Ed's 1978 touring rig.

[leadguy]

Why has Ed got 2 Echoplexes in the photo from this thread.

http://forum.metroamp.com/viewtopic.php ... 04&start=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[wjamflan]

Ok Robin, I found the article. I originally read it in GFTPM in November of 1988. The interviewer was John Stix.

JS: What is your amp setup?

EVH: Believe it or not, now I only use one amp. I'm back to doing what I used to do in the clubs. I use one Marshall head into these H&H power amps. I use five cabinets behind me, but they all sound identical. I take the speaker output and the whole amp out to power amps. But I still only use one amp that I like the sound of. It's kind of interesting that it's back to the way it used to be. I remember opening for Black Sabbath and Tony Iommi, who is a great guy, great player, would have eight Laney amp heads through one cabinet each. It was so overwhelmingly loud. It was great. I thought that's the way you're supposed to do it. So I did the same thing. I had six Marshall heads and packed them all in together and put each head into a separate cabinet. It was so loud I'd be totally numb by the end of the show, which back then was 40 minutes. I never understood how they did it. No wonder Ozzy never went in front of him. No wonder Dave stayed away from me, too, when I was playing that loud. It was pretty silly. We used to play so loud we would actually be louder than the PA. My guitar would barely ever come through the PA, because I would be so loud off the stage. The sound guys would be uptight saying, 'Nobody does this?' Bull. Everybody does it, or so I thought. The sound guy had no control whatsoever. I'm now in the process of building an amp with Jose Arredondo.

Van Halen toured with Sabbath (according to the dates I could find) 5/16/78 - 6/11/78 and again 8/14/78 - 12/3/78. Do you remember what Eddie was talking about? Did he scrap his club days setup (which is what you seem to be talking about????) during one of those treks?

I have a bunch of the boots from '78 and there does seem to be a huge change from the sound of the Pasdena Civic gig from October of 1977 when they were recording VHI. That show sounds alot like his tone on the record (to me), whereas the '78 shows sound more heavy metal/distorted (not as plexi-ish).

I'm sorry if I'm asking an ignorant question. I'm not a tech guy, so I apologize if I've confused some of the things you said. I'm just trying to wrap my head around this wealth of info and understand it. Thanks for your patience and for sharing.

Bill

Hey Bill,

For the late Civic shows, we were slaving through Vox and Marshall plexi amps.
For the first tour, Ed was slaving through metal pannel 100 watt Marshall superleads.
The superleads are more agressive and brighter, I assume that 's the main difference you're hearing.

As for the European leg of the tour opening for Sabbath, Tony Iommi was daisy-chaining at least 10 Laney heads !
Ed was using 3 to 6 heads for slaving, but that's very very loud onstage.
When we started using HH poweramps, you could manage the guitar 's stage volume and bring it down to reasonable levels (wich you coudn't do with the Marshall superleads).
Anyway, the guys from the band were all treble deaf by 1984 and they did just the opposite, it was so loud onstage a normal human would cry in pain.

Robin,

Thanks for the explanation. The superlead tone being the difference makes sense. I guess it's my own ignorance, but I don't understand why he would slave to cut down the volume if he was just going to play bone crushingly loud anyway. Was it just so it wouldn't be as loud as he would without it?

For what it's worth, I love the sound he got at the Pasadena Civic in 10/77. I didn't know he used Vox amps too. That's cool....

I like what you said in another thread about the MXR 6 Band EQ being the key to try to get his tone. I've always felt that after first seeing pictures of it in the Japanese mag a few years back. I guess my question would be, in 1978, did he always have it on for every guitar or was it only used sporadically?

Related to that, others have speculated that he used the Boss 10 band set to a smile curve after the load to add girth to his tone, since it was considered very bright. I've never seen photographic evidence of it; they always seem to be set for midboost too. Did he use a smile curve in '78 on tour, or was this the kind of EQ that Donn Landee would have added in the mixing stage for the album after Ted Templeman told him to focus on Ed and make him sound huge?

Thanks again for your patience and time.

Bill

[IloveMyMarshall]

Hey Robin Killer reading for one! Two are you a axe slinger yourself? You wouldn't happen to be in NJ? Or TX? Def interesting post thanks for taking the time to write all this down. Hey one question, Did Ed have that bad ass temper back when you was with him or did the band pretty much gel 24-7. There music= fun party fun so it seems like they were rocking and having a great time? I was just wondering how Ed and Dave were getting along or was it a constant battle of ownership of the bands success?

