Recommend me a dimarzio pickup for my VH strat

[Ted B]

Since DiMarzio had an exclusive on the "Double Cream" color in the 80s ...

They may have been the only maker of a double cream hex pole pickup at that time(?), but certainly not the only maker of double cream pickups.

The EVH Wolfgang pickups are alnico V magnets.

Are you certain this is correct? I'm asking only because I had it in my mind that the EBMM were 18k (bridge), A2, and thought the Wolfgang might be the same. Also, the Wolfgang apparently uses two different gauges of wire within the same coil.

[MrBeasty]

Are you aware of major differences between Peavey and EVH pick-ups?

[fivecoyote]

I assure you they are alnico V.The EBMM pickups are also alnico V, I assure you of that also.

Don't know what to make of that. So Ed wants A2 for everything Duncan makes and A5 for everything else. Or maybe it's A2 for ash and A5 for everything else?

[Marshall SL12301]

the EBMM's and the PEAVEY wolf pups are ALNICO 5

[Marshall SL12301]

I assure you they are alnico V.The EBMM pickups are also alnico V, I assure you of that also.

Don't know what to make of that. So Ed wants A2 for everything Duncan makes and A5 for everything else. Or maybe it's A2 for ash and A5 for everything else?

you got it! A2 to warm up the ash with floyd and 5 for the darker basswood stuff
A2 is basswood= MUD

[MrBeasty]

FWIW - Bareknuckle's VH2 pick-up, which is a brilliant PAF (IMHO), uses a A5. It is blatantly better than Ducan's EVH '78 which uses a A2 for the same purposes.

You have to remember that there is more to it than the magnet type. The response will vary based on how charged the magnet is. You can make a dark A5 or a brighter A2. Nonetheless, they have inerrant/generic dark/bright properties.

[Marshall SL12301]

FWIW - Bareknuckle's VH2 pick-up, which is a brilliant PAF (IMHO), uses a A5. It is blatantly better than Ducan's EVH '78 which uses a A2 for the same purposes.

You have to remember that there is more to it than the magnet type. The response will vary based on how charged the magnet is. You can make a dark A5 or a brighter A2. Nonetheless, they have inerrant/generic dark/bright properties.

I have to agree with your assement because i have a guitar force ERUPTOR pup which is a A2 model BUT has a bright tone and a tight low end which is usually uncharacteristic of alnico II magnets? great friggin pu!

[fivecoyote]

I think of it in terms of less (A5) or more (A2) mids. I normally can't get enough mids but some A2 pickups in some guitars just have too much for me, get that nasal tone.

Still stumped about Ed's current tone.

[Ted B]

FWIW - Bareknuckle's VH2 pick-up, which is a brilliant PAF (IMHO), uses a A5. It is blatantly better than Ducan's EVH '78 which uses a A2 for the same purposes.

One thing I can say without reservation is that Ed's double black PAF removed from his early '60s ES-335, that was presumably rewound by Duncan circa '78, was absolutely equipped with a late PAF A5 magnet. One might consider the possibility that wherever that old black butyrate bobbin is present, at least for a period of time, that 2.371" long, .491" wide, and .121" thick, sand cast 'short' A5 PAF magnet may have remained in it.

[fivecoyote]

Ted, do you say that because all PAFs back then had an A5 or...?

Is that sandcast short A5 is the same mag as in T-Tops?

[Ted B]

By '61, all PAF magnets had been standardized to that particular A5 piece. Before that, they were A2 (mostly), A3, A4, and A5. Anything in double black post 1960 will be the late style, all of which will have the slightly shorter standardized A5 magnet. AFAIK, that magnet remained consistent into the T-top period, at least through the '60s and possibly later. It has been noted however that at least some of the T-top era A5 magnets showed weaker gauss than expected, I don't know why. If I had a T-top era magnet to use, I'd just have it fully recharged for good measure.

About the Bareknuckle VH2, it has the correct frame and frame material, correct butyrate bobbins that match the dimensions of original PAFs, correct size and type A5 magnet, correct type polepieces, and a ~9.0k asymmetrical wind. If one were going to take a late PAF and repair/rewind it to be hotter, he'd more than likely end up with something exactly like that.

[Marshall SL12301]

By '61, all PAF magnets had been standardized to that particular A5 piece. Before that, they were A2 (mostly), A3, A4, and A5. Anything in double black post 1960 will be the late style, all of which will have the slightly shorter standardized A5 magnet. AFAIK, that magnet remained consistent into the T-top period, at least through the '60s and possibly later. It has been noted however that at least some of the T-top era A5 magnets showed weaker gauss than expected, I don't know why. If I had a T-top era magnet to use, I'd just have it fully recharged for good measure.

About the Bareknuckle VH2, it has the correct frame and frame material, correct butyrate bobbins that match the dimensions of original PAFs, correct size and type A5 magnet, correct type polepieces, and a ~9.0k asymmetrical wind. If one were going to take a late PAF and repair/rewind it to be hotter, he'd more than likely end up with something exactly like that.

yeah but he came from using a 13.6K large ceramic mighty mite??? why the drastic change?
I still think the first record is a original duncan custom sh5 like this one,mine is a 1978 wound by seymour

[fivecoyote]

SL123, have you played the EVH pickup, if so how does that compare to the SH5?

[Ted B]

yeah but he came from using a 13.6K large ceramic mighty mite??? why the drastic change?

Because for one reason or another, he became dissatisfied with the sound of that pickup, and apparently the DiMarzio equivalent (DSD) as well.

I dont hear alnico II magnet pickups on any early VH.

I'd further that thought to say that what I hear post VH1 sounds more to my ears like the PAF A5 than A2.

[Ted B]

I still think the first record is a original duncan custom sh5 like this one,mine is a 1978 wound by seymour

Things to consider:

- 1979 magazine ad clearly specifies the Duncan Custom (SH-5) to be Duncan's 'Van Halen' pickup. It is tough to argue that.
- Today, Duncan claims (unofficially) that something equivalent to the Duncan '78 was in Frankenstrat through most of the classic VH days. FWIW, the recording of VH1 was in the can before the end of 1977. If we take the name of Duncan's '78 at face value, anything '1978' falls after the recording of VH1.
- Duncan's fairly recent inspection of Frankenstrat reveals the present day spec of the pickup to be ~13k A2, which obviously represents a smaller gauge of wire than 42awg, but not necessarily a much different sound.

The big question is, are we looking at the same old PAF bobbin in Frankenstrat throughout the years? Could it possible that Duncan rewound it more than once? Or, more interestingly, could it be that it always was the same original rewind with smaller gauge poly wire to ~13k, and Ed just swapped magnets a few times over the years (e.g. ceramic -> A5 -> A2)?

It would be fun to swap a original spec (not Chinese) PAF A5 magnet into a Duncan Custom and play some VHII riffs.