Designed to replicate the sound of early Van Halen records in a Strat, this pickup is catered to those trying to achieve the famed 'brown sound' that Eddie Van Halen made famous in his early days. While that sound is blend of many different aspects, having the right pickup is sure to give you those few extra percentage points towards nailing Eddie's tone, and you wouldn't be quite there without that element.
 
Handwound in my shop in California, these pickups are made with the highest quality parts available to the following spec's:
 
DCR: 8.6k
Plain Enamel Wire (currently out of stock, so I'm using Single Poly Nylon that is a similar build - please let me know if this is a game-changer for you. The difference is sonically nominal)
Alnico 2 Rough-Cast Magnet
49.2mm PAF spacing (short for a Strat)
Nickel Silver Hardware
Wax-Potted in parraffin wax, just like Eddie's
 
A bit of history (yawn)
EVH swapped parts in his guitars like no other, there's no question there. After much trial and error, the pickup that he ended up keeping in his signature 'Frankenstrat' Stratocaster was a Gibson PAF from the 50's. Not so coincidentally, these are hands-down the most sought after pickups ever, period.
 
Fast-Forward to the 2000's, and Fender designs a signature Frankenstrat replica to almost exacting spec's (well, as close as a repro crew can get) to EVH's guitar and in that process they measured his famed PAF as well. The spec's from that pickup were called the 'Secret PAF' by enthusiasts because this model is quite a bit different than the signature EVH pickup that was being produced at the time, but there was no release of EVH's replica other than the ridiculously overpriced relic'd version of the Fender Frankenstrat (that would've been a $20,000 investment).
 
Lucky for us, someone did take that dive, and they played that guitar like it was the $130 scrap Strat that Eddie actually played. In that process, the pickup needed some repair, and in that repair the 'Secret' spec's were unveiled.
 
SO This is replica of a replica, if you will. But put it into a heavier strat and you'll hear what Eddie heard when he chose that design.
 
Thanks,
- Zach
ZR Guitar Pickups