VH - Balance ... Amp, Other Gear

[tone?]

Re: VH - Balance ... Amp, Other Gear

yeah i think that JeffB put it pretty well. you cant possibly play with the same tone forever. Van Halen influenced me to the max and still does. the first albums are the ones when i love the tone the most. I think his 'modern' tone still smokes alot of other players modern tone though. but that is my opinion. i listened to the 5150 hagar stuff and some i liked alot and some i didnt. Balance has a real cool modern tone to me but most of the songs suck in my opinion. i mean i cant listen to Amsterdam cause the song is plain goofy ( my opinion folks) , i mean the lirics are silly.

Strangely enough i think that his best post-roth tone was in OU812. yes it is a bit courusy but i dug how he played some single-coil tones and clean as in finish what you started.

i didnt care for his tone as soon as he ditched the striped strat.

Its funny cause i was listening to Balance cause of this thread these days, but i couldnt really listen to too many tunes cause they are kinda silly. only about 4 tunes are listenable to me.

i do however have all halen albums( except VH3, what was up with that??!) cause i cant get enough of Halen.

yes guitarists look more like people to me now instead of Gods.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: VH - Balance ... Amp, Other Gear

for ages i have been wanting to try and hook up a tube stereo power amp in the Pre amp Out on my 5150 stack and 2 cabs in stereo with the WET sounds.... see what kind of massive ball shakin that does!!!! But i never have all the gear in one place at one time.... I have the cabs in a way.... i have a 5150 cab but for the stereo fx part i could use my 1x12 ext cabs

 

[shaka]

Re: VH - Balance ... Amp, Other Gear

OK Erik--
I hear you on this and I agree with what you wrote in large part. What you dig is what you dig and no one can contradict that. This is a subject that is very near and dear to my heart and Van Halen (along with the Beatles) is the reason I started playing guitar and got into the music biz. But here's the thing--just because I work for Duncan doesn't mean I check my opinions at the door before I go on the forum. Just the opposite, in fact. Because they're only my opinions, I'm going to give it to you straight every time (although I don't mean to be offensive--just passionate). Please don't take it personally, any more than I do when someone writes that the Duncan JB "sounds like a$$" or something like that. So, sorry that I put you off, but you've got to admit that my Robert DeNiro analogy was pretty funny.

VH influenced a lot of us.

I think that comparing the two eras is like comparing apples and oranges. I like the taste of both so it's all good.

The intro to Balance with the gregorian chants flowing into Seventh Seal ranks right up there with ANY VH song or performance in my opinion. That intro moved me just as much as the first time I heard Running with the Devil or Unchained. In fact, I think Balance is probably VH's best album period. For me it combined the best of the roth era with the more interesting and complex songwriting of the Hagar era.

But hey, it's just my opinion which doesn't mean a lot in the grand scheme of things.

Eric

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: VH - Balance ... Amp, Other Gear

d.

The intro to Balance with the gregorian chants flowing into Seventh Seal ranks right up there with ANY VH song or performance in my opinion. That intro moved me just as much as the first time I heard Running with the Devil or Unchained. In fact, I think Balance is probably VH's best album period. For me it combined the best of the roth era with the more interesting and complex songwriting of the Hagar era.

Good stuff!

I especially agree with the Chants...I thought/think it is a VERY cool effect.

Luke

 

[WhoFan]

Re: VH - Balance ... Amp, Other Gear

at the time Balance was released a didn't like it a hell of a lot, i liked parts of it when it was new, but it really grew on me a few years later.... I was hoping that delayed effect would of happened to VHIII but i still can't get into that record besides 4 tunes or so...

Balance just seems like it was new yesterday and it's been 11 years!!!!

 

[WhoFan]

Re: VH - Balance ... Amp, Other Gear

I just watch a tape of VH on the Jon Stewart show in 1995.... They played 3 Balance tunes and did an interview.... they played Amsterdam, Aftershock, and Don't Tell Me What Love Can Do i think... Anyways listening to Ed's live tone on that has me drooling!!!! When he steps on his Phase 90 it sounds so sweet... He is using his Yellow EB 5150 pre Axis. After that i also watched VH on the Letterman Show and they played Not Enough and Ed had a purple Wolfgang......

 

[fretburner]

Re: VH - Balance ... Amp, Other Gear

well... though this has nothing to do with me digging EVH's tone in Balance...

i like hagar more than DLR... it's maybe because i love those singers who can scream (think: skid row's bach)...

VH3 was a crappy album, but its also a testimony of how great gary cherone's vocal chords are... that guy is a great singer... too bad he was in a hurried album.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: VH - Balance ... Amp, Other Gear

I find it funny when many VH Fans wish ED would go back to the Red stripped strats and Marshall amps sometimes.... only because it reminds me of the Who fans that hate Townshend using Fender strats and Fender amps.... I love Petes current tones, but many fans want the Gibsons and Hiwatts back....

I love those New EVH Charvels a lot! Wish i could afford one...