Pete and Dave have done it: The EVH tone vid is must see for ALL!

[Kapo_Polenton]

Mr. Obeid Khan.
68' Plexi 1987 [50 watt], stock 60's Stratocaster [single coils], a couple pedals.
No variac, no dippy chippy Cameron, no secret sauce, just a good amp, good guitar & good talent.
You can't buy good talent, its created.

Sounded great but isn't THE tone. Just an awesome tone proving that Plexi's boosted are awesome and are the sound of many of the greats; Malmsteen, Norum, on and on and on. That board is a mess though, those pedals look like they've sat in a vegetable garden for 2 months.

 

[LP Freak]

Sounded great but isn't THE tone. Just an awesome tone proving that Plexi's boosted are awesome and are the sound of many of the greats; Malmsteen, Norum, on and on and on. That board is a mess though, those pedals look like they've sat in a vegetable garden for 2 months.

?

 

[Racerxrated]

Maybe the tone but not the hands I don't think... I was just blasting my recently picked up Bugera 1960 infinium and it's pretty cool, but it ain't putting out that gain w/ a Suhr Aldrich pup. (cascade input is cool though, RR tone when boosted) I know it isn't a real Marshall but it is ballpark and circuit wise it is there. Which leads me to conclude that besides the hands and the kick from the echoplex, the only real truth is that no two vintage Marshalls are the same. He just had a really good sounding one on the first album. Variac must help a bit but it isn't going to all of a sudden change your playing.

VHI was great, VHII was even better. Really his tone was great for the first 4 albums IMO.

 

[311boogieman]

I think it's interesting that people here are saying this isn't Ed's tone, when the guy performing the mods is the actual guy who worked on Ed's gear for a number of years. I guess some people are just always right; even when they're not.

I wasn't aware Dave Freidman worked on Ed's gear for a number of years. I thought he was asked once to look over his #1 Plexi. I believe he also commented that it was bone stock. I'm so confused.

 

[journeyman73]

I think it's interesting that people here are saying this isn't Ed's tone, when the guy performing the mods is the actual guy who worked on Ed's gear for a number of years. I guess some people are just always right; even when they're not.

someone is always going to argue that dave, john, whoever else weren’t in there in the late ‘70s, so what do they know?

the video was only meant to epitomize that mythical tone chase that so many have been on for so long...but leave it to the naysayers to start taking shots on a pro’s chops.

 

[Samhain]

I wasn't aware Dave Freidman worked on Ed's gear for a number of years. I thought he was asked once to look over his #1 Plexi. I believe he also commented that it was bone stock. I'm so confused.

yep he did including his EVH 5153's/rack & pedalboard. And id bet a weeks pay those 5153' were tweaked. Its the nature of Dave & Ed to do so. And thousands of other people's gear since 1993, no secret.
When i heard VH on Kimmel in LA live i hear Van Halen 1 to the tee. Something a stock 5153 just can't pull off on its own.

 

[psychodave]

I think it's interesting that people here are saying this isn't Ed's tone, when the guy performing the mods is the actual guy who worked on Ed's gear for a number of years. I guess some people are just always right; even when they're not.

I never knew Dave was inside Eddies amp during the years 1977-1984. Maybe he can shed some light on what looks like a pot shaft sticking out the back. Maybe he can shed some light as to why Ed’s gain was getting less and less each album (maybe worn out parts?).

Of course if he wasn’t inside the amp back then...then he can’t possibly know if something was stock or not and his opinion is like everyone else’s. Just his and not fact per say. ?

 

[Samhain]

I never knew Dave was inside Eddies amp during the years 1977-1984. Maybe he can shed some light on what looks like a pot shaft sticking out the back. Maybe he can shed some light as to why Ed’s gain was getting less and less each album (maybe worn out parts?).

Of course if he wasn’t inside the amp back then...then he can’t possibly know if something was stock or not and his opinion is like everyone else’s. Just his and not fact per say. ?

For all the he said/she said Ed war stories ive never heard anyone have a plausible explanation why there is a MV pot on the back of Ed's Marshall in the early days and later pics have it removed & the hole plugged.
I know what i see.

 

[psychodave]

And there is the pot shaft I’m talking about... ?

 

[RaceU4her]

I wasn't aware Dave Freidman worked on Ed's gear for a number of years. I thought he was asked once to look over his #1 Plexi. I believe he also commented that it was bone stock. I'm so confused.

soldano said the #1 was bone stock as well

 

[psychodave]

For all the he said/she said Ed war stories ive never heard anyone have a plausible explanation why there is a MV pot on the back of Ed's Marshall in the early days and later pics have it removed & the hole plugged.
I know what i see.

