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

[Nigel]

I don't understand the kerfuffle.

 

[VonBonfire]

you have bad earing

Bad? No my friend.....golden.

 

[jabps]

I don't understand the kerfuffle.

I'm may be wrong but @Amp_chaser comes across as this is the "definitive" of what EVH did and that might rub people the wrong way. When the fact is nobody is every going to know exactly what or if he did anything to that amp. And now, all the parties have passed. The rest is just hearsay.

What we do know is that there are plenty of guys who cop EVH tones without modded amps using the same equipment EVH used. And we know several techs ala Dave F. etc... that have been in the amp say there was no mods, and if there had been they had been long removed which just leads back to hearsay.

That said more power to @Amp_chaser if he enjoys doing this, everybody needs a hobby.

 

[Exo-metal]

True but don't start a thread with a title like this and explain/share nothing and remain secretive. It's pure unadulterated douchery.

 

[VonBonfire]

True but don't start a thread with a title like this and explain/share nothing and remain secretive.

I revealed the way to get the true Eddie tone a few days back and almost nobody cared. No secrets, no amp mods, just the right set of kicks. Good luck getting that full Eddie tone without a pair of these:

 

[DanTravis62]

I don't understand the kerfuffle.

It's because he does this every couple of weeks

"GUYS I FIGURED OUT THE ULTRA SOOPER DOOPER SECRET TOAN OF VH1"

And it's always something that has been disproved 15 years ago

everyone on earth who has ever been inside the amp has said it was stock, and everyone who has ever played a cranked marshall superlead through some greenbacks and doesn't blow dog diarrhea at guitar knows it, indeed, was a stock plexi

most of the artifacting and extra compression are from redlining the tape and analog comps in mixdown and you aren't going to get that from a magic modification to a superlead

 

[Rackman]

The reality is there's a wide range of gear (and footwear) that sounds as much like VHI as Eddie did on any given day. Just listen to those room mics and board recordings...

 

[Rackman]

most of the artifacting and extra compression are from redlining the tape and analog comps in mixdown and you aren't going to get that from a magic modification to a superlead

Yup, plus some Pultec in there. It's a good formula, but it won't make guitar players happy, that's for sure. Although there's nothing stopping you from putting a Pultec in your rack.

 

[DanTravis62]

Yup, plus some Pultec in there. It's a good formula, but it won't make guitar players happy, that's for sure. Although there's nothing stopping you from putting a Pulteq in your rack.

Yep you could theoretically get much closer to his later slaved racked up tone, and that would be legit and quite a bit less involved

Unless you have the pultecs, the room, the board, and whatever mastering gear was used, you arent going to get a tone like that coming from an amp

It's a misunderstanding of how tone works, period - especially with roomy, old school recordings like that

 

[VonBonfire]

Yup, plus some Pultec in there. It's a good formula, but it won't make guitar players happy, that's for sure. Although there's nothing stopping you from putting a Pulteq in your rack.

Pultec style EQ in blue by Waynzo. Its magic.

 

[harddriver]

It's because he does this every couple of weeks

"GUYS I FIGURED OUT THE ULTRA SOOPER DOOPER SECRET TOAN OF VH1"

And it's always something that has been disproved 15 years ago

everyone on earth who has ever been inside the amp has said it was stock, and everyone who has ever played a cranked marshall superlead through some greenbacks and doesn't blow dog diarrhea at guitar knows it, indeed, was a stock plexi

most of the artifacting and extra compression are from redlining the tape and analog comps in mixdown and you aren't going to get that from a magic modification to a superlead

Yep you could theoretically get much closer to his later slaved racked up tone, and that would be legit and quite a bit less involved

Unless you have the pultecs, the room, the board, and whatever mastering gear was used, you arent going to get a tone like that coming from an amp

It's a misunderstanding of how tone works, period - especially with roomy, old school recordings like that

Friedman has seen that Voltacontrol mod in Jose's, it's not really a secret in 2026. It looks like an potentiometer adjustable gain stage or it may have actually decreased or increased the plate voltage on the extra 12ax7 that Jose added sometimes ( less plate voltage the 12ax7 distorts sooner/browner/more squish or higher plate voltage giving the 12ax7 more headroom)(more stiff, harder edge/less distortion). That would fit the description of Volta control(Voltage Control). If it was anything worthwhile I imagine Dave would have included it in his Jose Arrendondo Tribute amp.

