High Resolution - Fair Warning Brown Sound Quest - Recording Information
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- This is an addendum to the Brown Sound Quest - Fair Warning Addition.
I had a few comments about the screen resolution of the video, and not being able to see the settings in Logic Pro. So, this is the Logic Pro section of that video, uploaded in full resolution.
Jim, I concur with everyone here. Thanks for taking the time to make this video. I did my own mock up following all your instructions and using the same plugins. For the amp I used the Joe Satriani 1968 Plexi Lead from ToneX Joe Satriani Amp Vault. It sounds amazingly close to your's and Eddie's tone. It even beat out ( in my opinion ) the Universal Audio Lion amp plugin based on the 1968 Marshall Plexi Super Lead. I'm looking forward to your Deep Dive on 1984. Don't forget about Diver Down though 😁
Hey Derryl! Good to know! And, at this point, I can't confirm or deny that there may be something coming out for Tonex in the coming months....😉 Stay tuned...
@@jegauss I can't wait! If they have someone like you involved, I know it will be very special.
I forgot who the guy was, but Ed left the studio after recording “Unchained” and he had it on a cassette tape and he told the guy to put it on in the car that he was getting a ride home from and Ed was like “listen to this stuff we’ve been working on”, and they were rockin’ their way back to Ed’s house listening to “Unchained” before they even released it, that would have been so awesome.
Agreed!
It was Doug Messager
@@darrylthompson6645 That’s who it was !!! I’m terrible with names but I was heard this story on a channel dedicated to Van Halen and their days at sunset sound studios, where everything from VH was recorded from 1978-1982 Great stories on there. If I ever get to California, I will need to stop by there for sure. I think EVH still lived at home on 1881 Los Lunas St, Pasadena when “Fair Warning” was released and they used to jam in their old garage behind the house. Imagine being his neighbor and hearing Ed and Alex ripping on the guitar and drums next door.
Great work on capturing the Brown sound! I really appreciate the effort and time that you put into this! Thank you for sharing this, Ed and the guys meant everything to me as a kid growing up with Van Halen. I just read Alex’s book, it’s a great read. Thank you!
Ah, the realism of the sounds you're getting just incredibly pure & accurate. So much so it takes me back to originally hearing the album 1981. 40 years ago! That's hard to believe. The other thought that comes to mind is just how creative Eddie was. Great video, Jim.
Thanks Max!
Jim your videos are like an encyclopedia of Van Halen tones! I love how you’re showing the subtle ways you use all of the plugins to get his sound down. Each one makes a small difference, and added together, they get you all the way there! Thanks again for all that you do!!
Thank you, Keith! Thanks for watching!
You are blowing my mind. The sound is so legit bro!
Thank you!
LOVE this series!
Things I'd love to see in future vids -
1) Show us the sound without the outside processing...hearing it 'in the room' would give us a better idea of what it's like to stand in front of it and also make it easier to compare to our setups
2) A/B your setup with a standard 4 hole Marshall through Greenbacks... it's a benchmark that many are familiar with and the contrast would be cool to hear
Thanks for this stuff...this is by far the closest to Ed's sound that's out there (your playing helps as well) and even if we're not trying to take it to this level,many of us can at least take a piece or two away to improve our own setups
Thanks Ricky! Probably not a couple of bad ideas...I'll give it some thought on the best way to illustrate that...
Sounds great and an excellent walk-through! The Harmonizer is so subtle, but once you hear it, you can’t unhear it! I’m thinking he used the 949 by this time, but I could be wrong.
Funny how on the first series of 6th string low D “chugs”, Eddie plays 5 of these “chugs” and you play 6! I always thought it was just 4 as he usually does in the rest of the song, but listening to yours made me go back to Eddie’s isolated track and there it is! How Alex made sense out of this kind of stuff is beyond me!
Damn! I did play 6 chugs! I know it's supposed to be 5. I just can't get myself to do that...after the first 5 chugs as the main pattern starts, the whole pattern is kind of like this cyclical timing "thing." As you're cycling through the riff, in order to make the flanger time out (probably an accident?) You either do the "anticipated" D chord to start the pattern, or you do the 2 chugs before the D chord and start it on the "1" again, to start the riff. It's almost like a round 😉 If you don't follow the pattern that he plays, you'll never get the flanger to time quite right...musical savant, or a happy accident??? The world may never know... Although, the Panama intro has some of that same element...starting on the "and" - who knows?
@@jegauss Yep, it’s that whacky Alex and Eddie time that no one but them understands and Mike was hanging on for dear life!
@@AllenGarberGuitarFun exactly!
Jim I just discovered you on UA-cam. Forgive me lol.
Loving all you're doing with these EVH master classes.
Cheers & Merry Christmas🎄
Thank you for watching and Merry Christmas to you, too!
