JFRICK
Well-known member
Anyone know what the closest pickup is to the pups in an EVH that I could get aftermarket. I love my EVH and want to put the same pups in my SG, but I can't buy the real pups that came in my EVH.
- Thread starter JFRICK
- Start date
OrangeChannel
Well-known member
Prolly the Tone Zone (it has 4 conductor wiring tho)
Bowks
Well-known member
The best pickup I've ever tried that gives you that 'brown sound' are the Bare Knuckle VHII pickups.
Tim O'Sullivan
Well-known member
The only thing you have to remeber is that even if you got yourself a set of Dimarzio EVH Pickups, they would not sound that great in an SG. The EVH set is designed for a basswood bodied bolt on guitar. I would imagine they would be quite muddy on a Gibson type guitar. How about a Duncan Custom Custom for the bridge?
Supposedly, the closest match is the ToneZone (Bridge)/Air Norton (Neck) combo, to the pickups in the EVH, at least from Dimarzio. Other good choices for the 'brown' sound are the Duncan Custom Custom (as mentioned above), the Duncan JB also, Duncan has a custom shop model that seem to get pretty good reviews, called, ironically, the E.V.H. (Evenly Voiced Harmonics, so they say).
Bowks
Well-known member
Dodgeball said:+1
Say Bowks, have you ever tried the BareKnuckle Black Dog pickups? If I wasn't so happy with the pups in my Axis I may consider whacking a set of those in there.
I've not tried the Black Dogs yet, just the Miracle Man, Mule and VHIIs. Your best bet is to give Tim at BKP a call (set aside about 30mins) and tell him what you're looking for. He really knows his stuff and can voice pickups just as you want them.
JFRICK
Well-known member
Cool, thanks for the suggestions. I'm not necessarily looking for the "brown" sound, I'm more or less looking for pups with about the same output. I like the hot pups....I'm only going to replace the bridge pup right now, hardly ever use the neck pup anyway. Anyway, I'll probably either stick a Tonezone or the same bridge pup that comes in a Les Paul Classic in it (can't remember the name of those pups right now). Thanks again for everyones suggestions....
I dont know if im too late here, but just wanted to warn that there will be an absolutely massive output difference between the bareknuckle vh2 pickup and the EVH axis pickups. The bareknuckle has a resistance of 9.2k and so is likely to be based on Van Halens early sound (up to the 1984 era), which is guess is why it is called VHII after all. The Axis and Wolfgang pickups are much more powerful. I dont think people realize just how much more powerful these are then the PAF types pickups he used to use. I certainly didnt, until i went through a major pickup changing spree where i tried 7 or 8 different pickups in my axis sport.
As has been said, Dimarzio say the closet you will get is the Tone Zone/ Air Norton, and as Dimazrio made the axis pickups they are probably a good judge.
I also agree with Tim O'Sullivan - that there is a chance a Tone Zone will sound quite muddy in an SG. I would personally check out the Dimarzio Air Zone. I know of a couple of people who have got great results from using one of these in an SG.
Of the other pickups mentioned, the Seymour DUncan custom shop (which i have put in my axis sport), is, like the bareknuckle, much lower in output than the axis pickups. The seymour duncan custom custom will be closer, but will sound warmer, and have less bass and treble (i have also had one of these in my axis sport) than the axis pickups.
As has been said, Dimarzio say the closet you will get is the Tone Zone/ Air Norton, and as Dimazrio made the axis pickups they are probably a good judge.
I also agree with Tim O'Sullivan - that there is a chance a Tone Zone will sound quite muddy in an SG. I would personally check out the Dimarzio Air Zone. I know of a couple of people who have got great results from using one of these in an SG.
Of the other pickups mentioned, the Seymour DUncan custom shop (which i have put in my axis sport), is, like the bareknuckle, much lower in output than the axis pickups. The seymour duncan custom custom will be closer, but will sound warmer, and have less bass and treble (i have also had one of these in my axis sport) than the axis pickups.
JFRICK
Well-known member
Well, I stuck a Tone Zone in my SG in the bridge position. Not muddy at all, I'm very happy with it. Great tone, a lot thicker than the stock pup. It is really bassy though, I had to cut the lows on my eq to get the chunk that I like.....After tweaking the eq, it's the perfect pup for my style.......Oh, I'm running it into a '87 Marshall JCM 800. If people say it's muddy, it's b/c they are not setting the eq correctly. It does get muddy if the lows and mids are turned up too much, but I've found it's like that with most "hot" pups.....
I would say the output (hotness) is pretty close to the pups in my EVH, but the tone is completely different, not that it's a bad difference. The Tone Zone has less mids than the pups in my EVH, but the EVH is a mid-rangy guitar anyway.....
I would say the output (hotness) is pretty close to the pups in my EVH, but the tone is completely different, not that it's a bad difference. The Tone Zone has less mids than the pups in my EVH, but the EVH is a mid-rangy guitar anyway.....
JFRICK
Well-known member
I guess I should add that I did not go with split coil option with the new Tone Zone....
