was cool to hear it here and was in my top 3 of all tested! Bare Knuckle VH II, Pariah Pasadena White, Thornbucker and COTTDAMN if that Duncan 59’ wasn’t legit! A bargain at $80 quid!
Sound like a crazy person? Nope. Deep dives are for the passionate, not the crazy. Well done Pete, well done!
He did use the Destroyer a lot as well as some others, like his Les Paul. Later on, his Vintage Gibson V was used a lot. Another thing, early on, he messed with re winding a pickup as well as dipping pickups in wax. The Mighty Mite and the PAF were the main part of the first couple of albums.
Exactly! Hot for teacher was a stock 58 flying V with P.A.F's in it.
1,2,19 I personally feel like it captures the tones very well!
21 as well
Great vid thank you!!!
For me the Wolfgang was best followed by the Custom Custom and the Pasadena black. Ceramics sound thin to me. A2 around 14k is the sweet spot for me
It's nice to know there are so many quality pickups it's hard to go wrong.
Really I think for the “Frankie” sound the 59 or the custom custom really did it. The 78 and Friedman classic plus are close seconds for me. You can’t beat or get closer to the “shark“ sound than a destroyer and a super distortion. Period. Great job Pete! Amazing playing and thanks for making these awesome videos from the guitar nerds like me and you.
I agree on the Custom-custom but that 59 was anemic sounding to me. The 78 was a lot closer. reminded me of a Custom-custom lite.😁
@@Murphy_R9 Sorry for the maybe dumb question but...is the 59 in the video the neck 59 or is there a difference?🤔 I really liked it and have seen recently some 59 pickups for sale but it says neck🤷
...and sorry for my bad english 😅
@@foldigeri Duncan makes both a neck and bridge model. in this vid pete used the Bridge model which is slightly hotter and no questions are ever "dumb".
by the way you can use the neck model and it will work fine it will just be a little less hot in output.
@@Murphy_R9 Oh okay, thank you very much!🤟 So there's no tonal difference between the two just the output?🤔
@@foldigeri The neck model sounds a little brighter/clearer due to the lower resistance.
it will have more cut and clarity then the bridge one. So you will have slightly less output and more brightness than if you used the bridge one. To me the neck one sounds sort of like a old Gibson T-top pickup.
All that work is appreciated, but watching you jam to EVH is the gem here. Thanks for this video!
That Ibanez Destroyer with the TV Jones sound stupid good.
PETE had to go back and watch this video over & Over!!! Never have I Seen Such Great work and Time that was put into This!, If U have not watched this Video And U Have Questions On Humbuckers??! U Need to Watch it!! Thanks Again Pete, & everyone who Helped*****5stars!!
It’s late evening here - I didn’t think I’d make it through nearly an hour and a half of pickup demos, but I have just sat mesmerised the whole way through. Mind blown! Thanks very much Pete and everyone who helped you out with putting this together. Your playing and passion for all things VH is inspirational.
8:31 that is my favorite photo of Van Halen ever. All 4 of them look invincible, immortal and cooler than anyone else alive.
Pete thank you for doing this video. The video for Jump changed the trajectory of my life and Edward is my biggest musical hero ever. And I know millions of people can say the same thing.
Seems like something around 8.9k is the go...i liked the Motor City pickups too...
I still can't believe you did all this - we are Grateful!
Great video! Dimarzio SD and Rewind Electric VH had the right "hair" and sizzle to my ears for the first record tone.
You're going to create a poll or tally the votes left in comments, I hope ;)
The love that was put into this is most appreciated!!!!
Actually thought the Pariah Pasadena white was the best with the snarl. Some of the higher wind pickups and ceramic turned to mush. Great playing as ever Pete.
God, that Super Distortion sounds bloody unbelievable. It's so full and dark, but completely clear!
jamies cryin definitely has the most bleed from the first album. You can clearly hear the guitar in the drum microphones which matches the picture in studio 1. If you listen to the guitar isolated track from RWTD before post production, you can actually hear lots of bass bleed, which was high-passed after the fact.
I've been a G player for 50 years. You have the best videos on YT, and it's not even close.
Thanks so much! I’m glad you like what I do!
This guy is incredibly knowledgeable. I’m not a huge guitar nut. But I do play Van Halen stuff the most. And always found the deep dives into gear very interesting even though I know very little on the technical side. Lol.
I absolutely love how that TV Jones pickup sounds in the Destroyer. It’s got so much more spank than the others, even if it isn’t an identical match to Eddie.
Fantastic Pete! Many thanks to you and Dave for all the hard work this took. I can’t even begin to convey my gratitude! Thank you!
the thing about Pete is that he flawlessly nails Eddie's feel, and that make ALL these pickups sound perfect.....and indistinguishable to me.
What a great world we live in when we watch over an hour of the same Van Halen riffs and geek the F out!! Gotta say I love the mystery creme DiMarzio 70s pickup!
The "mystery dimarzio" is a old DP-103 PAF. I have one and they are killer and very underrated! These usually paired with a super d to go into the neck with the super in the bridge but sounded great in the bridge or neck.
Kudos for going thru this! So many choices each having their own merits
Damn that Seymour Duncan Frankenstein sounds great!!
Yeah i agree! i liked it the most on this test, it just had all the right elements.
I agree and I think I'll be ordering one
@@marko6831 What body wood is your guitar? I was going to order one myself but thought about yy charvels body wood, I play a Charvel custom shop TMZ natural mahogany and pete has the Duncan in a solid ash body? Mahogany is probably too dark of a tone wood for this pu?
This is the best tone chasing video I've ever seen.
For my EVH tones I go with the Duncan 59, Duncan 78, the EVH Frankenstrat p/u, and the Dimarzio Super Distortion.
Awesome video Pete!
Ya just can't go wrong with the Duncan '59. Once I tried one in my Les Paul Standard ( bridge position ), I kept it there from that day forward. All the other guitarists went crazy over my LP after that.
Your intro to You Really Got Me totally fooled me. I zoned out and thought you played the actual track. Amazing
How do you know Eddies riffs are timeless? I just spent an hour and twenty minutes listening to the same riffs and wanted more. Nice job Pete.
Thanks!
Light up the Sky... Tone is magic. Awesome comparison video. Thanks for putting in the massive endeavour to do this.