Review: EVH Frankie Pickup Worth Every Penny
WoodyTone.com has what seems to be the first review of the new EVH Frankenstein Humbucker:
Ed’s Sound: Priceless
If you’re a fan of Edward Van Halen, ask yourself this question: How much money would you pay for a pickup that EVH personally designed with Seymour Duncan?
Bear in mind that good humbuckers can cost anywhere from $40-$50 made by single-person boutique shops to $75-ish for a Duncan or DiMarizio, to around $150 or so for a Duncan Custom Shop wind.
A higher-end stomp box costs anywhere from $150 to $200 on up. Even cables can cost that much now.
So what would you pay?
Back in the day – the ’80s – I bet your answer would’ve been “a lot.” It might be the same answer now. So what’s a lot?
How about $140? That’s what I paid for the EVH humbucker through the Van Halen Store (which is the lowest price I’ve found, not to mention that it seems to be the only place that actually has it in stock)! And, pretending for a moment that there isn’t a recession, after installing that pickup and hearing it with my own ears, it’s easily worth at least twice that much – to me, anyway, for what it did to my tone.
How it Sounds
In a word, the Frankenstein pickup sounds great. Awesome. It’s the best pickup I’ve ever heard.
Why do I say that? I’ll do my best to explain it. Notes are clear and big. The chords in each note are clear (and big). So I guess it sounds “vintage” – or rather, those are properties of good PAF-style pickups. But the Frankie pickup also sounds F-ing great distorted. Clear, great mids and upper mids, no boominess, no harshness, nothing bad anywhere. In fact, it sounded so good I didn’t even adjust it (height). Just kept playing.
And yes, it made the guitar I stuck it in sound much more EVH-like.
Guitar specs: homemade super Strat, alder body, maple neck with hard ebony fingerboard, original Floyd Rose bridge and nut, one 500K volume pot connected to a two-way switch that can be switched to a single-coil in the neck.
I’ve stuck with this body – which is about half unpainted, so it breathes – through the years because it just sounds great. Always has. I’ve thought about getting a hard ash body like Frankie supposedly has, but hey, it’s wood: You never know how a piece will sound. The same-shaped bodies from the same manufacturer cut from the same wood lot might sound totally different.
So rather than take a chance on a new piece of wood, I’ll stick with this one. I can get EVH-like sounds from this guitar, so it works for me.
The pickup I had in it was a Seymour Duncan Screamin’ Demon, George Lynch’s first signature pickup. Before I took that pickup out and stuck the Frankie in, I played the guitar through my plexi clone for a while – longer than I planned on because it sounded so good.
The Screamin’ Demon is very similar to Duncan’s ‘59 Model PAF-style pickup, which lots of people like for getting the EVH sound. Here’s what the Duncan website says about the Screamin’ Demon: “Moderate output, P.A.F.-style with added ‘growl.’ This pickup was designed in the Custom Shop for guitar legend George Lynch. It has the big open sound of our ‘59 Model with a little less bite and a little more growl. The tone is big, percussive with a defined treble response that doesn’t get harsh. It uses one row of allen screws and one row of standard slotted screws for a unique ‘airy’ sound.”
After playing for a while, I was kind of bummed. I didn’t think there was much chance that the Frankie humbucker, which I paid $140 for, would sound significantly better than the Demon. Nevertheless, I dutifully headed down to the basement to swap pickups.
That done, I returned to the plexi, plugged in and started playing – and was simply blown away.
I can’t say the Frankie pickup sounded 100% better or 50% better or whatever. All I can say is it sounded fuller (not necessarily fatter) than the Screamin’ Demon, clearer and basically gave me a woody. I was not driving a semi at that point.
The best way to say it is, It sounded like I always wished my guitar would sound like.
Pickup Specs
Here are the publicly-available specs on the EVH Frankenstein pickup:
> Magnet: Degaussed Alnico 2 [degaussed means making the magnet less strong, which means "sweeter," "mellower," more even, depending who you talk to]
> Wire: Poly
> DCR: ~ 14K [some people have reported a DC resistance in the high 13s]
Here they are for the Screamin’ Demon:
> Magnet: Alnico V
> DCR: 10 k
Here are the specs for the Seymour Duncan ‘78 Model, formerly known as the Duncan EVH but never endorsed by Edward:
> Magnet: Fully Charged Alnico 2
> Wire: Plain Enamel
> DCR: ~ 9.0K
After some reading on the subject over the years, and a good recent education by the guys on the Seymour Duncan forum, it seems like:
a) Alnico 2 (or II) magnets accentuate the mids and upper mids, both of which are key for the EVH sound. This may be because the bass, in particular, and treble are weaker with an A2 mag compared to other magnets.
b) Alnico 5 (or V) magnets accentuate the highs and lows, both of which are tight, but thus is a little scooped in the mids. Has better “bite” than an A2.
c) Some people swear by an A5 for the Van Halen sound, and some swear by an A2. Don’t think I’d swear one way or the other, but right now I’m in the latter camp. And apparently EVH likes an A2 magnet too.
