How can I get the "Brown Sound"?

[Pandemonium]

Re: How can I get the "Brown Sound"?

Whew, I know I'm goin' deaf, but for a minute there I thought I was goin' blind too....... :22:

 

[DirrtyCraig]

Re: How can I get the "Brown Sound"?

You know, when I was shopping for amps I remember seeing that on the VHT site. I don't know, but personally I thinks thats kind of a ****ty thing to say. I mean asking an amp manufacturer about the brown sound is not something to be made fun of about. Theres nothing wrong with using that as a building block for a great rock tone.

anyways,,, The real reason I posted was to give a shout out to Splawn. I ordered a Quick Rod 2 weeks ago and had a few great phone conversations with Scott. This is the best amp I've heard out there for brown sound or any rock and Metal tones. I should have mine in a few weeks and you can bet I'll post some sound clips.

Currently I'm using a Wolfgang with a Jb Bridge and '59 in the neck.

 

[Mkf411]

Re: How can I get the "Brown Sound"?

I agree that you play whatever style you want. If you want to emulate your heros, that's cool. I think it would be fun to play like Van Halen.

One advantage to playing your own style is that people can't focus as much on if your playing it "right". If you make up the song, you say what's right.

 

[madaxeman]

Re: How can I get the "Brown Sound"?

If you want the brown sound today it's really simple. No varaics or other gadgets needed except. A strat type guitar or a les paul with a duncan evh, and a reworked marshall plexi reissue done by a guy named David Bray. Heres the link there are some sound clips to check out. I own the 50 watt reissue modded by him with a master volume and it kicks ass. Brown sound all the way.
http://www.davidbrayamps.com/

 

[theodie]

Re: How can I get the "Brown Sound"?

How does one make the infamous "brown note"?

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: How can I get the "Brown Sound"?

To get brown sound:

Step 1) Buy Peavey Wolfgang
Step 2) Buy Mohajve Peacemaker

The Peacemaker ain't a bad approach but the Wolfy won't get you brown sounds. Strat style w/ EVH / Seth / PG would be a better choice.

 

[Mephis]

Re: How can I get the "Brown Sound"?

Yea, he also offset the 4th speaker in his cab.

crank all the EQ to 10, set presence at 5, gain at 10.

Dual HB's and you're good to go.

Its close enough His marshal was quite heavily modded with dual gain knobs.

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: How can I get the "Brown Sound"?

Yea, he also offset the 4th speaker in his cab.

crank all the EQ to 10, set presence at 5, gain at 10.

Dual HB's and you're good to go.

Its close enough His marshal was quite heavily modded with dual gain knobs.

No it wasn't

 

[Jeffrec]

Re: How can I get the "Brown Sound"?

Did you say "Brown Sound" or "Brown Note"?
:laugh2: :laugh2:

 

[MattPete]

Re: How can I get the "Brown Sound"?

The funny thing about Eddie's sound, is that it was heavily post-EQ'd on the first album. The producer thought that he had a harsh sound, and tried to fatten it up. If you ever heard early VH bootlegs, you'll realize that Eddie had a pretty thin and twangy sound when he was on his own.

The other interesting thing is that he used his strat in the studio only for the songs that had dive-bomb parts. For many songs, he used an Ibanez korina Destroyer, a Gibson Flying-V, or a Les Paul. For all of these guitars, the woods and scale length are completely different from his strat.

Basically, it was a PAF guitar, a Marshall Plexi, and often an EQ pedal set up for some midboost. A good example of his varying early sound is to compare the left and right guitars on "Dirty Movies", or the lead versus rhythm in the outro of "So this is love?" Or compare the lead guitar in "Hear about it later" at 3:00 with 4:00.

For the guitar, you need a PAF style pickup. A 59 will get you close, a Seth closer, and an EVH closest. A custom custom is too over the top.

 

[aleclee]

Re: How can I get the "Brown Sound"?

I'd guess that as a builder of high gain amps, VHT gets that question a lot--or they did before adding that entry to their FAQ. As a maker that has tried hard to create a distininctive rather than derivative tone, I can see how they might not appreciate such questions.

As for the "brown sound" itself I have two comments.

• I find the early VH tone to be more about the delay than the timbre. Just about any mid-rich distortion tone run through a mildly regenerating delay will get you something that's in the ballpark IMHO.
• Though "Unchained" was my benchmark hard rock rhythm tone for a long time, that changed last year when I started listening more closely to the guitar part. By my standards, it's just a bit buzzy and sounds like it's farting out on the low D chugging. It's EVH's stellar playing that kept me from realizing it in the past.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: How can I get the "Brown Sound"?

Well that is why I like Ed's sound....it is about the playing.
People are more obsessed with sound than playing.