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Post by gtrjunior on Jun 25, 2016 11:19:03 GMT -5
My main fixed bridge:  I collect Japanese guitars, old esp/ibanez but this one I can't stop playing. 1981 Ibanez RR2, hand crafted with the AAA top that is very faded. This one is active, but i have another one with a Kent Armstrong/Dimarzio combo in it that I will eventually change to emgs. Nice man!! Before you change to EMG's consider a pair of Bare Knuckle Pickups. I have the Rebel Yell's in 2 of my guitars and they actually seem to have higher output than my EMG loaded guitar. If you're looking for even higher output look into their "Nailbomb" set....BKP's aren't cheap but IMO best pickups on the market....I know that's subjective but.... |
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Post by Tempest on Jun 25, 2016 12:00:19 GMT -5
I like the Rebel Yells! It's not really an output issue though, the Kent Armstrong MotherBucker I'm replacing is WAY to hot. I am considering the Nail Bombs, my friend swears by them. I also tried a guitar with De-activators but they still didn't quite slice in the frequency where the EMGs do. I must admit they were very quiet, which I also like.
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Post by TheFight on Jun 25, 2016 19:37:29 GMT -5
NO. Just a C1+ Classic series I believe. Tuning is a breeze but so is a Vintage Tremolo like on my Strat - which is a Standard MIM HSS BTW NOT a $99 plywood Sams special LOL.  +1 on the strat....here's mine:  Dude love that strat! I might have asked you before, but are those the Gilmore EMGs? I've actually been moving towards the warmer pickups. I found that when I play Van Halen, I really have to try harder to play and I'm really feeling out the notes more. It's kinda weird bcs I was always going for a "hot" brown sound, like from the early Van Halen records. but now that I'm getting older Im really digging a warmer "'95 live in Pensacola" kinda sound. Eddies pickups sound less output, he's really digging in those notes! |
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Post by gtrjunior on Jun 26, 2016 8:28:20 GMT -5
Yeah, I believe you're right. EVH's pickups aren't really all that "hot" on those early VH records, not by today's standards anyway. Even though he has a pretty distorted tone for that era it's certainly not over the top with gain. That's mostly power tube breakup that he achieved with the variac. I'm no EVH expert but I believe that's the key to his tone.
There are all sorts of stories going around on how he got the brown sound but I really believe most of it is just him....his fingers, how he picks the notes, just his approach. If you gave me his rig from VH1 I would guarantee that I would sound nothing like him when I plugged in to it.
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Post by TheFight on Jun 26, 2016 14:27:46 GMT -5
Yeah that's what Nuno said about VH rig. He said when he played his rig, he sounded nothing like VH. I think that's kinda cool, it what makes us us!
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Post by Tempest on Jun 27, 2016 13:14:56 GMT -5
+1 on the strat....here's mine: Dude love that strat! I might have asked you before, but are those the Gilmore EMGs? I've actually been moving towards the warmer pickups. I found that when I play Van Halen, I really have to try harder to play and I'm really feeling out the notes more. It's kinda weird bcs I was always going for a "hot" brown sound, like from the early Van Halen records. but now that I'm getting older Im really digging a warmer "'95 live in Pensacola" kinda sound. Eddies pickups sound less output, he's really digging in those notes! I hooked it up to Gilmore's spec, but it has a tone control instead of the tbx. The other tone is an spc control. Yes, Eddie's frankinstrat was very low output.....not sure about his destroyer though. I read somewhere that he used a dummy load as well (on the first two albums? Not sure). I remember everyone copying that crazy 80's resistor mod back in the day to try and get that variac thing. There was always a bunch of wires hanging out the back of the amp with a dirty great bunch of resistors between the output transformer primaries, meaning the amp is now a ticking time bomb and an electrical death trap! |
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Post by TheFight on Jun 27, 2016 18:25:08 GMT -5
From what I read I think your right about the death trap! The biggest thing I noticed about his old sound and playing was that it was all or nothing approach. But then again that just says something about his type of playing style.
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Post by gtrjunior on Jun 27, 2016 19:32:07 GMT -5
So wasn't it eddie's amp that had what we now call the "Jose mod"? I'm not exactly sure what is involved with that mod but Voodoo does it now. So, I always thought Eddie had the Jose mod and then whatever he did with the variac....but like I said, I'm no expert in his setup...
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Post by Tempest on Jun 27, 2016 21:06:15 GMT -5
Jose worked on the amp in the early days, and Ed wanted to get a bit of work for Jose so he told everyone that it was modded - but it was actually stock. What Jose did to it at some point was tweak it so that it had more bass on the treble channel. The only other major change came later when Steve Fryette stuck one of his VHT transformers in it.
It's hard to know for sure though, how legends change & stuff. Maybe one day Ed will come clean and tell everyone it was a fuzz box!
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Post by gtrjunior on Jun 28, 2016 4:13:28 GMT -5
Gotcha....yeah, there are probably a dozen "stories" (or more!) about what was or wasn't modded in that amp.... We may never know.
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Post by TheFight on Jun 28, 2016 23:44:52 GMT -5
Gotcha....yeah, there are probably a dozen "stories" (or more!) about what was or wasn't modded in that amp.... We may never know. Yeah I read an interview were Ed said that he lied just about everything, I think honestly I would have too. Everything he did took time and effort, not including dangerous and risky. You don't just spill the beans about you signature sound that almost literally changed the 70's into the 80's. I had a 5504 with the voodoo Jose mod and yes it made that thing sound so much better but honestly it's nothing like VH. |
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Post by cipher on Jun 29, 2016 13:50:15 GMT -5
1? LOL!
It's one of these (except the blue one, it's gone), 90% of the time. My hard tails are rarely used.
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Post by gtrjunior on Jun 29, 2016 14:52:58 GMT -5
I like the silver one....what is it?headstock looks like an Ibanez but I'm not sure
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Post by cipher on Jun 29, 2016 20:00:28 GMT -5
I like the silver one....what is it?headstock looks like an Ibanez but I'm not sure Thanks! That's a modified Ibanez RG-1570 Prestige. Added pickguard, replaced knobs, installed locking trem studs, MHD Asylum+ bridge pickup. That's my standard tuning guitar, the rest are all 1/2 step down. |
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Post by TheFight on Jun 29, 2016 20:42:57 GMT -5
I like the silver one....what is it?headstock looks like an Ibanez but I'm not sure Thanks! That's a modified Ibanez RG-1570 Prestige. Added pickguard, replaced knobs, installed locking trem studs, MHD Asylum+ bridge pickup. That's my standard tuning guitar, the rest are all 1/2 step down. That esp is sick! I've always wanted a tiger looking guitar. Very cool. That blue one is dope I'm a big fan of that colour, you got rid of it bcs you didn't play it? |
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