Anyone else sick of all the relentless pursuit of VH's tone?

Re: Anyone else sick of all the relentless pursuit of VH's tone?

That's what's on my tele's volume pot. The stupid dome knob's screw kept falling off, so I could only find a tone one. I use the knob constantly for gain textures and gating, and it's actually more appropriate for it to be called a tone. They should just make 'em that way to begin with!
 
Re: Anyone else sick of all the relentless pursuit of VH's tone?

Well, there's a challenge to playing ultra-simple guitars like that. You have to create "rhythm tones" a certain way and "neck tones" another way. I think he used the volume knob as masterfully as can be. Sometimes rolling off a little for rhythm stuff and then turning it up for solos. A lot of guys lean on features but when you're forced to be creative and create different tones through one pickup and one volume knob, I think it makes you better.
 
Re: Anyone else sick of all the relentless pursuit of VH's tone?

IanBallard said:
Well, there's a challenge to playing ultra-simple guitars like that. You have to create "rhythm tones" a certain way and "neck tones" another way. I think he used the volume knob as masterfully as can be. Sometimes rolling off a little for rhythm stuff and then turning it up for solos. A lot of guys lean on features but when you're forced to be creative and create different tones through one pickup and one volume knob, I think it makes you better.
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A lot of people also only pick in one spot. Their hand never moves from one spot. There are so many tones to be had just by picking the strings in a different spot.
 
Re: Anyone else sick of all the relentless pursuit of VH's tone?

GilmourD said:
A lot of people also only pick in one spot. Their hand never moves from one spot. There are so many tones to be had just by picking the strings in a different spot.
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Yeah funny how it essentially works like a pickup placement, picking close to neck is warm, and close to bridge is bright/jangly.
 
Re: Anyone else sick of all the relentless pursuit of VH's tone?

lazyfinger said:
Yeah funny how it essentially works like a pickup placement, picking close to neck is warm, and close to bridge is bright/jangly.
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Using that in combination with pickups in different placements...

joey-lawrence.jpg
 
Re: Anyone else sick of all the relentless pursuit of VH's tone?

IanBallard said:
have to create "rhythm tones" a certain way and "neck tones" another way. I think he used the volume knob as masterfully as can be. Sometimes rolling off a little for rhythm stuff and then turning it up for solos.
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That's how I play all the time. It's just laziness - I'd rather move a volume knob than run over to a pedal and stamp on it every time I want to play a solo.
 
Re: Anyone else sick of all the relentless pursuit of VH's tone?

Ed likes to change thinks up regularly, so he can cash in.

2474.jpg
 
Re: Anyone else sick of all the relentless pursuit of VH's tone?

joesatch said:
Ed likes to change thinks up regularly, so he can cash in.

2474.jpg
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ah yes the 5150 shammy! if you clean your guitar with one of those you will play VH riffs better, he gives a money back guarantee on it as well.
 
Re: Anyone else sick of all the relentless pursuit of VH's tone?

The only thing I find funny is EVH's tone has evolved a lot. From VH1 and its raw aggression to VH2-WCF with its PAFish tone to FW/DD and what sounds like a CC to me. Then we get the dreadful chorused out later years on the Sammy records. (And sorry VHIII is some kind of bad memory). So EVH hasn't figured it out yet, how is anyone else supposed to?
 
Re: Anyone else sick of all the relentless pursuit of VH's tone?

LOL, great point cthroatgtr. He invented the secret recipe but he must've forgotten it. or he fried his ears from all the crankin'.
 
Re: Anyone else sick of all the relentless pursuit of VH's tone?

1984 through OU812, you kind of have to pick songs that don't have wrecked tone. "Sucker in a 3 Piece" has some nice amp tone and you can find some here and there, sometimes even squeezed in the mix behind the Oberheim. But even though he used some harmonizer in F.U.C.K., Balance and VHIII, the dynamic range of his tone is wider and his lead tones are way better to me. He always said he wanted a "clean sustain" and had to compromise in the old days, by driving the Plexi to a point of blowing, while reducing the input voltage... basically create a "high gain with the gain turned down" sound. Well, then he developed an amp that has HUGE gain headroom, but people don't use it correctly.
 
Re: Anyone else sick of all the relentless pursuit of VH's tone?

Irony : the difference between the title and the content of this thread.
 
Re: Anyone else sick of all the relentless pursuit of VH's tone?

AudioWonderland said:
Just to be the black sheep I would also propose that the album tones that followed VH1 were not necessarily all that. Fair Warning is a worthy successor tone wise to 1 but I really didn't think the albums in between were really up to that level.
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I'd have to disagree on that... I think that VHII and Women and Children First had the brownest tones in their entire catalog...
 
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