PAF parts

[Possum]

...

Dre is a customer who volunteered to make that video, I sent him the prototypes to try after he contacted me and told him if he didn't like them to send 'em back, the video was his idea and he did an excellent job, the '60 'burst was a lucky touch, it belongs to his buddy. He bought a set of the VL's after he sent the protos back. I don't hire people to do video demos, they just email me and offer, if they can play really excellently and they like the pickups I send them something to try, a studio guy in the UK has a set but broke his bridge by removing the cover, once I find time to rewind it there will be another video though some vintage Marshall gear.

The Toler tone isn't all that hard to get, first you got to have that amp. Dre plays very cleanly and his 45 doesn't sound like that amp. Those PAFs are one of the variants of two, probably earlier than '60, the darker versions, if you watch my last VL demo on YouTube those will do that stuff, the new information I gleaned is pointing at a warmer toned version like that. Plus he probably has his bridge tone rolled back some or the amp is dialed in with less treble, its just typical PAF tone they all have. I typicall don't dial in tones like that because I like more bite, he is verging on Clapton's dark bridge tones there. All very cool...

[Possum]

...

I should point out the VL's and my research continue almost daily. I've watched that Betts Toler video and the others he did for a couple years at least. That amp is to die for. I can get that tone in my Victoria Regal from an earlier version of the bridge and I use that Peter Green lick of his in tests. My goal right now is to warm the bridge up a bit more in that direction, the neck is just about perfect as it is. The hard part is I don't own any real Marshalls other than the vintage Studio 15 and its 12 inch Celestion, far from being a JTM45, so its a disadvantage, plus I don't have any speaker cabs either. I don't have a real Gibson Les Paul either, and we all know they are all over the place these days and not all that good. Still I've sold these sets to players who've put them in their Historics and one set into a vintage Les Paul conversion, all with great feedback from the customers. I'm sending Dre some new part to test to see what he thinks. Its difficult sometimes to judge from my own amps because they are all Fenders, I sent one guy an uncovered bridge pickup and put alnico 2 in it to warm it up and he's telling me its too "dark." Have no idea what amp he is using, dark its not. You never can tell what customers are doing, so Dre and the guy in the UK are going to be testing some changes. PAFs react really differently in different amps. I'd love to have a JTM45 and a historically correctly built Les Paul, probably have to get an old Japanese one for that, but hey I deal with what I can do in a limited budget, anyone want to throw some gear my way my birthday is in Marsh, hint hint hint hint

[clown_luthier]

anyone willing to sell brother from europe 200-300 paf pole screws and slugs at some rerasonable price? i hate to pay 3$ for 6 screws or slugs

please pm me

[frankfalbo]

...Duncan also sells an EVH pickup and what is it like 16K or something, no way did he ever use anything like that.

This is false on two levels. First, we don't make any pickup associated with Eddie that is 16k. Second, in addition to a pickup Seymour wound in 1978, the one we do make that has a "higher than P.A.F." dc resistance is absolutely in use. You'll find it in the Frankensteins. As a sidenote, the Dimarzio bridge pickup for the Music Man was up around 17-18k.

Back to your regularly scheduled program...

[David Schwab]

As a sidenote, the Dimarzio bridge pickup for the Music Man was up around 17-18k.

The Peavey pickups are pretty hot too. I think they were like 14K, both neck and bridge. I had one in my shop one day.

[RedHouse]

This is false on two levels. First, we don't make any pickup associated with Eddie that is 16k. Second, in addition to a pickup Seymour wound in 1978, the one we do make that has a "higher than P.A.F." dc resistance is absolutely in use. You'll find it in the Frankensteins. As a sidenote, the Dimarzio bridge pickup for the Music Man was up around 17-18k.

Back to your regularly scheduled program...

Who's "we"?

[Dave Kerr]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80aYopZ_gIU"]YouTube - Seymour Duncan SFX-07 Shape Shifter Tap Tremolo[/ame]

[David Schwab]

Who's "we"?

The clue you seek is here, grasshopper:

Second, in addition to a pickup Seymour wound in 1978, the one we do make that has a "higher than P.A.F." dc resistance is absolutely in use. You'll find it in the Frankensteins.

[belwar]

Who's "we"?

He works at SD.. the real SD, not Stevens Design.

[Possum]

...

What I posted was from memory, I read a forum post by someone who bought a Seymour pickup that Eddie refused to endorse so they call it by a thinly disguised name and its a high ohmer, 14k, 12K, I don't remember exactly. The guy wanted Eddie tone and called someone at Duncan who told them truthfully that Eddie's pickup was in actuality a PAF and more like 8K+/- so they wound one for him like that and he was happy.

My point was that most of these pickups associated with classic rock stars don't resemble remotely what they were actually using, and are more aimed at Guitar Center walk-ins, to reproduce the END of the tone chain associated with that particular star, ignoring the fact that the pickup itself doesn't make that kind of tone by itself and isn't what they really were using.

