the first time you heard Van halen 1 didnt it blow your mind.
it had more to do with WHO was playing it than the actual tone IMHO
If another player had used that tone it would have never had the same impact as it did with Ed playing it
You make a good point, and to add that someone else playing through the exact same gear at that time would not have sounded like Ed.
Look what Stevie Ray Vaughan was able to do with a beat strat and a Fender amp.
Eddie doesnt have the Van halen 1 sound anymore,after Van halen 1 it didnt exsist anymore so way not try to copy it,it only happen once the rest of the van halen recordings sound different then the first album anyway.
My favorite rhythm tone he got was SGMAD
Now that I`ve let myself get sucked back into this nonsense I can`t tell a big difference in tone between "I`m the One" and "SGMAD" , if anything "SGMAD" sounds more gainy and is rumored to recorded with a axe loaded with a PAF while "I`m The One" was rumored to be a Super D or Mighty Mite whatever.
"Jose Arrendondo,Ed did use a overdrive-distortion unit on Van halen 1, I(Jose) wasnt sure what type of unit it was,I (jose)did perform a master volume mod to Eds plexi at the end of the van halen 1 tour,Ed did use it to record van halen II".
No high gain pickup can achieve the gain-distortion thats on van halen 1 unless it had alittle help in front of the amp,you can plainly hear it.Van halen II has less edge-gain sounds more like a master volume amp.
I agree......Thats why guys shouldnt believe Ed when it comes to his gear and how he achieved his sound,if Ed said that he didnt use any type of overdrive-distortion unit to achieve his sound that means he did,if you know what I mean.Something in early interviews Ed explained that he didnt like highout pickups,we know thats BS,look at all the pickups Ed was involved in designing from his first endorment,they were all highout pickups,Eds a BS artist.
Just look at all the guys using stock marshall plexis and using low output pickups(all of Eds explainations on the so-called gear he used) and going crazy wondering why there not achieveing that tone,( you need to use your ears and think outside the box)even the so-called people that worked on Eds plexi in the 90s Suhr-Friedman still believe in Eds BS.They(suhr-friedman)didnt see or work on Ed plexi in the 70s -80s it was Jose Arrendondo.Eds amp went though many changes before suhr and friedman seen the amp,buy the time they seen Eds plexi in the 90s Eds plexi was put back to stock values.