EVH plexi observation....

For all things to build the brown sound

Moderators: VelvetGeorge, RACKSYSTEMS

User avatar
plexified
Senior Member
Posts: 856
Joined: Sun Dec 25, 2005 12:49 pm
Just the numbers in order: 13492
Location: amidst the wreckage of a hot Plexi

Re: EVH plexi observation....

Post by plexified » Mon Apr 10, 2017 4:16 am

in the sessions in the picture you posted Ed was definitely using period Celestions that were an assortment of green back 20,25,30 and early 65 cream or black. The stripped cab thing was from Ted Templeman stripping the grille cloth away and Ed taking it further to stripping the cabs for the sake of resonance just thinking the tolex choked the cabs resonance. These pics were Zloz and the staging of these pics. Yeah , they were party on , but the beer cans and vibe were not hard for them to float here. We now know as do you hanging here long enough the multiple variacs and cabs were a part of a more complex sound approach. I'm gonna get a few threads up on top of the board that just talk about the times as they were happening and what was involoved so some of the new visitors can see that tube amps are more than just a singular deal here. Some may not want to chase the valve fun and some may want to play with the modeling approach. I like them both for a lot of viable reasons and its time we just get back into talking tone and what fun we can have with not only gear we may already have , but gear we may not. And that may mean tweaking stuff as we all have done here for a long time and it can mean we venture into new territory to get some great tones from stuff that can supprise us. Either way , its fun to get under the hood and take the tone by the balls and get out and even turn on some crowds in our towns. Because we need a music revival these days , we all know not enough good music is in being played in our towns, so lets get it on!

jnew
Senior Member
Posts: 1577
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2013 9:34 am
Just the numbers in order: 13492
Location: Front Row Seat From the Outer Continental Shelf

Re: EVH plexi observation....

Post by jnew » Mon Apr 10, 2017 8:01 am

I'm having trouble loading it as well. Let me work on it.
________________________________
I SEE THINGS BETTER, WHEN I LISTEN


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default ... ID=1214336" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

jnew
Senior Member
Posts: 1577
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2013 9:34 am
Just the numbers in order: 13492
Location: Front Row Seat From the Outer Continental Shelf

Re: EVH plexi observation....

Post by jnew » Mon Apr 10, 2017 11:58 am

And BTW, I just installed a 2" OPT in a plexi that I'm building and as I look at the pics of the back of Ed's amp from the VH II studio pics, I don't think the 2" was put into that amp yet. The PT in the amp was 1.8" and it's pretty clear that the stack on the PT is thicker. Even though it's a lay down type, it's pretty easy to tell the thickness. I am pretty certain that a 2" transformer did end up in that amp but I don't think it's in that pic. :what:
________________________________
I SEE THINGS BETTER, WHEN I LISTEN


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default ... ID=1214336" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

User avatar
plexified
Senior Member
Posts: 856
Joined: Sun Dec 25, 2005 12:49 pm
Just the numbers in order: 13492
Location: amidst the wreckage of a hot Plexi

Re: EVH plexi observation....

Post by plexified » Fri Apr 14, 2017 3:48 am

Here is the EVH circuit in question,

and my own plexi 12 series... OTX 1"5/8" & PTX 1"3/4" w/ Sylvania 6CA7's

jnew
Senior Member
Posts: 1577
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2013 9:34 am
Just the numbers in order: 13492
Location: Front Row Seat From the Outer Continental Shelf

Re: EVH plexi observation....

Post by jnew » Fri Apr 14, 2017 12:42 pm

But didn't that 12301 amp get a 2" OPT at some point? I thought he boiled the stock one somewhere between VH I and VH II.
________________________________
I SEE THINGS BETTER, WHEN I LISTEN


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default ... ID=1214336" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Lbrown3743
Senior Member
Posts: 164
Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2014 6:04 am
Just the numbers in order: 13492
Location: Land of The Rising Sun

Re: EVH plexi observation....

Post by Lbrown3743 » Fri Apr 21, 2017 7:51 am

I've come to one conclusion after reading hundreds of threads. The guitar sound on the first three VH albums was re-amped. Done deal.

jnew
Senior Member
Posts: 1577
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2013 9:34 am
Just the numbers in order: 13492
Location: Front Row Seat From the Outer Continental Shelf

Re: EVH plexi observation....

Post by jnew » Fri Apr 21, 2017 9:48 am

I would exclude VHII in that statement, if I were a betting man. 8)
________________________________
I SEE THINGS BETTER, WHEN I LISTEN


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default ... ID=1214336" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

User avatar
plexified
Senior Member
Posts: 856
Joined: Sun Dec 25, 2005 12:49 pm
Just the numbers in order: 13492
Location: amidst the wreckage of a hot Plexi

Re: EVH plexi observation....

Post by plexified » Wed May 10, 2017 3:08 am

guitar007 wrote:With so many folks inside his amp, able to see the original solder joints and claiming it to be mostly stock, I'm surprised no one has deduced what the knob on the back was for. :shrug:
:peace: Ok , ok , you got me. Once upon a time , I was inside the magic marshall and.....

I've come to believe that Ed really told us the story behind this 'knob' . You see when he first started using the dimmer to turn down, he just conveniently left out the part that.......

After he realized the dimmer worked , he knew he couldn't bring the house to the gig. So at first he ran long extension cords into the back yard and had the first house party gigs. Realizing these house gigs were a success , young Ed had to figure out how to get this sound out of the house. So , long before he thought about going to an electronics store to buy a variac , he figured ' What if I could just take the dimmer switch with me?' So young Ed did just that, he installed the light switch dimmer INSIDE the amp. He did not want to give away this 'secret' mod by the knob itself , no that would be a give away. So he left the knob off.