Thanks man!
ILMM

[Tazin]

I've got a quick question for Robin......Since you used up all the known stomp box switches (e.g. two echoplex controllers, Box #1, Box #2); how was the Univox EC-80 on/off function controlled?

[Mr. Beasty]

I didn't know he used Vox amps too. That's cool....

Bill

Well, he used a Vox AC-50 which is a 50 watt head geared w/ two EL-34s and doesn't quite sound like the classic Vox tone a la Brian May [AC-30s w/ four EL-84s]. I would think the tone is close to that of a Smallbox Marshall.

I am curious about the Echos too. I never heard Ed use much echo outside of Eruption, yet he had two to three echo units in his signal chain ... were there others reasons to have echo boxes in the chain?

[harddriver]

Robin,

In the late 1977 Civic shows we mainly see Ed with two echoplexes. You stated they were wired in series with that would mean his guitar signal running through them at all times.

Did he have one echoplex set for a short delay and one set for a long delay?

As Mr. Beasty stated it seems he only used the echo application for Runnin with the Devil an his solo or maybe solos.

Thanks!
HD

[rgalpin]

Robin,

Do you know if the 78 touring rig was used in the studio for the first album?

If so, can you comment on whether the rig you describe was fully developed when they walked in the door to record VH I or was the rig developed as part of the recording process and then taken out on the road for the first tour?

In other words, which came first the chicken or the egg? The RIG or the ALBUM tone?

Thanks,
-Rob

[ROBIN L.]

Why has Ed got 2 Echoplexes in the photo from this thread.

http://forum.metroamp.com/viewtopic.php ... 04&start=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

One of the Echoplexes was set for a short slapback echo and was on most of the time, while the other was set for a louder echo with feedback.
Every now and then, they would play this unreleased song called "Down in Flames" that required the second Echoplex.
The song featured the intro to "you're no good" from VhII.
Thanks for your question, Leadguy.

[ROBIN L.]

Robin,

Do you know if the 78 touring rig was used in the studio for the first album?

If so, can you comment on whether the rig you describe was fully developed when they walked in the door to record VH I or was the rig developed as part of the recording process and then taken out on the road for the first tour?

In other words, which came first the chicken or the egg? The RIG or the ALBUM tone?

Thanks,
-Rob

Hey Rob,
Was that a long cigarette ?

Ed's pedalboard and slaving setup was already fully developped for the recording of VH1.
I think Ed bought half a dozen Marshall Superleads (not plexis, the latter metal pannel ones) prior to going on tour.
He also bought extra cabs and ripped the tolex off of them.

[ROBIN L.]

I didn't know he used Vox amps too. That's cool....

Bill

Well, he used a Vox AC-50 which is a 50 watt head geared w/ two EL-34s and doesn't quite sound like the classic Vox tone a la Brian May [AC-30s w/ four EL-84s]. I would think the tone is close to that of a Smallbox Marshall.

I am curious about the Echos too. I never heard Ed use much echo outside of Eruption, yet he had two to three echo units in his signal chain ... were there others reasons to have echo boxes in the chain?

The Univox (he had 2 of them, one was a backup) was only used at the tail end of Eruption.

[ROBIN L.]

I've got a quick question for Robin......Since you used up all the known stomp box switches (e.g. two echoplex controllers, Box #1, Box #2); how was the Univox EC-80 on/off function controlled?

Ed would walk up to the Bomb shell and turn it on manualy.

[ROBIN L.]

Hey Robin Killer reading for one! Two are you a axe slinger yourself? You wouldn't happen to be in NJ? Or TX? Def interesting post thanks for taking the time to write all this down. Hey one question, Did Ed have that bad ass temper back when you was with him or did the band pretty much gel 24-7. There music= fun party fun so it seems like they were rocking and having a great time? I was just wondering how Ed and Dave were getting along or was it a constant battle of ownership of the bands success?

Thanks man!
ILMM

One big happy family, "one for all all for one" is a good description of the vibe.

[ROBIN L.]

ROBIN,
Nitro questions everything and thinks what he wants. Dont mind him, thats just the way he is.
Your info whether its been re-hashed or not is valuable.

HEY, can you tell us how he set the Univox EC-80 to get that descending growl at the ned eruption. Was it a key component to his tone or just used slightly in certain parts of songs?

