I finally found out what the pot behind van halen VH1 does (it wasn't a master at all)

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Amp_chaser

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Hello guys after many years of research, i've finally solved one of the biggest mysteries of the entire amp history. if you don't want to read the clip of the volta is the last one at end of the post.

The pot behind Vh1 is something josé called a voltacontrol overdrive. In fact it's a mod that was used by many of our guitar heroes from the 70's and that was kept very secretively inside a niche of elite artists techs and modders. This mod was invented because at the time there weren't any distortion pedals. One supposed user of this mod was eric clapton himself. I found out this mod in a josé from hollywood. In fact i believe there might be under 5 josés on this planet with this mod.

here is the amp i'm modding for this purpose :

amps.jpg


it's a copy of the sl68 according to dave friedman specs. However i added the fat cap. Now it's completely over modded. Here is how it sounds without the overdrive voltacontrol :



there are more than 20 mods done to the stock super lead 68 to get that sound. Those mods were researched by analysing ed's board from the pictures which dave friedman gave to the community years ago. I also analysed multiple josé guts and looked for every references in books, magazines and video talking about ed and his amp. I got lucky last month i did a mod by accident that got my extremely close and then a famous modder from LA confirmed to me that it was the main mod in ed's amp. He knows the main mod but not the details and all the small other mods. This amp is loaded with josé mods...

what i can tell you is that we all have bad earing... When you will learn what the main mod is most people will facepalm. No Cameron amp, No friedman amp, No hot rod is based on this amp, it's an unique circuit. Zeke clark Ed's second tech didn't lie the amp was completely rebuilt by José...

now here is the voltacontrol overdrive :

IMG_6033 (1).jpeg

plexi-ed-2-1 (1).png


the picture of the amp where i found its circuit :

mods.jpg


Before testing the voltacontrol on my main amp it tested it on my 20w el84 plexi with almost the same mods (it's not the exact same circuit) here is how it sounds, it still needs some tweaking and i should improve my playing but anyways here is the clip :



No eq, no pedals, some reverb and delay, no freaking sylvanias, no variac, no myths pure circuitry, components and soldering !

here is another record with some added tweaks when i pause i tweak it a bit and it sounds better.



it still needs some tweaking but it sounds very close.

José Arredondo was probably the best guitar amp modder and probably the best amp creator on this planet ever... If he decided to do the same as marshall which was to take the bassman and do his own amp brand i could tell you that he would have destroyed any amp brand on the planet and he would have been richer than any amp manufacturer on this planet... But josé was loyal to eddie...Freaking crazy...
 
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I don't know...first clip WITHOUT this voltacontrol sounds far better to me, is this a joke?:dunno:
it's not the same amp i made some adjustements to the 20w and recorded it again for it to sound like the super lead :




i think that after the pause it sounds quite better i still have to find the right spot where to use that mod.

the issue is that this mod can go in multiple places i have to find the right one and tweak it.
 
At least someone has finally solved the mystery! What are we going to do now? Actually play our guitars?
Can’t believe I’m here to witness this all get put to rest right here on this little forum. Case closed! Well done ol’ chap.
 
I don't know...first clip WITHOUT this voltacontrol sounds far better to me, is this a joke?:dunno:

I was thinking the same thing. The second definitely had more of the feeling of an amp about to explode - more harmonics, more distortion, more everything - but it was also super noisy. Is it possible to dial it back?

Are you going to post any technical details?
 
I was thinking the same thing. The second definitely had more of the feeling of an amp about to explode - more harmonics, more distortion, more everything - but it was also super noisy. Is it possible to dial it back?

Are you going to post any technical details?
Yes you can totally dial it in fact it might even sound better under variac. However it is not finished yet XD keep waiting and i will perhaps make a video revealing all. At some point i'll build and sell some amps and also mod them. Eddie had also a powe section mod this is where the broken distortion comes from. I finally solved the preamp distortion chapter. Eddie used many power amp mods however i have to know which one was used on that head. here they are : a near short load resistor then amp needs another amp to be reamped. this makes power tube redplate and lower the sound a lot but you get insane power tube distortion. Variac on the OT as zeke clark says that's why there were sometimes 2 variacs (i have a pretty idea how it was done). finally big resistors on the plate but i tested the cerrem mod and wasn't that conviced.

All those people saying it was the studio's work while Peggy from sunset sound said we were known to deliver the closest sound from what you can hear in real life... Even the freaking unmixed tracks without any effect or eq sound insane...
 
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The first clip without that mod sounds exponentially better and closer to VH than the clips with the mod.

Even if that mod was on the amp, it sounds to me like it was turned all the way down.
 
The first clip without that mod sounds exponentially better and closer to VH than the clips with the mod.

Even if that mod was on the amp, it sounds to me like it was turned all the way down.
yes but the voltacontrol was only made to my 20w amp. My 20w el84 amp isn't a super lead. I always test mods on smallers amps before doing them on the big ones. i'll post some clips when it's done. i'll also chase the power section mods. those are the craziest by far.
 
Yes you can totally dial it in fact it might even sound better under variac. However it is not finished yet XD keep waiting and i will perhaps make a video revealing all. At some point i'll build and sell some amps and also mod them. Eddie had also a powe section mod this is where the broken distortion comes from. I finally solved the preamp distortion chapter. Eddie used many power amp mods however i have to know which one was used on that head. here they are : a near short load resistor then amp needs another amp to be reamped. this makes power tube redplate and lower the sound a lot but you get insane power tube distortion. Variac on the OT as zeke clark says that's why there were sometimes 2 variacs (i have a pretty idea how it was done). finally big resistor on the plates but i tested the cerrem mod and wasn't that conviced.

All those people saying it the studio's work while Peggy from sunset sound said we were known to deliver the closest sound from what you can hear in real life... Even the freaking unmixed tracks without any effect or eq sound insane...
This guy tried the Cerrem mod, lads. He’s deep diving proper and is demonstrating superior tone.

Well done, @Amp_chaser !

@nero You should hear this.
 
Send it to Scammeron he needs more pizza & crack.
 
Total bullshit maneuver, hey I found this but I won't share it openly on the forum. I only want people on their knees to beg me for it.
When i'll be finished with it i will release a video giving away the main mod but not the details. Without talking about the mods that one is already 30min long just talking about ed's guitars and pickups... This has been 10 years of relentless research man of course i can't give everything away. I bought countless gear, tubes, modded amps, a bray 4550, vintage pedals, i even restored a real echoplex at home. If i took all the time i spent only using deep search tools to get old pictures, old statements, researching all the forums, the books and guitar magazines i probably spent around half a year or more only doing that non stop.I learnt how to build amps 3 years ago. last two years i have been relentlessly modding super lead circuits. As i finished my studies and was jobless for 6months i fully invested myself into it at 100%. How it began ? I was disappointed that my bray 4550 sounded like very album except vh1. I even build myself pulltechs and urei units XD but it wasn't the secret at all.
 
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