Is this the lone tweak of Ed's plexi?

[Thorny]

Rgorke,if the sound is not there after all the so-called items ED used then there has to be something else plain and simple.Im sure there are many that have been though this,you cant believe everthing you read.

[efraser68]

We've all heard the "BLACK PAGE PRODUCTION" clips of RWTD without the Sunset Verb. Strat78's, YMI5150?, and Ralle's plexi's have gain part covered and voicing as well.

[Good Guest]

Well that is fishy how we all KNOW there was a knob or switch at the back of that amp and the only solder joints that were disturbed were the fat cap and the transformer..extremely fishy as that pot is placed exactly where you would expect it for a preamp mod of some kind and way to far away from the power section to drape wires ala piss poor lead dress for a power amp mod.

That knob or switch has never been addressed properly by anyone except Mark C. and I believe he said it was a jose master volume mod...something does not add up and if that is the case then ..even a hum balance control rolling off the tongues of the amp guru's would be sufficient explanation.

Whatever it is, it went the way of the dodo bird when Ed started getting into multi stage high gain melt yer preamp face off into oblivian amp designs...just saying. Jury still out...no aquital yet

Someone once had a pic of a overdrive installed into an amp ...that would be the spot to put it and have a volume too and it would fit with peoples "little devil" and other remarks about Ed's amp tricks of the past...that would be an excellant experiment to try at a mixer stage no question...there is just so many things that control could be...

[Good Guest]

Rgorke,if the sound is not there after all the so-called items ED used then there has to be something else plain and simple.Im sure there are many that have been though this,you cant believe everthing you read.

Honestly, I don't just believe things I have read. It is what I have heard on this forum (in terms of clips) and what others have posted vis a vis Youtube (Pete Thorn, etc.).

There are important things on VH1, IMHO, that set it apart. The biggest aspect is that VH1 was recorded in Sunset Studio 1 and the remaining albums at Sunset 2 or 5150. Sunset 1 has the reverb room that Sunset 2 does not. Any additional gain or what have you, I believe is due to the reamping process to get that reverb and other recording techiniques.

To get the exact VH1 tone is impossible with out that studio, NOT merely because some believe that there is a mystery stompbox or distortion pedal.

Finally, IF there were such a contraption, Ed would have marketed it long ago. That would be an easy way to make money rather than deal with developing an amp, etc.

The statements like Ed was lying, there HAS to be a box of some sort, so and so told me this or that, is just frankly, old.

Believe what you want but to say people have not achieved Ed's original tone is just wrong.

No you hear it live also.....listen to those old live clips of Ed's eruption especially....you can clearly hear the vh1 magic box...or million dollar amp mod... no question a DSD and Ralle, the suhr amp, metro 12's and others get close enough to absolutely say he used this era marshall on 10 for sure ..it's the only way they get close ...and I totally agree it's a great distortion and tone on 10 that easily pokes fun at anything that you might throw at it....including a DSD....in other words the same effect you get from using a DSD you can get from other things too and a distortion box of some kind would add the color missing in edge and gain, and harmonic rich distortion more so than a DSD would and then some....

People have gone DSD mad cause they find out if you put your marshall on 10 and use a super high output distortion pickup you get ball park tones ....yeahhh..you need to goose that mutha If anything it says a distortion box of some kind is required especially if what Ed says is true about NOT using high output melt yer preamp tubes off pickups ..go and re read all the things Ed says about pickups ..he uses old pafs and low output pickups and furthur warns how guitarists think high output pickups are the way to go and how they are WRONG....saying that The sh 5 is a high output and I love it to death for vh but I still think a box is used also.

[vanhalen5150]

I just want to know whats keeping that extra tube socket cover plate on.

[Thorny]

Rgorke,if the sound is not there after all the so-called items ED used then there has to be something else plain and simple.Im sure there are many that have been though this,you cant believe everthing you read.

Honestly, I don't just believe things I have read. It is what I have heard on this forum (in terms of clips) and what others have posted vis a vis Youtube (Pete Thorn, etc.).

There are important things on VH1, IMHO, that set it apart. The biggest aspect is that VH1 was recorded in Sunset Studio 1 and the remaining albums at Sunset 2 or 5150. Sunset 1 has the reverb room that Sunset 2 does not. Any additional gain or what have you, I believe is due to the reamping process to get that reverb and other recording techiniques.

To get the exact VH1 tone is impossible with out that studio, NOT merely because some believe that there is a mystery stompbox or distortion pedal.
Finally, IF there were such a contraption, Ed would have marketed it long ago. That would be an easy way to make money rather than deal with developing an amp, etc.

The statements like Ed was lying, there HAS to be a box of some sort, so and so told me this or that, is just frankly, old.

