Eddie Van Halen EVH in Fair Warning. What's Humbucker? Help from Brazil!!!

[roadstar II]

Zhangliqun
I play guitar a 23 years. You can belive. I only know Eddie tecnique. And my punch, bend and vibratos is same and identical Eddie.

clips sonny

[Matt Blackett]

To the best of my knowledge there was no harmonizer on Fair Warning--there's obviously MXR Flanger on "Unchained" and Phase 90 on "Hear About It Later." I just read a quote from Mr. VH where he said that he played a Strat on "Hear About It Later," but I never heard that "Push Comes to Shove" was a Strat. I got a chance to play one of Ed's early Kramers a few years back and it had a hand-potted PAF in it. The pickup was so microphonic that you could practically play harmonica through it but, plugged into a cranked Marshall, that guitar sounded exactly like a VH record. The key to real VH tone to me (which is pretty much impossible to us mere mortals) seems to be related to a relatively low-output, slightly microphonic pickup. There's just a ton of vibe in there and great dynamics. The 78 is probably the closest but I get good VH results with a Seth Lover, too.
The solos and tones on Fair Warning, for me, represent the true state of the art Edward Van Halen.

[roadstar II]

I got a chance to play one of Ed's early Kramers a few years back and it had a hand-potted PAF in it. The pickup was so microphonic that you could practically play harmonica through it but, plugged into a cranked Marshall, that guitar sounded exactly like a VH record. The key to real VH tone to me (which is pretty much impossible to us mere mortals) seems to be related to a relatively low-output, slightly microphonic pickup.

I heard one guy use a duncan antiquity bridge(8.6K and unpotted) with a new alnico II magnet get that tone
so that or a seth lover should cop the older tone real good.

[Gearjoneser]

Yeah, I wonder why the Seth Lover doesn't come up more in VH conversations?
It's A2, low output, and non potted, but it still handles gain perfectly fine.
Honestly, it's my favorite sounding humbucker on the Duncan clips section......by the way, didn't Matt Blacket do those clips?

[TattooedCarrot]

He used the Ibanez "Shark" Destroyer for a fair amount of tunes on the first two VH record. He used a borrowed Destroyer for some tunes on Women And Children First.

[Matt Blackett]

Yeah, I wonder why the Seth Lover doesn't come up more in VH conversations?
It's A2, low output, and non potted, but it still handles gain perfectly fine.
Honestly, it's my favorite sounding humbucker on the Duncan clips section......by the way, didn't Matt Blacket do those clips?

Yes sir--that was me. And I love the Seth. Great sounding pickup.

[Matt Blackett]

[QUOTE=Gearjoneser]Yeah, . . . the Seth Lover . . . it's my favorite sounding humbucker on the Duncan clips section......

I know what you mean, but the thing to keep in mind about those sound files is that we didn't touch the amp controls at all. The idea was that then you could easily tell that this pickup is brighter, this pickup is darker, this one's hotter, etc. What it ended up doing a little, though, is make some of the pickups sound too bassy, when all they really need is a slight EQ tweak. I still love the Seths but there are a LOT of great sounding humbuckers in there that just need to be dialed in a bit.

[SQUAREHEAD]

That solo is a humbucker.

And I think "Fair Warning" is one of the *easiest* tones to duplicate.

Just pipe any humbucker through a Marshall with a distortion pedal and you've got the tone. It's his least-organic, least "Plexi-sounding", with the least amount of power-amp distortion. It's the highest pre-gain he ever used until the "Carnal Knowlege" album.

It almost sounds like every other cookie-cutter 80's tone, but with the treble rolled-off.

Turn your right speakers off, and just listen to his guitar (the left side), and you'll see what I mean. Zero power-tube distortion warmth (his trademark). You can get that tone with a friggin' Marshall Valvestate, IMO.

Ok.... I'd love to hear you play

[51501984]

Ok.... I'd love to hear you play

Do you doubt he can play because he has an opinion? I`d bet my last dollar that the Majestic one can throw down.

[SQUAREHEAD]

Do you doubt he can play because he has an opinion? I`d bet my last dollar that the Majestic one can throw down.

What???... because he has an opinion. What the heck
do you mean by that?
I said I'd love to hear him play!
I've been "trying" to cop the EVH tone for the last two decades... getting closer. But he sounds like he's got it.
Ok??

