The EVH tone debate will go on forever. He was just a once in a lifetime player. Imo his rhythm playing was just as important as his lead playing. There are so many tonal options today to get so many different tones, it really comes down to the player.
I agree about the rhythm stuff. EVH was a little bit like Jimi in the sense that the solos and rhythm parts sort of blended together; he didn't always just play the basic riff, straight, over and over. All those catchy little hooks and fills and expressions within the rhythm parts help make non-players really love them. It's interesting to the ear whether you understand it or not. Play a VH or Hendrix song *without* all those little things in a local bar, and a lot of drunks who never even touched an instrument will notice. :p (Newsflash - this may hurt some of y'all's feelings, fellow guitar nerds, but most people who don't play really don't give that much of a hoot about guitar solos. Most listeners definitely do not obsess over every note choice and bend like we do. They mostly just remember the vocals, and the guitar hooks and melodies and catchy little things they probably couldn't even explain if you asked them.)
I agree, Eddie never stopped innovating , amps pedals, guitars all of it. He changed the game for all of us. Rock , blues , metal players we all love our 5150’s
Nothing will ever beat that first album tone. It just yelled at you. And that bloom. That second chord on Runnin’ just got louder and louder as it rang out.
@@jettrink9502I always liked that "punch in the guts" sound he had early on, but he seemed to prefer a smoother and more even sound despite his high gain.
Yeah. No matter what gear I'm actually playing, I always have that "moderately hot humbucker straight into a cranked Marshall" thing in the back of my mind as a reference. When in doubt, try that, because it just WORKS.
I seem to remember an interview with Eddie talking about the Peavy 5150 and saying he’d run the guitar’s volume knob at like 6 or 7 rhythm and then dime it for solos. That might tame it down when using “his settings”. But as another viewer mentioned, he loved to fuck with people’s minds when talking about gear and settings.
Yea, I agree you gotta work the volume knob, you can see him always messing with the volume live, as far as settings who knows, like you said he always lied or messed with peoples minds. He probably changed amp, pedal settings alot or had a certain tone he liked .. higher gain or cleaner or more chorus or delay or add compression🤷♂ sometimes I think every song was set differently
@@bobbyderusha929 Not to mention the room and the mix. I've always laughed whenever a company or magazine or website publishes "Artist X's personal settings," because lots of people tweak their settings allllll the time. If it's not just plain bullshit to begin with, those may have been Ed's settings on THAT particular day in THAT particular room with THAT particular guitar... and it might still have been a little different the next day. Set your gear with your ears, not your eyes.
@@DogSlobberGardens-i7f I totally agree with you, there are sooo many variables that you have to consider .... and even live performances, the venue , you may have to tweak for the area or outdoor event or consider what his guitar tech is doing behind the stage. Those magazines just print that to sell more magazines . experiment and use your ears for sure!!!👍👍👍
@ Absolutely, F.U.C.K had a great sound also with Sammy . To me that was a great album in the Sammy era . Ed had that Chorusy sound with Sammy for the first few .
Wolfgang is the only person lol. Have you heard him play? If so, listen again. If not, it's gonna blow your mind! Unless you meant to exclude immediate family, in which you should have stated so. I know, I'm another a$$hole leaving another snarky comment lol.
I got to talk with Ed when they played on the Jon Stewart Show. At the time, he was using the 5150 II head that just came out. He had his tech take pics of his gear with my camera & write down his amp settings on a piece of yellow lined paper. I have it locked away.
The tone on balance is such an underrated tone! So clear and crisp! Saturated but clean. My fav VH album honestly, even though there are so many to choose from haha
Eddie was the King and miss him so much after most of my entire life was growing up with his music in my life. I was 10 years old when I seen him in 1978 the first time. Lucky enough to see him every year up to 1984 tour and twice in 1983 which included the US Festival. Where have all the good times gone man. I want to go back.
It’s so weird. When he passed, me and a few friends from high school felt like one of our friends died. He was one of the things that tied us together as bros when we were kids.
I haven’t even watched the video yet, but I’m telling you… I’ve had a 5150 combo that was hacked into a standalone head (60w) for a couple of years now, and the manual did in fact include the little chart of Eddie’s settings, and my good golly gosh… I haven’t changed the settings from what his are more than about one or two times. It just doesn’t get much better than that. Buttery and smooth in ALL the right ways. Rock on. EVH Forever. ❤
I had one of the first combos Peavey put out. In my opinion it was better than the head. Much better cleans as well. Never should have sold it as it was mint.
@@Bloozestringer yeah it’s absolutely great, although the tank reverb in it does almost nothing, and the red channels are definitely WAY noisier, it’s still an amazing little machine. Additionally, I’ve heard word that at live concerts through the LIVE: Right Here Right Now tour and the Balance era, Eddie was plugged into one of the same 60 watt combo’s backstage and it was mic’d up through the PA systems 😂 it is truly a little force to be reckoned with, especially if it was good enough for the man himself.
@frrraser from what I’ve dialed in mine at, I have rhythm and lead pre both at 7, low at 6.5-7, mids at 3, highs at 6-7, resonance at 3-4, and presence at 6-7. That’ll get you damn close to his sound, and it is truly, truly a heavenly sound to be witness to.
BRILLIANT engagement farming Robert! I remember playing a 5150 full stack at zoo music in Dallas the day I bought my 91 Explorer. It was a pretty rad day.