Bear in Mind
Please bear in mind the following:
1. I am not a pickup expert. I’ve been playing guitar 30 years and have read and talked to enough people that I’m comfortable about my pickup knowledge, but I’ll never be one who obsesses over DC resistance or who regularly shells out $50+ to try new pickups.
2. Every guitar sounds different. So obviously a pickup that sounds good in one guitar won’t necessarily sound good in another, and vice versa.
3. The Frankenstein pickup was designed for the $25,000 Frankenstein replica guitar, which allegedly has a northern ash body. Northern ash is heavy, but the replicas are supposedly light weight, which could mean hyper-aged (dried) northern ash or swamp ash or alder. The Frankie also has a Floyd Rose. So if your super Strat has super-dense hard ash and vintage trem, you may not get what you’re looking for out of this pickup. Similarly, if you have a 24 3/4-inch scale length guitar (vs. the Frankie’s Strat-like 25 1/2-inch scale), this pickup might not be your cup of tea.
4. I have not yet played this pickup in a band situation, but with good mids and upper-mids – and the fact that it was designed by “a working musician” (hah!) – I’m not too worried about it.
Last but not least, the above is my first impression of the pickup. I can hardly imagine feeling anything but better about this pickup the more I play it, but you never know.
I also really want to try the Frankie pickup in my Les Paul (since the this pickup is NOT trem-spaced), but buying another one will have to wait. I think.
Filed under: Eddie Van Halen, Merchandise
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March 30th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Interesting. I actually went to Guitar Center to hear this pickup in the new Fender, but the sales guy was being a prick. I didn’t have the patience to wait around. I personally think Ed’s new guitar is hideous, but I did want to see what the pickup sounded like, and still do. I love the Music Man EVH zebra pickups and think the bridge on that is the best pickup on Earth. I’m sure I’ll get to check this out one of these days.
March 30th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
The pick up in the “new” Wolfgang is not the same pick up as the EVH Frankenstein pick up that is being reviewed in that article. The Wolfgang p/u is made being made by the Fender Custom Shop and the EVH Frankensteain was made by the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop.
March 30th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
Eddie is a shrewd business man…and my opinion of him is improving …….I think Mr Van Halen is somewhat of a marketing genius
March 30th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
umm…Edward Van Halen is a musician. He is not a shrewd buisness-man. He has 40 other people over-seeing that part of his blessed life. As far as the pickup is concerned, I am sure it sounds great. By the way Mr. Hideous? We are all sure you have your finger on the pulse of what makes Edward Van halen’s guitars sell over 20 million in sales tickets. Thanks for the heads up.
March 30th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
Jake is Bitter.
March 30th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
Cool
March 30th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
What can I say but God bless Edward Van Halen!! He likes to share with the people his tools and talent!!! Now for the new album please, not that I want to rush you!!
March 30th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
This is sonically the best pick up I now own and have EVER used. I received it Wednesday
( thanks VH Store ) and installed it late Friday afternoon. Friday night I wrote & recorded one of the coolest things I think ever. VERY INSPIRING to be SO close to harmonically balanced for the first time. I will for sure be getting a few more & would also mention that the pickup does NOT dominate the tone of the guitar. ( old strat ) It works with and seems to maximize it.
HARMONICALLY BALANCED is how I describe it… Well done!
March 31st, 2009 at 1:42 am
EVH is out to make as much money as he can. It’s got a huge inflatted price simply because your paying standard price for the pickup and the rest for a name.
Still waiting for the new music Ed?………so far its just words.
Balls in your court ED…………….STILL
March 31st, 2009 at 4:16 am
Awesome review!!!
I got the EVH but thinking of the frank…
Badboy
March 31st, 2009 at 6:12 am
BUY BUY BUY!!!
Gotta make money somehow after selling under 300 000 copies of VH3
March 31st, 2009 at 6:31 am
Nice job of sussing out how endorsements work there Dave. Thanks for sharing your marketing insight.
