kramer pacer mahogany body with marshall. which pickups?

[mrjones2004x]

Hi guys, Simple really, brought a cheap Kramer pacer classic which has a mahogany body and maple neck/board and I was hoping to get an evh type tone from my marshall dsl 15.

Nothing exact just a good overall evh tone from the early stuff. Classic stuff.

Any suggestions on pickup choice? I know Eddie played brighter wood guitars but with the endless market of pickups there must be something out there that may do the trick.

My alder bodied Jackson dk2m has a super distortion and this really screams but wondered how it would do in a mahog body?

I hear the sd78 evh is good but prob suited to ash/adler?

Really not sure what to look for. I guess bright, medium to high output.

Any help would be great

Thanks

Oh yeah, hi there, been a while. Still reading the evh section!

[OokraMoO]

Hey man, I've been using my Pacer as my main guitar for over a year now.
I put a SD Custom Custom in the bridge of mine. Here's a few vids/audio clips for you..

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcE_0wVu7Gk[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQyZhhzoklw[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA2W2qS4s3Y[/youtube]

I'm thinking of trying a DSD after all the talk here!

[Blix]

While it's "mahogany" it's not a dark sounding guitar by any means. I have tried mine with a good number of pickups and it rocks with them all. Custom Custom as mentioned by Mark is a great choice, as is a DSD for some "zing" in your top end.
The guitar comes with pretty crappy electronics, put in some good stuff...

[mrjones2004x]

Thanks so far guys. So the super d would be good in the mahogany body too.
Got one in my Jackson and its killer!

Is the custom custom much difference then?

How about something like a bare knuckle evh or another clone?

[fhn_lopes]

Man, try a Bare Knuckle VHII, you won't regret. Mine just ROCKS and it's so defined.
If you already have a DSD in other guitar, go with something more clear like the VHII, Motor City 2nd Degree Black Belt, Bare Knuckle Black Dog, Or even a gibson classic 57 plus... I'd go for a VHII or the MCP 2nd DBB.

[Blix]

Funny, I had both the DSD and the CC in my Pacer just yesterday, had a few hours with pickup swapping fun

The CC is a bit hotter, softer and darker, yet cleans up really nice. The DSD have more treble bite, tighter bottom and, and is a tad harsher when you roll down your volume knob. Both sounds killer.

Would love to try a MC 2dn Degree BB.

[garbeaj]

One thing to remember is that the Kramer 5150 guitar was never used on any of the "classic" Van Halen records. It was only used on the albums 5150 and 0U812...also you are trying to get a broad spectrum of tones from the first album through 1984. It is a little difficult to recommend something that covers the "classic" era because there really isn't one pickup that does it.

[rgorke]

First, IMHO, it is 80% or more the amp giving you the tone. That is if you have decent chops. The pickup just gives different toppings. I have old Dimarzio PAFs in a coupe guitars that are hard ash. I also put DSD in an ash guitar and there is not a huge change. I even put a MM 1300 (the 13k one) in an OLP Music Man clone and it sounds really good. These are all into the same amp giving me a great bedrock of tone.

Try what you have, take out the DSD that you have and put it in the mahogany guitar and see if you like it. Solder isn't too expensive.

[mrjones2004x]

Thanks again guys.
Ok I love his tone maybe more his style. Really great pinch harmonics and tapped harmonics.
Anything 80s hair metal which can squeal like banshie if I really want it to. As long as the harmonics are there I'm probably getting the right tone.
The band's sounds I like are as follows;
Van Halen, obviously
Europe, think the songs superstitious and rock the night.
Def leopard, pour some sugar on me etc
Steel panthers lead tone is amazing too!

My chops ain't nothing special I just love an all round great pickup but the main thing is harmonics and searing lead. I find there all much of a much in rhythem terms as I don't do super low tunings or numetal type sounds.

Give me your best allround 80s glam/hairmetal pickup then to suit similar styles as above if you please.

[garbeaj]

Dimarzio Super Distortion spaced for tremolo.

[Cabbagebreeze]

Dimarzio Andy Timmons. Using it in a Mahogany body floyd guitar. Awesome. My new favourite pup.

[stef]

+1 for the dsd (no tone pot, 500K audio taper volume)

[rgorke]

Although I don't own one, the Motor City 2nd Degree Black Belt

and the DSD super distortion.

[Cabbagebreeze]

Dimarzio Andy Timmons. Using it in a Mahogany body floyd guitar. Awesome. My new favourite pup.

here is clip of the Andy Timmons in a mahogany body guitar into a 7W amp.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYf-E4VA40A" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[garbeaj]

Dimarzio Andy Timmons. Using it in a Mahogany body floyd guitar. Awesome. My new favourite pup.

here is clip of the Andy Timmons in a mahogany body guitar into a 7W amp.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYf-E4VA40A" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Maybe it is the amp, but there is nothing remotely 80s or hair metal about that tone. Just a basic classic rock sound which is what Timmons is known for.