My friend and band mate Mike had the 60W 5150 212 combo. The best sound was just by maxing out the Clean channel and letting it rip! 😮 I had a Classic 50 410 and we turned them up on the clean channel and it was glorious! 😊
I love it because he did a wet/dry setup with his Marshall Super Lead and the Eventide modulator. It sounds so cool, only wish it was EQd better in post-production.
My favorite EVH tone is the SLO and 5150 tone because when he gravitated towards a wet/dry/wet signal chain with his Eventide H3000 this tone was phenomenal.
Brought back a lot of memories. I bought a 5150 when they first came out after I joined my first garage band in Jax, FL. I was playing a Strat copy with DiMarzio super distortion pickups and could *never* use the lead channel. I always played through the rhythm channel and got everything I needed and more. Also got my first serious back injury lugging that damn thing around but met a few of the very first Jax Jaguars while in physical therapy at JOI.
Here's my take on this . I saw Van Halen in 1979 in Reno, NV, and Bill Graham's promoted I was 13 years old at the time , my older brother had taken me to the fair grounds.. OMG ! Well you understand VH 1 when I heard Running with the devil, and eruption. Lol. I seen them 20 more times as the years go.. but the coolest thing is that you guys are still talking about your favorite albums. I love them all. And he's still fucken it up for you guys..!
Great video!! It was funny seeing your first reaction using Eddies settings. While there may indeed (likely) be some other things going on to keep it together, I do remember reading how Billy Corgan plugged into Eddies 5150 rig and had pretty much the same reaction as you! 😅
9:36 and on. That's where it's at. So much more bite and clarity. Awesome. 5150 is too buzzy / fizzy for me and I agree there was way too much gain. Fun video!
Don't know this for sure, but he probbaly rode the volume knob alot. Older guys did that plenty (angus young especially) and for solos my understanding he was always on the bridge alongside rhythms, but for cleans he was a neck pickup man. I can imagine his base rhythm tone was a mixture of channel switching to the rhythm/green channel and riding his volume knob and only fully opening up his guitar for solos.
He definitely did. Take Women in Love as an example. There's at least three guitar volume settings in there, the cleaner verse tone, the pre chorus and chorus dirtier, and then the solo where he is all the way up.
Very cool video, Rob! It was fun to see your experiment here. A few notes: Eddie's string gauge (a version of .09s), pickup height, and picking hand are a BIG part of how he got his sound with so much gain. When you have that much gain everything is amplified to the extreme. It's exaggerating every little detail, so you need to sweat the little things. If you're using .10s, picking heavy, and have loud pickups set too close to the strings it's going to turn into a muddy mess real fast. Also, he usually picked with his middle finger (not index) and thumb. It feels super awkward to hold the pick with your middle and thumb, but notice how much it opens up your hand and changes the tone when you strike the strings-muted strings sound especially different. So, yeah, it's all relative, and Eddie's tone was a complex mix of technique and gear. (Oh, and Eddie notoriously lied about how we got his tones, so these "settings" might be intentionally wrong, so there's that.)
Cool, I commented something similar! When trying to match another player's sound many people overlook string and pick choices, let alone picking technique and the way they tune the guitar (so important with EVH, light gauge + Eb tuning, and non-standard 1st and 2nd string tunings). I actually came across the EVH settings in a Guitar World article, so those with a programmable tuner can make a preset: Eb -9 cents Bb -9 cents Gb -3 cents Db -1 cent Ab ±0 cents Eb ±0 cents D-Tuna Db -4 cents This got me in the EVH ballpark when I programmed a Peterson tuner, but I just have my own tuning method, so I just adjust the 1st and 2nd strings by ear.
I remember Edward's 5150 amp settings were on the back of a promotional brochure for the Peavey 5150 amp. I grabbed the whole stack of them at a local music shop in 95.
@@burntvirtue I was a huge Van Halen collector at the time I even had stacks of copies of the Peavey monitor magazine with Edward on the cover both from 1992 with the 5150 amplifier and 1996 with the Wolfgang Guitar. Gave many of those away over the years still have some of them which I may give away on a future episode of my show “Exclusively Van Halen”.
EVH's Marshall and the FrankenStrat will always be my favourite. as a kid from the 70's and 80's that is the tone i grew up listening to. RIP Legend Great video 👍
@Whatevermain IIRC, with the change to Peavey equipment, he made the switch to the Peavey Sheffield speakers. Speakers and mic placement being the most impactful change to your recorded tone you can make, it makes sense.
A key point many times overlooked are strings and picks. You can't get many player's sounds if you don't match their choices somehow. He used a 9-40 set tuned to Eb. Light gauge tuned to be lighter. This increases mids quite a lot, taming down the bass. You even need to get the proper tuning on the top 2 strings, making them a little slacker, again affecting more prominently bass and mids. His bridge rested on the body, making the string sound somewhat thicker, more even across strings. He used thin picks, lower than 1 mm, this also counteracts the boominess when hitting strings, making the attack more even. All combined with such high gain makes the whole rig tighter and more controllable.
@@bayesian2007 I actually found most of what I was looking for. EVH 5150 Stealth, Boss PS-6 Harmonist, and the Custom DiMarzio's in the Axis guitars. Those three things together get me 95% of the way.
The most important factor about making the setting of the amp is the CAB. You always dial in the amp to the cab, not using the setting per se. For 5150 Eddie used Peavey cabs with the infamous Shefield speakers.
@@RobertBakerGuitar I think he was using the Lead channel of the Amp mostly for some solos, if you listen to FUCK album closely, you will notice that a lot of the Rythm parts are not in the lead channel, or he would probably turn the volume knob down for the Rythms. But yes, Eddie was widely known for his use of EQ.
