Definitive Fair Warning tone thread

[jnewlyn]

Let me some it up. Ed> guitar> Plexi >GE-10. Done!

Not necessarily in that order.

[StuntDouble]

FW sounds to me like VHII, but less mid-focused with more sparkly open highs and a little more gain. That extra oompphh that puts it over the edge and makes the notes glide into one another rather than stick and stand out a little...the smoothness that you get with more gain w/o the fuzziness that you get from more preamp gain. You can hear the MXR 6 band on VH1, and although I dig that sound, to me, it sounds a little bright and fuzzy.The tone on the opening of HAIL after the clean intro is absolutely amazing. It's dirty, sweet, chewey, mean, gritty and seems to surround you all at once...and listen to the percussive attack that gives so much character to that first trem dive. There's subtilties in there that you just cant reproduce with high gain amps...period.

[IloveMyMarshall]

[jnewlyn]

Yep. It's a nice thick, complex smear with very enveloping dimension.

[jnewlyn]

Hey ILMM, that's a cool pedal. I want to try one of those. Is that yours? Where can me buys one?

[fivecoyote]

Anything more than guesses, guys? Anyone tried to nail that tone? Results? Anyone read anything anywhere particular to FW?

We all realize there are ways to sound like Ed's various sounds, but how did Ed do it on FW?

[motrock]

Hey I have an MXR MIcroamp... but it doesn't work. Anyone have a guess on how I could get it repaired?

[motrock]

Ok, check this out.... listen to both of these live video's and compare the tone. The only difference to me is the the Unchained clip is a little thicker.... but not by a whole lot. What do you guys think? What difference can you hear between the 2?

Fair Warning Tour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMyJAcHlCGc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

VHII Tour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JghM0GI ... annel_page" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[jnewlyn]

Both sound pretty killer to me but if I had to choose one, I'd probably go with the FW tour tone.

[wjamflan]

Anything more than guesses, guys? Anyone tried to nail that tone? Results? Anyone read anything anywhere particular to FW?

We all realize there are ways to sound like Ed's various sounds, but how did Ed do it on FW?

I have a quote in an article from '84 that I re-read last night where Ed says that he turned the Variac up instead of down on some of the FW songs. My wife was on the PC doing school work so I didn't have a chance to post it, but I'll do it when I get home from work if you'd like.

I've never owned a variac, so I don't know what kind of result this would give, but he did say that the tubes literally fried. Could this be the reason for some of the extra sizzle?

I still believe that he was using the MXR 6 band here. Listen to the single notes during the Unchained verses - very mid oriented.

I also believe the comment on the production is true to an extent. This album has more bass, but the guitar does sound very similar to VHI or II. I don't think it sounds like WACF at all. WACF had the least defined tone of all the early albums which brings me to my next point... I think the difference in all the albums is that different guitars were being used (with different pickups). I know Ed was swapping out pickups at this time, and I believe he probably was doing it at the time b/c of the Floyd. I've never read that he went to the higher output at this time, but he could have.

I'll post more later.

[fivecoyote]

Ok, check this out.... listen to both of these live video's and compare the tone. The only difference to me is the the Unchained clip is a little thicker.... but not by a whole lot. What do you guys think? What difference can you hear between the 2?

Fair Warning Tour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMyJAcHlCGc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

VHII Tour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JghM0GI ... annel_page" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

'preciate it, but that's live tone which has usually been different than his studio tone. Q is, what was Ed doing in the studio for FW?

[motrock]

Ok, check this out.... listen to both of these live video's and compare the tone. The only difference to me is the the Unchained clip is a little thicker.... but not by a whole lot. What do you guys think? What difference can you hear between the 2?

Fair Warning Tour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMyJAcHlCGc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

VHII Tour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JghM0GI ... annel_page" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

'preciate it, but that's live tone which has usually been different than his studio tone. Q is, what was Ed doing in the studio for FW?

Simple.... it was all in the production. You take that live tone and have Don Landee, Ted Templeman, and who ever else was involved tweak in the studio. You have to remember that on ever album the studio arrangement was different. The Mic Pre's were different, mics, mic placement, etc.

