How To: The Early VH Brown Sound

[LLL]

I'm back after a brief hiatus (I self-banned/deleted old account). Been working diligently on a YouTube channel dedicated solely for guitars, amps, recording, etc...

So anyhoo, here's my "how to" video on how to get the real early Brown Sound (variac included - and necessary):

LLL's EP02: Getting The *Real* Eddie Van Halen Brown Sound

 

[DankStar]

Re: How To: The Early VH Brown Sound

Call me crazy but is the noise gate sorta killing the sustain? There's some parts where your holding notes (albeit briefly) that I'd think should advance into a juicy feedback but it seems to die out.

Seems like a lot of work went into this so kudos for fighting the good fight. Are you shooting for the ultimate brown sound at bedroom volumes or the ultimate brown sound period? How's that amp sound dimed through a 4 x 12?

 

[LLL]

Re: How To: The Early VH Brown Sound

Call me crazy but is the noise gate sorta killing the sustain? There's some parts where your holding notes that I'd think should advance into a juicy feedback but it seems to die out.

That's because I'm running a slaved amp config and the volume isn't "loud" loud (see the Slaving ep01 vid to hear how loud); nor am I real close to the amp.

I can, however, create a feedback loop by un-muting my monitors (which are near the guitar)... I'll have to futz with that for another episode... for s's & giggles.

Seems like a lot of work went into this so kudos for fighting the good fight. Are you shooting for the ultimate brown sound at bedroom volumes or the ultimate brown sound period?

It wasn't too bad... the biggest issue (which won't be once I get used to it) is filling up the vid with stuff/yakking so there's no "dead air". Since I'm not using cue cards or the like (hah) I'm pulling everything off the top of my head when talking.

I've got the album brown sound as close as I want it (I've posted clips here before; they are also listed under the video description)... wanted to show others the "tricks" (of which, the variac'd amp is pretty much the only "trick") used.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: How To: The Early VH Brown Sound

Thanks for posting the video. Ed's made it easy nowadays, you just go on Ebay and buy an EVH III halfstack and an EVH Wolfgang, and you're done! :chairfall

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: How To: The Early VH Brown Sound

^ yeah, that'll get you 55% of the way there- and I'm being generous. It won't ever really sound like a late 60s' Plexi ( 3 to 4 grand, IF you can find one in nice conditon)blowing out vintage G12M-20's ( now , for all intents, unobtaniable in usable condition at any price)..and add some Altecs with a variac, and burning old stock Mullard tubes( now $ 600.00 a set) like they were 99 cent incandescent light bulbs... , but hey, who's counting?

Oops..forgot the old Marshall Basketweave cabs.You can still get them..maybe. 5 grand or so.

 

[LLL]

Re: How To: The Early VH Brown Sound

Bringing up tube/amp reliability/longevity when doing stuff like this... I've been running my main amp @ 100v (biased to 40mA) for almost two years now with hundreds of hours of usage; volume typically at "8" (sometimes "9" for Brown Sound and like) and I have had zero issues. This on a stock PT (OT is a Mercury Mags O45JT).

 

[Securb]

Re: How To: The Early VH Brown Sound

Unless you are playing in a VH cover band why put all of this work into sounding like Eddie?

 

[LLL]

Re: How To: The Early VH Brown Sound

Unless you are playing in a VH cover band why put all of this work into sounding like Eddie?

Because it is one of, if not the most sought-after guitar tone(s) ever. There's an entire mythology built around his early tone, and I love a good mystery.

Aside from that, I'm a tone-studier. I study my fave player's tones and try to emulate them (when I have the appropriate gear) for fun.

So far I've got Eduardo, Scholz and Ritchie down real good.