Eddie used the green channel crunch for most of the time. Also when you add the harmonizer and the digital delay he used the low end gets dialed back a little.
I was a VH fan since I was 12. I saw them live when they were the support act for Bon Jovi. Bon Jovi screwed up that day. Van Halen was amazing, I always loved Sammy Hagars sound more than screaming David Lee Roth. But Eddies sound is so special. Unique. Thank you Eddy for your contribution to music and make me smile everytime I heard your sound of the guitar 🤗
@@tommilitello198 what are you talking about. It is. Documented the Sheffield sound really bad. That is why nu metal and punk bands were using the 5150 early on. No one wanted them since they did not sound like evh and sounded so bad they got written off. The kids buying the heads would put them with cheap old cabs with green and black backs and they sounded good.
The tone on Sinners Swing is my favorite Ed tone. When I had my 5150 head I noticed the stock tubes made a lot of hiss. Still sounded good just noisy. Years later when I did a complete retube on the amp it made a huge difference. The hiss was almost gone and it was a cleaner distortion. Almost like a different amp. I’m enjoying the video on this thanks!
Balance and unlawful are my fave .. but 5150 has a sweet tone too... and rob your a amazing player ... but your hands aren't Ed's and that's where his tone really came from ... still love you though brother
I'm 60, never was a big VH fan, huge Montrose and Solo Sammy fan, so since I'm an outsider I have to say the first two VH albums are my picks for EVH tones, it just individually stands out more, I know with Van Hagar its more technical, but thats growth. I'm glad I grew up back then, at my high school you were either a VH fan or Rush, I was Rush all the way, but just so fortunate to have so many talented rock bands to choose from. whether a fan or not we all now as far as talent EVH was one in a million.
One thing we all MUST remember is that Ed constantly used the guitars volume knob to control not just volume but the gain and overdrive levels! Very important!🎉😊
You're forgetting about all the post processing work done between recording the tracks and what you hear on the album. Just because the raw sound here doesn't match up with what we've got on the album doesn't mean it's not what Ed had his set to in the studio. But yes, Ed was notorious for being rather secretive about his gear and settings.
Well done, very impressed by your ability to wrestle with and control that beastly tone. I know you're a talented player, but I have not heard you play an amp set like that 5150. I had not realized how much EV's tone and equipment changed during his career. i always think of him with the Frankenstrat.
I was watching a video that pointed out how some of his sound was because of the recording method and analog tapes. I am 49, and many of the lead guitarists I played with in metal bands pumped the bass, dropped the mids, and pushed the treb up a bit too. They did this on their amps and in the car lol. I admit I loved it.
Thanks lots of fun hearing your recreation of Eddie tones. Great playing too.. Eddie knew how to play his amp. And exploited ithe amps massive gain in a musical way. Peace
I got the evh 5150 ii and live on that blue channel for rock tones and boosted for the chugs . Rarely mess with the red channel. Always loved Eddie's tones and playing too. Appreciate the vid brother man.
Saw them live in ‘95 on the Balance tour and the tone was unreal! 15 year old me pretty much scorched my shorts that night! So yeah, I absolutely adore the Balance era tone 🤘
Instantly my first thought went to Eddie's tone on "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love" and so I went back to listen and, yeah, I don't know I've ever loved another tone of his more than on that one.
Great job! One thing to point out is that the Axis Super Sport has a tone circuit and EBMM vintage trem. The EVH signature was volume only with a Floyd. It definitely impacts the wuffiness of the low end and has to be adjusted to taste on the amp. I own both Axis and Axis Super Sport models and the difference is meaningful.
of note- the magic of the modern ed tones was the WdW. thats how he could use so much gain and effects and it not be a mud ball. his setttings are extreme here but its only half the battle. also Ed used a noise gate to tame the his. Theres an old mtv interview walk thru where he mentions it.
Great vid! Love my block letter 5150. Had it since 1994. And the crunch channel on low gain input is my favorite, too. It’s a great sounding amp that is way more versatile than people give it credit. Most everybody else just dimes the gain and leaves it at that. Would love to see you do a vid on the 5150 with YOUR settings. Nobody else on UA-cam really showcases its full range. And agreed, the Les Paul thru the super lead copped the closest classic EVH tones. Thanks for the vid. Keep it up!
My personal favourite tone of EVH was the DLR era. I noticed you didn't end it bluesy at the end of the video lol I liked those endings 😅 always enjoy your videos Robert! Keep em coming!
Thanks for the demo not that I'll ever use it. I love Eddie and get so excited watching him play. The only thing I've ever copped is his fluid bends and vibrato and some inflections.
The beauty of Eddie's constantly evolving sound, is there is no wrong favorite. They're all good. No matter what point, he always had great gear and got the best sounds. But the main ingredient was that behind every guitar was Ed himself.
I've jammed through a 5150 amplifier a few times, it's a FREAKIN MONSTER. It's also easy to dial in a badass tone and shake the rehearsal space with it.
One thing to consider is the attack of the pick, when you speak about the Frankie pickup vs a Les Paul pickup. Eddie held his pick differently and that difference in attack could be what your Les Paul is compensating for. There is a good Dweezel Zappa / Rick Beato video where he actually demos this. Look it up.
Thanks Robert, fun video! My two favourite Eddie tones are from Van Halen 2 and Fair Warning, but I like most of his tones and how they complemented the songs.
