Metropoulos Forum

The Frankie Replica is A2 14k, the EVH 78' is A2, the Motor City Blister pickup is A2......if Fender ended up with an A2 they have to be doing something right.

A2 is the way to go for early EVH.....not to say A5 is not it or was nevver used but most of the clips out there that nail that sound are done with a Alnico 2. The above proves it.

im sorry but a2 is not it. maybe for ed's new tone,... which im not really into anyway! an a2...its too soft and unalive.... if thats even a word.

i agree with rockstahh, i'm not hearing the bright edge on the front of the note (okay attack) with an a2..

i've tried several a2 in different humbuckers and they are always softer-mushier,but then again i'm sure a2 can vary between different versions and of course how they are charged.

its not like my comparison was scientific.

my ears are different i guess but to me w/o hearing either one, why would the EVH 78' and Frankie Replica pickup both be A2? DOesnt it make you wonder?? BOTH of those pickups are intended to replicate his early sound not his new sound.

To me A5 new sound. A2 is early.....

Does anyone have a logical answer to my question? It is a good question, think about it. Even that new Blister Pickup Stan (5150) has is Alnico2.

Then why did Ed design his pickups using alnico 5 magnets,(If Ed liked alnico 2 magnets he would have used them)the pickups for the musicman guitar were alnico 5 so were the pickups for the peavey wolfgang and the new wolfgang,the alnico 2 magnet BS started with seymour duncan when he designed the duncan custom custom(It was never a production model this was going to be the Eddie van halen pickup on seymours assumtion and to make money using Eds name)which had nothing to do with Ed,this pickup was designed(clients of seymour)for artists that wanted a LESS brighter tone from a paf type pickup,they used a alnico 2 magnet,and overwound the hell out of it (14k) making the pickup less bright and more bassy(mud,Eds early sound is very bright and wayless bass)Heres where the bullshit started with that pickup and Ed, in the early 80s seymour released a "Eddie Van halen" pickup without Eds concent(the pickup was never released)Ed caught wind of that and had his lawyers put a stop to that,the pickup was already designed and ready to go, Ed had nothing to do with THAT pickup,Ed had no input on this, just ASSUMTION on seymours part,that pickup was then renamed the duncan custom custom because they couldnt use Eds name,this is when companys started to make money using Eds name,just like grover jackson did and Ed put a stop to that also in the 80s,any pickup wound over 10k and especially using a alnico2 magnet in my opinion is not the way to go for EDS early sound (van halen 1).The closest pickup(In the duncan line of pickups) to Eds early sound is the duncan 59,without question..................

MARCO wrote:.........Does anyone have a logical answer to my question? It is a good question, think about it. Even that new Blister Pickup Stan (5150) has is Alnico2.

You think these sound alike? I don't. http://forum.metroamp.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=22341

No one has answered my question. NITRO read my e-mail, EVH was using A5 magnets for his new guitars/new sound (EBMM, PV etc)
We are talking about his OLD sound. I never said he used A2's for his new sound/new guitars. I dont care what anyone thinks of the Duncan 59', the question was why did Seymour Duncan used a A2 for the EVH 78' and why Fender would use a A2 for the Frankie replica which happens to come from the Duncan Custom Shop??....just for the heck of it???, NO, because that was a more accurate replication of his OLD sound and probably accurtate to the original pickup. Fender had access to the original guitar so why would they go with a magnet that would not sound or be accurate to the original...............that's the question and so far no one can answer it so I guess I answered my own question....A2.....the rest is pure opinion.

Thanks

here is something else to consider.the ibanez super 70 sounds very very similar to the EVH duncan frankenstrat 25k pickup..

The songs that the guy is playing on the video are songs from van halen II and fair warning,the raw clip from rackdocter(running with the devil)is from van halen 1,we all know or some of us do, is that van halen 1 was more aggressive and more edgy then any of the recordings after van halen 1, Eds tone became less aggressive and alittle more tame which anyone can plainly hear,the question was asked do they sound different,ABSOLUTELY.The raw clip is more bright and very edgy,thats like comparing night and day.................

MARCO wrote:No one has answered my question. NITRO read my e-mail, EVH was using A5 magnets for his new guitars/new sound (EBMM, PV etc)
We are talking about his OLD sound. I never said he used A2's for his new sound/new guitars. I dont care what anyone thinks of the Duncan 59', the question was why did Seymour Duncan used a A2 for the EVH 78' and why Fender would use a A2 for the Frankie replica which happens to come from the Duncan Custom Shop??....just for the heck of it???, NO, because that was a more accurate replication of his OLD sound and probably accurtate to the original pickup. Fender had access to the original guitar so why would they go with a magnet that would not sound or be accurate to the original...............that's the question and so far no one can answer it so I guess I answered my own question....A2.....the rest is pure opinion.

Thanks

i can see how they used a2 to try and get an older demagnetized a5 sound - but they got it wrong...i keep saying it. a2 is not it.

Duncan always had it wrong(assumptions on duncan part),there is no way duncan has ever study Eds tone in depth like i have or many others here on this site, alnico 2 magnets are to soft and dont have the drive to achieve the van halen 1 sound(thats the sound im talking about)and when you overwind a alnico 2 magnet like duncan has done with the Evh,78,etc etc(money makers for duncan)then it because less early van halen and more of his new sound which some of us can plainly hear.But if people want to use a alnico 2 magnet and are trying to achieve Eds early tone(van halen 1)then keep struggling(wrong magnet)

Here's my .02 cents on this subject after playing incarnations of PAF's with A-2, A-5 through the Super 70 A-8.

I like the Late 77 early 78 tone on the Warner Bros Demos, boots and VH1, in other words his brighter tone. The A-8 Super 70 has a twang and quack and power/aggressiveness to it that is distinctly it's own when compared to an A-5 and A-2 PAF. The A-5 is closer in mid/highs aggressiveness that I don't hear with my A-2 PAF. I really think the A-2 came along to deal with the warmness factor about using Floyds, but all of these facts have already been covered.

Unless you have played a Super 70 it is hard to describe and comment, listen to Stat 78 clips I think they represent the tone very well. Ed's tone had this clarity to it in 77/78 I think an A-5 A-8 provides. So it will ultimately come down to what you like A-2 to and A-8 really. Nothing will absolutely be definitetively ED it is all conjecture and probably always will so use your own ears to decide.

If it wasn;t for this board I would not have given stock Ibanez pickups a thought I didn't all these years, that's what makes this place cool.

Stans pickup retains it's brightness better than alot of A-2 equipped pickups. I really all comes down to the players ear on this one. I have heard geat clips from the SD 78 and other A-2 pickups as well.

I tried the A2 with my Super Distortion because it was the only pick up I had at around 14k. Straight into the plexi with nothing in front of it it sounds very blah. But when I put my MXR blue six band with the mids boosted, similar to pictures of EVHs board, it came to life. So, to get the brightness, the MXR really made a difference. At this point, I can't remember if I had the GE-10 on as well, but the MXR gave it that bright edginess, but not in an ear piercing brittle way. If that makes sense.

The sum of the parts.

I'm wondering if Stan's blisterbucker with the A2 is wired in parallel internally. This would add more high end, reduce the output by roughly 15% and tighten it up a bit.
It sounds like the blisterbucker has a crispness and definition to the notes that I don't usually hear in a pickup with an A2 mag.
I've got a '59/Custom Custom hybrid pickup I made a year or so ago that's just been laying around. I'm going to put an A2 in there and wire in a parallel switch to see how it sounds.

for me its not about A2 versus A5,its about what ever works with a particular pickup.ask dave friedman what EVH use to use...