Now having accomplished the goal , Ed had to figure getting a replacement dimmer to replace the one in the wall before mom got home. This is when he fucked up .

Afer installing the new dimmer back in the house wiring he t told of blowing the house fuses. Not too long after, Ed realized he fucked up the wiring to the Marshall and fried the transformer.

Now this is probably when he met Jose. About now Jose told Ed he fixed and rewired the 'magic knob' and installed a new transformer and warned Ed not to mess inside the amp anymore. Jose also probably told him that he was the only one who knew of this mod and it was best to keep it quiet. So Ed went back home and played with the two variacs .

There you go the legend of the 'secret knob'

We joke about putting the variac inside the amp and it being so heavy it would need a crane, but funny to think that he could have actually done this. If I was the tech that opened the amp and saw it , I would have laughed until I peed my pants rolling around of the floor. And then when that was over , I couldn't tell anybody.

But funny enough in my sharing a laugh with you all , this is not that far off from being possible. WHY? because he then uses the variac from the wall , and the dimmer switch between the amp and speakers wired INTERNALLY. So we can laugh at this , but its actually a plausible explanation. It demonstrates a lot of things in a real scenario. :thumbsup:

jnew
Senior Member
Posts: 1577
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2013 9:34 am
Just the numbers in order: 13492
Location: Front Row Seat From the Outer Continental Shelf

Re: EVH plexi observation....

Post by jnew » Wed May 10, 2017 7:58 am

The dimmer being the variac between the head and cab, on the inside of the chassis. I'm totally on board with that. But this would also mean that Friedman, Suhr, Cameron and all those other eye witness fella's are in on a conspiracy. :lol: :lol: :lol:
________________________________
I SEE THINGS BETTER, WHEN I LISTEN


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default ... ID=1214336" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

User avatar
rgalpin
Senior Member
Posts: 3668
Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2005 10:08 am
Location: Washington, DC

Re: EVH plexi observation....

Post by rgalpin » Thu May 11, 2017 10:04 am

Back to this... not that the stuff about the magic knob isn't darned interesting but...
plexified wrote: If you bypass an electrolytic which is slow in its process and compromises high end flow , you just bypass a film capacitor to flow the spectrum that got stuck. Here you can tune the stage. Here , we are talking about stage one and tuning it with a bypass cap of low voltage , say 400v and its plastic and on polarized and it bypasses the stuck frequencies and gets them to move on and sounds amazing.
...
Bypass plastic to forward the high end or frequency of choice. The electrolytics are slow , so its the basis of the concept.
jnew - you said you were going to try this w alligator clips - did you?

this sounds a lot like that thing i hear where the sound is FAST and LIGHT - with zero slog. :drool:

did you try this?

jnew
Senior Member
Posts: 1577
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2013 9:34 am
Just the numbers in order: 13492
Location: Front Row Seat From the Outer Continental Shelf

Re: EVH plexi observation....

Post by jnew » Thu May 11, 2017 10:36 am

No I haven't. I've unfortunately been in a hectic transition from moving, schedule changes and training. Haven't had time to even pickup the guitar much. Things are slowly getting to normal so I'll be in a routine before long. Finishing my 2" OPT plexi is top of the list as well as trying these bypass caps. :thumbsup:
________________________________
I SEE THINGS BETTER, WHEN I LISTEN


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default ... ID=1214336" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

User avatar
rgalpin
Senior Member
Posts: 3668
Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2005 10:08 am
Location: Washington, DC

Re: EVH plexi observation....

Post by rgalpin » Thu May 11, 2017 11:57 am

I am confused though about exactly what you are going to do... Can you describe it in the simplest of terms, as if you are attempting to communicate trigonometry to an imbecile? This component gets connected to this point. That component gets connected to that point. Then... if it works, we can discuss the dark arts involved. For now though, color by number please based on plexified exquisitely inviting descriptions of stripping away slowness and slog and opening up fast highways tennis racket tight response. :)

jnew
Senior Member
Posts: 1577
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2013 9:34 am
Just the numbers in order: 13492
Location: Front Row Seat From the Outer Continental Shelf

Re: EVH plexi observation....

Post by jnew » Thu May 11, 2017 1:38 pm

Yep. In the same way the 16uF pre amp cans have the + and - connected on the board, you just connect the .022's the same way and in parallel. The .022's need not be electrolytics. In other words, no + or - sides. Just alligator clipped in either direction. I'll send you a short video clip since I can demonstrate it on the amp I'm building.
________________________________
I SEE THINGS BETTER, WHEN I LISTEN


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default ... ID=1214336" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

User avatar
rgalpin
Senior Member
Posts: 3668
Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2005 10:08 am
Location: Washington, DC

Re: EVH plexi observation....

Post by rgalpin » Thu May 11, 2017 1:58 pm

Ok. My chassis is a '74. So my preamp can is not on the board. The connections are under the board. The can is mounted to the chassis. I'll need to hunt around to see where the most convenient place is to alligator clip a test.

jnew
Senior Member
Posts: 1577
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2013 9:34 am
Just the numbers in order: 13492
Location: Front Row Seat From the Outer Continental Shelf

Re: EVH plexi observation....

Post by jnew » Thu May 11, 2017 2:16 pm

Crappola. I made the video as short as I could but still too large to send by e-mail. But it sounds like you get the idea now. If your preamp can is mounted on top, then it's just as easy to alligator clip the turrets that the + wires are connected to. Connect those clips to the .022's and then alligator the other side of the .022's to any ground. You can do this on the fly, while the amp is on for really quick referencing and A/B comparison. Just be careful if you do.
________________________________
I SEE THINGS BETTER, WHEN I LISTEN


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default ... ID=1214336" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Post Reply