Definitive Fair Warning tone thread

jnewlyn · Post by **jnewlyn** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 7:34 pm

Palm scratches on Mean Streets too, no?

Krinkle · Post by **Krinkle** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 9:33 pm

jnewlyn wrote:Palm scratches on Mean Streets too, no?

The flanger is there for sure, I'm not sure about the Phase 90, could be.

jnewlyn · Post by **jnewlyn** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:56 pm

It's a quick little part so hard to tell. I just assumed it was a phaser but it could be a flanger.

LypsLynch55 · Post by **LypsLynch55** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 12:26 am

wjamflan wrote:
fivecoyote wrote: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.

Im a little late to this thread, so forgive me if Im reposting -
1) as far as the tubes frying, didnt Robin L say that Ed had an alcohol induced melt down (literally) and burnt the grail Head up during the FW sessions (ie using too much variac) and it never sounded the same?
2) Ed was using different guitars around now and the closest tone-wise I ever got to FW was using a Mahogany '77 Les Paul w/Dimarzio S/D's in it. Try that and see were it gets you.
3) Allegedly, for FW, EVH had the Flanger out at the board, instead of first in the chain in FRONT of the amp.

StuntDouble · Post by **StuntDouble** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 1:02 am

IMHO, I hear a Mahogany guitar on most of that too. I think most of what Ed said about using Franky for FW...well, who knows but that's not what I hear. I've read elsewhere where he said he used a Les Paul SG on the slide parts for"Dirty Movies"; you're just not gonna get it straight from this guy ever. I think he gets off on putting in just enough BS to throw people off. I've also heard "Unchained" was recorded with a L.P. Custom. What I hear on the majority of the album seems darker and thicker, but with a shimmer and an openess to the top-end. I still think it's a possibility that he re-amped his recorded dry sound into a slave setup. Think of the control you'ld have over your effects and the production of your sound; no need to play anything twice to get the effects just right, not to mention, the extra control you'ld have as an artist over the production of your sound.

dirtycooter · Post by **dirtycooter** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 1:42 am

I could believe the Les paul or any short scale mahogany bodied guitar on that album in places.
Example-He used that short gibson scaled ash destroyer and it blended great and almost completely identical to his franky on VH1-but its a different sound than other albums have too non the less.
The darker albums tones are VH2 and FW to me.
The 58 Flying V thing too is another example as well on 1984-HFT has that low mid bark it seems.
The yellow and black strat was told to be mahagany bodied too and I think that VH2 and Fair Warning share a similar darker more ominous tone if you look at them each for the overall flavor or color of the 2 albums.
I noticed Vics Peacemaker head clips were supposed to be done with a Mahogany bodied custom strat-I think those have that darker sound as well come to think of it. Something about the low mids are kinda congruent to my ears with this mahogany thing to a degree when I look at it.
Or maybe I am just bein silly.
But come to think of it-he probably did use a Les Paul or tunomatic style bridge for the simple fact it is easier to drop that D than a tremmed guitar is for songs like Unchained-there was no d-tuna back then for floyds. Setting one up took more effort for drop d so I can see him takin the easy route.

jnewlyn · Post by **jnewlyn** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 2:08 am

I get the Mohogany possibilities. It's a good tone wood. Korina doesn't seem to be too far removed from Mahogany as they both seem to be of medium density and a similar warmth in tone.

He could make any wood sound good IMO. Hell, he'd probably make a 200 lb, forged carbon steel strat body sound like wood.

K-Halen · Post by **K-Halen** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 5:48 pm

Gents,

First post here. So let me do the polite thing and introduce myself before getting to the point of my post. I just turned 38 years old a couple weeks ago. I've been playing guitar now for 24 years. Like most of you, hearing Ed for the first time absolutely changed my life. I was in the sixth grade when I first hear VH1 - on 8 track! Up until then, Kiss was my number one musical influence. In spite of having a lucrative proffessional career, I still like to tell people that I'm the same metalhead I was 20 plus years ago. I'm just lucky enough to finally have all the gear that I could only dream about at 17. I can also say that besides EVH, my main guitar heros are Jake E. Lee, Warren Demartini, George Lynch, Billy F. Gibbons and Slash.