If the OP likes what it does so be it, have some fun but to make the statement that this is what the pot on the back was is just conjecture. Where's the extra preamp tube on Ed's Marshall's for the 78-79 tour. None of them have it in all the pics Mr. Ampchaser has posted from the 78 tour.

Jacob Deraps gets this tone from a stock Marshall SV20/Germino/Marshall SLP plexi reissue because he plays like Eddie. Anyone else is going to need or want a gain adding crutch to replace that fire and attack. Amp chaser in his last post took our advice and installed an RT mod and got a great VH tone as we told him it would but at least he didn't try to claim Ed was using an RT mod in 1978.


You either have the ears to hear what the studio room mic clips of Ed's amp during VH1 recording tells you or you don't or won't and that's ok too.

 

[rsm]

so, it's a JCM 900 with diode clipping (not a SL-X).

 

[harddriver]

I don't know...first clip WITHOUT this voltacontrol sounds far better to me, is this a joke?

He can get the same effect running an EQ pedal, two Ep3 echoplexes, MXR phaser and MXR Flanger up front.

I have to agree his stock SL68 clip had the clarity and nice plexi clank to it and all the gain needed IMHO, the Voltacontrol clips not so much.

 

[tallcoolone]

That said more power to @Amp_chaser if he enjoys doing this, everybody needs a hobby.

Yeah gotta agree, let him cook

 

[lester]

I tend to lean towards that knob on the back being an external bias control

 

[RedPlated]

Friedman has seen that Voltacontrol mod in Jose's, it's not really a secret in 2026. It looks like an potentiometer adjustable gain stage or it may have actually decreased or increased the plate voltage on the extra 12ax7 that Jose added sometimes ( less plate voltage the 12ax7 distorts sooner/browner/more squish or higher plate voltage giving the 12ax7 more headroom)(more stiff, harder edge/less distortion). That would fit the description of Volta control(Voltage Control). If it was anything worthwhile I imagine Dave would have included it in his Jose Arrendondo Tribute amp.

If the OP likes what it does so be it, have some fun but to make the statement that this is what the pot on the back was is just conjecture. Where's the extra preamp tube on Ed's Marshall's for the 78-79 tour. None of them have it in all the pics Mr. Ampchaser has posted from the 78 tour.

Jacob Deraps gets this tone from a stock Marshall SV20/Germino/Marshall SLP plexi reissue because he plays like Eddie. Anyone else is going to need or want a gain adding crutch to replace that fire and attack. Amp chaser in his last post took our advice and installed an RT mod and got a great VH tone as we told him it would but at least he didn't try to claim Ed was using an RT mod in 1978.


You either have the ears to hear what the studio room mic clips of Ed's amp during VH1 recording tells you or you don't or won't and that's ok too.

First off, I feel what Exo is saying. I'm not sure posting a super-hype, alleged break-through amp history discovery, and then posting blurred out circuits with no additional explanation is accomplishing anything meaningful.

I also agree that the mod could be adjusting the B+ at the added tube. Or in the case of a Super lead without an added tube, it could be at the stock first stage.

Both my OG Jose's have a 12 way rotary switch in the same spot as this "Voltacontrol." But, instead of having 12 different plate resistor values, it takes the B+ from the added tube's plate directly to ground through separate resistors, which lowers the voltage depending on the value of the resistor to ground selected on the switch. Mine are labelled, "PRE AMP. SELECTOR."

It is a 12 way, despite only 8 numbers on the knob.

 

[Rick Lee]

Do we know who has Ed's old 12000 series these days? I heard from a reliable source he sold it for six figures before he got really sick. I haven't heard Wolfgang say anything about it. Whoever has it sure has been quiet about it.

 

[marvcus]

Can’t tell if serious….I’d be shocked if he sold it and even more if it was just 6 figures. He didn’t need the money. I think he was a hoarder.

 

[JohnnyGtar]

It's gonna end up being crystal lattice. I just know it.

 

[JohnnyGtar]

Do we know who has Ed's old 12000 series these days? I heard from a reliable source he sold it for six figures before he got really sick. I haven't heard Wolfgang say anything about it. Whoever has it sure has been quiet about it.

Ed was a very wealthy man and had no need to sell the Magic Marshall. Wolf owns that amp and occasionally records with it.