Early Van Halen Riffs with Custom "Kramer" replica with Frankenstein pickup

R

romanianreaper

Power User
So I just picked up a custom made guitar that looks like Eddie Van Halen's "Kramer" guitar, complete with an EVH "Frankenstein" pickup (smokin' pickup BTW!). I modified a preset I found here a few firmware updates ago and tweaked it until I found the sound in my head. :) I'm a huge EVH fan but can't play like him. However, hopefully the clip will give you an idea of the tones. :) Hope you guys like it. Nothing like jamming on a replica while playing EVH riffs.

Here is the clip with the preset:

 

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  • Van Halen (Reaper Rig) ).syx
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cool tone - sounds very close to the original. I love the EVH pickups. I wonder how different the Frankenstein pickup is from the regular EVH that comes in the Wolfgang. All I know is that the EVH Wolfgang Special (mine is Japan made) sounds very thick and chewy (if that makes sense) with tons of balls.
 
Sounds great. How high output (or low output) are those pickups? There's a theory that EVH's 'bucker is actually pretty low output...
 
iaresee said:
Sounds great. How high output (or low output) are those pickups? There's a theory that EVH's 'bucker is actually pretty low output...
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If you're talking about VH I & VH II tones ..., then it depends on which song you're listening too ... ?

Originally the Frankenstrat guitar was a very hot ( possibly DiMarzio Super Distortion ) pickup .... However, the Explorer "style" guitar that he also had ( featured on You Really Got Me, and other songs ) had a PAF style pickup ....

Later on, after he cut-up the Explorer ( before Women & Children First was released ) and ( in his words ) destroyed the tone, he took that pickup and put it in the Frankie guitar ....

Also, at some point, maybe before, maybe after .... The pickup became damaged, and only one of the coils was working ....

Lots O "fokelore" there for sure ....

I usually listen for the whammy bar ..., if I hear it ? Then it's probably a very hot pickup .... If I don't hear it, then it might be the PAF style pickup ?
 
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Thanks all!

Yeah R.D. you are absolutely right. People don't realize that a lot of those early VH tones were the Explorer. Eddie hacked that guitar up pretty bad. :)

I used to own a Wolfgang Special so definitely know what you are talking about with the thick and chewy definition. The Frankenstein pickup is definitely different than the EVH Wolfgang pickup. The Frankenstein cuts through more and I think does older metal better (as well as old Van Halen). The Wolfgang is more "rounded" if that makes sense. The Frankenstein is crisp whereas the Wolfgang is milder. Always so hard to describe pickup tones. :) They both obviously sound great but depends on the application I guess. I'm definitely a fan of the Frankenstein pickup.
 
Also a les paul (possible stock) was used for rhythm tones on some on of the early VH albums, Jamie's crying is one such example of a les paul being used.
 
I was curious why most people don't seem to use the EVH 5153 for their Van Halen tone, any reason for that?
 
Arion5150 said:
I was curious why most people don't seem to use the EVH 5153 for their Van Halen tone, any reason for that?
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Robboman said:
Most VH fans seem to go for the early VH modded Marshall tones rather than the later VH tones.
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I once heard some clips of a real 5150 amp copping some very convincing early Van Halen tones, so those amp models in the Axe-Fx might not be a bad choice when going for those tones.
 
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