What amp Does Van Halen Better these days?

[tone?]

Re: What amp Does Van Halen Better these days?

hey Shredder ,

what was the difference between the VHT and the Splawn?

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: What amp Does Van Halen Better these days?

I watched a guy playing a Charvel Strat into one of them god aweful fuzzy grey Fender M-80. This S.O.B. was nailing EVH early tone. I don't know How?
The Guy Did have Monster Chops, But still? WTF!! If you gave me a M-80, The only thing I'd use it for would be to hold the door while I bring my real gear in.

 

[shreder75]

Re: What amp Does Van Halen Better these days?

hey Shredder ,

what was the difference between the VHT and the Splawn?

while the splawn is a tight amp, it's bigger and more complex sounding, harmonically..and it growls..oh does it growl =D especially at gig volume..

to me, no matter how I set it or where I put the gain, the VHT had an unfocused low end and sounded very thin and sterile..

 

[ErikH]

Re: What amp Does Van Halen Better these days?

Those Splawn clips are way too tight. There's no sag at all. It's definitely got the Lynch tone down from that era though.

 

[jimmy]

Re: What amp Does Van Halen Better these days?

Those Splawn clips are way too tight. There's no sag at all. It's definitely got the Lynch tone down from that era though.

I'll agree with you on that one. Now that I think of it, they are more of a Dokken Back for the Attack tone.
I'm sure if you messed with them, they would get a decent VH tone.

 

[ErikH]

Re: What amp Does Van Halen Better these days?

I'll agree with you on that one. Now that I think of it, they are more of a Dokken Back for the Attack tone.
I'm sure if you messed with them, they would get a decent VH tone.

Exactly. That's what I meant by "that era" because the Dokken stuff in those clips is from that album. Sounds great for that stuff.

 

[tone?]

Re: What amp Does Van Halen Better these days?

this is what i thought about the Splawn as well. that it did a great Back for the attack era sound.

not VH so much though. sorry but i havent heard one up close so i cant say for sure.´

The Deliverance though is pretty darn close from what i experienced

as far as clips are concerned the Peacemaker is pretty dead on

more than that Vholic has got it nailed to a t

 

[Guitarist]

Re: What amp Does Van Halen Better these days?

Wow...listen to that Mojave Peacemaker graced by a nice set of hands...

http://www.digitalsoundplanet.com/Members/000071769_000030503.mp3

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: What amp Does Van Halen Better these days?

Alright... Quick question about plexi's and JTM-45's. What's the difference between the two? Is it merely a tube rectifier or is it something else as well?

 

[jdm61]

Re: What amp Does Van Halen Better these days?

tube rectifier, plus different power tubes.....JTM45's and RI's have KT66's or 6L6/5881's. Plexis use EL34's. Not sure about the plexi circuit . The original JTM45 was a tweed Bassman circuit built using available British parts.

 

[jony]

Re: What amp Does Van Halen Better these days?

Hmm.. I seem to prefer the clips with more sag..

What causes the "sag" exactly?

 

[ErikH]

Re: What amp Does Van Halen Better these days?

The Plexi circuit has several changes in it from the JTM45. Differently voiced gain stages and such. You almost have to look at the schematics to see the differences.

 

[jdm61]

Re: What amp Does Van Halen Better these days?

distortion is cause by the power amp clipping......sag is caused when the output device can't push any more current.....it essentially runs out of gas when the signal exceeds the capacity of the output stage. That is probably why the JTM doesn't get any louder, but gets dirtier after about 7. Upstream stuff is clipping harder, but the rectifier can't put out any more power.

 

[Sune]

Re: What amp Does Van Halen Better these days?

Wow...listen to that Mojave Peacemaker graced by a nice set of hands...

http://www.digitalsoundplanet.com/Members/000071769_000030503.mp3

I wish Scott_F could build a clone of that Mojave Peacemaker, definately one of my dream amps, but I doubt I'll ever get to afford the original one :laugh2:

 

[shreder75]

Re: What amp Does Van Halen Better these days?

that's something I don't understand..how can an amp be 'too tight'...

maybe people like mush? I dunno...

there's tight, then there's sterile..

to me, tight it tight, sterile is sterile...

www.eruptiononline.com

al estrada uses a splawn and he's got a great VH vibe...

as far as EVH..go listen to the lead on 'On Fire'...see how the notes just friggin' thump off the neck...THAT'S tight...that was EVH's tone back in the day...

anywho, my clips are third gear...which is more agressive...second gear is looser..

 

[shredaholic]

Re: What amp Does Van Halen Better these days?

Everyone thinks EVH used a variac for tonal reasons from lower voltage - that was not the case. He placed a huge wattage resistor across the inner 2 power tubes on pin 3 of each tube - this made the 2 sides of the OT try to kill each other, but it lowered the volume while getting power amp distortion. With this method you get power amp distortion and feedback at bedroom volumes, but it's hard on the amp. Therefore he used a variac to lower the voltage and make the effect less harsh on the amp, and 6CA7 tubes were the only power tubes that could stand up to this method. This resistor method NAILS the Van Halen 1 sound, but I wouldn't recommend it if you don't want to replace amp parts frequently. And having that huge resistor hanging out of your amp is pretty dangerous too. There's more info on the mods page of my site www.ptpcircuits.com

 

[jdm61]

Re: What amp Does Van Halen Better these days?

EVH ran the amp at 95 VAC as i recall. That is probably about as low as you can go and still have the thing work:laugh2: Like i commented earlier, how many kids blew up their amps......or somebody elses amp running high voltage through it?:smack:

 

[jdm61]

Re: What amp Does Van Halen Better these days?

makes me wonder if you modded the amp to use big hairy chested power tubes like 6550's or KT88's if that would help or would you end up with a Marshall Major with very good tubes.

 

[newking70]

Re: What amp Does Van Halen Better these days?

check out the metro amp fourm, the have a whole section dedicated to it:
http://www.metroamp.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=16

 

[tone]

Re: What amp Does Van Halen Better these days?

Who's the guy that uses the the rectifier to get the VH vibe? Sounds interesting. I bet it's something nobody would expect.