The beauty of what EVH used to do was that, as many people thinking it was preemptive, proactive and deliberate; the albums are actually full of happy accidents... He had everything far from figured out and took the liberty/risk of exploring, with clearly high rewards... His guitar even goes out of tune halfway through Panama, which, in a way, made the song unique.
My thought you need the (Boss 3000 EVH DELAY)it comes with his direct settings in it.He used for Unlawful Carnel Knowledge, Balance all his great Hagar albums his 3 amp setup Wet Dry Wet.Take any 3 amps Ed used Soldano but you could buy 3 Cubes or anything your 2 outside would be your dirt,crunch or whatever the middle has to be clean.With that Boss 3000 EVH set back and get blown away bigtime.If you have only one amp still take the Boss Delay will work not as good but still great on the unit EVH 5 6 7 8 will work with the 1 amp have fun!!
Great vid! To nail those early VH tones with the Frankie, you need a lower output humbucker. Looks like the one EVH used on the early VH material is ~8.2kΩ. I think your Les Paul nails those early tones better due to that reason.
He had that huge tone because he used such thin strings and kept his guitar volume at about 7, and would swell up to 10 on his leads...it would "sweeten" his tone and allow the percussive attack of his hands to come through. Ed King did used thus approach too. These guys didn't have to be on 10 all the time to bring out some beautiful signature tones😊
What tone did you like best Van Hagar or classic DLR Van Halen?
1984 Panama and Hot For Teacher are my favorite Ed tones.
VH 1 tone is the best
"Some happy lil trees just right over there" 😜🤙
Fair Warning and I can get pretty damn close with my Friedmans.
DLR for life! Hager was missing some serious energy that only DLR could bring
Hot Take, I loved the Balance era tones.
Not a hot take at all. Balance had the best guitar tones
Just like shades of golden retrievers there’s no wrong answer
Love Balance! Killer tones and riffs .
Absolutely! The people that write off the Hagar era are missing out on some incredible guitar work and tones.
Me too
EVH's tone on '1984' is my favourite. 'Top Jimmy'; 'Drop Dead Legs'; 'Girl Gone Bad'; 'House Of Pain' that's the benchmark tone.
Couldn't have said it any better myself! 1984!!
Agree
All the way up to 1984. Is great. And hes not doing eddies tone any justice at all here.
💯.
It’s also just a great sounding record overall.
The guitar tone on Unchained is the greatest guitar sound ever recorded.
For me it is #2, but #1 to me is Ry Cooder’s opening turn (as Eugene) in the Headcutting Duel is pure evil.
That is seriously one "balls to the wall" tone right there. Not only that, but it's one of the better riffs that there's ever been, IMO!
It’s cool, but I like Mean Street better
Hendrix's tone on VOODOO CHILD (SLIGHT RETURN) is the goat in my book.
@@IZZY_EDIBLE awesome as well
The EVH tone debate will go on forever. He was just a once in a lifetime player. Imo his rhythm playing was just as important as his lead playing. There are so many tonal options today to get so many different tones, it really comes down to the player.
I agree about the rhythm stuff. EVH was a little bit like Jimi in the sense that the solos and rhythm parts sort of blended together; he didn't always just play the basic riff, straight, over and over.
All those catchy little hooks and fills and expressions within the rhythm parts help make non-players really love them. It's interesting to the ear whether you understand it or not.
Play a VH or Hendrix song *without* all those little things in a local bar, and a lot of drunks who never even touched an instrument will notice. :p
(Newsflash - this may hurt some of y'all's feelings, fellow guitar nerds, but most people who don't play really don't give that much of a hoot about guitar solos. Most listeners definitely do not obsess over every note choice and bend like we do. They mostly just remember the vocals, and the guitar hooks and melodies and catchy little things they probably couldn't even explain if you asked them.)
Eddie truly was a once in a lifetime player. The next one to top Eddie will perhaps be in our grandchildren's grandchildren lifetime.
I agree, Eddie never stopped innovating , amps pedals, guitars all of it. He changed the game for all of us. Rock , blues , metal players we all love our 5150’s
Nothing will ever beat that first album tone. It just yelled at you. And that bloom. That second chord on Runnin’ just got louder and louder as it rang out.
I agree. EVH didn't - he said it was way too trebly. I preferred album one's tone over the second album.
that was the guitar Riff. The best Sound started with 5150. But here it sounds
very different
I just wished he double tracked left and right and it would’ve sounded massive oh well
@@jettrink9502I always liked that "punch in the guts" sound he had early on, but he seemed to prefer a smoother and more even sound despite his high gain.
A lot if it was that Ibanez Destroyer that he later fucked up
I liked the Frankie into the Marshall the best. I’ve always liked the old school VH better so that’s why I chose that combo 😊
Yeah. No matter what gear I'm actually playing, I always have that "moderately hot humbucker straight into a cranked Marshall" thing in the back of my mind as a reference. When in doubt, try that, because it just WORKS.
Nothing beats the first album. It's... Just... That... Simple.
100% correct sir
I seem to remember an interview with Eddie talking about the Peavy 5150 and saying he’d run the guitar’s volume knob at like 6 or 7 rhythm and then dime it for solos. That might tame it down when using “his settings”.
But as another viewer mentioned, he loved to fuck with people’s minds when talking about gear and settings.
Makes sense to use the volume knob in that manner with this tone. ✌️
He was known to lie about everything.
