A tone question for the heaps of EVH guys..

[timeroo]

I am not a Van Halen fan as a whole, but I love Eddie Van Halen's playing, tone and some of the songs. One song has tone that gets me every time and that's "humans being".

Does anyone know the exact settings and gear that he was using on that tune? There's the clean tone, the rhythm and the lead. I wanna try and recreate it on Bias / Jamup or something close. Maybe also do it with my live gear.

 

[marvcus]

I love that tone, too. I'm not exactly sure what he was using, but I bet it was the same as whatever he used on Me Wise Magic and CGTSNM from the Best of Volume 1 from the same year (1996).

My best guess would be his 5150 (1st version) or SLO wet/dry/wet setup with the Eventide H3000 bumping the sound 9 cents out of tune
to the L/R cabs to get the chorus sound without the wash. He certainly used a Fernandes Sustainer-loaded guitar on MWM, Humans Being, and Respect the Wind.

Of course, I could be off and he used the Plexi on the cleaner rhythms and the 5150 or SLO for the lead overdubs, still all effected with the Eventide.

I'm going to have to go back and listen to it now, too!

 

[timeroo]

Could you explain what you mean by the whole W/D/W set up business?

 

[Anonymous]

Could you explain what you mean by the whole W/D/W set up business?

Sure. It is a setup where you have 3 cabs - usually 4x12s live. The center cab is dry, directly from the guitar amp you are using. You would then take a line out from the guitar amp (either a built in line out or from something like the Suhr ISO Line Out that turns a regular speaker output into a line out) to stereo or mono effects and then run the output of the effects into a stereo power amp and then into the left and right cabs. Typically, you'd be running time-based effects from the line out into the "wet" left and right cabs.

It gives this incredibly thick guitar sound that is just amazing in the room - lots of pro players do it or W/D...

My setup goes like this:

Henning Cherry Bomb speaker out to center Henning 4x12 cab - this is my dry sound

Henning Cherry Bomb line out goes into a stereo Strymon El Capistan -> stereo Eventide Pitchfactor (which I set for the EVH +9/-9 cents pitch shift left and right for that chorus-y later EVH sound) and then into two mono Roland SDE-3000 delays (I set one for 250ms delay and one for 500ms delay) -> stereo Matrix GT 800FX power amp -> left and right Henning 4x12 cabs. - these cabs have the "wet" sound. I always include a bit of dry sound in the wet cabs - some people don't, it is just my preference.

I never use the El Cap and Rolands at the same time, it is either the El Cap alone, or the two Roland SDE-3000 units alone with the two different delay setting left and right. If I use the Pitchfactor for the EVH thing, I turn the modulation off on the Roland units if I'm using those.

And now, here are a few pics of the W/D/W rig just because I feel like sharing it :

Steve

 

[timeroo]

Interesting, I've seen set ups like this before but didn't know how they were referred to. I suppose recording such a sound could be accomplished by recording two wet tracks and a dry track correct?

 

[Anonymous]

Interesting, I've seen set ups like this before but didn't know how they were referred to. I suppose recording such a sound could be accomplished by recording two wet tracks and a dry track correct?

Sure, you could, but I wouldn't bother - it would be easier and more versatile to record the dry guitar and add the stereo effects when mixing. That's what I do anyway...

Steve

 

[SFW]

A lot of that tone was the 5150 amp and Peavey Wolfgang. And yes, there was some heavy detuning going on. His 5150 settings were in the Peavey manual. During the late 90s I owned a 5150 and a Wolfgang. My band mates and I were always surprised at how much of his tone at that point could be copped with just the guitar and amp.

 

[Rdodson]

At that point he was using some middle position for rhythm work - there is a slight out-of-phase thing going on.

 

[CP5150]

5150. w/d/w. And I'm betting on the EBMM EVH guitar. In the Humans Being Vid he's playing a Black Peavey Wolfgang. Made me buy one. Bastard. Anyway that guitar disappeared and he never used it again. He was seen playing white ones in public after that. Bridge school benefit I think. But the timing of that recording and his tone make me think EBMM. Peavey was still sending or perfecting prototypes with him. It sounds so good I wonder if it's his Marshall?

And I absolutely have the III live tone with my old 5150 half stack and Peavey Archtop Wolfgang.

Wait. I'm remembering the white Wolfgang Special with trans trem he used on Me Wise Magic. So maybe his Wolfgangs were finished and he used them? He had a black one too so I don't know which one he really used. I assumed it was the Steinberger at the time.

A 5150 and a Wolfgang(PV) Will cover a lot of ground. Even cop ok classic VH tones if you crank the amp enough. They get less fizzy when loud. Not a lot, but a little less fizzy. Pretty much nail any 1991 to now tones. And I've got a new 2x12 combo. It's an improvement over the old Peavy. But either one still rock!

 

[timeroo]

Well I don't have the set up to attain a w/d/w or w/d set up so I guess a chorus pedal, a phaser or something perhaps?

 

[CP5150]

Well I don't have the set up to attain a w/d/w or w/d set up so I guess a chorus pedal, a phaser or something perhaps?

I used two 5150 heads and matching 4x12 cabs with an Ibanez modulation pedal set to chorus in the loop of one head and into the effects return of the other head and cab. OU812 ish. Nowadays I just use a chorus pedal and one amp. Close enough and I'm lazy. Chorus sweep gets to me after a while. Need the Eventide pitch factor or similar effect pedal to get the detune effect without the sweep. Someday...

 

[Anonymous]

Well I don't have the set up to attain a w/d/w or w/d set up so I guess a chorus pedal, a phaser or something perhaps?

The Eventide PitchFactor set on the micropitchshift preset (mix in lots of dry) in the loop of a high gain amp with a bit of delay is gonna get you 90% there...

Steve