Van Halen 1 Tone (Redux)

[lll]

***Redux! Added the MXR 6 Band EQ in front; turned amp down to 6 on volume. Also changed to Chamber 1 for reverb. And Pultec changes.***

Went through numerous notes again to try to piece it all together; mainly Brian Kehew's research.

Mutt strat SH-5
Badgerplex Trilogy
MXR 6 Band EQ (Ed's settings)
68 Plexi
Suhr RL

Used the Friedman ISOs as reference. Tweaked each speaker iR below to get close to ISOs:
Two Notes Wall of Sound - York Audio Greenback + York Audio D120

UAD 1176

My ear says:
Pultec MEQ-5 500Hz -1.5dB
Pultec EQP-1 100Hz +3dB, -1.5dB - 4K +8dB

IK Multimedia Sunset Sound plugin - Chamber 1 - 100ms predelay, slight lo/hi pass - panned R 60%
Soundtoys Echo Boy 30IPS delay - 360ms low in mix

Waves L1 Limiter

Strings are a little old, using Guitar Hero backing tracks:

[lll]

Extra wanking, Atomic Punk, On Fire bits

[PLX]

Extra wanking, Atomic Punk, On Fire bits

Is this done using the MXR 6-band EQ

[lll]

Is this done using the MXR 6-band EQ

Same exact setup as RWTD clip except I pulled back the chamber reverb level some.

Set to:

4-5.jpg

Been familiar with Ed's early pedalboard since the Plexi Palace days. Tried a 6BEQ in front of some form of Marshall way back when but was like, "no way that doesn't work"... etc... So I chalked it up to Ed only using it for live shows.

But that was like 2 decades ago; didn't have the knowledge or gear or "engineering" XP I have now.

Into this 68 Plexi 12301 spec (for the most part, also has .68uF bypass on V2) it does that "pokey" thing for the treble that a RAT pedal does, but not as pronounced. And of course it's boosting (certain freqs). And since it's boosting, I found myself turning down to 6 on my amp where I would normally be running at 8 for 1st album gain level.

That "pokey" thing on the treble equates to (in the DAW, with EQing) super tight, "clicky" muted notes a la intro "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love", super-screechy Ed pick slides, easier pinch harmonics and a searing crunch.

Ed theoretically had it on a homemade looper box so he could punch it in and out (it was noisy!).

I'm going to start a new "Metroamp theory spin" for ya (but I believe this has actual merit from a logical standpoint):

We all know about the Ted Nugent story where he plays through Ed's gear in '77 and only sounds like... Ted... who then jokingly says, "you little shit!":

The old blue MXR 6 Band EQ doesn't have an LED, so nobody can tell if it's on or off.

Could it be that Ted, when he plugged into Eddie's gear and played and "sounded like Ted, not Ed", was playing it with the 6 Band EQ off?

If so, theoretically Ted wouldn't have had the gain that Ed normally plays with.

Anyways this was all a rough sketch and done quickly. More fine tuning needed...

[lll]

Here's the rough-EQ'd ATBL with same setup (on real tracks, EQ is different on this tune, little more mids scooped and little more low end, than say RWTD)

Again, all these clips are rough... this ATBL clip in particular is scooped a little too much, but I was in a hurry...

Notice I also threw in the clean-ish part... the SH-5 cleans up really good (guitar volume knob down).