2 Variac's clip

[rgalpin]

Just added the 330uF across the .68 on V1B. .0022 coupler on V1B.

what are you getting? I remember reading about this too - and I just figured someone was confused about which stage they were talking about.

[Velva]

First Jnew your clips are sweet. These really seem to the tone to a new level. They are woody and piercing (in a good way)!

Hopefully to add to the discussion. Check out this photo with 2 variacs : http://anjeanje.free.fr/Pics/EVH/EVHP-2_800.600.jpg

To my eyes:
1. The variac on the right seems to have a cable running in where the power plug from the amp would insert on the face below the dial of the variac. Possible input from the amp?

2. And it looks as though there is a 2nd cable running in through where the variac's power plug would go out to the wall. Possible output to the speak cab? Notice the tape job holding it all together...

I may be jumping to conclusions but the variac on the right seems to have been tinkered with to be used between the head and cab?

What do you guys think?

[Velva]

The variac on the right also doesn't have an on/off switch like the left variac... see previous post.

[jnew]

Hey man, that's a great pic. I haven't seen that. I have a front shot of that rig from Japan but not showing the variacs like this. I 100% agree that it has been modded in some way. Thanks for posting this.

[rgalpin]

looks pretty obvious based on what we see in the pic posted by velva and what we hear in jnew's clips that ... uh ...

man - after all this time - this is pretty wild!! i thought we had tested every theory - and this one was the most ridiculous theory out there - now i must go back to the quote i remember reading a long time ago somewhere that was somebody who walked in on the recording session for VH I and said that what he saw was ridiculous. haha!! this would satisfy that scenario.

[jnew]

Yes, it actually would. We gotta get Phil to revisit this. He can tear it up with playing, clips, etc. He did this already. Him and I think it was Shannon. I just rehashed it after being bullied by Plexified.

[Star*Guitar]

You guys are something. This is all making sense now. I always thought the second variac was just for another amp.

[guitar007]

Did you just call my variac an attenuator? WHY I OUGHTA!

I measured the cab with and without the variac in the speaker cable chain. 14.7 Ohms in both cases. I don't have a 200 -300 foot speaker cable but I think it would be an interesting comparison. Maybe someone has a long ass cable from an old PA system they could try? David seems to think it's pretty safe. I've played for 2-3 hours at a time by this point. So far there's not any issues.

Last night, I took the 330uF off of V2 and tried it in parallel to the .68 on V1B. Don't know if anyone ever thought to try this but I remember a guy who had been in Ed's amp saying there was something done to add a little bass to the lead channel, that he preferred to keep to himself. Well this would certainly do just that. And it does. I think it was a John Suhr interview. Anyways, it is a very interesting result and makes a big step in the VHII tone direction. I'll try and make a clip and post. Got an unexpected visitor in from Santa Barbara last night so I'm kind of hosting a tour in and around Palm Desert.

Sounds very interesting. Please post a pic too...if you can. Thanks.

[jnew]

A pic of the 330uF cap on V1B?

[plexified]

J , was referring to me being a Bull in astrological terms of course BTW. Hey I would suggest trying a set of burnished nickel .008 strings as slinky as it sounds and a bit of good ol piss and vinegar anger with this riffage. Also embrace my poor description of the A chord and D chord here . For the A , ring the open low E and stop at the A on the G to make it fat . And run the D with the low E muted of course and up to the D on the B string with the high E muted. It fatso all day long and harkens the love we have with 7 and 8 strings. Think of a 7 string and not playing the lower root. Pretend its their and your choosing to not use it to get a 7 string sound while fooling everybody. That's why the D sounds so good this way. Even bar it for other songs this way cause its a fat ass chord. Move it around and of course drop it down. Meaning mimick it in fifth position and go down for the super fat low boy. The slink 8's sound more molested and squish a bit more and react to volume more here with it way up. Nice feedback and moan. We all think that low E will sound like a mosquito , but banging on it brings in the chaos and it rings different after being blasted and has overtones while grabbing onto the volume and feedback. I know it feels too light sometimes , but this also is aggression and finesse meeting for the first time. Stops the low end flub too , not that J has any , its tight. Just a suggestion. Still digging it . It actually shines over the processing of these raw tracks when you hear it . Also last thing . Playing these mixes through stereo speakers filters out frequencies not meant to be heard . The engineer mix was done with reference monitors and you can hear things coming out of tweeters that start at like frequencies that Celestions did not produce . Just food for thought . Back to the mad scientist chronicals , with lightning and crop circles on his lawn and such .... your regular programing continues...

[guitar007]

The inside of your chassis, if you have it handy.

[jnew]

image.jpg

(883.11 KiB) Not downloaded yet

image.jpg

(992.15 KiB) Not downloaded yet

Here you go. It's a mess man. This was my first amp that went through a lot before bringing it back to a 4 hole, 2 stager. I build MUCH cleaner stuff now but this was not a cosmetic concern. Might revisit it for those reasons in the future though.

David, I will definitely try .008's for the next strings. Used to use them a lot but that was many many years before I ever got my yogurt slingers into any amp.

[jnew]

This one's a real doozy.

image.jpg

(823.98 KiB) Not downloaded yet

[rgalpin]

Lemco 560 and that mixer cap...

Sting like a bee!

[jnew]

I think those are your ingredients as well.