How did EVH's "Brown Sound" get its name?

[Myaccount876]

Re: How did EVH's "Brown Sound" get its name?

2 burritos and a root beer float will make a brown sound.

[Zombiwoof]

Re: How did EVH's "Brown Sound" get its name?

Jose Arredondo maybe? There is a bit of debate regarding exactly how credible those claims are since EVH supposedly dropped his friend's name in order to drum up some business for him. Regarding variac usage EVH may not have set his at 92V (though Randy Rhoads did), but I found the interview zenmindedbeginner was referring to and Eddie said that he set the variac by ear to get his sound at a more managable volume. The only way to achieve that volume-lowering effect would be to lower the voltage.

Yup, it was Jose!. Great guy, was sad to hear he had died some years back.
Thanks,
Al

[Zombiwoof]

Re: How did EVH's "Brown Sound" get its name?

Jose Arredondo maybe? There is a bit of debate regarding exactly how credible those claims are since EVH supposedly dropped his friend's name in order to drum up some business for him. Regarding variac usage EVH may not have set his at 92V (though Randy Rhoads did), but I found the interview zenmindedbeginner was referring to and Eddie said that he set the variac by ear to get his sound at a more managable volume. The only way to achieve that volume-lowering effect would be to lower the voltage.

If you're referring to the claims about the amp being pretty much stock, that was the observation of the guy that refurbished it some years ago, it was covered in a guitar magazine article. He expected to see extensive mods, but was surprised to see that it was basically a stock Marshall.

From what I have read, another part of the recorded sound was that he played straight into the amp, the amp was mic'd and the effects were added to the signal coming off of the cranked amp (not into the amp). This obviously would also make an impact on the sounds that had effects on them.

Al

[GilmourD]

Re: How did EVH's "Brown Sound" get its name?

From what I have read, another part of the recorded sound was that he played straight into the amp, the amp was mic'd and the effects were added to the signal coming off of the cranked amp (not into the amp). This obviously would also make an impact on the sounds that had effects on them.

Al

Not too sure about that. There's plenty of pictures of Ed in the studio with the head somewhere odd, like on the floor, and he's got pedals hooked up to it, including the Echoplex in the bombshell with which he goosed the input of the Marshall.



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[koshikas]

Re: How did EVH's "Brown Sound" get its name?

[QUOTE=Zombiwoof;3638673
From what I have read, another part of the recorded sound was that he played straight into the amp, the amp was mic'd and the effects were added to the signal coming off of the cranked amp (not into the amp). This obviously would also make an impact on the sounds that had effects on them.
[/QUOTE]

now i remember reading sometime back, that the marshall head was hooked up with a dummy load a line level signal being taken off it and fed into 'phase 90' into a separate power amp or somethin like that. got hold of it;

http://www.legendarytones.com/brownsound.html

[Zombiwoof]

Re: How did EVH's "Brown Sound" get its name?

now i remember reading sometime back, that the marshall head was hooked up with a dummy load a line level signal being taken off it and fed into 'phase 90' into a separate power amp or somethin like that. got hold of it;

http://www.legendarytones.com/brownsound.html

[ATTACH=CONFIG]53785[/ATTACH]

Yeah, I think that's what I was referring to. I'm not sure about the diagram, all I read that the effects were after the output of the full-blast amp, not in front of it, so they would not denigrate the true amp sound. I don't know if the diagram shows that, trying to figure out what I see there.
Al

[kevlar3000]

Re: How did EVH's "Brown Sound" get its name?

The term came from the brown back Les Pauls he and Terry Kilgore were playing back in the day. Tube Tramp gave the scoop many years ago on the old Plexi P forums.

[Red_Label]

Re: How did EVH's "Brown Sound" get its name?

I completely agree. Never liked his early sound.

Hmmm...

So that I may understand where you're coming from, please list a few examples of players whose tone you do like.

[Red_Label]

Re: How did EVH's "Brown Sound" get its name?

Speaking of variacs, here's my mutt modded JTM45 on a variac @ 100v doing the brown sound:

RWTD

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=12778842

E (pardon the dust)

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=12778866

YRGM

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=12778880

FYLT

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=12778900

For the record, I've had this config for about a year now with zero issues.

Also, the variac is a key component to Ed's early tone... you will not get it without it. It adds this
wonderful grind to the tone.

KILLER tones there man! And playing is great too.

[Red_Label]

Re: How did EVH's "Brown Sound" get its name?

There is a bit of debate regarding exactly how credible those claims are since EVH supposedly dropped his friend's name in order to drum up some business for him.

I remember in magazine articles back in the 80s, that Eddie was claiming that he didn't use any FX. Got all of the tone from his fingers. Yeah... cause phasing, flanging, delay, and reverb are something that can be coaxed out of a guitar by a different touch.

[Scott_F]

Re: How did EVH's "Brown Sound" get its name?

Modern voltage is higher than 50's 60's. Many people prefer dialing down the voltage on a vintage amp to get it into where the designers intended. Heck , many of the Mercury transformer clones are offered with lower b+ in order to compensate for the increased modern voltage.

Lots of differing stories in this thread. I always thought it was lowered variac setting that indicated the brown sound.


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[Zombiwoof]

Re: How did EVH's "Brown Sound" get its name?

I remember in magazine articles back in the 80s, that Eddie was claiming that he didn't use any FX. Got all of the tone from his fingers. Yeah... cause phasing, flanging, delay, and reverb are something that can be coaxed out of a guitar by a different touch.

Don't forget his use of the Phase 90 (set to lowest speed) and even wah on some tunes. Yes he did use effects, but because of the way the amp was recorded, they were added after the straight amp sound, not in front, as was discussed a ways back in the thread.

Al

[jtougas]

Re: How did EVH's "Brown Sound" get its name?

Another component of his recorded tone was a trick they did with his tracks: They triple-tracked them, and EQ'd each track separately - one with bass boosted, everything else cut, one with mids boosted, everything else cut, and one with treble boosted, everything else cut, then fade each channel appropriately. I do not know which EQ points they used, unfortunately.

I tried this once, using my Digitech RP-7 for the tone, and CoolEdit (yes, waaay back in the digital age) to copy the tracks, EQ 'em, and mix 'em. Got an absolutely *huge* sound, where the harmonics really jumped out.

[crguti]

Re: How did EVH's "Brown Sound" get its name?

^ sound demos or you didn't do it.

[jtougas]

Re: How did EVH's "Brown Sound" get its name?

I wish I still had the file... This was back in the 90s, and multiple computers (and hard drives!) ago.