Seymour duncan custom custom Van halen sound

[IanBallard]

Re: Seymour duncan custom custom Van halen sound

Ianballard,Ive seen that,John Suhr didnt see Ed magic plexi until the 90s,Eds plexi probably went though many changes,that is more of the people believeing more of the BS about Eds plexi,Eds plexi in the late 70s had a master volume put in by Jose Arrendondo thats a fact,so for john suhr and the rest of the amp builders that seen Eds plexi in the 90s saying that its a stock plexi are Bsing people or they seen that amp after the master volume was pulled out,in the 90s guitar player magazine had a centerfold poster of Eds plexi showing the front and back of that amp and it shows where the master volume hole was and a screw was put in to seal the hole where the master volume was,Eds very secretive when it comes down to his equipment thats why i use my ears when it comes to Eds tone and just from experiance and player( over 35 years of playing).

He also stood there with Ed plugged into the amp (no variac or master volume) and said he sounded EXACTLY like the records to his recollection. I would trust JS's opinion on the matter and the fact that he actually saw the thing. Nobody in this forum, even if they played for 100 years, knows the truth. Don't pretend that you do.

 

[Stef]

Re: Seymour duncan custom custom Van halen sound

I found it, it was in the clips section (whodathunk?)

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?t=187163

sounds really good, great tone! but for VH1 something is missing in the highs, presence, pick attack (i can't hear it at all in ATBL!!), bass should sound a lot tighter...if it's in the pickup then 78 is not the right one.. SD59 or ibanez super 70 would sound closer to vh1 in the same chain!
on the other hand maybe something else is problematic (body wood, tone pot is in the circuit, tubes - ed used 6ca7, jbl speakers....)

 

[Ed Hunter]

Re: Seymour duncan custom custom Van halen sound

U know what i would love to find out one day? That ed used his old 60's bandmaster on the whole 1st record! I would LMFAO..!

 

[Stef]

Re: Seymour duncan custom custom Van halen sound

 

[Desert]

Re: Seymour duncan custom custom Van halen sound

sounds really good, great tone! but for VH1 something is missing in the highs, presence, pick attack (i can't hear it at all in ATBL!!), bass should sound a lot tighter...if it's in the pickup then 78 is not the right one.. SD59 or ibanez super 70 would sound closer to vh1 in the same chain!
on the other hand maybe something else is problematic (body wood, tone pot is in the circuit, tubes - ed used 6ca7, jbl speakers....)

I agree, the bass should be tighter for VH1

 

[Ed Hunter]

Re: Seymour duncan custom custom Van halen sound

I agree, the bass should be tighter for VH1

which= duncan 59

 

[Desert]

Re: Seymour duncan custom custom Van halen sound

which= duncan 59

Could be. I'm sure someone must have tried an A5 in a 78?

 

[IanBallard]

Re: Seymour duncan custom custom Van halen sound

I'd rather, if I was spending the dough on a '78, just have them do it.

 

[marcello252]

Re: Seymour duncan custom custom Van halen sound

that is more of the people believeing more of the BS about Eds plexi,Eds plexi in the late 70s had a master volume put in by Jose Arrendondo thats a fact,so for john suhr and the rest of the amp builders that seen Eds plexi in the 90s saying that its a stock plexi are Bsing people

Do you think you could post something without saying someone else but you is saying BS or is it indeed too difficult?

 

[pittbull]

Re: Seymour duncan custom custom Van halen sound

Ianballard,'' Dont pretend that you do",What i know came from the man that did Eds amp work in the begining,so you can and others can believe what you want i really dont care,if you want to believe john suhr who wasnt around in the 70s-80s doing amp work for Ed thats fine with me,By the way i did install a custom custom and it worked out great for the van halen 1 sound.......

 

[Ed Hunter]

Re: Seymour duncan custom custom Van halen sound

,By the way i did install a custom custom and it worked out great for the van halen 1 sound.......

LUCY U GOT SUM SPLAININ TO DO! can u elaborate on ur findings a bit?

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Seymour duncan custom custom Van halen sound

By the way i did install a custom custom and it worked out great for the van halen 1 sound.......

All the amp stuff aside, you and I must hear the VH1 tone pretty differently if you think the CC sounds like it.

I'm not chasing a VH tone, but I do have a pair of 78s, one built with Seth parts in my R8 and the other in a box, and D!ck's (JacksonMIA) strat with a 78 in a Peavey predator compared to a CC in a PV predator was a heck of a lot closer to VH1 or even 2.

Luke

 

[IanBallard]

Re: Seymour duncan custom custom Van halen sound

I think an official Seymour Duncan forum experiment needs to take place. Guitar with proper specs for BOTH pre and post Floyd Frankie guitars and a good Plexi clone. I would use the Metro version because it has a built-in "variac" feature and was voiced specifically for "The brown sound".

