How can people spend so much time chasing EVH tone

[Chistopher]

I trip over it at least once a month on the most random gear.

Like today I got it with a BB2/BB3 combo Les Paul through a Boss DN-2 into a cheapo Crate MX10.

Eh, maybe it's more my playing and less the gear.

 

[Masta' C]

That makes sense, because Eddie played a DN-2 into an MX10 on the first album.

:jester:

Seriously, though, a huge part of that sound is in the technique, as you've discovered.

 

[Mincer]

He came out in a time where there was very little information available about guitar techniques and tone. And he had a giant impact on guitar players at a time they needed a real hero. Those ripples are still there today.

 

[NegativeEase]

The tone is in the overalls and wrestling shoes

 

[PFDarkside]

Eh, maybe it's more my playing and less the gear.

If you really, Really, REALLY want the details of the tone of any artist it is quite a chase. I am ok with the bare bones version that others are not happy enough with. Mr, Gilmour is my first inspiration to play guitar all those years ago and I’m fine with just a fuzz, Univibe/phase 90 and delay. Some go really down the hole, but for me close enough is close enough.

I am 100% in the “tone is in the hands” camp. And before people show up with straw man arguments of “how do you get fuzz out of a clean amp”, my perspective is to get close with the gear and then practice, practice, practice. On the album I recorded with my band/friends 20 some years ago, I played a few of the rhythm parts with the literal same setup as the guitarists. They sounded night and day different just with our right hand techniques. When I was interested in the Hendrix/SRV chord melody style a few years ago, the same clean Fender with a light boost sounded a million times closer when I actually learned how to play the licks right.

Now for those hell bent on recreating tones exactly, who can play the licks perfectly and are seeking that last 1%… the chase is long and tough. I appreciate the work, but man is that a labor of love.

 

[Securb]

I think a lot of it is self-validation. Most agree EVH is a phenomenal guitarist; therefore, if I can sound like EVH, I must also be an outstanding guitarist. However, that is very shortsighted. I can copy DaVinci's Mona Lisa, but that does not make me one of the great masters. Just as writing down an Emily Dickinson poem doesn't makes me a great poet.

 

[GuitarStv]

It's always easier (though usually less effective) to try throwing money at getting tone than practicing. Easier trumps better for most people.

 

[ZiggyZipgun]

Mr, Gilmour is my first inspiration to play guitar all those years ago and I’m fine with just a fuzz, Univibe/phase 90 and delay. Some go really down the hole, but for me close enough is close enough.

Same here - I'd put together a version of his black Strat (circa 1974, with the rosewood fingerboard) before he brought it out of retirement for Live 8 and made a signature replica. Mine evolved from there as I also came to understand that the tone is "in the fingers" - and the closest I came to his Strat's sound is when mine had Antiquity I Jazzmasters. All these years later, we find out that he used his P90 Goldtop and a '62 Jaguar on quite a lot of tracks.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I'm not even into classic rock or whatever, but if there is a tone in guitar history obsessing over, it's his.

Just imagine it's 1978 and you hear this tone!

JMO.

 

[Chistopher]

It's always easier (though usually less effective) to try throwing money at getting tone than practicing. Easier trumps better for most people.

It's more rewarding however to take a step back from all your fancy schmancy equipment and realize you're making it sound good and not the other way around.

Finding an enjoyable sound out of a $30 solid state amp and an early attempt at a digital distortion pedal to me is loads more fun than getting a better sound out of gear that costs 20 times as much

 

[GuitarStv]

It's more rewarding however to take a step back from all your fancy schmancy equipment and realize you're making it sound good and not the other way around.

Finding an enjoyable sound out of a $30 solid state amp and an early attempt at a digital distortion pedal to me is loads more fun than getting a better sound out of gear that costs 20 times as much

Yeah, but many people don't understand the tradeoff between easier and more ultimately rewarding. If they did we wouldn't have most:
- addiction problems
- obesity problems
- personal finance problems
etc. . .

 

[beaubrummels]

There's a difference between achieving his tone and getting his exact gear. I think the most obsession I see is with figuring out his exact gear, which is more elusive.

 

[Mincer]

My EVH inspiration is just that he would pretty much do whatever to get the sound out of his head. If it didn't exist, he would make it, or at least not care if he cobbled something together to make it work. In this world of 'just buy it, I have the money', it is still a refreshing approach.

 

[ZiggyZipgun]

Just imagine it's 1978 and you hear this tone!

If I were 10 at the time, I'd be 55!

As it turned out, I was 10 in 1993, and as impressionable as I was, I was still much more impressed with the guitarists that came before him.

If it makes everyone feel better, I thought Nirvana sucked, too!

 

[NegativeEase]

I've heard 500 people do dead on EVH tones with all kinds of gear.... it's just not as elusive as everyone wants to make it.

I think it's the history, the myths, the stories that make it something more (and fun to be ridiculous about)

 

[JMP/HBE]

 

[DankStar]

What's interesting to me is, an EVH amp doesn't sound like what I would consider the ultimate EVH tone to be. Reminds me more of a Soldano type compression. Not a bad tone at all, just saying.

 

[Gtrjunior]

What's interesting to me is, an EVH amp doesn't sound like what I would consider the ultimate EVH tone to be. Reminds me more of a Soldano type compression. Not a bad tone at all, just saying.

Agreed.
I think the EVH is more of a Van Hagar era tone as opposed to the Plexi tones. But yeah, when I think of Eddie’s tone I’m hearing that Plexi.

 

[Clint 55]

It's more rewarding however to take a step back from all your fancy schmancy equipment and realize you're making it sound good and not the other way around. Finding an enjoyable sound out of a $30 solid state amp and an early attempt at a digital distortion pedal to me is loads more fun than getting a better sound out of gear that costs 20 times as much

It's always easier (though usually less effective) to try throwing money at getting tone than practicing. Easier trumps better for most people.

I'm not getting these straw men / false dichotomies. Where are all these people that explicitly say they'll play better by getting more expensive gear without having developed their playing skills? And why would it be the case that someone who has nice gear wouldn't have the same drive to develop their playing skills as someone with cheap gear? They're separate pursuits. One can have nice gear at a time when they're not excelling playing wise and still have nice gear if they start to play well. The nice gear doesn't disappear if they start to play better.

 

[Clint 55]

I am 100% in the “tone is in the hands” camp. And before people show up with straw man arguments of “how do you get fuzz out of a clean amp”, my perspective is to get close with the gear and then practice, practice, practice. On the album I recorded with my band/friends 20 some years ago, I played a few of the rhythm parts with the literal same setup as the guitarists. They sounded night and day different just with our right hand techniques. When I was interested in the Hendrix/SRV chord melody style a few years ago, the same clean Fender with a light boost sounded a million times closer when I actually learned how to play the licks right.

Playing affects tone, tone is not in the fingers.