The end result is you learn more about gear (for example, I had to mod my amp a 2nd time... plus learn about the variac's effect) and you ultimately have more tones to pull from for your own stuff. It's all about adding more to your tone toolbox.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: How To: The Early VH Brown Sound

If I was looking for EVH tone today, I'd go G12h-65 reissues in a 4x12 cabinet , a Peavey 5150/6505(+), and a good Superstrat with a '78 pickup. Thats about it. Why chase a tone thats inescapable?

 

[superpete]

Re: How To: The Early VH Brown Sound

Thanks for posting the video. Ed's made it easy nowadays, you just go on Ebay and buy an EVH III halfstack and an EVH Wolfgang, and you're done! :chairfall

**** you can buy a wampler pinnacle or a mad professor 1 and be halfway there for $150 or so.

or **** it, take evh's attitude and slap together your own **** and find your own tone and not worry about what was happening 35 years ago.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: How To: The Early VH Brown Sound

**** you can buy a wampler pinnacle or a mad professor 1 and be halfway there for $150 or so.

or **** it, take evh's attitude and slap together your own **** and find your own tone and not worry about what was happening 35 years ago.

Thats hogwash. A 150 dollar pedal isn't going to get you 50% of the brown sound. Thats way off base and wishful thinking. I don't think anyone seriously into Edwards tone would say such a thing...leastways no one serious about it on any dedicated forum I've ever heard over the last ten years. You dont just stick a Pinnacle in front of anything and get 1/2 way there- thats preposterous.

The amps and speakers and pickups are what is needed to get at or close 50% of Van Halens tone run into at least a thousand dollars, cause I know, thats what I spent with my 6505, my 5150 cab.It gets a decent Van Halen tone, and especially goosed with a pedal like Pinncale.
Of Course, a big art is the pickup, like a 78, and a good tremolo on a good Superstrat.

 

[jmh151]

Re: How To: The Early VH Brown Sound

Thanks for posting the video. Ed's made it easy nowadays, you just go on Ebay and buy an EVH III halfstack and an EVH Wolfgang, and you're done! :chairfall

I have the EVH 5150 III 50 watt with 2 EVH 1x12's, the EVH Striped guitar, along with the EVH Phase 90, Xotic EP-1, EVH Flange, then TC Electronics Hall of Fame Reverb, Corona Chorus and TC Electronics Flashback Delay.

That's how you get EVH's tone. It won't be 100%, about 85%, but closest you can get without having his fingers. The The amp helps a lot. Not to sure about the EVH guitar, my PRS Korina into that rig get a closer EVH Brown sound

 

[J E C]

Re: How To: The Early VH Brown Sound

I enjoyed the post, thank you. I find it interesting as to how different people get various players tones. If they want to spend the time and money to figure this stuff out that is fine by me, especially if they share there findings/experiences.
Now if some one could instruct me on getting a tone that is a bit of EVH's from VH 1, 2, and Fair Warning along with a bit of Joe Satriani's tone on Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards, Steve Vai's tone on Alien Love Secrets, some Ted Nugent, Michel Schenker off the first 2 albums, some ELO, Jeff Beck and some of that tone from Chis Isaak's Baja Sessions all rolled into one and then kick it up a notch....... Totally Gnarly! LOL

 

[DankStar]

Re: How To: The Early VH Brown Sound

Did anyone hear that dude's VH tone on here with just a bugera 1960 dimed? That was pretty sick.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: How To: The Early VH Brown Sound

I don't think anyone's making fun of the OP's efforts. It's commendable. But it's also a formula that can be arrived at a dozen different ways, although the formula has to be pretty close.....plus guitar skills.

I'm an amp, guitar, and pickup fanatic, as well as VH skillz student, so I've explored these tones pretty heavily. My own formula turned out to be a Fender strat loaded with a C/59 Hybrid into the blue channel of a Bogner XTC set to the best emulation of Ed's rig. It's got the natural tube compression that sounds similar to a plexi w/variac, and with Greenback 412 is pretty darn close......probably better. I've also got a 78 ADA Flanger and MXR EVH Phase 90.

