Ed's unbelievable: a true prodigy and genius. It's great to see him healthy now and touring again.
An update on the SL68. I think this will address the whole brightness issue somewhat.
Here's what Pete Thorn wrote over on TGP about this. Maybe, if we're lucky, he'll chime in over here.
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showpo ... tcount=101" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"re: bright cap- on my SL68 I had a bright cap originally but
it made the amp too damn bright and aggressive in the 1st 1/2 of the sweep of the volume pot, it makes the gain come on too fast. I removed it and voila it is pretty much perfect now. I might want to try one again as it is maybe a tad dark with humbuckers, I'd like a bit more bite when the amp is anywhere from 0-7 on the volume. Turned up all the way, of course, the bright cap is not really heard anymore anyway."
This is what Pete said about the SL68 on 5-30-2013.
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showpo ... tcount=119" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"I think the bright cap is what comes in the SL68's now, we worked on it a bit to make sure it was smooth and useable through the sweep of the volume. The amp sounds great with no bright cap as well- i used it like that for awhile."
This amp is great, not only because it is an ideal clone of the Marshall, but also that it is offering the same problems for it's owners as the '68 Marshall SL. The big difference is now we have a session musician and John Suhr addressing the issues and sharing it with us.
We know EVH must have had the same issues with brightness. That's why he cranked his volume to take the bright cap out of the loop and either used the Variac as a master volume to tame the amp's loudness or slaved his setup using a power amp. Regardless of his stage setup, we know that he used the lead channel and that the brightness was crucial for him to maintain his sound.