March 31st, 2009 at 6:32 am
I agree with Jake: Ed’s a musician, not a businessman. Nor is he a marketing genious. He’s doing the obvious: selling the gear he uses with his EVH logo and some distinguishing decorations added. Maybe some electronic tweaks as in the case of the wha or phase 90 pedals. The new guitar and amp are evolutionary, not revolutionary. The EVH Art Series I and II? Pure cash grab.
Now, as for this pickup, many thanks to WoodyTone.com for providing a solid review of the non-relic’ed version. (Would be interesting to determine if there’s any sonic differences between the two. Perhaps Ed’s signature provides a missing vibe?) Lots of good info and comparisons to other pickups, though I find GL’s tone to be too compressed for my tastes. Also, I find listing “poly” or “enamel” wire to be somewhat amusing. Why not wire gauge or copper purity which would be more useful? The Alnico II or V (or even VIII) with degaussed or full-strength is a never-ending battle. I doubt a consensus will ever be reached on that aspect.
I’ve wound several pickups myself but was never able to fully reproduce the EVH “brown” tone without some compromise. I don’t have a Plexi anymore (apartment living dictates the 3005 mini-stacks which are transistor based; a Chandler Tube Driver handles the distortion pretty well) so that’s a big change right off the bat. However, I can get close enough for my purposes. I’m very interested in trying this pickup and I believe, based upon this review, that I will purchase one soon.
March 31st, 2009 at 6:36 am
are they gonna make a skinny strat version
March 31st, 2009 at 7:17 am
While the strat humbucker might be interesting, how about making the Frankie pickup “set” complete by offering the dead Mighty-Mite single coil instead? Guys on ePay are pulling down $50 a pop for a uncovered winding on a phenolic bobbin that may or may not even work! Then you’ve got to get the reflector set, the 1971 quarter… See?! There’s all kinds of “new products” for Ed to release!
March 31st, 2009 at 7:20 am
If Eddie was out to make as much money as he could, he’d make subpar albums with subpar songs, release every live show they’ve got in the vault, release every noise recorded out of 5150, and release a bunch of shitty guitars and gear to go along with it.
Instead, Eddie has taken the time to release QUALITY instruments and gear and has not gone the KI$$ route of releasing a bunch of useless box sets every year and cashing in on every VH item known to man. Or giving a guitar company free reign to make what the fuck ever and simply stamp Ed’s name on it.
It would be different if people were actually saying the replicas, the new Peavey, the new pickups, the new amps were pieces of shit. Instead they are blown away by the quality craftsmanship. Eddie doesn’t and never did need the money.
March 31st, 2009 at 8:21 am
“and the fact that it was designed by “a working musician” (hah!)”
Hah, indeed…
March 31st, 2009 at 8:53 am
I’m sure the pickup is killer! Theres’ nothing in the EVH line thats’ less than stellar. The pricetag on all Ed’s products are expected, but everything is high end, not just the name. I’ve pieced together my own version of the frankenstein using a paf and can’t wait to get my hands on the new pickup. Also, I’d be checking out the EVH 3 amp if I still weren’t so happy with the 5150 combo! -Cheers
March 31st, 2009 at 9:40 am
Any word on whether it can be split for a single-coil sound as well? I use that a lot for dynamics live.
March 31st, 2009 at 9:51 am
More stuff for sale from EVH…surprise, surprise. (I’m still waiting for my EVH socks!)
I’m in the market for a new pickup, so I will check this one out, and I’m sure it’s a quality pickup.
It’s a shame though that selling is more important than making music though. (Ed…remember what you said about Sammy and Mikey? At least they’re MAKING new music too bud…)
March 31st, 2009 at 10:20 am
I’ve been looking for other reviews on this pickup and pretty muuch agree with this review woodytone. I’ve been playing for almost 25 years and a Van Halen from the beginning.
Also I’ve always tried to be my own player and not just chasing Eddie’s sounds over the years. However, I did order this pickup for my Jackson Dinky Super Strat that did have a JB in the bridge. Interestingly enough the JB has similar output and sounds very close to my ears.
My pickup measures 13.5K and has a stronger mid range punch than the JB. I really like the tones and amazingly enough it really does provide some great EVH like tones.
It also pushes my amp (Boogie 5:50 express) into singing feedback faster than the JB. I’ve also played in a band setting with this pickup and the guitar simply bites a lot more. Bites and cuts without being harsh.