Marshall was and always will be my favorite amp maker. I'm also a tone chaser. The brown sound is the ultimate to me. So I will readily admit to chasing that pot of gold with every upgrade in gear over the years. I've been through a handful of Marshalls over years. Finally settling on a JCM 800 and a 1959 SLP Plexi re-issue. The Plexi lead me down the vintage and boutique amp path and ultimately, to this forum. I've been reading and learning so much for a while now. I finally think I have something worthy to contribute. Here's how I'm able to get the brown sound. I'm one who believes the magic of that sound is far more simple than most and I'm one who also believes that Ed always told the truth when asked about his setup, he just sorrounded it with a lot of BS to send us off on a long and incorrect path!

I can get 98% there for the Fair Warning tone with the following:
- Marshall 100 Watt Plexi reissue, bone stock Everything on 10.
- Old Variac turned down to either 85 or 90 volts
- a THD hot plate (yes, believe it or not!)
- a just finished 5150 Kramer replica, alder body Floyd Rose trem. It really sparked my interest in guitar building, more on that later.
- EVH Frankenstein pickup. This thing is incredible for nailing early VH tones.
- An ancient Roland SDE 2000 digital delay

In person and to my ears, it is the opening "Mean Street," the verse riff c-a pull off and the outro chugging a string/5th to 7th fret diads. It also sounds like the grinding chords of "Dirty Movies" and the intro to "Sinner's Swing."

I think the other 2% in totally nailing the Fair Warning sound comes from the recording ambience, maybe changing around a few guitars, engineering and mastering that Don Landee did. My take on the turning the variac up and "watch the tubes melt" was a one time experiement that went horribly wrong and that sound never made the album. Again, 50% truth told by Ed used to throw dorks like me off!

Anyway, I'll do my best a a new member to contribute positively towards the content of this site. I very much appreciate the opportunity to join and talk about something I love so much.

Best regards,
-Kevin

jnewlyn · Post by **jnewlyn** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 6:32 pm

Welcome Kevin. I'd have to agree that your line up there with your gear would get you there. I'm sure most would agree. The rest should only be the flavors you deliver in your hands. Would love to hear some clips.

K-Halen · Post by **K-Halen** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 12:15 pm

Thanks for the welcome! I've been wanting to get in to recording. Problem for me is my PC is two floors upstairs in my office and my rig is all the way down in the basement 'studio.'

I'll elaborate a little more on my Fair Warning tone theory. I'm basing this off trying to cut through all the BS and look at the core of what he said that remained consistent. Where I think that nugget of truth always was right there, but hidden under misdirection to keep his peers guessing:

VH1 timeframe - I think he was using a PAF pickup that we now know as the Duncan EVH or 78 model with an MXR eq slightly boosting the front of his Variac'd Plexi slaved into another for overall volume control.
By VHII on to WACF and Fair Warning, he started experimenting with higher output pickups to comp for the Floyd prototypes and found that 13.5k-14k ohm pickups got him to the same gain level and tone as the PAF with the EQ. I think everything else in his setup remained fairly consistent. In fact, as far as pickups go, every pickup that is confirmed he used, or even rumored to be a part-time user of since the PAF/Duncan 78 falls right in with a 13.5k - 14k ohm output level. Everything from the Dimarzio Super Distortions to the Custom Custom, the Music Man super-secret Dimarzio pickup, the Wolfgang and now the EVH Frankenstein all measure out to this output level. (A quick tangent theory - I wonder if he didn't take a Duncan '59 with the Alnico V mags, over wind it to about 14k, use it in the 5150 Kramer and that became the basis for the Dimarzio bridge pickup in the Music Man?)

Anyway, back to the Fair Warning tone, actually for everything post VH1 up to 5150 was the combination of his tried and true Variac'd-Marshall which gave the amp the unique gain and tone, slaved to another Marshall for better master volume control while using pickups around 14K with either A2 or even some A5 magnets. I also think along with his aggressive pissed off playing of those darker, meaner chord and riff choices from that album that makes the overall tone a little different. Then, of course, the fact that it was recorded at a differenct time period under different ambient conditons than the other early albums.

When I run my setup using the same basic equation, the Hot Plate takes the place of the dummy load and the slaved head.

Again, don't take any of this as gospel. It's just theories that I came up with in years of learning and chasing that tone myself. Hell, there may already be a similar post buried way down in the forum stating the same things, but this slow new kid (i.e me!) missed it. What ever the case, it’s sure fun to speculate on. I'm sure you guys can easily relate!

Best,
-Kevin

jnewlyn · Post by **jnewlyn** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 11:51 pm

There is logic to it.

uiovbged332 · Post by **uiovbged332** » Wed Jul 06, 2022 3:47 pm

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