Van Halen Freaks

[Cazmarzak]

With all the hype surounding the release of the new MXR phase 90, I went back and really listend to my Van Halen CD.

I don' know if it's me, but it seems like he has this thing on most of the time, not just on leads. With the exception of a few tunes like Runnin with the Devil and one or two others, IT really sounded to me like his Rythm tone had this kind of swoosh to it.

Which brings me to another question, which parts on the record are the Phase 90, and which are the MXR FLanger.

I got the new EVH phase 90, and it really does nail most of the tones on there, but there are a few I just could never get with my phase 90, or the sorry Boss Flanger that I have.

One is the intro to Aint talkin bout love. Is it phase or flange, I have asked this ? many times and I keep getting different answers. If it is the phase 90, how the hell do you set it cause even with one knob , I couldn't get it.

And what about the begining to Atomic Punk ? I can't tell if he just cranked up the phaser a bit for these sounds compared to the Rytyhm tones or if they are Flange.

There are definately some parts in On Fire that sound like a Flanger, but not sure about solo.

In Contrast, it seems like Van Halen II has a more straight ahead distorted sound, with some flange\phase only added for a few things.

Let me know what you guys think.

 

[SoCalSteve]

Re: Van Halen Freaks

The beginning of The Atomic Punk is a phase and rubbing the strings up and down with the 'meaty' side of your hand. Ain't talkin' uses a flanger that is clicked on at the end of the arpegiated chord. Eruption uses a phase 90.

www.jfrocks.com is a good source of VH lessons and tips.

 

[Biu]

Re: Van Halen Freaks

I believe the "On Fire" solo is phaser. "Atomic Punk" is phaser. "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" is flanger with phaser kicked in at certain points, I think (at least, that's how it sounds to me).

 

[DirrtyCraig]

Re: Van Halen Freaks

Hey there,

I am a serious fan of classic VH and my band covers alot of that old material. The trick is figuring when he used both pedals which he did quite often such as in Aint Talkin 'bout love and Atomic punk.

Listen to the intro of Atomic punk, its straight phaser then you can here him kick in the flange over it. It almost creates a fast pick effect. Sounds like hes playing really fast with the right hand, but its the flanger on that hand scrape part.

Biu is half-right about ATBL, just add loads of reverb and play with the phaser FIRST then kick the Flange in on the turn-around.

VH's use of the phase and flange really starts to become clear when listening to the bootlegs. I've got a serious collection of over 500 live shows, outtakes and what not and live you can really hear when he kicks these pedals on when you hear him do it live without the studio stuff. He used the phase on almost every solo live and in the studio from '76 till about '82. He barely used it at all after but did during the '84 tour and again during the '95 Balance tour. You have to remember back then they didn't have lead channels or good boosts so it was just easier to get a little presence and treble boost from a phase 90 which is the reason EVH says he started using them in the first place.

I also firmly believe the best place to start is a kick ass "Medium" gain tube amp. A Marshall is not going to get you there unless you get it modded. There is NO Marshall off the shelf that sounds anything like the early VH stuff. You can get closer with a cheap modeler like a Line6 than with any off the shelf Marshall.

If your looking at amps to get this sound try the Splawn Quick Rod, I have one and it does VH to a "T" as well as great blues and Metal sounds.
http://splawnguitars.com/ampmod.htm

I also have the EVH phase 90 and its a great pedal as well as a block logo orange one. I would recommend the ADA '79 reissue flange over the MXR though. Even though VH used the MXR its not a good pedal to run through and kills your tone when its off. The ADA has the most transparent true bypass I'e ever heard and when I do unchained it sounds record perfect through the ADA flanger.

If your a Marshall guy pick up a 1959/SLP and have Splawn mod it. You wont regret it.

BTW, I'm not some crazed fan or obsessive, just a big fan. I love his sound but I don't sound much like him unless I try to. I probably sound more like Gilbert or Yngwie than VH but I like the brown sound alot for ALL rock applications. I hope this helped.

 

[Cazmarzak]

Re: Van Halen Freaks

Thanks , That helped a lot! I never thought of the fact that he could have used both at the same time .

As far as the MXR sucking tone when it's off, I use a GCX switcher so I don't really have any problems with pedals that arent true bypass.

Also, as much as I love that VH sound, it isn't good for everything. I have a DSL50 that I have highly modded that I like a lot. It covers all the junk I had to play in cover bands doing the gay new stuff and older classic rock stuff.

It's not VH, but it sounds really good, espacially with that EVH Phase 90 :burnout:

I know exactly what you mean about the bootleg stuff, a friend had one and I could totally hear when he was kicking stuff in, but that was a while agon and haven't heard any of that stuff for a while.