Overall a very cool pickup and would like to get another one to replace the JB in my Ibanez super strat. However, I truly I’ll ever put this in my Gibson LP though. I’m keeping my Lindy Fralins in that one for my Allman Brother tones.
March 31st, 2009 at 10:51 am
Hey guys — Thanks for the comments. To answer a couple Qs:
1. The pickup is braided cable, not four-conductor. I highly doubt you’d be able to order a 4-conductor from the SD Custom Shop either as they are not allowed to sell the EVH-spec pickup, but I bet you can buy an IM1, the same pickup with a degaussed A5 mag, and swap the mag yourself.
2. Craig, yes, harmonically amazing, good description, wish I had thought of it. Maybe Evenly Voiced Harmonics….
3. Scott, yes, singing feedback.
March 31st, 2009 at 10:56 am
i wonder if eddie will make any new music with these pickups?
March 31st, 2009 at 12:03 pm
If Eddie did this to make as much money as he could, then he would bring out mediocre music like the funloving boys from supergroup CF are doing.
March 31st, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Hey Erick, shut your pie hole man…. Sammy and Mike are having fun and sharing their passion for music with the fans… Just cus Eddie & Dave want to live in their ‘glory’ days is not our fault..
March 31st, 2009 at 2:30 pm
I have been a Van Halen fan since day one and have been playing guitar about 15 years. I own a Music Man (love it), a Peavey (love it) and just bought the new fender. I dont know much about the technical side of pick-ups but i can tell you the Fender Wolfgang is the cleanest sounding guitar I have ever played through. Ed’s other signature guitars are amazing in their own right, but, the Fender Wolfy is of the highest quality I have seen. After reading these comments, I want to purchase the Frankie replica just to see the sound quality (if only my wife was as interested as I am!). Keep up the good work EVH.
March 31st, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Could I put this pickup in my Ibanez guitar?
March 31st, 2009 at 9:02 pm
re: Could I put this pickup in my Ibanez guitar?
neil, you can use this pickup to replace any standard humbucker pickup. however, be advised if your ibanez has a 5 way selector switch for coil splitting. as this pickup doesn’t have a 4 conductor wire for splitting coils. so you’ll lose that ability.
if splitting your bridge humbucker isn’t that big of a deal and you can live with out then feel free to get one of these bad boys.
if you’re not familiar with 5 way selector switches you might want to let a pro handle the set up though. good luck man. let us know if you get one.
April 1st, 2009 at 10:21 am
SCOTT…you seem to know what you’re talking about tech-wise…so I too have a question.
I have a heavily modified strat that’s prepped for one humbucker only. Do you have a recommendation on what brand of volume knob would be the best quality to use in conjunction with this new pickup?
I too have the Music Man EVH, and to me, the Wolfies do not compare in appearance, playability, or sound.
Thanks Scott…
April 1st, 2009 at 11:46 am
I have a sears Huffy Toughskins pick up because Iam a legend.
April 1st, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Pete, I’m assuming you’re talking about the volume pot, not the actual knob.
Regarding resistance values of volume controls, keep in mind the basics: Strat style single coil based guitars typically use 250K pots to warm up their tone, as they have tendency to be very bright.
LP style guitars with humbuckers typically use a 500K pot to help add some more treble, brightness, compensate for loss of upper freqs.
however, most guitars installed with humbuckers use 500K pots. and if you need even more treble/top end then some folks actually move up to the 1Meg pots.
Hope this helps out. Here’s a quick reference list I found on another site that might help explain further:
1Meg = very bright sounding
500K = bright sounding
250K = warm, vintage sounding
1Meg = bright HB…shrill SC
500K = warm HB…bright SC
250K = muddy HB, warm SC
HB = humbucker
SC = single coil
…the HIGHER the pot resistance value, the LESS high-frequencies are attenuated.
…the LOWER the pot resistance value, the MORE high-frequencies are attenduated.
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:42 am
SCOTT…thanks for the info…you really know your shit!
Now I’m even more confused though…(;>)
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:27 am
Pete…sorry dude
didn’t want to add more confusion to the situation.
if you want to discuss further you can contact me via myspace…here’s my page: http://www.myspace.com/evhisking
April 5th, 2009 at 9:39 am
This pickup is actually very cheap.
April 7th, 2009 at 9:39 am
How does this pup compare to the Duncan 78.
April 9th, 2009 at 9:17 am
Put this with a DIMARZIO EVOLUTION in the neck = INSANE TONES
May 7th, 2009 at 8:05 am
Had one installed in my Ibanez RG yesterday,
way better than my previous pups thats for sure.