Yea, I agree you gotta work the volume knob, you can see him always messing with the volume live, as far as settings who knows, like you said he always lied or messed with peoples minds. He probably changed amp, pedal settings alot or had a certain tone he liked .. higher gain or cleaner or more chorus or delay or add compression🤷♂ sometimes I think every song was set differently
@@bobbyderusha929 Not to mention the room and the mix. I've always laughed whenever a company or magazine or website publishes "Artist X's personal settings," because lots of people tweak their settings allllll the time. If it's not just plain bullshit to begin with, those may have been Ed's settings on THAT particular day in THAT particular room with THAT particular guitar... and it might still have been a little different the next day.
Set your gear with your ears, not your eyes.
@@DogSlobberGardens-i7f I totally agree with you, there are sooo many variables that you have to consider .... and even live performances, the venue , you may have to tweak for the area or outdoor event or consider what his guitar tech is doing behind the stage. Those magazines just print that to sell more magazines . experiment and use your ears for sure!!!👍👍👍
Their first album set the stage for tone , but I loved Fair warning. The guitar resonated for days
I agree with 1 and Fair Warning, also VH 2…but any DLR era VH will do. Great!!
@ Absolutely, F.U.C.K had a great sound also with Sammy . To me that was a great album in the Sammy era . Ed had that Chorusy sound with Sammy for the first few .
The 7th Seal is my favorite tone. That gain with that delay with the real stereo spread sounds massive and ethereal. 🔥🔥🔥
Absolutely
Unlawful & Balance for me. His Tone was huge and that wet dry wet just awesome 👌 🤴 🎸
Dweezil Zappa,is probably the only person I have hear absolutely nail Eddie’s tone.
Listen to Jim Gaustad. I don’t think you can get any closer than him (tonewise)
Jacob Deraps!
You heard Wolfgang covering him yet?
YES HIM AND WOLFIE CRUSH THE SOUND
Wolfgang is the only person lol. Have you heard him play? If so, listen again. If not, it's gonna blow your mind! Unless you meant to exclude immediate family, in which you should have stated so. I know, I'm another a$$hole leaving another snarky comment lol.
Believe it or not, I love the 5150 tone. It slapped me in the face when I first heard it.
I kinda like that Eddie was always changing it up. I like everything from VH1 to Balance. I think Fair Warning is the sweet spot for me.
I got to talk with Ed when they played on the Jon Stewart Show. At the time, he was using the 5150 II head that just came out. He had his tech take pics of his gear with my camera & write down his amp settings on a piece of yellow lined paper. I have it locked away.
The tone on balance is such an underrated tone! So clear and crisp! Saturated but clean. My fav VH album honestly, even though there are so many to choose from haha
Eddie was the King and miss him so much after most of my entire life was growing up with his music in my life. I was 10 years old when I seen him in 1978 the first time. Lucky enough to see him every year up to 1984 tour and twice in 1983 which included the US Festival. Where have all the good times gone man. I want to go back.
It’s so weird. When he passed, me and a few friends from high school felt like one of our friends died. He was one of the things that tied us together as bros when we were kids.
Human’s Being is what got me into VH
my favorite era for Eddies playing is the first 3 albums..since that's when I first heard Van Halen. Raw and powerful.
Agree
The first 3 albums sounds like all 4 guys in one room just jammin' out --- by Fair Warning, you could hear the overdubs and other "tricks" creepin' in
Early VH tone for the win. And Frankie has the guitar win.
“Take Your Whiskey Home” has always been my favorite tone of Eddie’s.
Yes!
I haven’t even watched the video yet, but I’m telling you… I’ve had a 5150 combo that was hacked into a standalone head (60w) for a couple of years now, and the manual did in fact include the little chart of Eddie’s settings, and my good golly gosh… I haven’t changed the settings from what his are more than about one or two times. It just doesn’t get much better than that. Buttery and smooth in ALL the right ways. Rock on.
EVH Forever. ❤
what where the settings man ??
I had one of the first combos Peavey put out. In my opinion it was better than the head. Much better cleans as well. Never should have sold it as it was mint.
@@Bloozestringer yeah it’s absolutely great, although the tank reverb in it does almost nothing, and the red channels are definitely WAY noisier, it’s still an amazing little machine. Additionally, I’ve heard word that at live concerts through the LIVE: Right Here Right Now tour and the Balance era, Eddie was plugged into one of the same 60 watt combo’s backstage and it was mic’d up through the PA systems 😂 it is truly a little force to be reckoned with, especially if it was good enough for the man himself.
@frrraser from what I’ve dialed in mine at, I have rhythm and lead pre both at 7, low at 6.5-7, mids at 3, highs at 6-7, resonance at 3-4, and presence at 6-7. That’ll get you damn close to his sound, and it is truly, truly a heavenly sound to be witness to.
@@Bloozestringer totally agree those combos were absolutely amazing. Definitely prefer them to the head…
BRILLIANT engagement farming Robert! I remember playing a 5150 full stack at zoo music in Dallas the day I bought my 91 Explorer. It was a pretty rad day.
Fair warning was my favorite Eddie tone for sure
My friend and band mate Mike had the 60W 5150 212 combo. The best sound was just by maxing out the Clean channel and letting it rip! 😮 I had a Classic 50 410 and we turned them up on the clean channel and it was glorious! 😊
0:57 - The OU812 tone. I dig the dry/wet blend that he conjured up for that.
I love it because he did a wet/dry setup with his Marshall Super Lead and the Eventide modulator. It sounds so cool, only wish it was EQd better in post-production.