I know your darn close, because it brought back memories of when I was a kid listening to the record in a way that's not usually triggered. They must have remastered the CD's somehow that just isn't the same.
I agree. I don't think the CDs sound the same. Nothing quite like that original, warm vinyl.
Really great job at emulating the sounds!
Thank you!
thank you./ I was watching the other one right when this notification came through!
Great work, Jim!
UA-cam algo 🖥 sent one of your Vid's to my recommended feed. As a 60 year old researcher / guitar effects nerd student 🤓 you are now the official VH professor and deserve full tenure. Wow! This stuff is amazing and thanks. It's on another level. Have a great Christmas and Santa will be growing your channel for sure. P.S. Buckethead is the new master though it's hard at first to see past the obvious. He is a true "Artist" with mind-blowing skills . You should check him out. There are many fan recorded live shows on UA-cam. I've seen EVH , Alex L , Jimmy P , Eric C , Joe S , and more but Brian Carrol a.k.a. Buckethead is on a whole level of his own. 🎸 ❤🔥
Thank you! I'm aware of Buckethead - I'll have to take a longer look! Thanks for the tip.
@@jegauss You should watch one of his fan recorded 4k shows. Remember it's all just 1 guy and his faithfull roady named P- sticks. It's hard to believe 1 guy can do what Buckethead is capable of. Best to watch late at night.
Wow- you have nailed it!
Unchained seemed a bit “too high end” but HAIL was bang on! Great work dude!
Thanks Greg! Yeah, I probably agree, it's needing a minor tweak. I was trying to find a balance for all of the songs / clips so I never had to touch the eq. But, I doubt that's how the original was done. I'm sure they "tweaked" as they felt like it, as they were mixing down to 2-track.
Brother Jim, have you considered reaching out to Wolfgang or Alex Van Halen to see if they would be willing to share about Edward's creative process and ultimately acknowledging each one of them for their individual accomplishments that may have been overshadowed by the Legend? I know you don't typically interview but perhaps it is time to consider doing this every so often.
Keep Doing That Voodoo That You Do!
Nah, I haven't thought of that...it's a cool idea, but I think those guys have probably been hounded about all things Van Halen. I'm not sure I'd have much luck even getting them. Especially Al. Wolf, maybe...Al, I don't think it's even a remote possibility. But, it's a cool thought!
Jim - I want to build a Marshall Circuit, for tinkering with values, like you have. How important is using the 12-series layout and chassis? Seems to me that it would be easier to source the later chassis, and with the caps on top, instead of on the board, a bit easier to work on perhaps?
Yeah, probably true...finding a later chassis is probably easier...I don't think it matters much. I know the purists will tell you that the laydown, mains transformer is important to the tone, but I think that's getting really, really picky.
I’m going to buy the Weber California Alnico speaker (since I can’t afford real vintage JBL’s) and they seem to be really close. I know the JBL’s had an aluminium dome, but Weber offers the options: Aluminium, Paper or Large H. According to their website, the aluminium wouldn’t be great for overdriven amps and that a paper of Large H would be the better option, however if I want to get as close to what Ed did, I should probably get the aluminium’s right? What would your advice be on this?
Honestly? I'm not sure that he actually even used the JBL / Celestion loaded cabinet. There's a lot of good arguments either way, but I lean more and more that there was no JBL involved in those recordings. You can achieve a pretty convincing emulation with two sm57s - one on axis the other out closer to the surround/suspension ring on the speaker. Then blend them to taste...Play with that before you buy some expensive speakers. But, to answer your question about the Weber California - great speaker, but it wasn't a great "clone" of the actual D120. I wasn't a big fan. I sold my pair a long time ago. But, I still have a pair of the JBL D120s...
Hope that helps......and thanks for watching!
@ thanks for the reply! I actually found 2 jbld120’s and one k120 (got sold together) for a great price, so I’m having them currently loaded in two cabs along with greenbacks. Sounds really good!
Would love to hear Diver Down and 1984!
Hey Ralph! Yeah....that's on the list. Currently circling back to get some of WACF. Thanks for watching!
Thanks Jim!
Jim, do you know where I can buy "authentic" black backs like yours with original cones? I would be interested in four of them. Thanks
Hard to say - you'd probably need to buy a mid-70s Marshall 4x12. I would reach out to Greg Ginter at Guitar Shop of Wisconsin (they're in Madison). He's got quite a collection of vintage Marshall stuff.
I ca not afford the original Harmonizer is there a cheaper harmonizer that gives the 949 tone
Check out the Mooer Pitch Box
I am so illiterate on how Logic or a harmonizer factors into the overall sound. If you cut that out and just played with the guitar, amp, and pedals, how close would you get? Thanks!