The C/59 Hybrid will put you there pretty nicely, and I'm thinking that the Whole Lotta Hum bridge falls into the right specs too. Most guys take the WLH bridge into Page territory, but I'm sure it overlaps into the old EVH tone as well with the other variables in place.

 

[jimlp]

Re: How To: The Early VH Brown Sound

I don't think anyone's making fun of the OP's efforts. It's commendable. But it's also a formula that can be arrived at a dozen different ways, although the formula has to be pretty close.....plus guitar skills.

I'm an amp, guitar, and pickup fanatic, as well as VH skillz student, so I've explored these tones pretty heavily. My own formula turned out to be a Fender strat loaded with a C/59 Hybrid into the blue channel of a Bogner XTC set to the best emulation of Ed's rig. It's got the natural tube compression that sounds similar to a plexi w/variac, and with Greenback 412 is pretty darn close......probably better. I've also got a 78 ADA Flanger and MXR EVH Phase 90.

The C/59 Hybrid will put you there pretty nicely, and I'm thinking that the Whole Lotta Hum bridge falls into the right specs too. Most guys take the WLH bridge into Page territory, but I'm sure it overlaps into the old EVH tone as well with the other variables in place.

It would seem that a cranked, variac'ed Plexi Style amp and a Dimarzio Super Distortion will get you there, it is all about the volume that hardly anyone can play at anymore. Go to 11:40 for the tones, the whole review is great. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HlmLdsqXZc

 

[LLL]

Re: How To: The Early VH Brown Sound

The DiMarzio SD sounds good with distortion, but it doesn't clean up enough for the "turn-the-volume-knob-down" passages in tunes like RWTD or esp. ATBL.

 

[Hank-]

Re: How To: The Early VH Brown Sound

Speaking of ATBL, i was able to get close to it's sound with a ehx stereo mistress & memory boy running in the loop of vh100r & its cab with a super distortion in the bridge of a prs se guitar. I guess the SD clears up better when its far far away from the strings to begin with, although it always has compression going on about to my ears, still like the pickup though.

 

[LLL]

Re: How To: The Early VH Brown Sound

If you haven't tried a variac'd plexi-style circuit yet, you gotta give it a whirl; it's a real eye-opener.

With the amp running at 90-100V, don't forget to bias the powertubes to ~70% dissipation (typical EL34/6CA7 would be 40mA).

The tone is phenomenal; even if you're not shooting for Ed's tone. It will make the amp grind.

And using a true EP3 preamp (TIS58 chip @ ~22-24V) just adds the cherry on top.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: How To: The Early VH Brown Sound

I don't think anyone's making fun of the OP's efforts. It's commendable. But it's also a formula that can be arrived at a dozen different ways, although the formula has to be pretty close.....plus guitar skills.

I'm an amp, guitar, and pickup fanatic, as well as VH skillz student, so I've explored these tones pretty heavily. My own formula turned out to be a Fender strat loaded with a C/59 Hybrid into the blue channel of a Bogner XTC set to the best emulation of Ed's rig. It's got the natural tube compression that sounds similar to a plexi w/variac, and with Greenback 412 is pretty darn close......probably better. I've also got a 78 ADA Flanger and MXR EVH Phase 90.

The C/59 Hybrid will put you there pretty nicely, and I'm thinking that the Whole Lotta Hum bridge falls into the right specs too. Most guys take the WLH bridge into Page territory, but I'm sure it overlaps into the old EVH tone as well with the other variables in place.

Is the Red too hot for the EVH tone?

The DiMarzio SD sounds good with distortion, but it doesn't clean up enough for the "turn-the-volume-knob-down" passages in tunes like RWTD or esp. ATBL.

I've been listening to a ton of early VH lately, and when you go to play it you realize what an open, uncompressed tone it really is. The way he backs off the volume or lightens up the right hand attack to clean up is masterful. For Eddie tones, it seems like it is 50/50 gear and technique.

Thanks for the video.