Re: VH Explorer sound
This whole thread is pointless...
The clips posted are the STUDIO versions of the songs and that means som many things...
-No idea what pickups are in said guitar.
-No idea what amp is being used
-No idea what the signal path looked like.
-No idea what was done to the raw recordings post tape to the songs dialed in.
and most importantly...
-NO FREAKING CLUE WHAT GUITAR(S) WERE EVEN USED ON THOSE TRACKS FOR SURE...
No disrespect intended, but you have clearly not been on many gear specific VH1 brown sound dedicated threads on some amp forums and such.
People have actually pegged what all Ed was was most likely utilizing beyond much doubt right down to his picks (almost).
Maynardo was right, Ed had stock Ibanez Super70's.
That said, of course I get the jist of what you said; much of the sound was in the signal chain and processing by ted Templeman..thats why the Explorer sounds quite a bit like the Frankenstrat.
For most mere mortals without access to variacs and vintage Plexis' at meltdown point at maximum volume, Vintage Marshall Cabinets loaded with Altecs and old G12m-20's, and lots of studio wizardry, then what were looking at is just a Marshall JCM800 w/ a screamer and a reissue Phase 90, maybe a G12-65 loaded JCM 800 cabinet w/ a screamer and a reissue Phase 90 to get that half clean/half dirty mojo of King Edwards old cabinets, or just a greenback loaded cabinet.
When you strip away all the stuff Ed was most likely using, then pickups become even more important, as does the guitar tone wood.
The Explorer Ed used was what ibanez called Mahogany", but was actually Japanese Ash "Senn", which is more like Korina , then out American Ash.
So, get a Good Korina Epi explorer or something, then stick an Alt8 in it, and add Any good Marshall type amp and your off to the proverbial races!
