EVH Frankenstein Humbucker Pickup

I never write reviews but on this I am compelled to. I needed a new bridge pickup for my Jackson Soloist. I had a SD JB in it, and though I did like it it was rather shrill on the higher strings. I have other guitars with active EMGs which I thought I loved, now not so sure. I love 80s metal, and have a band that is playing just that so I figured I would try the Frankenstein. This thing is simply INCREDIBLE. It honestly slays anything else I have played. Hooked to the same amps, or the same DAW, without even any adjustments it comes ALIVE. The sound is huge, alive, articulation full of natural harmonics. It makes everything you play sound better, though fair to say it is also articulate enough that is if miss a note, or hit a bad one that also comes through clearly. There is no hiding behind a muddy pickup here. I am more than happy with this thing to the point I am ready to pull out all my other EMGs, sell them and buy more Frankies. If you are here... and trying to figure out whether this is the pickup for you to try, especially given the higher than average cost just hit add to cart. Trust me you will be so glad you made the jump. Simply the BEST pickup I have ever played through as I stated above. To those that think pickups only make a minimal difference... you are simply wrong. Buy it!

Ok, I was skeptical at first with all the great reviews. I put this in a Schecter Banshee that is a little on the dark side of tone. I tried a Suhr Aldrich, and it sounded pretty good, but was a little mushy on the bottom end for this guitar. I needed something with a little more high end, and less bottom, and gave the Frankenstein a try. Holy cow this is a clear and bright pickup that has great tone and delivers a tasty crunch. I would say its on the trebly side, which is just what I wanted. I didn't buy it for early VH tones, but I would say this will deliver that sound. I am a tone freak and have tried all brands. This one is a keeper!! Only gripe is that I wish it came in 53mm spacing...……...

In the past I mostly used SD JB's but these are starting to replace those. similar sound but without all the harsh treble. These are nice and clear sounding,especially when you start to back off the volume. A bit pricey at full price but Ive always gotten them on Amazon on sale for $120.

I just couldn’t come to grips with alnico V or ceramic pickups. They are higher output than alnico II but not necessarily more crunchy/punchy. I put the EVH frankenstein in a les paul and am seriously impressed. I wouldn’t change anything about this pickup. I thought it was going to be too dark but the EQ is actually pretty flat. I would describe it as very organic with great punch and not as much of the shrill or fizzy high end as other pickups I’ve tried. In a gibson, it retains that PAF bite and chunk but it’s got that added crunch as a bonus. I will also buy one for my strat.

I have terrible luck installing pickups, something always goes wrong. Usually it's those itty bitty wires for coil tapping. This pickup has a shield and center conductor, it went in like butter. Used a 500k gibson pot and went straight to the output jack. INSTANT EDDIE!!!!! This pickup has all the tone without getting muddy at high gain settings. Sounds like VH all the wAy through the Hagar days. Best pickup I've ever heard. Well worth the extra $$$$. I wonder what the Wolfgang sounds like?

I took an old "New York Pro" and made it into a Frankenstein. It's the pickup. I felt this guitar was a POS. Now its my favorite to play. im playing through a Line 6 practice amp. A guitar center $99 deal 10 years ago. Nothing special. The tone is amazing! Inspires me to play more. check out the pick! I bought the guitar for $30 bucks 15 years ago. I put some white electrical tape on it and BAM! EVH! Eddies the King! R.I.P

I didnt give it a five because I did not have the experience others did on this pickup. True it does capture a good VH tone, however, I was surpirsed at how little feebdack this pickup exhibited. I have a number of different pickups and I just dont think it was what I was looking for. I can turn my Marshall up MUCH higher without any feedback, likely due to the windings being "dipped". However, I have since started a rebuild of the guitar this went in as I feel there are other issues affecting the tome of the pickup. I had a great VH tone with an active EMG89 that this replaced, when I put this EVH in, I felt I didnt have the edgy tone anymore. I needed to really push the amp hard to get it to soudn good, at this point the amp was way too loud for my music studio and I ended up pulling the pickup out. I have since purchased a George Lynch Screamin Demon to try out as well. The guitar is getting a new neck this winter as the old neck was pretty worn out. Either way, the pickup did was not THE answer to achiving Eddies tone. Its only one piece of the puzzle. Amp, Effects chain, modifications, etc. all calculated to getting a good Halen tone. But most importanly, the style in which you play is the most important factor. The way you hammer on and pull off, the picking attack, etc. I have found that this plays more of a role in the tone than anything else.

This pickup ROCKS! Seymore Duncan did an awesome job recreating this pickup. When turned up, the lows are thunderous, the gain is all crunch and is straight out of VH1 and Fair Warning. When turned low it's very clean even with distortion, very reminiscent of drop dead legs. I have put this pickup in all my guitars and highly recommend anyone who is a fan of Ed's signature brown sound to buy this as well. The installation was simple, one wire to solder! I also bought the low friction volume pots, they spin without any force, great for volume swells.

Sounds great , lives up to it's hype.

très bon son EDDIE VAN HALEN les harmonies sont splendides.. emballé dans sa boite d origine avec schémas de montage un vrai délice livré complet j ai pris aussi le même en blanc (evh) rien a redire le volume au minimum le son est splendide on ouvre le gain est c est la puissance très très bon 18/20

Built into the EVH Frankenstein. The lead wire is shielded instead of 4-core. The distorted sound is truly "brown sound"! The crunch sound when the volume is turned down is also nice. It's a very well-balanced pickup.

Excellent

すごく音が良いです。