...and yet they say the amp was stock. You can see some mod while Ed is in the studio. There is some thought there was a master volume with some zeners attached. As the zeners died from getting whacked with voltage, Ed’s gain got less and less. Evidence without proof?

Unless someone like Friedman or Soldano was in the amp during the glory years, it’s all conjecture. I’m sure at some point the amp was put back to stock... heck, wasn’t Bogner in the amp in the late 1980’s too?


I appreciate the effort and it was enjoyable and entertaining to watch.

 

[fusedbrain]

A couple of random observations:

Yeah, looks like a pot sticking out of the back of the amp, but that is totally not the place anybody would locate a master volume in a plexi.
That's right behind the first preamp tube. Any higher voltage AC signal sent over to that area would cause all kinds of problems.

Nobody ever considers the contribution of the mics, the room, the desk or the outboard to the recorded tone. We have no idea what that amp sounded like in the room.

Nobody ever mentions the Schaffer Vega wireless I've highlighted in the pic below. Those things can alter the signal hitting the front end of the amp dramatically.
A clone of that unit is now marketed as a boost pedal.

OK.....carry on

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

The first album is def. more gained out and you are right, the gain drops down by the time they get to 1984. Live however, I think that tour had monstrous tone though so who knows but that was probably slaving doing its thang and some EQ push. It just seems odd that he would have been the only guy ever to have dimed an amp and gotten that gain when SDS were around for quite some time in the 70's and other people had used them. Anyway doesn't much matter.

As for his 5153's being modded, I don't hear that. Just sounds like the 5153 doing it's thing through a PA.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

A couple of random observations:

Yeah, looks like a pot sticking out of the back of the amp, but that is totally not the place anybody would locate a master volume in a plexi.
That's right behind the first preamp tube. Any higher voltage AC signal sent over to that area would cause all kinds of problems.

Nobody ever considers the contribution of the mics, the room, the desk or the outboard to the recorded tone. We have no idea what that amp sounded like in the room.

Nobody ever mentions the Schaffer Vega wireless I've highlighted in the pic below. Those things can alter the signal hitting the front end of the amp dramatically.
A clone of that unit is now marketed as a boost pedal.

OK.....carry on

View attachment 65720

Good point, but that is where you would likely put a "Jose master" with Zeners would you not? As for the Schaffer, that's a good point. Angus liked them because of the gain they added. A bunch of people are using them now as the echoplex pre would have been used. That's another thing Pete didn't do in this video but he has done before... turn on his EP Pre.

 

[fusedbrain]

Good point, but that is where you would likely put a "Jose master" with Zeners would you not?

No.
Here's a gut shot of a Metro 1969 build ( same basic amp layout ) with the location of the mod to Eddies amp shown.
Unlikely location for a master volume.

Edit: pic is from Metro Plexi build docs from Valvestorm website. Not my amp. Just wanted to show general layout of 100watt plexi-style amp and chassis.

 

[SpiderWars]

A couple of random observations:

Yeah, looks like a pot sticking out of the back of the amp, but that is totally not the place anybody would locate a master volume in a plexi.
That's right behind the first preamp tube. Any higher voltage AC signal sent over to that area would cause all kinds of problems.

Nobody ever considers the contribution of the mics, the room, the desk or the outboard to the recorded tone. We have no idea what that amp sounded like in the room.

Nobody ever mentions the Schaffer Vega wireless I've highlighted in the pic below. Those things can alter the signal hitting the front end of the amp dramatically.
A clone of that unit is now marketed as a boost pedal.

OK.....carry on

View attachment 65720

Agree on the pot, never knew about the Vega.

FWIW, There are some recent Sunset Sound videos where they listen to room mics and it sounds pretty representative of what is on the record.

They also touched on the two mics on VH1 (one much brighter than the other) and whether both tracks were actually used...but I can't remember exact and don't dare speculate.

And to me the phrase 'bone stock' has a specific meaning. Not one thing changed/replaced.

 

[Samhain]

A couple of random observations:

Yeah, looks like a pot sticking out of the back of the amp, but that is totally not the place anybody would locate a master volume in a plexi.
That's right behind the first preamp tube. Any higher voltage AC signal sent over to that area would cause all kinds of problems.

Nobody ever considers the contribution of the mics, the room, the desk or the outboard to the recorded tone. We have no idea what that amp sounded like in the room.