Its a damn good pickup for the more classic, VH - 5150 era
soundin tunes, in my opinion it doesnt sound too much
like the music man, DropDead Legs sounds fuckin sweet
with the EVH Frankenstien pup.
May 12th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Before these officially came out, one could call up Seymour and he would make that same pickup for you for that same price. It was on the low down back then as it wasn’t an order that went through the standard order process. I got two of these and they are mint sounding. The reason I wanted them was the low magnetic string pull and a wider frequency response and a little cleaner than hot pickups. It’s also softer on the attack. It works perfectly with the amp that I and a friend designed for running on 10. It nails that brown sound 100% when running a full up. No problems getting that tone at all and, many others in fact. From clean tones to Jimmy Page tone, Jeff Beck to Megadeth tones, this pickup is very versatile. No midrange honk, no hi-end screechyness / shrill tones- very warm and clear. This is the nicest pickups I have had. I have tried many pickups over the years and this one is the nicest one that I liked. I had that S. Demon and hated it, I’ve had the old Super Distortions and old Dual Sounds, Bartolini’s, EMGs, Live Wires etc, but, none work for me like these do. That’s why I got a spare one.
August 22nd, 2009 at 1:37 pm
I bought 2 of the evh franky pups and am 100% satisfied!
I agree with all the other owners here this pup is PURE EVH!
August 22nd, 2009 at 1:54 pm
I agree with SCOTT, this evh pup is very similar to the duncan jb and if you have a jb in your guitar disconnect the tone pot and roll the volume back to 7-1/2 or 8 and man they are frightingly close! IMHO the evh franky pup is a underwound JB with a aged alnico II Magnet.
And FWIW if you slapped a aged II in a duncan SH-11 Custom-custom you may have the same pup altogether!. BOTH are 14k and use AWG 43 Wire, the only differances are a aged II verses a full strength II.
September 16th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
I have built alot of guitars to sound like my 80s heroes (R.Schenker, EVH, M.Jabs, G.Lynch, W.Hoffmann, M.Schenker), and everyone is very close with their comments about the Alnico2 pickups and the EVH “sound”. What is interesting is the Alnico2 pickups with approx 9k ohms (Duncan CustomShop78, Gibson57ClassicPlus) vs. the Alnico2 pickups with 13-14k ohms (EVH, Duncan CustomCustom)–they may be similar in tonality that the output differences can be modulated with simple amp adjustments. I prefer a 2conductor wire, and screwing the pickup directly into the wood (obviously), as Eddie continued to do that throughout the years, even with different guitar companies. The wood choice, bridge choice, neck wood choice, nut choice (on VH1 guitar), and pickup choice ALL create part of the EVH tone. Much has also been written about Eddie’s variable pick attack to vary the output level of his pickups while playing…
Now this is all very different from Schenker’s mahogany-wood Flying Vs that need to be crunchy, yet still give singing, melodic solos…80s guitar tones are such a blast!
September 16th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
To add my “brown sound” test: Take a guitar with a DuncanJB (hot alnico5) or a ceramic magnet pickup like a Distortion and try to pick an arpeggiated chord with the amp on the dirty channel. Letting each note ring. Especially some minor chords, etc…If its to fuzzy and without any definition, your pickup (or amp setting is too hot). You may think, why cant any pickup be “dialed” to the right level by turning things down? Well it can, like someone above posted about the JB turned down to 7 vol on the guitar sounded alot “brown” to him. But at higher volumes will it do the same? Will the solo be clear? And turned down volume pots on guitars cut certain frequencies very noticeably, so you are flying in clouds, so to speak, as that same pickup sounds totally/tonally different turned up to 10 (obviously, and thats my point). Hence all the necessary discussion on the inherent tone qualities of each pickup. As you can see, most of these guitarists experimented alot with different pickups, and we should do the same to find what YOU are looking for in your particularly constructed guitar, thru whatever amp you use.
September 16th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
…another 9ohm alnico2 pickup is the Gibson 490T, and that can sound good, depending on the above variables..
November 6th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Am I to understand that the pole spacing on this pup is NOT floyd spaced? You got to be kidding me. Eddie pioneered the floyd and installed them as soon as he could get his mitts on them. While he typically did not use them in the studio, he almost always performed with them live. Anybody know if there are plans for a trembucker?
January 29th, 2010 at 11:42 am
To Scott.
Thanks you for your comments, especially those on impedance on volume pots. Just what I needed. And thanks in general for a sober and very musical discourse.