EVH Tone on 5150 song?
- Thread starter ColdHit
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SQUAREHEAD
New member
Re: EVH Tone on 5150 song?
He uses a Bass "A" string for his dropped D string on that song...
Sounds real F A T
kEITH
He uses a Bass "A" string for his dropped D string on that song...
Sounds real F A T
kEITH
Majestic
New member
Re: EVH Tone on 5150 song?
Yeah, the "doubling" is almost more important than any detuning on that song.
It's very thick & "doubled". Plus, it's doubled again in stereo.
The biggest difference I EVER noticed in the tone on that particular tune, happened when I turned my RIGHT speakers OFF.
You'll be shocked.....there's almost no reverb, and it totally sounds like a guy playing in his living room with some 28ms doubling.
When you hear his "doubled" tone in stereo, through both sides, it's almost like it's "quadrupled", and it sounds crazy. That's the kicker.
Fade your speakers to the left, and listen to that tune again.
Yeah, the "doubling" is almost more important than any detuning on that song.
It's very thick & "doubled". Plus, it's doubled again in stereo.
The biggest difference I EVER noticed in the tone on that particular tune, happened when I turned my RIGHT speakers OFF.
You'll be shocked.....there's almost no reverb, and it totally sounds like a guy playing in his living room with some 28ms doubling.
When you hear his "doubled" tone in stereo, through both sides, it's almost like it's "quadrupled", and it sounds crazy. That's the kicker.
Fade your speakers to the left, and listen to that tune again.
strangegrey
New member
Re: EVH Tone on 5150 song?
I think you're confusing that with Good Enough...He was drop A on that, and for that he used a bass string....
On 5150, it's just regular drop D with his regular E string....
SQUAREHEAD said:
I think you're confusing that with Good Enough...He was drop A on that, and for that he used a bass string....
On 5150, it's just regular drop D with his regular E string....
Majestic
New member
Re: EVH Tone on 5150 song?
Now when I said "doubled", I'm referring to effects. Not him literally re-recording & duplicating his lines over each other, like Randy Rhoades.
An Eventide is soooo effective at doubling with barely any shift. Some chorus pedals do it better than others. The best I've ever personally tried, which is now somewhat obscure, is/was the Rocktron Tsunami pedal.
It has a normal Chorus mode, but then also has an "Ambience" mode, which is pretty much a straight analog 28ms doubling with an option for stereo outputs. You can detune it as well, which adds some shimmer.
Unfortunately, I can't get it to sound right unless i'm using an effects loop with the distortion added BEFORE the chorus.
So yeah, "double" or "detune" the tone, and then throw an identical track over to the other side of your speakers. That track is probably delayed a *stitch* as well, I bet.
Now when I said "doubled", I'm referring to effects. Not him literally re-recording & duplicating his lines over each other, like Randy Rhoades.
An Eventide is soooo effective at doubling with barely any shift. Some chorus pedals do it better than others. The best I've ever personally tried, which is now somewhat obscure, is/was the Rocktron Tsunami pedal.
It has a normal Chorus mode, but then also has an "Ambience" mode, which is pretty much a straight analog 28ms doubling with an option for stereo outputs. You can detune it as well, which adds some shimmer.
Unfortunately, I can't get it to sound right unless i'm using an effects loop with the distortion added BEFORE the chorus.
So yeah, "double" or "detune" the tone, and then throw an identical track over to the other side of your speakers. That track is probably delayed a *stitch* as well, I bet.
strangegrey
New member
Re: EVH Tone on 5150 song?
The Boss GT units also do it VERY well. The Boss GT-3 even....and can be had for serious cheapness...
-F
Majestic said:
The Boss GT units also do it VERY well. The Boss GT-3 even....and can be had for serious cheapness...
-F
SQUAREHEAD
New member
Re: EVH Tone on 5150 song?
That one too!
Both were done with the bass string.
keith
strangegrey said:
That one too!