[51501984]

What???... because he has an opinion. What the heck
do you mean by that?
I said I'd love to hear him play!
I've been "trying" to cop the EVH tone for the last two decades... getting closer. But he sounds like he's got it.
Ok??

Your post could have been taken as a smart ass comment.I thought you were taking a jab at him but If I was wrong then my bad.

[SQUAREHEAD]

Your post could have been taken as a smart ass comment.I thought you were taking a jab at him but If I was wrong then my bad.

Nope...
I heard that guy VHaholic play a few times and he blew my mind. You close your eyes and it's like EVH is in the room with you.

[51501984]

Nope...
I heard that guy VHaholic play a few times and he blew my mind. You close your eyes and it's like EVH is in the room with you.

Oh Yeah , VHaholic nails it. I think he was doing a lot of VH tunes with a Duncan 59 and a 5150 combo chassis plugged into a 4x12 cab.

[TattooedCarrot]

Yeah, I wonder why the Seth Lover doesn't come up more in VH conversations?
It's A2, low output, and non potted, but it still handles gain perfectly fine.

I agree, here's a quick metal clip with a Gibson ES-333 (Seth Lovers) > Johnson J-Station on the recto setting > Windows WAV editor. Forgive the sloppy playing, just trying to give the idea of the Seth's tone. Which I actually think sounds pretty nice given the cheap J-station and WAV editor, no recording program used.

http://home.comcast.net/~tattooedcarrot/333.wav

[Matt Blackett]

That solo is a humbucker.

And I think "Fair Warning" is one of the *easiest* tones to duplicate.

Just pipe any humbucker through a Marshall with a distortion pedal and you've got the tone. It's his least-organic, least "Plexi-sounding", with the least amount of power-amp distortion. It's the highest pre-gain he ever used until the "Carnal Knowlege" album.

It almost sounds like every other cookie-cutter 80's tone, but with the treble rolled-off.

Turn your right speakers off, and just listen to his guitar (the left side), and you'll see what I mean. Zero power-tube distortion warmth (his trademark). You can get that tone with a friggin' Marshall Valvestate, IMO.

This is the kind of thing that players can disagree on, but I couldn't disagree more. I think the tones on Fair Warning are his best. Punchy, mean--nothing cookie cutter about it. I agree he used more preamp gain, but if Unchained, Hear About It Later, Mean Street, and So This Is Love don't add up to badass tone, I don't know what does (unless it's a tone off of VH I!).

[SQUAREHEAD]

This is the kind of thing that players can disagree on, but I couldn't disagree more. I think the tones on Fair Warning are his best. Punchy, mean--nothing cookie cutter about it. I agree he used more preamp gain, but if Unchained, Hear About It Later, Mean Street, and So This Is Love don't add up to badass tone, I don't know what does (unless it's a tone off of VH I!).

I cannot tell you HOW MUCH I agree with you!
Bang on!
Those are my alltime fav guitar tones ever recorded on tape!!

Keith

[MBreinin]

OK, I am late catching up on this.

Eddie used a first generation Eventide on Fair Warning...it is all over the record. The Eventide came out in the 1970s, people.

Here is a little tidbit from a translated issue of Japan's Young Guitar:

"'82-'83 Diver Down tour when he was beginning to use rack equpment.

Not much info on the tour equipment used for the third and fourth album tours, but in a '84 Young Guitar magazine interview EVH stated that for the Fair Warning recording sessions, he used an Eventide Harmonizer. A large change in his rig happened on the 5th Diver Down recording and tour, when he began using the modded Marshall mentioned on page 17 (at this point he apparently began to use the Variac to lower the AC voltage to around 90V), and it also seems to be the time he started using racks. Also changes were seen in some of his main effects, with new additions being an MXR Analog Delay, a Roland Chorus/Echo (unknown if an RE-301 or RE-501 but used mainly for the chorus). Also an AMS echo for recordings, and for touring, a Lexicon PCM-70 (for the delay on "Cathedral"), an Eventide Harmonizer (a 949 or H-3000), a Roland Digital Delay SDE-3000, a Rocktron Exciter/Hush II, and a Rane SM-26 rack mount mixer."

Take a look at this link for a quick overview of when Eventide Clockworcks introduced their various harmonizers:

http://www.digidesign.com/products/d...roduct_id=3680

I have read in several interviews with Ed that he used a Strat for all of "Push Comes To Shove"...I believe it is also stated that way in Van Halen 101. I can check it later tonight and confirm......

