I am a proud owner of a new American Standard HSS Strat. Im kind of adding things to it to make it exactly like i want it. Im getting a LS roller nut installed with locking machine heads to help with the staying in tune problem. Im considering swapping the Diamondback humbucker out for a EVH Frankenstien humbucker because i like to play some heavier tunes and want the hottest humbucker i can get. I would like some honest opinions from my fellow strat guys/gals on the Frankenstien humbucker. Will it install with no modifications? What about sustain? Is it hotter then the Diamondback? I appreciate any "objective" opinions. Thanks in advance for any help i get.

The "Frankenstein" pickup is based on an old PAF he took out of an ES335 and "ruined". He tried potting it in wax and left it in a little too long according to him lol He said it shouldn't work, yet it does. That said, that pu isn't available as an after market replacement.

However, the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop offers a pickup called the "78". Its of course in reference to the year the first Van Halen album was released. I've heard this pickup in various guitars and its pretty sweet. I'm going to order one for my neck project.

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For what it's worth I have an EVH Music Man and I've owned several Wolfgangs over the years. I contacted Music Man about replacement pups for the EVH. In order to get pups changed you have to send the guitar to them. They don't/won't sell them to you. The guy told me the closest you could get on the open market is DiMarzio Tone Zone. Since that time I've used Tone Zone's exclusively in almost all of my guitars. I've even taken the single coils out of the bridges of my Strats and have replaced them with the single sized Tone Zone S pups. One of my Strats has a Super Distortion S in it. The S stands for it being able to fit into the slot of a single coil.

I play a lot of hard rock/metal. Metallica, Godsmack, Van Halen, Guns n Roses, Pantera etc... and I can easily turn around and play stuff like Jerry Reed, Johnny Cash etc... In my opinion the Tone Zone is the one that I really like the most. It seems the most versatile....for my playing.

As for retrofitting a pickup in your Strat, it shouldn't be a problem at all. I used to work in a guitar shop doing repairs and such. In all the years I was there, and the billions of pickups I've changed, I can only remember one time I needed to make some adjustments to get the pup to fit. I remember it clearly too. It was a Bill Lawrenece L500 going into a really cheap piece of sh** Korean made Peavey. The pup was too thick to fit into the slot with the wires underneath it so I had to dig out a channel for the wires. Other than that one time I can't remember ever having to make any mods for a pickup to fit. With a Fender, you should have no problems.

And as for the EVH Frankenstein, I've never heard one but I would think it's not too far from the Tone Zone. Head over to www.dimarzio.com and check out their sound samples of their various pickups.
Best of luck!
MULLY

[quote="pjtrate3"]The "Frankenstein" pickup is based on an old PAF he took out of an ES335 and "ruined". He tried potting it in wax and left it in a little too long according to him lol He said it shouldn't work, yet it does. That said, that pu isn't available as an after market replacement.

quote]

actually, it is - http://www.guitarcenter.com/EVH-Franken ... 1435343.gc

one of the finest humbuckers I have ever used. I would put one in my San Dimas, but they don't make it in white!!

I say go for it dude!

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Oh yeah, the pup is available for purchase. Matter of fact, if there are any still around, you can spend an extra 100 or 120 bucks on it and it's signed on the back by Ed. I think they have them at evhgear.com. They were limited but I'm sure they didn't sell out.
MULLY

EDIT: I found the signed version at musiciansfriend.com They didn't have them at evhgear

http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/ ... sku=580301