The problem there, is that there is more in the equation than just the pickup, guitar and amp (nevermind the dude playing it).

He used EQ's both before and after the Plexi, as well as an echoplex and nobody really knows which effects were placed before the Plexi, since Ed, Ted and Donn all admitted he ran the Plexi into an H&H poweramp and a compressor was used. You would have to be VERY accurate to the signal chain in order to see if pickups really mattered that much. You'd also need a properly cut up and modded Destroyer to nail the non-trem rhythm tones.

I would venture to guess the combination of the power amp (used for effects), compressor and EQ's made a good portion of the tone in the recording of the first record. You could probably stick all kinds of pickups in there and use the 10-band EQ and make it sound like almost anything you want.

 

[IanBallard]

Re: Seymour duncan custom custom Van halen sound

His live tone, as I mentioned earlier, is a different animal all together. I personally wish I was around to hear the ORIGINAL Van Halen in concert to hear the glory of that setup.

 

[razmataz]

Re: Seymour duncan custom custom Van halen sound

I think an official Seymour Duncan forum experiment needs to take place. Guitar with proper specs for BOTH pre and post Floyd Frankie guitars and a good Plexi clone. I would use the Metro version because it has a built-in "variac" feature and was voiced specifically for "The brown sound".

The problem there, is that there is more in the equation than just the pickup, guitar and amp (nevermind the dude playing it).

He used EQ's both before and after the Plexi, as well as an echoplex and nobody really knows which effects were placed before the Plexi, since Ed, Ted and Donn all admitted he ran the Plexi into an H&H poweramp and a compressor was used. You would have to be VERY accurate to the signal chain in order to see if pickups really mattered that much. You'd also need a properly cut up and modded Destroyer to nail the non-trem rhythm tones.

I would venture to guess the combination of the power amp (used for effects), compressor and EQ's made a good portion of the tone in the recording of the first record. You could probably stick all kinds of pickups in there and use the 10-band EQ and make it sound like almost anything you want.

I've only heard of the H&H poweramps being used later for live use, possible even Hagar period. Can't quite remember.

But some good results on Metro particularly by Ralle have been achieved and some great tones by him using a slaved setup.

 

[pittbull]

Re: Seymour duncan custom custom Van halen sound

The HH power amps were used in 1986 when the 5150 record came out thats when hager joined the band,as for the custom custom working for me like i said a couple times in this thread, the 59,78,pg were very brittle bright in the guitar that i now have the custom custom in,the custom custom in that guitar added more output(push)and a brightness that wasnt brittle,it wasnt overly bright,bright enough for the tone we are talking about,some cant disiver the original brown sound which is the first van halen album,its not van halen II or the rest of the van halen catalog,i hear people posting some clips,not just hear,and the are posting songs from van halen II,women and children first,so-on and so-on,which is not from van halen I, which is the original brown sound.

 

[Ed Hunter]

Re: Seymour duncan custom custom Van halen sound

I've only heard of the H&H poweramps being used later for live use, possible even Hagar period. Can't quite remember.

But some good results on Metro particularly by Ralle have been achieved and some great tones by him using a slaved setup.

+1 and if u want to hear a dead on VH1 tone listen to ROCKSTAH's clip on his "VH TONE RIGHT HERE" thread. U cant get any closer than that and He was using a P.A.F called the DARKBURST by wagner.

 

[Ed Hunter]

Re: Seymour duncan custom custom Van halen sound

The HH power amps were used in 1986 when the 5150 record came out thats when hager joined the band,as for the custom custom working for me like i said a couple times in this thread, the 59,78,pg were very brittle bright in the guitar that i now have the custom custom in,the custom custom in that guitar added more output(push)and a brightness that wasnt brittle,it wasnt overly bright,bright enough for the tone we are talking about,some cant disiver the original brown sound which is the first van halen album,its not van halen II or the rest of the van halen catalog,i hear people posting some clips,not just hear,and the are posting songs from van halen II,women and children first,so-on and so-on,which is not from van halen I, which is the original brown sound.

U have a clip of the CC doin the VH1 tone? I find it very hard to believe a 14.4k pu can pull that tone off?

 

[kevinT]

Re: Seymour duncan custom custom Van halen sound

I have to agree that his early 'live' tone was a different animal.

I have a 'live' bootleg recording of VH playing at the Whiskey in the early 80s and his tone was terrible. This was in a nightclub setting so it probably had a lot to do with it.

 

[kevinT]

Re: Seymour duncan custom custom Van halen sound

+1 and if u want to hear a dead on VH1 tone listen to ROCKSTAH's clip on his "VH TONE RIGHT HERE" thread. U cant get any closer than that and He was using a P.A.F called the DARKBURST by wagner.

Oh yeah!!! ROCKSTAH'S stuff is as close as you're going to get to the real 'Eddie'. His technique and tone are Right on the money.