Thanks

Thankfully it was solely used at the tail end of Eruption.
I didn't set it up, but I can tell you it broke down all the time.
It was dumped after the tour.
A similar effect can be achieved with a regular delay pedal.

[ROBIN L.]

Ok Robin, I found the article. I originally read it in GFTPM in November of 1988. The interviewer was John Stix.

JS: What is your amp setup?

EVH: Believe it or not, now I only use one amp. I'm back to doing what I used to do in the clubs. I use one Marshall head into these H&H power amps. I use five cabinets behind me, but they all sound identical. I take the speaker output and the whole amp out to power amps. But I still only use one amp that I like the sound of. It's kind of interesting that it's back to the way it used to be. I remember opening for Black Sabbath and Tony Iommi, who is a great guy, great player, would have eight Laney amp heads through one cabinet each. It was so overwhelmingly loud. It was great. I thought that's the way you're supposed to do it. So I did the same thing. I had six Marshall heads and packed them all in together and put each head into a separate cabinet. It was so loud I'd be totally numb by the end of the show, which back then was 40 minutes. I never understood how they did it. No wonder Ozzy never went in front of him. No wonder Dave stayed away from me, too, when I was playing that loud. It was pretty silly. We used to play so loud we would actually be louder than the PA. My guitar would barely ever come through the PA, because I would be so loud off the stage. The sound guys would be uptight saying, 'Nobody does this?' Bull. Everybody does it, or so I thought. The sound guy had no control whatsoever. I'm now in the process of building an amp with Jose Arredondo.

Van Halen toured with Sabbath (according to the dates I could find) 5/16/78 - 6/11/78 and again 8/14/78 - 12/3/78. Do you remember what Eddie was talking about? Did he scrap his club days setup (which is what you seem to be talking about????) during one of those treks?

I have a bunch of the boots from '78 and there does seem to be a huge change from the sound of the Pasdena Civic gig from October of 1977 when they were recording VHI. That show sounds alot like his tone on the record (to me), whereas the '78 shows sound more heavy metal/distorted (not as plexi-ish).

I'm sorry if I'm asking an ignorant question. I'm not a tech guy, so I apologize if I've confused some of the things you said. I'm just trying to wrap my head around this wealth of info and understand it. Thanks for your patience and for sharing.

Bill

Hey Bill,

For the late Civic shows, we were slaving through Vox and Marshall plexi amps.
For the first tour, Ed was slaving through metal pannel 100 watt Marshall superleads.
The superleads are more agressive and brighter, I assume that 's the main difference you're hearing.

As for the European leg of the tour opening for Sabbath, Tony Iommi was daisy-chaining at least 10 Laney heads !
Ed was using 3 to 6 heads for slaving, but that's very very loud onstage.
When we started using HH poweramps, you could manage the guitar 's stage volume and bring it down to reasonable levels (wich you coudn't do with the Marshall superleads).
Anyway, the guys from the band were all treble deaf by 1984 and they did just the opposite, it was so loud onstage a normal human would cry in pain.

Robin,

Thanks for the explanation. The superlead tone being the difference makes sense. I guess it's my own ignorance, but I don't understand why he would slave to cut down the volume if he was just going to play bone crushingly loud anyway. Was it just so it wouldn't be as loud as he would without it?

For what it's worth, I love the sound he got at the Pasadena Civic in 10/77. I didn't know he used Vox amps too. That's cool....

I like what you said in another thread about the MXR 6 Band EQ being the key to try to get his tone. I've always felt that after first seeing pictures of it in the Japanese mag a few years back. I guess my question would be, in 1978, did he always have it on for every guitar or was it only used sporadically?

Related to that, others have speculated that he used the Boss 10 band set to a smile curve after the load to add girth to his tone, since it was considered very bright. I've never seen photographic evidence of it; they always seem to be set for midboost too. Did he use a smile curve in '78 on tour, or was this the kind of EQ that Donn Landee would have added in the mixing stage for the album after Ted Templeman told him to focus on Ed and make him sound huge?

Thanks again for your patience and time.

Bill

The Boss EQ replaced the MXR EQ.
Both were set for a mid boost (inverted smile).

[Mr. Beasty]

One of the Echoplexes was set for a short slapback echo and was on most of the time, while the other was set for a louder echo with feedback.

I always assumed the echo on the bootlegs was from the room/venues ... I will have to go listen again.

Robin, so from what you are saying there were two echoplexes AND two EC-80s in the signal chain at all times?