Hey Ted, sorry it's taken so long to respond...you don't really need logic or a harmonizer to "get the sound," but there's a difference to how the guitar sounds in the room compared to how the microphone "hears" it...so, without too much detail, Ed's guitar didn't exactly sound like it did on the records, if you sat in the room with the amplifier. But, the harmonizer, and various other "toys," were just a little added color. The core tone, is the core tone. If all that makes sense?
When they recorded Unchained, did Eddie do the flange sweeps live or did they go back and put them in after? Because it’s pretty much impossible to get perfect flange sweeps live. You might get the first couple of sweeps perfect but the next ones are always off.
Hey Ducky! Yeah, I know what you mean - However, if you phrase it the same way he phrases that intro - and you get the anticipated notes and the square notes / stabs - do the "5 note chug" on the very first chug, and of course at the right tempo, the flanger actually lines up the way Ed did it on the record - he said himself that he got lucky with how it lined up like that. But, no, it's not done in post - it's all live, the same way we do it. But, I would say, pay a lot of attention to his subtle changes in the riff. I think (if memory serves), every other time he starts it the pattern, it's anticipated / square - he switches between them - if you do that, you'll get much closer all the way through. Try it! Good luck!
Sounds great but out of all your EVH tones which are absolutely spot on, this one doesn’t sound 99% yet. There is some kind of annoying rumble happening in the low mid range like there’s a clipping going on in the low end it’s not that loose grumble tone Eddie had. Oh and the flange in/out time sounds way off as well lol
Interesting - I appreciate the feedback.
Jim, just curious if you've ever checked out any of the reliced Frankie options (not the mexican Fenders)?
Hey Ed, Nah...I like to build my own. I've been tinkering and putting my own stuff together since way back to '78 - '79...I've played some nice "recreations," for sure, and they're nice instruments, but not really any different than mine (although, the paint jobs are probably better 😉 )
Thanks for uploading the high res ! Any chance you could do a video bypassing the plugins / processing so we can hear the unprocessed audio ? Would be a good indicator of the raw sound, so we know if our amp is giving the goods to begin with.
Hey Bulldozer! You're welcome - and thanks for your interest! Let me think about that...you know, when I solo the "studio Room, somewhere around 1:50 (it's quiet), but at least you're hearing the guitar without post eq. The guitar is routed right from the input channel, over to that bus, for the room. Although, it's still running through the NLS summer, API 550 (which is just passing signal through), and the mild compression of the 1176...so, that's close to what you're looking for.
But, I'm thinking about doing a quick video that details the space I'm in, and includes some "raw" guitar...I think that might be really helpful. Stay tuned....😉
Now I've gotta figure out how to approximate this setup in Amplitube 5 / Tonex Max.....
Good luck! Just trust your ears....
@jegauss my ears are telling me to buy a marshal amp! 🤣 jokes aside Jim, your explanation of how you process the signal in your DAW was massively helpful to me, I learned a ton. I've come really close in Amplitube, have an EVH Wolfgang I'm going to try on Xmas day. Thanks for all the great videos, Sir.
This is way off topic but you have a voice for radio lol. I’m getting hints of Howard stern in your voice 😅
Ha! Gotta work on my "New Yorker" accent....
Jim just watching you on Tone-Talk
there is a mint Ripley on reverb
forget the Greco custom, you can find them easily - Get the Ripley!!
if anyone deserves it you do!!!
Oh boy....here we go 😉
@@jegauss Just looked to send you the link sorry it’s gone that quick!
I hope you were the one that got it!!
@@buzzedalldrink9131 nope. Wasn’t me. But, I started looking at those Bartolini pickups. I wonder if I could make my own Ripley? More to investigate!
Amazing
What 's the gear and program you're using?
You have to go back to the original video. This one was just done had a hi-res version so people could see the settings in Logic. Here’s the link: ua-cam.com/video/dsoUDOJFieI/v-deo.html
Great…💪🏾
Man this is cool. However….I think that Ed’s playing was way more interesting.
No offense.
The sound has kinda been done to death. It’s his playing
Ok...I agree his playing is much more interesting than the gear and the sound...I think you may have missed the point. But hey, thanks for watching.
@@jegauss pardon maybe I worded it not so well. I really enjoyed the vids and the sounds you got. Again , sorry didn’t want to offend you man.
I just am amazed still at what he played.
Cheers.
@@Nightjar726 No worries...It's pretty hard to offend me. I was just responding...and, I mean it when I say thanks for watching.
@@jegauss ok cool man. Btw I think that super 70 pickup was closer than the super distortion. That Greco guitar sounded great. So did the black and white guitar. Don’t know about the variac so low though. Sounds a touch too polite. But you never knew with Ed. I like my variac at around 100 personally. I like the extra punch. But that’s probably cause I play at low volumes.
@@Nightjar726 Yeah, I kinda prefer the Super 70, too.