My favorite EVH tone is the SLO and 5150 tone because when he gravitated towards a wet/dry/wet signal chain with his Eventide H3000 this tone was phenomenal.
Brought back a lot of memories. I bought a 5150 when they first came out after I joined my first garage band in Jax, FL. I was playing a Strat copy with DiMarzio super distortion pickups and could *never* use the lead channel.
I always played through the rhythm channel and got everything I needed and more.
Also got my first serious back injury lugging that damn thing around but met a few of the very first Jax Jaguars while in physical therapy at JOI.
I love the tone on 1984 it's so bright and fresh and still is to this day 🎸🎸
The tone on "Mean Street" is my fav
Here's my take on this . I saw Van Halen in 1979 in Reno, NV, and Bill Graham's promoted I was 13 years old at the time , my older brother had taken me to the fair grounds.. OMG ! Well you understand VH 1 when I heard Running with the devil, and eruption. Lol. I seen them 20 more times as the years go.. but the coolest thing is that you guys are still talking about your favorite albums. I love them all. And he's still fucken it up for you guys..!
Great video!! It was funny seeing your first reaction using Eddies settings. While there may indeed (likely) be some other things going on to keep it together, I do remember reading how Billy Corgan plugged into Eddies 5150 rig and had pretty much the same reaction as you! 😅
9:36 and on. That's where it's at. So much more bite and clarity. Awesome. 5150 is too buzzy / fizzy for me and I agree there was way too much gain. Fun video!
Don't know this for sure, but he probbaly rode the volume knob alot. Older guys did that plenty (angus young especially) and for solos my understanding he was always on the bridge alongside rhythms, but for cleans he was a neck pickup man. I can imagine his base rhythm tone was a mixture of channel switching to the rhythm/green channel and riding his volume knob and only fully opening up his guitar for solos.
i think so too
He definitely did. Take Women in Love as an example. There's at least three guitar volume settings in there, the cleaner verse tone, the pre chorus and chorus dirtier, and then the solo where he is all the way up.
Very cool video, Rob! It was fun to see your experiment here. A few notes: Eddie's string gauge (a version of .09s), pickup height, and picking hand are a BIG part of how he got his sound with so much gain. When you have that much gain everything is amplified to the extreme. It's exaggerating every little detail, so you need to sweat the little things. If you're using .10s, picking heavy, and have loud pickups set too close to the strings it's going to turn into a muddy mess real fast. Also, he usually picked with his middle finger (not index) and thumb. It feels super awkward to hold the pick with your middle and thumb, but notice how much it opens up your hand and changes the tone when you strike the strings-muted strings sound especially different. So, yeah, it's all relative, and Eddie's tone was a complex mix of technique and gear. (Oh, and Eddie notoriously lied about how we got his tones, so these "settings" might be intentionally wrong, so there's that.)
Cool, I commented something similar!
When trying to match another player's sound many people overlook string and pick choices, let alone picking technique and the way they tune the guitar (so important with EVH, light gauge + Eb tuning, and non-standard 1st and 2nd string tunings).
I actually came across the EVH settings in a Guitar World article, so those with a programmable tuner can make a preset:
Eb -9 cents
Bb -9 cents
Gb -3 cents
Db -1 cent
Ab ±0 cents
Eb ±0 cents
D-Tuna Db -4 cents
This got me in the EVH ballpark when I programmed a Peterson tuner, but I just have my own tuning method, so I just adjust the 1st and 2nd strings by ear.
I remember Edward's 5150 amp settings were on the back of a promotional brochure for the Peavey 5150 amp. I grabbed the whole stack of them at a local music shop in 95.
Sure you did
@ yep
Why did you need the whole stack?
@@burntvirtue I was a huge Van Halen collector at the time I even had stacks of copies of the Peavey monitor magazine with Edward on the cover both from 1992 with the 5150 amplifier and 1996 with the Wolfgang Guitar. Gave many of those away over the years still have some of them which I may give away on a future episode of my show “Exclusively Van Halen”.
I had the flyer too, read and re-read it thousands of times. They still show up on Ebay from time to time.
The Marshall/Frankie combo sounds great.
eddie also used his guitar volume knob alot. hence the high gain.
I think the guitar volume has to be turned down to 7 or 8 to get the right sound. This is just way too much gain and sounds muddy.
@@Sean_Farmer Agreed. His approach was crank the amp and then use the volume on the guitar to get the tone he wanted.
EVH's Marshall and the FrankenStrat will always be my favourite. as a kid from the 70's and 80's that is the tone i grew up listening to. RIP Legend
Great video 👍
EVH’s tone change is proof that gear absolutely matters
@Whatevermain IIRC, with the change to Peavey equipment, he made the switch to the Peavey Sheffield speakers. Speakers and mic placement being the most impactful change to your recorded tone you can make, it makes sense.
A key point many times overlooked are strings and picks. You can't get many player's sounds if you don't match their choices somehow.
He used a 9-40 set tuned to Eb. Light gauge tuned to be lighter. This increases mids quite a lot, taming down the bass. You even need to get the proper tuning on the top 2 strings, making them a little slacker, again affecting more prominently bass and mids.
His bridge rested on the body, making the string sound somewhat thicker, more even across strings.
He used thin picks, lower than 1 mm, this also counteracts the boominess when hitting strings, making the attack more even.
All combined with such high gain makes the whole rig tighter and more controllable.
My favorite EVH tone was always the Carnal Knowledge album. I've been chasing that tone for 30 years.