And its Stephens Design, not Stevens :-) I used SD Pickups precisely because no one can spell my last name in a web link

[JGundry]

YouTube - Seymour Duncan SFX-07 Shape Shifter Tap Tremolo

Seems very similar to the Cusack Tap A Whirl. Great pedal to emulate.

[RedHouse]

He works at SD.. the real SD, not Stevens Design.

Umm humm?

[frankfalbo]

...from memory...forum post by someone who bought a Seymour pickup that Eddie refused to endorse so they call it by a thinly disguised name and its a high ohmer, 14k, 12K, I don't remember exactly. The guy wanted Eddie tone and called someone at Duncan who told them truthfully that Eddie's pickup was in actuality a PAF and more like 8K+/- so they wound one for him like that and he was happy.

Still many holes in this version. There are two distinct "eras" of Van Halen's use of the Frankenstein guitar. The early years are represented by a special pickup Seymour wound in 1978 which we call the '78. Later, EVH played a Custom Custom for a little while and then all I can say is he played a pickup "in the neighborhood" of that for a very long time. When he came to us with Frankie to make the pickup for the Fender replica, the pickup in the Frankie was not the overwound P.A.F. rather it was what became THIS PICKUP which anyone can buy and disassemble and analyze (and still probably get it wrong LOL) I believe I remember that customer, and his calls into the company. The main issue was the difference between the two eras of VH, NOT that we gave him something that wasn't the "real thing" or whatever. It was the 2nd of the two types, similar to what he has in the Frankie today, but not what was in there in 1978.

My point was that most of these pickups associated with classic rock stars don't resemble remotely what they were actually using...ignoring the fact that the pickup itself doesn't make that kind of tone by itself and isn't what they really were using.

While I don't totally disagree, it depends on who you're talking about. Slash? No way. He's been taking AII Pros straight out of stock since Appetite. We made him some special firebird minis I think once, but that's about it. Buddy Guy playing Lace Sensors? SRV using something remotely like a Texas Special? Now you're on to something...Dimebag? Sort of, because he really did use the Dimebucker with Pantera and everything after that, but yeah if you want his early tone you have to get the Lawrence. Ty Tabor is using P-Rails now and loves them. He's playing Gretchen-era songs with P-Rails and an Egnater preamp module that emulates the LAB. But I wouldn't suggest that you need P-Rails for the early King's X setup, you need the Elite. Gilmour? He's used the EMG's but his main guitar had the Duncan Custom and vintage singles in it all along.

And its Stephens Design, not Stevens :-) I used SD Pickups precisely because no one can spell my last name in a web link

Yeah sure...and Tokai just thought this font "looked really cool":

[frankfalbo]

Seems very similar to the Cusack Tap A Whirl. Great pedal to emulate.

Thanks, actually it was completely developed by the time I arrived, and in development before the TAW came out. When I got here we were picking graphics and the manual was already written. It's pretty funny actually because John has had public fits of rage about it that happen to be completely baseless. I've extended the olive branch and had several discussions with him offline, and I don't know if it's changed his mind. I think it goes deeper than just the "Shape Shifter".

[Possum]

......

Frank, kiss my butt, LOL. My company name has been Stephens Design for about 30 years. Previously I was a graphic designer and did all the work for EMG in the 80's, you may have remembered they suddenly started looking pro in their ads and trade show and catalogs back then, that was me, Stephens Design. I had them as a client for 12 years. I also did the majority of all Shrapnel's album design and catalog and ad work, under the dubious direction of Mr. V., which is why alot of it sucked. Had them for 26 years! I did manage to sneak around him and get a few outstanding designs done for guys like Robben Ford and Michael Schenker, not often but I tried to do great work. Always same company name, Stephens Design. My last official album job was for Leslie West and Mountain, then I quit that crazy business to go pickups full time. So when I started making pickups I kept the same name. So all my business comes from the internet, so what domain name would be obvious to buy? www.stephensdesign.com? You already saw how Belwar butchered my name, musicians are some of the worst spellers on the planet to boot. So the obivous thing was to use SDPickups.com ; no one gets that wrong. My website plainly says STEPHENS DESIGN. No one contacts me thinking I'm Seymour, never has and never will. A google search for Seymour Duncan does not bring up SDPickups.com

Although I am highly respectful of Seymour, I don't really like the products, so why would I try to make people think I'm Duncan? I have never gotten an email addressed to Seymour, sheesh...

I'm not an expert on EVH for sure, you left out alot of other pickups Eddie used, someone posted here who has studied in depth what he used and he used alot of different pickups according to him including Mighty Mites. It all pretty much goes to prove that Eddie sounds like Eddie no matter what he plays, a pickup isn't going to turn anyone into "Eddie Tone." And yeah you're right about Texas Specials etc. The other laughable thing about his business is the "reissue" pickups made by some companies that aren't even in one's wildest dreams anything close to what the real versions were. To Seymour's credit he has done a fair job of recreating some of those, the alnico staple pickup etc. And you're also right, an awful lot so called pickup makers take apart a pickup and don't even see what they are looking at, they know nothing about steel alloys, every bobbin looks identical to them etc.etc. I've gone way beyond that stage.....