Another expedition into VH1....

[harddriver]

[PLX]

That's funny about the "volume on 7-1/2" thing he says..

I found the same thing on my EVH spec amp, but I never heard anyone else say that.

Anything over 7~7-1/2 on the volume and it does not sound better.. just worse.


Also cool because you've got 2 guys from the old metro forum commenting in there.

[PLX]

Is this the Pultec EQ plug-in he's talking about

https://www.waves.com/plugins/puigtec-eqs

[harddriver]

I'm not sure on the Pultec EQ but that looks correct. That's cool and all but we do know Ed did not use the Pultec EQ live on the first leg of the 78 tour and live the amp sounded like the album when you listen to show like the Selland arena show and Die Laughing bootlegs.

Mark Cameron told me years ago on Metro that he believed Ed did not dime the volumes on the amps and I would fully agree with that and confimred that with my own findings circa 2009/2010. About 7 is the sweet spot for getting the crunchy goodness out of the 5000pf bright cap and still retain some clarity and tightness. I have never gotten what I call a perfect ED tone out of my 68 plexi totally dimed, the tone just gets too bloated and round now back it up to 6-7 with an Mxr 6band to tighten the low end some. He kept commenting that he felt the low end wasn't right so I'm surprised he did not add the vintage MXR 6 Band to his effects board. I guess he wanted to show how it could be done straight into the amp, but we've all seen the pics form 1978

What surprised me was how good the Gibson Burstbucker sounded but he was using the SUset sound plugins as well as the Pultec EQ in the final mix which to me is studio magic. His dry tone recorded by the Zoom and condensor mic was actually somewhat unimpressive IMHO but going through the Sunset sound plugins it did sound pretty spot on which confirms some studio magic of VH1.

Now I did think the Dimarzio SD had a more correct distortion fuzz/ratty quality and a more correct overall VH1 tone that the burstbucker did not have. I think he would be closer it he swapped a MM 1400 9K pickup in the Franky. I have to admit the Burstbucker sounded great and it did seem to get crunchier later in the video. But I still will maintain my assertion that there was a MM 1400/1300 for VH1 and the early subsequent tour show.

[PLX]

I'm not sure on the Pultec EQ but that looks correct. That's cool and all but we do know Ed did not use the Pultec EQ live on the first leg of the 78 tour and live the amp sounded like the album when you listen to show like the Selland arena show and Die Laughing bootlegs.

My thinking is this.. Ed used the Boss GE-10 in front of the amp (live) to make his sound happen. In the studio they used an EQ on the back end to shape Ed's tone to what we hear on the record.

Mark Cameron told me years ago on Metro that he believed Ed did not dime the volumes on the amps and I would fully agree with that and confimred that with my own findings circa 2009/2010. About 7 is the sweet spot for getting the crunchy goodness out of the 5000pf bright cap and still retain some clarity and tightness. I have never gotten what I call a perfect ED tone out of my 68 plexi totally dimed, the tone just gets too bloated and round now back it up to 6-7 with an Mxr 6band to tighten the low end some. He kept commenting that he felt the low end wasn't right so I'm surprised he did not add the vintage MXR 6 Band to his effects board. I guess he wanted to show how it could be done straight into the amp, but we've all seen the pics form 1978

What surprised me was how good the Gibson Burstbucker sounded but he was using the SUset sound plugins as well as the Pultec EQ in the final mix which to me is studio magic. His dry tone recorded by the Zoom and condensor mic was actually somewhat unimpressive IMHO but going through the Sunset sound plugins it did sound pretty spot on which confirms some studio magic of VH1.

Now I did think the Dimarzio SD had a more correct distortion fuzz/ratty quality and a more correct overall VH1 tone that the burstbucker did not have. I think he would be closer it he swapped a MM 1400 9K pickup in the Franky. I have to admit the Burstbucker sounded great and it did seem to get crunchier later in the video. But I still will maintain my assertion that there was a MM 1400/1300 for VH1 and the early subsequent tour show.

Did you watch part 2, where he swaps pickups, plays the same riffs without changing the rest of his gear ?

[harddriver]

Did you watch part 2, where he swaps pickups, plays the same riffs without changing the rest of his gear ?

The vid with the Destroyer where he swaps out the SD and the Super 70? Yeah I watched a few of his vids, it was cool.

Are you implying that Ed was using the Pul Tec EQ live or using the another EQ to mimic the PulTec. We do know the MXR was being used before the Japan tour. The Japan tour was where he picked up the Boss GE10 who knows when he stopped using that.

All and all I was extremely impressed with this guy's tone straight in with no EQ cutting the low end and he proves that if you have the chops you can get it done with a flanger, phaser and EP3 echoplex straight into the amp. But again I do point out his dry tone was alright but not what we hear at the Selland Arena show where Ed was IMHO getting as close to VH1 album tone as one can get live.

Exploring all the studio tricks is cool but my main yardstick to measure VH1 tone is the live shows we can listen to.

[harddriver]

Is this the Pultec EQ plug-in he's talking about

https://www.waves.com/plugins/puigtec-eqs

[harddriver]

That Pul Tec is a pretty powerful tool......

[PLX]

I found that video a few hours ago and watched it.

Read some stuff online too about the Pultec EQP-1A. There's also some YouTube videos where they compare plug-ins with the real deal.

Yeah, I'm thinking Ed used an EQ in front of his amp in live situations to get that tone, but in the studio they'd use an EQ in post production.

The guy makes a whole lotta sense - and as you say, he's getting the tone in his videos

[harddriver]

He just posted in the comments on that video above he is doing another one, with more pickup selections and adding in the Vega wireless unit so it should be another good one to watch when he posts it.

I really like my vintage MXR and Boss 6 band EQ's while I'm not boosting hardly at all I am at -3-5db at 100hz and flat a 200hz just a smidge of boost on the mids like 5 DB the trail off some highs back to flat.

I used to run two ibanez EM-5's with the two Cinch EP-Pre's to simulate two echoplexes as I only had the one EP3 echoplex, cool but not absolutle necessary IMHO.

When I am using the MXR I run it off a looper pedal so I can switch it in and out. I have been happy with my Ed tone for years now but I still like to delve into the lore every now and then.