Soldano 100
SLO
@@bayesian2007 I actually found most of what I was looking for. EVH 5150 Stealth, Boss PS-6 Harmonist, and the Custom DiMarzio's in the Axis guitars. Those three things together get me 95% of the way.
The most important factor about making the setting of the amp is the CAB. You always dial in the amp to the cab, not using the setting per se.
For 5150 Eddie used Peavey cabs with the infamous Shefield speakers.
F.U.C.K. had my favorite tones...
Great video
I loved Ed’s scooped tone.
I love that he was always a tone chaser.
RIP
He didn’t chase the tone, he set the tone that everyone else chased
Definitely some (external) EQ in the whole equation that we are missing…
Yeah you need something to tame the low end.
Playing is on point, and that really helps!
Yea,there has to be.
@@RobertBakerGuitar I think he was using the Lead channel of the Amp mostly for some solos, if you listen to FUCK album closely, you will notice that a lot of the Rythm parts are not in the lead channel, or he would probably turn the volume knob down for the Rythms. But yes, Eddie was widely known for his use of EQ.
Eddie used the green channel crunch for most of the time. Also when you add the harmonizer and the digital delay he used the low end gets dialed back a little.
I was a VH fan since I was 12. I saw them live when they were the support act for Bon Jovi.
Bon Jovi screwed up that day.
Van Halen was amazing, I always loved Sammy Hagars sound more than screaming David Lee Roth. But Eddies sound is so special. Unique. Thank you Eddy for your contribution to music and make me smile everytime I heard your sound of the guitar 🤗
The Sheffield speakers in the 5150 cab sound WAYYY different than Greenbacks. I used to own a 5150 half stack.
The Sheffield sound so bad, and Eddie did not use them. His cabs all had greenbacks or v30
Lmfao of course they do
@@tommilitello198 what are you talking about. It is. Documented the Sheffield sound really bad. That is why nu metal and punk bands were using the 5150 early on. No one wanted them since they did not sound like evh and sounded so bad they got written off. The kids buying the heads would put them with cheap old cabs with green and black backs and they sounded good.
@@tommilitello198right, I was just making the point for them sake of amp sound in the video.
The tone on Sinners Swing is my favorite Ed tone.
When I had my 5150 head I noticed the stock tubes made a lot of hiss. Still sounded good just noisy. Years later when I did a complete retube on the amp it made a huge difference. The hiss was almost gone and it was a cleaner distortion. Almost like a different amp. I’m enjoying the video on this thanks!
Balance and unlawful are my fave .. but 5150 has a sweet tone too... and rob your a amazing player ... but your hands aren't Ed's and that's where his tone really came from ... still love you though brother
I'm 60, never was a big VH fan, huge Montrose and Solo Sammy fan, so since I'm an outsider I have to say the first two VH albums are my picks for EVH tones, it just individually stands out more, I know with Van Hagar its more technical, but thats growth. I'm glad I grew up back then, at my high school you were either a VH fan or Rush, I was Rush all the way, but just so fortunate to have so many talented rock bands to choose from. whether a fan or not we all now as far as talent EVH was one in a million.
Wow that's gnarly. Definitely too much gain
One thing we all MUST remember is that Ed constantly used the guitars volume knob to control not just volume but the gain and overdrive levels! Very important!🎉😊
Eddie was known for being a liar about his gear. So those settings are BS
F*ck off with the negativity man, it’s just unnecessary
James Brown said that it’s pretty close. He thought it was weird until Eddie played.
Not BS. I run a wdw rig with those signature settings, and it sounds bang on with my EBMM EVH.
Open mouth and insert foot,nice job
You're forgetting about all the post processing work done between recording the tracks and what you hear on the album. Just because the raw sound here doesn't match up with what we've got on the album doesn't mean it's not what Ed had his set to in the studio.
But yes, Ed was notorious for being rather secretive about his gear and settings.
Well done, very impressed by your ability to wrestle with and control that beastly tone. I know you're a talented player, but I have not heard you play an amp set like that 5150. I had not realized how much EV's tone and equipment changed during his career. i always think of him with the Frankenstrat.
Fair Warning without a doubt. Unchained, baby!
I was watching a video that pointed out how some of his sound was because of the recording method and analog tapes. I am 49, and many of the lead guitarists I played with in metal bands pumped the bass, dropped the mids, and pushed the treb up a bit too. They did this on their amps and in the car lol. I admit I loved it.
That's about how I set up my amps. Yet, I'm always trying to play Eddie's work on any of my guitars. Great video!!!!
Balance tone was incredible!
I know this vid is more about tone and the 5150 amp, but I’m in love with that music man guitar. Beautiful!
Thanks lots of fun hearing your recreation of Eddie tones. Great playing too.. Eddie knew how to play his amp. And exploited ithe amps massive gain in a musical way.
Peace
I got the evh 5150 ii and live on that blue channel for rock tones and boosted for the chugs . Rarely mess with the red channel. Always loved Eddie's tones and playing too. Appreciate the vid brother man.
Saw them live in ‘95 on the Balance tour and the tone was unreal! 15 year old me pretty much scorched my shorts that night! So yeah, I absolutely adore the Balance era tone 🤘
I just love all of these tones. Can't even pick a favorite.
Instantly my first thought went to Eddie's tone on "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love" and so I went back to listen and, yeah, I don't know I've ever loved another tone of his more than on that one.