Both were done with the bass string.
keith
strangegrey
New member
Re: EVH Tone on 5150 song?
I dunno, I'm somewhat of a Van Halen expert, and I dont agree with this...I'm fairly certain it's just drop D on 5150...
SQUAREHEAD said:
I dunno, I'm somewhat of a Van Halen expert, and I dont agree with this...I'm fairly certain it's just drop D on 5150...
Aceman
I am your doctor of love!
Re: EVH Tone on 5150 song?
I'm not sure on the bass A, but it's possible. Can't hurt?!?! Drop D is for sure. I nailed this with an old Boss floorboard. I had the chorus set for wide delay, along with some slight chorus. Then I fatted the whole thing up with the very delay you refer to, and tossed a touch of verb to boot. The EQ was really key - getting the right blend of bass/mid and not too much treble. As for Distortion, I used way less gain than I thought I would.
I'm not sure on the bass A, but it's possible. Can't hurt?!?! Drop D is for sure. I nailed this with an old Boss floorboard. I had the chorus set for wide delay, along with some slight chorus. Then I fatted the whole thing up with the very delay you refer to, and tossed a touch of verb to boot. The EQ was really key - getting the right blend of bass/mid and not too much treble. As for Distortion, I used way less gain than I thought I would.
Majestic
New member
Re: EVH Tone on 5150 song?
Right, it doesn't sound "high gain". It's just "quadrupled" sounding.
Not too shimmery, just very, very doubled. And then doubled again on the other side, which wasn't typical for Van Halen rythm tracks at the time. The guitar usually only came out of one side prior to that, with some exceptions.
5150 was a big change in tone, period. 1984, if anything, was a dialed-back Van Halen tone, without the rawness. Less distortion, but somehow less rawness.
5150 wasn't raw (in a 70's way) by any means, but very "doubled" and stereo sounding.
Right, it doesn't sound "high gain". It's just "quadrupled" sounding.
Not too shimmery, just very, very doubled. And then doubled again on the other side, which wasn't typical for Van Halen rythm tracks at the time. The guitar usually only came out of one side prior to that, with some exceptions.
5150 was a big change in tone, period. 1984, if anything, was a dialed-back Van Halen tone, without the rawness. Less distortion, but somehow less rawness.
5150 wasn't raw (in a 70's way) by any means, but very "doubled" and stereo sounding.
strangegrey
New member
Re: EVH Tone on 5150 song?
It was more refined and more produced, but if you strip away a little of the production, you can still hear evh's marshall in there...
If you listen to each side, as someone above has mentioned, you will hear a more individual tone...and you'll still hear one side more wash with verb than the other
It was more refined and more produced, but if you strip away a little of the production, you can still hear evh's marshall in there...
If you listen to each side, as someone above has mentioned, you will hear a more individual tone...and you'll still hear one side more wash with verb than the other
ErikH
Well-known member
Re: EVH Tone on 5150 song?
I listened to the left side only the other day and did catch what Majestic was talking about. I'm not took hip on the tone from that album anyway. Like I said earlier, it has this muffly sound to it to me, not as open and vibrant, except for the Dreams solo. Great songs on it though.
I've given up trying to cop his tone from any of it anyway. If I'm playing any of it, it's with my tone. With this song (5150), I just drop that E to D and go. Yes, it is cool knowing what was used to record certain songs/records, but in the end, it's just not worth it trying to sound like that anymore.
I listened to the left side only the other day and did catch what Majestic was talking about. I'm not took hip on the tone from that album anyway. Like I said earlier, it has this muffly sound to it to me, not as open and vibrant, except for the Dreams solo. Great songs on it though.
I've given up trying to cop his tone from any of it anyway. If I'm playing any of it, it's with my tone. With this song (5150), I just drop that E to D and go. Yes, it is cool knowing what was used to record certain songs/records, but in the end, it's just not worth it trying to sound like that anymore.