Nobody ever mentions the Schaffer Vega wireless I've highlighted in the pic below. Those things can alter the signal hitting the front end of the amp dramatically.
A clone of that unit is now marketed as a boost pedal.

OK.....carry on

View attachment 65720

Problem with your theory is he never used a wireless in the studio. There are a million he said/she said stories of who did what & im sure now Ed's gone it will go on til the end of time.
What a Legacy Ed did create love em or hate.

 

[PDC]

I love these vids. (Loved the one on Vai’s Jose modded Superlead). To my ear, the Friedman head had that super subtle something ‘extra’ for copping that sizzlier VH-I tone. I also think Pete’s ash strat had a touch more of the early mojo than the basswood strat. (I’d love to hear that ash strat with a 6-screw trem!)

My takeaway is that the player is 90% of getting the listener to ‘hear’ the magic VH sound and the gear (though lots of fun) is at most 10% of the equation. Al Estrada has demo’d countless amps and stomp boxes which all have their own distinct sound and his playing just oozes Ed’s mojo. Same can be said of Mark Abrahamian - I actually own the #2 ground up Rockstah build. It’s a great representation of a cranked plexi, but its Mark’s killer, killer loose, groovy swing that makes your ears ‘hear’ early VH in his clips.

 

[Markedman]

Ted Nugent -

"Absolutely. Van Halen, it was their first tour; it was '78, '77-'78, it was the biggest tour on planet Earth. I was a bad motherfucker in 1978, and I heard all about this Eddie Van Halen guy.

"And they're out there doing a soundcheck - we want them to have a good checking of their sound, and I'm listening to the guys and, of course, they're just world-class musicians, Alex [Van Halen, drums] and Michael [Anthony, bass] and Eddie and David [Lee Roth, vocals], and they're out there with this brand new thing called Van Halen, and it was a monster.

"And I'm listening to this screamy high end - he [Eddie] had a little bit of phaser going on, he had some kind of electronic warfare going through his amplifier that he completely tore apart and rebuilt - he's just an electronic maniac.

"And I listen, and I'm going, 'God damn, what kind of an instrument and an amp does that son of a bitch use?!'

"I went out to watch those guys and they went to talk about the tour, the music, the inspirations, and the tone, and he goes, 'How did you get that Byrdland to sound like that?'

"And I saw my Byrdland right there, and I said, 'Well, here, plug this son of a bitch in, we'll keep it in my Fender amps.' And of course, my Byrdland feeds into that low volume, the Byrdland wants to eat your phase.

"So, Eddie's playing, but once he got out of the feedback - there's a feedback that will literally eat the notes you're trying to play. The feedback is so strong, you could go for a scale in the key of B, but the feedback is resonating in the key of D and there's not a damn thing you can do about it.

"So he repositioned himself, he started pulling these mystical licks, and it sounded just like him, but out of my rig.

"And I grabbed his Strat - his mutilated, bastardized Strat - and I started playing 'Dog Eat Dog' or 'Cat Scratch [Fever]' or something, and it sounded just like me.

"If music is anything, it's not only the universal language, not just the universal communication for people anywhere in the world at any time, but it's also a personal execution of the musician's sonic vision.

"And when you practice your balls off, when you dedicate yourself to be the very best you can be, which describes every musician that you and I love...

"It's you, not even the Fenders or the Gibsons. It's you coming through your musical vision and attack of the instrument. You could have an amp and a guitar, don't change any of the settings and put 10 of your favorite guitar players on that set and it will sound just like each individual.

"So it is a mystical Samurai adventure of self-expression, and going right back to my opening statement with you many years ago, 'We love the f%&# music.' If you love it with all your heart and soul, you're gonna put all your heart and soul into making your music, and that's why it's so contagious and universal."

Yeah, O.K., I need what string type again?
Kahn was great and anyone who says different, back it up pal with a video of your playing or you're a lame-ass troll.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Still though..that sizzle on the first album. I think it def. leaves a possibility of at least him hitting it with the level up on that GE-10 or MXR 6 band.

Besides that yes it has been stated many times before, hands. Nuno said the same thing trying one of EVH's rigs. He sounded like Nuno. I liked the deep dive though and I urged Pete in the comments to tackle Randy Rhoads live sound next and then have a go at some other greats. I want to hear some early Schenker and some Demartini Out of the Cellar tones. We more or less know how to get those but I think Pete will nerd out on it and he has Dave at his fingertips to help out with the details so..