I love it all. It's amazing how right on it sounds. As soon as you started playing it was like wow that's Van Halen. Great work.🍻
Fun! I love the balance tones! Sick ass guitar! 🎸
I really like the first album tone. Pretty iconic and really memorable. Easy to like no matter how many times hearing
Great job! One thing to point out is that the Axis Super Sport has a tone circuit and EBMM vintage trem. The EVH signature was volume only with a Floyd. It definitely impacts the wuffiness of the low end and has to be adjusted to taste on the amp. I own both Axis and Axis Super Sport models and the difference is meaningful.
I dig the cleanliness of that Les Paul. Looks sick too!!
of note- the magic of the modern ed tones was the WdW. thats how he could use so much gain and effects and it not be a mud ball.
his setttings are extreme here but its only half the battle. also Ed used a noise gate to tame the his. Theres an old mtv interview walk thru where he mentions it.
Great vid! Love my block letter 5150. Had it since 1994. And the crunch channel on low gain input is my favorite, too. It’s a great sounding amp that is way more versatile than people give it credit. Most everybody else just dimes the gain and leaves it at that.
Would love to see you do a vid on the 5150 with YOUR settings. Nobody else on UA-cam really showcases its full range.
And agreed, the Les Paul thru the super lead copped the closest classic EVH tones.
Thanks for the vid. Keep it up!
Check the amazing Euge Valovirta, he compared all 5150 amps and he makes anything sound awesome.
@ thanks! I’ve seen some of his stuff before and he’s a killer player for sure. I’ll see if I can find his 5150 videos.
I have a block letter 5150 and the lead channel puts a lot of gain if your knob is past 4. I love that amp.
My personal favourite tone of EVH was the DLR era. I noticed you didn't end it bluesy at the end of the video lol I liked those endings 😅 always enjoy your videos Robert! Keep em coming!
Live right here right now. That’s THE tone.
Thanks for the demo not that I'll ever use it. I love Eddie and get so excited watching him play. The only thing I've ever copped is his fluid bends and vibrato and some inflections.
That amp really loves it’s matching cab!! Those Sheffield speakers were awesome!!!
😬
You can't be serious, those speakers SUCK!
The cabs sound great with the heads. Listen to demos of the 5150 combo. They all sound great. People just want to repeat Glenn’s bullshit.
Great demo and great playing brother!
thanks dude
I love his tones from all of the VH albums but definitely my favorite in general is the first album and his tone on the solo for Beat It
I mean, be recorded a lot of VH1 on that Ibanez Destroyer and probably a Les Paul, so your assessment makes sense.
You are a fantastic player! great tone
Nice and clean Riffing dude! 💪
The first album was perfect!
Nothing like a Marshall! 🤘
Eddie’s classic tone is ferocious. ❤
The beauty of Eddie's constantly evolving sound, is there is no wrong favorite. They're all good. No matter what point, he always had great gear and got the best sounds. But the main ingredient was that behind every guitar was Ed himself.
I've jammed through a 5150 amplifier a few times, it's a FREAKIN MONSTER. It's also easy to dial in a badass tone and shake the rehearsal space with it.
Eddies tone with the frankenstrat is my favourite,,sorry I only grew up listening to the first album lol,,well played Robert 🤘
Thanks for sharing! Love those pound cake riffs!!!
Very cool. Liked the sound of the Frankstrat. Love his early era tone!
One thing to consider is the attack of the pick, when you speak about the Frankie pickup vs a Les Paul pickup. Eddie held his pick differently and that difference in attack could be what your Les Paul is compensating for.
There is a good Dweezel Zappa / Rick Beato video where he actually demos this. Look it up.
I’ve had the first gen as you have here and the 5150 II. Both were screamers but they had some inherent circuit board issues. Rock on!
Great video! Lots of fun. Thank you. The Les Paul just sounds so much better, regardless of whether or not it's "Eddy's" sound. Cheers!
What a fun video thank you. I got to play out of Eddie’s actual amp once that he used on Van Halen ii. Unbelievable
Guitar player tech for picked up one. Plugged it in the other day and dang it sounded awesome!!! Memories just came flooding back.
Thanks Robert, fun video! My two favourite Eddie tones are from Van Halen 2 and Fair Warning, but I like most of his tones and how they complemented the songs.
The beauty of what EVH used to do was that, as many people thinking it was preemptive, proactive and deliberate; the albums are actually full of happy accidents... He had everything far from figured out and took the liberty/risk of exploring, with clearly high rewards... His guitar even goes out of tune halfway through Panama, which, in a way, made the song unique.
My thought you need the (Boss 3000 EVH DELAY)it comes with his direct settings in it.He used for Unlawful Carnel Knowledge, Balance all his great Hagar albums his 3 amp setup Wet Dry Wet.Take any 3 amps Ed used Soldano but you could buy 3 Cubes or anything your 2 outside would be your dirt,crunch or whatever the middle has to be clean.With that Boss 3000 EVH set back and get blown away bigtime.If you have only one amp still take the Boss Delay will work not as good but still great on the unit EVH 5 6 7 8 will work with the 1 amp have fun!!
Great vid! To nail those early VH tones with the Frankie, you need a lower output humbucker. Looks like the one EVH used on the early VH material is ~8.2kΩ. I think your Les Paul nails those early tones better due to that reason.
He had that huge tone because he used such thin strings and kept his guitar volume at about 7, and would swell up to 10 on his leads...it would "sweeten" his tone and allow the percussive attack of his hands to come through.
Ed King did used thus approach too. These guys didn't have to be on 10 all the time to bring out some beautiful signature tones😊