HSS Pickup Suggestions Sought

Scented Meat

Scented Meat

Power User
Hoping to replace the stock pickups on MIM HSS Strat. Highest gain sounds I would use would be Van Halenesque, but would like to manage bluesy (strat) tones as well. Suggestions?
 
A lot of times folks go for extremely hot pickups because Eddie had such a driving tone. But keep in mind that Eddie used a wax potted pickup from a Gibson ES-335 in that first Frankenstein Strat... A true PAF pickup of moderate output. I'd be looking along that line. Lindy Fralin has some great PAFs, as one source. He can also help match single coils to get a more even sound across pickups, an issue that often makes stock HSS guitars difficult to use. Then get that Marshally drive working with the right effects and off you go.

The upside of going this way is you also end up with the right pickups for a good bluesy tone with a different amp or even just altered settings.
 
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I have a Godin Exit 22 (maple fingerboard, mahogany body), and it's a very straty guitar, even with the mahogany. I've got 2 Fender TexMex singles, and a BKP Aftermath. 4th position splits the bridge-most coil with the middle (maybe neck.. i don't remember). Combination sounds amazing & I definitely recommend the setup. I could even post a track if you'd like.
 
I'll got with a Dimarzio 36th Anniversary PAF every time. It does a great job of nailing early Van Halen tones. It's also a very versatile pickup with the Axe FX.

For singles I'd stick with the Dimarzio Area 67s. Classic bright and sweet single coil tones that sound great clean and dirty.
 
Rick said:
A lot of times folks go for extremely hot pickups because Eddie had such a driving tone. But keep in mind that Eddie used a wax potted pickup from a Gibson ES-335 in that first Frankenstein Strat... A true PAF pickup of moderate output. I'd be looking along that line. Lindy Fralin has some great PAFs, as one source. He can also help match single coils to get a more even sound across pickups, an issue that often makes stock HSS guitars difficult to use. Then get that Marshally drive working with the right effects and off you go.

The upside of going this way is you also end up with the right pickups for a good bluesy tone with a different amp or even just altered settings.
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I'm not sure that's accurate .... I think the PAF was actually in the Explorer Guitar that Eddie 'hacked' up .... The Strat had a high-output DiMarzio ( Super Dist. ) - I think ....

On VH I the way you can tell is to listen to the song to hear if the solos incorporated whammy tricks. If it did, then it was the Strat, if not, then it was the Explorer. For instance, I'm pretty sure that You Really Got Me was the Explorer, because that's the guitar that had the kill switch ....

Another quasi-confirmation was when Pete Thorn first demoed his SL-67 he did some Eddie riffs and at the very end of the video he used his own "Franken-Strat" w/ an unpotted DiMarzio S.D. and it totally nailed that tone !
 
It's accurate... I was a budding guitarist of 18 in 1978 and Eddie was quite open about where the Strat pickup came from. He liked the ES335, the band thought he looked like Roy Orbison playing it. The pickup was from that guitar. We all followed Ed pretty close in those days, he was the first since Jimi to kind of re-write the way it was done. The trem is all over that album, so it wasn't a stop tail.

The first I recall seeing the Explorer was on Women and Children First, though he probably used lots of guitars in that era.
 
The big thing to remember with the Axe FX is that the pickup doesn't need to do a whole heck of a lot in terms of output of tone. Once you get past the type of pickup it is (humbucker, single coil, P-90, etc.) the tools in the Axe-FX can give you more gain than you'll likely ever need and enough tone shaping to make it sound just how you like it. Case in point - I used the T808 pedal to add gain and a bit of a midrange boost (+3dB at 638 Hz) to get more of that "awww" vocal tone that I love.
 
Rick said:
It's accurate... I was a budding guitarist of 18 in 1978 and Eddie was quite open about where the Strat pickup came from. He liked the ES335, the band thought he looked like Roy Orbison playing it. The pickup was from that guitar. We all followed Ed pretty close in those days, he was the first since Jimi to kind of re-write the way it was done. The trem is all over that album, so it wasn't a stop tail.

The first I recall seeing the Explorer was on Women and Children First, though he probably used lots of guitars in that era.
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I was 17 in 1978, so you and I probably pounded a lot of the same ground in that regard ....

But, I misspoke .... It wasn't a Gibson Explorer, it was an Ibanez Destroyer ( which was basically an Explorer copy ) ....

Here's a quote I dug up from one of the VH Fan sites:

Little is known about this particular guitar, but what is confirmed is that Eddie did use the guitar on much of the early Van Halen work more than people realize. For example, on the first Van Halen album Eddie used it on roughly half the tracks: Runnin’ with the Devil; You Really Got Me; Jamie’s Cryin’; Feel Your Love Tonight and On Fire. Basically early on, he used his Destroyer on any track that did not require the tremolo arm on his Frankenstrat, instead opting for the heavier sound of the Ibanez Destroyer when necessary.

That said ..., I may have gotten the pickup switch exactly reversed .... Because the Ibanez actually featured DiMarzio pickups. So, you're probably correct on the PAF being in the Frankenstrat !

 
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R.D. said:
I was 17 in 1978, so you and I probably pounded a lot of the same ground in that regard ....

But, I misspoke .... It wasn't a Gibson Explorer, it was an Ibanez Destroyer ( which was basically an Explorer copy ) ....

Here's a quote I dug up from one of the VH Fan sites:

Little is known about this particular guitar, but what is confirmed is that Eddie did use the guitar on much of the early Van Halen work more than people realise. For example, on the first Van Halen album Eddie used it on roughly half the tracks: Runnin’ with the Devil; You Really Got Me; Jamie’s Cryin’; Feel Your Love Tonight and On Fire. Basically early on, he used his Destroyer on any track that did not require the tremolo arm on his Frankenstrat, instead opting for the heavier sound of the Ibanez Destroyer when necessary.

But I may have gotten the pickup switch reversed .... Because the Ibanez actually featured DiMarzio pickups. So, you're probably correct on the PAF being in the Frankenstrat !
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That's good info. I remember so much of his whammy work on that album, especially the solo stuff. I'm sure he probably doesn't even remember what all he played then. Those Destroyers were some awesome guitars, you can't hardly find one these days though.
You're right, he apparently used it more than I thought he did, and earlier.
 
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