DiMarzio Eddie Van Halen

Humbucking (zebra)

Peavey EVH Wolfgng

Bridge

n/a

DiMarzio Eddie Van Halen neck

n/a

Output is moderately high, a nice hot pickup

Used in conjunction with my Roland Microcube or Peavey 6505 w/ Rocktron Chameleon effects processor depending on location and situation

The bridge has a considerable amount of treble, giving it a sort of "knife-edge tone". It's sharp, but with palm-muted downstroking, you can get a very nice moderately thick tone good for rhythm. It gets a good tone that bears a striking resemblance to Dave Mustaine's(Megdeth) Rust In Peace(Capitol Records, 1990)-era tone, akin to songs like "Take No Prisoners" and "Holy Wars...The Punishment Due", but with slightly more chalk. While this pickup has great articulation and solid chord definition, articulation on the lower 2 strings can be slightly harder to attain, although this can be overcome with a strong picking technique. The higher strings, especially on higher frets shred with this pickup, with a very nice George Lynch Wicked Sensation-era sound, although not quite as sharp. Gets nice harmonics. The neck pickup, on the other hand, sounds much different. Lots of cream, it sounds very reminiscent of John Sykes (think Whitesnakes "Is This Love?" and "Still of the Night"), but with a nice touch that leaves sort of tubular feel to it. While slightly less articulate than the bridge model, its got nice tone that's also good for sweeps and Paul Gilbert-styled blistering scalar runs. Also a bit like EVH's tone on songs of the For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge(Warner Bros. 1991) album, especially songs like "Pleasure Dome" and "In n' Out".

I play a mixture of things, but the majority of my repertoire consists of shred/fusion(such as Steve Vai, Michael Lee Firkins, Reb Beach, etc.). I also play old-skool thrash metal(Anthrax), groove rock/funkcore(George Lynch's Lynch Mob, The Infectious Grooves, Minfunk), progressive metal(Tool, Blue Oyster Cult, Stone Temple Pilots, Praxis), as well as more mainstream music(David Lee Roth, Alice Cooper, Heart). My band plays southern metal (Pantera, Black Label Society, Down). My guitar is a good match, but not great. It takes several adjustments w/ the mixer to get a tone sharp enough to compete w/ Dime, but it's more than hot enough by itself to handle the Down covers. A solid match, but just not spectacular.

Each pickup is most definitely mean for the position it was placed in.

If it was stolen, I'm not sure if I'd buy another one or not. I started playing when I was six, and I'm sixteen now. I've been chasing tone for almost a decade. I've found the Peavey to be good, but there's a little to much chalk for my personal tastes. It is in NO WAY a bad pickup. I just prefer less chalk, more heat. Since I'm a tone chaser, I would probably try a Breed or Evo set instead, just as an experiment. What I do like about it is simple: versatility and sustain. I can play metal, blues, funk, jazz, and the pickups have a GREAT clean tone, with great long-lasting sustain. However, versatility is also its downfall. It seems in an attempt to please everyone, DiMarzio tried to roll aspects of all these styles into one set of pickups. So its hot, but no to hot, clean, but not to clean, etc. I just feel that they tried to pull this pickup in too many directions. My final opinion is simple: It's a good f***ing pickup, but it lacks certain tonal qualities. It's a good starting point. Figure out qualities of this pickup you like, and try to find pickups especially devoted to these qualities. Experimentation is the best to develop a personal sound. Constant experimentation helps you to discover your own tonal capabilities and brilliance. Everyone has great tones in their hands(biorhythms, bone structures, etc.) you simply must find the proper tools to implement these tones. But that's the excitement of experimentation. You never know what you'll get.

Pickup features: Humbucking pickup, zebra
Impedence or other specs: ?

Model of guitar or bass: Ernie Ball/Music Man Axis
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock
Other pickups on guitar: Another custom EVH Pickup
Artists using this pickup: Duh, Eddie Van Halen (it's about the same thing as in the Peavey Wolfgang, I can't tell a difference)
You musical style(s): HEAVY METAL, hard rock. It varies, but I love heavy metal ala Metallica/Megadeth etc.
Reason for pickup change: Stock...

Perceived output level: This thing is fucking HOT, very high output.
Tone: The bridge is VERY trebly, shreds like hell! Does awesome lead tones, good for a lot of rhythm too. Go to the neck and it nails even more great rhythm with a much smoother sound than the bridge. Roll down the volume on the neck pickup and in can get pretty clean bluesy! Very nice.
Sonic evaluation: I am running this through a Line6 Flextone. I play mostly Metallica and some other metal, and this baby does it great. For clean parts, go to the bridge and roll down the volume. This thing SCREAMS in the bridge, and sounds sweet in the neck.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: As mentioned above, I play METAL, and this baby delivers. Surprising getting this from a Van Halen pickup, but the MM Axis is one of the best playing guitars ever IMO.

Comments: I would definately replace it if needed be. Like said before, I play it through a Line6 Flextone. I love the bridge for shredding, love the neck for heavy rhythm. The MM Axis guitar is one of the very best out there. I think it could possibly use a tad more CRUNCH to it but I am overall very satisfied. I am still looking for a more crunchy instead of smooth, like this, pickup. I plan on getting some guitars with EMG's sometime and also maybe some Seymour JB's. Overall, these things are awesome!