[fivecoyote]

FW sounds to me like VHII, but less mid-focused with more sparkly open highs and a little more gain. That extra oompphh that puts it over the edge and makes the notes glide into one another rather than stick and stand out a little...the smoothness that you get with more gain w/o the fuzziness that you get from more preamp gain. You can hear the MXR 6 band on VH1, and although I dig that sound, to me, it sounds a little bright and fuzzy.The tone on the opening of HAIL after the clean intro is absolutely amazing. It's dirty, sweet, chewey, mean, gritty and seems to surround you all at once...and listen to the percussive attack that gives so much character to that first trem dive. There's subtilties in there that you just cant reproduce with high gain amps...period.

LESS mid-focused. Interesting. I'm going to try that. I have been trying the reverse (more and more mids) and not getting there. Maybe a mid-heavy JB-type pickup to compensate for the Floyd so he dials it back on the amp?

On HAIL, I believe he has the flange on the whole time except for the solo -- maybe that makes a difference? Finally, I will note in my forthcoming post on the PitchFactor if you put the flange after the PF it (flanger) gets some beef. Maybe something similar on HAIL?

[wjamflan]

Straight from the man's mouth:

1982 - Guitar One (May '06)

Talking about Hear About It Later -

EVH: "In the beginning it's a clean Fender Strat. The whole basic track was played with a clean Strat with a flanger on it, plus my regular red-and-white main guitar, which I used for all the other stuff, like the tremolo-bar dive bombs."

May/June 1982 - Creem Special Edition

Talking about Mean Streets intro -

John Stix: Did you use any outboard devices to get that sound?
EVH: "That's just straight guitar and amp."

Talking about bridges -

John Stix: What about your bridge setup?
EVH: "In the studio I still use a very old original Fender tailpiece with a brass nut. I oil the nut, so when I use the vibrato it stays in tune. 3-in1 oil does the job well."

JS: Do you still use the Floyd Rose tailpiece?
EVH: "Live, I have three guitars with Floyd Rose tailpieces. I don't use them in the studio because they're hard for me to tune. Actually, you'd think it would be the other way around - that when I'm playing live I wouldn't use them. It gets a slightly brighter sound that I prefer live, but you have to boil the strings before you put them on....In the studio I don't like using boiled clean strings because the sound is a little brighter. I prefer older strings to record with because they have a muffled tone I like."

Talking about Homite Voltage Regulators -

EVH: "The old (amps) I use with these Homite Voltage Regulators. It's a transformer that goes from 0 to 140 volts. Every night we play the voltage ranges from 100 to 120 volts, depending on the building. Sometimes I see and feel that the amp isn't running at full voltage. With the Homite you can boost the voltage up to 135 before the amp will fry. But you can also turn it down to, say, 90 volts. There's a considerable difference in the sound between 90 and 130 volts.... It changes nothing between the amp and the speakers. All it is, is voltage. But the volume and tonal quality of an amp changes at different voltages. At 90 it will sound a lot quiter and sometimes, beefier, fatter, and warmer than 120 or 130 volts."
JS: Do you use it in the studio as well?
EVH: "Especially in the studio. I've used these Homite things since we've played the clubs."

Talking about tone -

EVH: "I crank everything all the way up, but I have my guitar built compatiby to get the tone I like."
JS: How do you do that?
EVH: "Some of the original old PAFs are more powerful than others, and I'll match them with an amp."
He goes on to say that he matches poweful pickups with weaker amps and vice versa to get a clean (not fuzzed out) sound and sustain.

Talking about Sinner's Swing -

EVH: "I think the only live solo on Fair Warning is on Sinner's Swing, which is a fast boogie."

Talking about guitars used -

JS: What instruments did you record with?
EVH: "I used the red guitar for the whole album, except for 'Push' and 'Hear About It Later' where I used a Strat. I also used the red guitar for the solo in 'Push'.

March 1984 - International Musician And Recording World

Talking about the Variac -

EVH: "I normally set them between 90-100 VAC. It's not that good for the amp but it sounds great."
IM&RW: Have you ever gone the opposite way and increased the voltage past the normal 120 VAC?
EVH: "Oh yeah! On a couple of songs on Fair Warning, I cranked it up to 140 volts. It really screamed and then smoked...literally!!! I think I melted all the tubes."


Hope this helps.

Bill

[laneychris]

Thanks Bill I enjoyed the read