Should I buy a SD JB?

[OokraMoO]

I'm looking for a new pickup for my Pacer Classic and was wondering if the Seymour Duncan JB would be a good option? Mostly going for a VH 1984/5150 sound and I'll also be playing some GnR/Motley Crue etc like that.

Would this be my ideal pickup or is there something better??

[amerturk]

That would be a great choice. Remember, the JB was stock on most USA model Kramers from the 80's. It does have a great tone and comes in hot at 16.3k

[fourk]

yeah man a SD JB is always a good choice!

[Blix]

IMO a Custom Custom will be better for the tones your are mentioning, first, the CC is what EVH had in his guitars at that time, and Slash was/is using the Alnico II pickups which have lots in common with the CC, just not as hot.

[OokraMoO]

Hmmmm, the reason I said the JB was because this guy completly nails 5150/1984 with one and the one in this Pacer is reallyyyyy muddy sounding for me.



When did EVH have the CC in his guitar? Roth or Hagar era?

[spade2you]

I have a JB in many of my guitars. Will it sound exactly like EVH? Nah, but more than a lot of stuff out there and it's still good at covering most rock sounds in general.

[Blix]

Hmmmm, the reason I said the JB was because this guy completly nails 5150/1984 with one and the one in this Pacer is reallyyyyy muddy sounding for me.



When did EVH have the CC in his guitar? Roth or Hagar era?

I'm at work and can't listen to the clip, I'll check it out tomorrow morning when I get home(night shift sucks)
He used a CC from Fair Warning to when he started using the Music Mans.
On the Metro forum there is a guy who worked with Kramer in the golden years , and they set up guitars for Eddie with JB's and 59's as well, but the 5150 and Franky had CC's in them. Now he have used all kinds of stuff of course, but those are his most used guitars you know

[Blix]

Ok, listened to a few of his clips, and he is far from nailing the tone, way too much gain and too muddy. Now a CC would help, it's a cleaner sounding pickup than a JB, and it has those "sweet" highs you hear on both 5150 and 1984.

[OokraMoO]

Yeah his other vids kinda' suck I just thought 5150 sounded nearly spot on.

What about this custom shop 78' Evenly Voiced Harmonics pickup?
Supposidly it was designed by Ed and Seymour but Ed never wanted it released or something so Seymour released it with Evenly Voiced Harmonics instead of EVH and called it the 78'?

[kramernoob]

I've got a guitar with the CC and I can definitely hear the EVH 'quackiness' in there...but it's not all that powerful for other forms of 80s metal, fairly weak bottom end so I prefer the JB overall

FWIW the closest I got to motley crue was with a dimarzio super distortion, it has that dry sound

but you need the right amp and FX to get near someone's tone, it's not just the pickup

[Blix]

Yeah his other vids kinda' suck I just thought 5150 sounded nearly spot on.

What about this custom shop 78' Evenly Voiced Harmonics pickup?
Supposedly it was designed by Ed and Seymour but Ed never wanted it released or something so Seymour released it with Evenly Voiced Harmonics instead of EVH and called it the 78'?

Over on the Seymour Duncan forums there have been lots of questions about EVH tone (surprise) and the answer posted by Evan Skopp(one of the SD bosses) is basically that Seymour has wound THREE different pickups for the EVH over the years.

1. A vintage-output PAF-style back in the seventies, later replicated and sold as the Seymour Duncan "1978" model.

2. A warmer Alnico II pickup in the eighties, sold as the Seymour Duncan "Custom Custom" model.

3. The Frankenstein replica pickup, produced exclusively for Fender - and it's basically the Custom Custom with thirty years of artificial age on it, with degaussed magnets.

[Blix]

And I have both CC's and the EVH Frankenstein pickup, they sound 99.5% identical

[Rick S]

A pickup alone ain't gonna get you what you want. Will it get you closer? Maybe, maybe not. Good luck!

[Blix]

Yeah, a pickup alone doesn't make that sound for sure!

But it's a semi-important part of the puzzle

[OokraMoO]

I think I'm gonna go with the Custom Custom then! Yeah I know it won't get me the sound on it's own, but I've never had a QUALITY pickup before, always been stock Epiphone or worse...

Thanks for the help guys!

[kramernoob]

in that case any powerful seymour duncan will sound great to you

[Blix]

I think I'm gonna go with the Custom Custom then! Yeah I know it won't get me the sound on it's own, but I've never had a QUALITY pickup before, always been stock Epiphone or worse...

Thanks for the help guys!

CC rocks.

[Blix]

And, while you install it, you have to remove the tone control from the circuit.

[KramerUK]

Don't forget that to everyones ear a tone will always sound slightly different. And you will want to swap the neck pup the minute you put a quality pickup in the bridge!

I would have said a Jazz if you were going for a JB in the bridge, but not sure what would compliment a CC in the bridge.

[71VH-MD]

CC rocks.

+1 on the CC

[literary]

It really does provide a tone for 80s guitar sounds. Virtually everyone was using them!

I do have the custom custom. I never put it my guitars. I think I will install it in my next guitar.

[-=Scorch=-]

Dimarzio Tone Zone..... seriously, try one.

[Blix]

Dimarzio Tone Zone..... seriously, try one.

For what he wants, a Tone Zone isn't the right choice. While it's(TZ) a good pickup, a CC have the right characteristics for his needs.

[OokraMoO]

And, while you install it, you have to remove the tone control from the circuit.

I'd really like to make it so its like a standard guitar man, I just don't have the knowledge even when you shown me lol. I watched seymour duncan install pickups in a les paul, it looked easy enough.

When I get the CC I want the guitar to just be standard like

2 volumes, 1 tone, no treble bleed crap, also now the volume control seems to do hardly nothing, just kinda' like an on/off switch, only takes off a little amount of gain etc, I want it to clean up quite nicely.

Next time you're in the back of your pacer could you take some up close pics of the whole cavity so I could literally just copy it when I get the pickup?

Oh did I mention you guys fucking rule seriously, the most helpful bunch of guys on the whole internet I swear to you! lol

[Blix]

The problem with your Pacer Classic, is that it will not clean up with the tone control that's in it now, remember I said clipping the treble bleed didn't help all that much, it was still mostly on/off. Taking the tone control out of the circuit was the only fix for it.
But chances are it's the value of the tone control cap that's all wrong, I'll check the value in my Special when I get it back from the refret, because I still have the tone control connected and it cleans up like it should.

We will figure out your Pacer somehow, and teach you how to solder!