You can clearly hear the harmonizer, it is all over the record...wherever you hear a "thickening" of the tone, but you don't hear a swirling time based effect...that is the harmonizer. Look, when I first heard that he used it I was mystified as well...then I went back and actually listened, and you can hear it plain as day....listen to "Dirty Movies" when he really gets his slide cooking..that is harmonizer.

ALSO, since we are talking pickups and getting an authentic Eddie tone...have any of you ever heard Phillip Easterling, who goes by Strat78 on the Guitars101 and EddieVanHalen.com? His clips, using a PODXT with an MXR 6 band pushing it up front and a combination of vintage Ibanez Destroyers and homemade Ash bodied strats, are amazing. His playing and tone are the closest I have ever heard from a home recorder..and his knowledge of Eddie gear and recording techniques is amazing. One of the keys to the early album tone is a the Ibanez SUPER 70 pickup in a Destroyer.

Mike

[choppermn]

OK, I am late catching up on this.

Eddie used a first generation Eventide on Fair Warning...it is all over the record. The Eventide came out in the 1970s, people.

Here is a little tidbit from a translated issue of Japan's Young Guitar:

"'82-'83 Diver Down tour when he was beginning to use rack equpment.

Not much info on the tour equipment used for the third and fourth album tours, but in a '84 Young Guitar magazine interview EVH stated that for the Fair Warning recording sessions, he used an Eventide Harmonizer. A large change in his rig happened on the 5th Diver Down recording and tour, when he began using the modded Marshall mentioned on page 17 (at this point he apparently began to use the Variac to lower the AC voltage to around 90V), and it also seems to be the time he started using racks. Also changes were seen in some of his main effects, with new additions being an MXR Analog Delay, a Roland Chorus/Echo (unknown if an RE-301 or RE-501 but used mainly for the chorus). Also an AMS echo for recordings, and for touring, a Lexicon PCM-70 (for the delay on "Cathedral"), an Eventide Harmonizer (a 949 or H-3000), a Roland Digital Delay SDE-3000, a Rocktron Exciter/Hush II, and a Rane SM-26 rack mount mixer."

Take a look at this link for a quick overview of when Eventide Clockworcks introduced their various harmonizers:

http://www.digidesign.com/products/d...roduct_id=3680

I have read in several interviews with Ed that he used a Strat for all of "Push Comes To Shove"...I believe it is also stated that way in Van Halen 101. I can check it later tonight and confirm......

You can clearly hear the harmonizer, it is all over the record...wherever you hear a "thickening" of the tone, but you don't hear a swirling time based effect...that is the harmonizer. Look, when I first heard that he used it I was mystified as well...then I went back and actually listened, and you can hear it plain as day....listen to "Dirty Movies" when he really gets his slide cooking..that is harmonizer.

ALSO, since we are talking pickups and getting an authentic Eddie tone...have any of you ever heard Phillip Easterling, who goes by Strat78 on the Guitars101 and EddieVanHalen.com? His clips, using a PODXT with an MXR 6 band pushing it up front and a combination of vintage Ibanez Destroyers and homemade Ash bodied strats, are amazing. His playing and tone are the closest I have ever heard from a home recorder..and his knowledge of Eddie gear and recording techniques is amazing. One of the keys to the early album tone is a the Ibanez SUPER 70 pickup in a Destroyer.

Mike

wow sounds like you have done your homework on this sound. my question is why hasn't anyone brought up the black-back duncan that Ed Roman sells?

[LypsLynch55]

ALSO, since we are talking pickups and getting an authentic Eddie tone...have any of you ever heard Phillip Easterling, who goes by Strat78 on the Guitars101 and EddieVanHalen.com? His clips, using a PODXT with an MXR 6 band pushing it up front and a combination of vintage Ibanez Destroyers and homemade Ash bodied strats, are amazing. His playing and tone are the closest I have ever heard from a home recorder..and his knowledge of Eddie gear and recording techniques is amazing. One of the keys to the early album tone is a the Ibanez SUPER 70 pickup in a Destroyer.

Mike

Yup, Strat really nails the 'tone'. In fact, just the other day we were talking about the tones the 2 different hybrids I made get in regards to the "Ed tone"....Strat really has been a world of help and advice, and with all those chops and NO EGO whatsoever, he is really one in a billion.

P

[DeanSweden]

where did the threadstarter go ??

hiding ?