Believe what you want but to say people have not achieved Ed's original tone is just wrong.

No you hear it live also.....listen to those old live clips of Ed's eruption especially....you can clearly hear the vh1 magic box...or million dollar amp mod... no question a DSD and Ralle, the suhr amp, metro 12's and others get close enough to absolutely say he used this era marshall on 10 for sure ..it's the only way they get close ...and I totally agree it's a great distortion and tone on 10 that easily pokes fun at anything that you might throw at it....including a DSD....in other words the same effect you get from using a DSD you can get from other things too and a distortion box of some kind would add the color missing in edge and gain, and harmonic rich distortion more so than a DSD would and then some....

People have gone DSD mad cause they find out if you put your marshall on 10 and use a super high output distortion pickup you get ball park tones ....yeahhh..you need to goose that mutha If anything it says a distortion box of some kind is required especially if what Ed says is true about NOT using high output melt yer preamp tubes off pickups ..go and re read all the things Ed says about pickups ..he uses old pafs and low output pickups and furthur warns how guitarists think high output pickups are the way to go and how they are WRONG....saying that The sh 5 is a high output and I love it to death for vh but I still think a box is used also.

Dime a plexi and play the RWTD riff. When you hammer on the chords in the riff it will sound musical and clear. Put a pedal on that and youll never get it to sound right.

[YMI5150?]

+1 on no mystery box required. I'm actually trying to figure out how to get rid of some distortion and tighten what gain I have, especially with the EP3 in the mix.

I put a 33uf "fat cap" on last night in place of the .68 and the results were interesting. with the .68 I have to rely on my tone knob to cool the DSD down. with the fat cap, I had to crank it to get a clear top end.

[stef]

Dime a plexi and play the RWTD riff. When you hammer on the chords in the riff it will sound musical and clear. Put a pedal on that and youll never get it to sound right.

I play with everything on 10 and have tried some pedals in front: bsm, dod250, ds1, rat, maxon 808...tweaking the pedals etc... Maxon sounded the best but more Lynch and RAT like than evh... If he did use the od- boost pedal then volume I was not on 10 IMO. Strat78 and Ralle and Thorn proved that plexi (12000) on 10 is enough
Put the blue mxr eq in front of the 12000 and it goes even beyond the gain levels on Vh1 with a 13k ceramic pup in the guitar (with the enormous hiss too)

[rgorke]

I would say that IF the MXR EQ counts as a "distortion box" that is it. I can get similar tones with a SD '59 (PAF) and the MXR versus a MM 1300 or a Dimarzio Super Distortion.

Also, IF there were a Master Volume vis a vis the white knob, that would not touch the preamp solder joints, right? So where there was a "mod" would be in the power section where it has been stipulated that work had been done with replacing transformers.

Bottom line, are people getting tones that they like and sound killer? Does a 12000 dimed or Mod 5 or cascade preamp get you tone that you like and makes you want to play your guitar? Then Ed has done us a tremendous service by his playing and tone to make us chase it. Does it matter if someone hit Ed's tone dead on or HOW he got it? NO!!! Thousands of amps sound fantastic because of this voyage.

And, we lost a great friend and colleague fighting for our right to disagree and have the freedoms we have.

[Sparky4444]

The more I listen to VH1, the more it sounds to me like there is a boost pedal in front...the extra gain I hear doesn't sound like typical tube preamp gain staging to me, but more artificial...after VH1, my guess is that with the extra resources at his disposal, the amps were modded and this boost pedal was removed from the chain, or either incorporated into the circuit somehow...VHII and up to Fair Warning, we all know the tone is more girthy, something I'd expect from tube gain staging...

...I played around with the mxr distortion III for a while...I can see something like that pushing enough front end to get that kinda of sound...

[Thorny]

Sorry man its just not a high gain tone at all. It's perceived gain vs Real World gain. It's a big beautiful musical aggressive OPEN tone... A plexi can go from perfectly clean to Ac/dc with no change on the vol knob all by how hard you pick. Turn it up to 10 and it's an incredibly musical aggressive tone with gobs of sustain but it stays MUSICAL!

[Thorny]

A mesa boogie dual Rectumfrier, now that is a high gain amp..

[Thorny]

As for the difference in VH 1 and 2, I hear lower output pickup and a different reverb. The guitar sound is less processed and sounds"closer". Anyone agree?

[rdodson]

Seriously? This again?

*sigh*

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But the level of mysticism combined with conspiracy that must be involved in order to still chase this after Pete posted his clip of the Suhr SL68 is mind blowing.

But that is what makes the forum fun, and gives folks the drive to find the truth.

I'm just saying the truth has been found.

[MrBeasty]

As anyone ever tried to mess with a UA 1176 to add distortion?