Ed's 1978 touring rig.

[ROBIN L.]

Oh that's cool.
I never met him unfortunatly.
Then that "load box" you have should be similar to the ones he made for Ed.
Ever thought of manufacturing it ?

No, Im not here to make money off this info....I build amps. Ive givein this info out for years way before this forum.....you can lead a horse to water but....

Me neither, I just want to share what I know.
I feel sorry for the way you were treated.
I got a taste of that too when I started posting !
Well now it' up to anyone to try for themselves and make up their mind.

I understand you got to peak inside Ed's main plexi (seeing that pic you posted).
What year was that ?
Have you ever tought of making a diagram of the circuit available for everyone on the forum ?
That would be a cool addition to what's already posted on here.

[ROBIN L.]

Robin! Just for completeness. Please post string gauges as well!

Fender strings 0.09-0.40

[spaceace76]

"capacitors" & "sticks of dynamite" = the cap for the master volume.

Yes that was for the master volume.
For some reason (I'm not a tech), it would cause OT failure quite often.

Jose's grounding was the problem I would guess..I have had to fix this stuff when fixing old Jose mods

I've read in a few places that using a variac can actually cause all sorts of problems, including blown OT's.
(scroll down to the picture of a variac)
http://tone-lizard.com/Marshall_Myths.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Man that guy sounds bitter
It seems like the use of the the variac and the fact that Ed had the variac'ed marshall dimed for at least one show a night probably led to lots of blown OT's and, depending on the voltage he set it to, blown tubes.

[ROBIN L.]

I've read in a few places that using a variac can actually cause all sorts of problems, including blown OT's.
(scroll down to the picture of a variac)
http://tone-lizard.com/Marshall_Myths.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Man that guy sounds bitter
It seems like the use of the the variac and the fact that Ed had the variac'ed marshall dimed for at least one show a night probably led to lots of blown OT's and, depending on the voltage he set it to, blown tubes.[/quote]

Well these are extreme conditions with both volumes dimed.
But the variac was used to lower the input voltage down by some 20 volts, so I assume it made it easier on the poor amp ...

[MarkCameron]

Oh that's cool.
I never met him unfortunatly.
Then that "load box" you have should be similar to the ones he made for Ed.
Ever thought of manufacturing it ?

No, Im not here to make money off this info....I build amps. Ive givein this info out for years way before this forum.....you can lead a horse to water but....

Me neither, I just want to share what I know.
I feel sorry for the way you were treated.
I got a taste of that too when I started posting !
Well now it' up to anyone to try for themselves and make up their mind.

I understand you got to peak inside Ed's main plexi (seeing that pic you posted).
What year was that ?
Have you ever tought of making a diagram of the circuit available for everyone on the forum ?
That would be a cool addition to what's already posted on here.

Its nothing special...Its just a later brighter 74 style circuit in there....not the 68 circuit. The transformers are ...or where....mid 70s too

[vh junkie]

OK! Strings 9-40 fenders! I know a lot of this has been posted before... but seeing how a lot of it was wrong, I just wanna be complete... springs in the back... what do you remember about those? Tremolo setup? I used to hear people back in the day say "closes like a garage door"... but the common setup has some float...

... no agenda here by me... I'm on board!

[spaceace76]

OK! Strings 9-40 fenders! I know a lot of this has been posted before... but seeing how a lot of it was wrong, I just wanna be complete... springs in the back... what do you remember about those? Tremolo setup? I used to hear people back in the day say "closes like a garage door"... but the common setup has some float...

... no agenda here by me... I'm on board!

this often cited photo might have what you're looking for
http://wwwc.dcns.ne.jp/~epi/pedalboard23jul1978.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

looks like standard three springs, screwed up almost all the way. this setup doesn't have much float, especially with 9's.

[IloveMyMarshall]

The pedalboard and effects chain:

Ed used this crappy plywood pedalboard for his effects pedals.
The 2 Maestro Echoplexes were sitting next to the amps on ED's side of the stage, but their footswitches were located next to the plywood board.
The Univox was shelved in a real WWII bomb standing to the right of Ed's cabs.
It was just unbelievable you know, those were really the good 'ol days.
On the board, Ed's guitar would hit the MXR Flanger, then the MXR Phase 90.
From the ouput of the phase 90, a long cable would then reach the 2 echoplexes (wired in series).
After the echoplexes, another long cable would go back to the stage pedalboard to the input of BOX 1, then out to the input of BOX 2.
Yet another long cable would connect the ouput of BOX 2 to a "Y"-type splitter , and then hit the top left inputs of the main plexi and its smallbox backup.
BOX 1 and 2 were loopers for the MXR 6bandEQ 's Ed was using to boost his signal prior to hitting the plexi.
Most of the time, Box2 was not used, but from time to time he would have a second MXR EQ on his board.
The MXR EQ's were replaced by The Boss EQ's in the summer after the japanese leg of the tour.
Btw, Ed was not using a wireless yet in 1978.
The MXR pedals were stock script logo pedals.
In the early 80's, Ed had them overlooked by Jose to reduce unwanted noise (shielding and replacing cheap components with better ones).

The main plexi and his backup were loaded and the line level signal was fed to the univox before it was slaved to the superleads and out to the cabs.

It looks like he's bypassing the Flanger and Phase and going straight into the 1 box where the blue MXR EQ usually goes when it's connected.

Lead Robin Markc anyone

What was the purpose of the homemade loops? If Ed went guitar flange,90,eplex,eplex,thats the part Im trying to wrap my small brain around anyone? Somtimes box II not in use like you said he didnt want to use the mxr/boss ect. However, he went Guitar Flanger,90 echo,echo, sorry about the stupid ?

[MarkCameron]

The pedalboard and effects chain:

Ed used this crappy plywood pedalboard for his effects pedals.
The 2 Maestro Echoplexes were sitting next to the amps on ED's side of the stage, but their footswitches were located next to the plywood board.
The Univox was shelved in a real WWII bomb standing to the right of Ed's cabs.
It was just unbelievable you know, those were really the good 'ol days.
On the board, Ed's guitar would hit the MXR Flanger, then the MXR Phase 90.
From the ouput of the phase 90, a long cable would then reach the 2 echoplexes (wired in series).
After the echoplexes, another long cable would go back to the stage pedalboard to the input of BOX 1, then out to the input of BOX 2.
Yet another long cable would connect the ouput of BOX 2 to a "Y"-type splitter , and then hit the top left inputs of the main plexi and its smallbox backup.
BOX 1 and 2 were loopers for the MXR 6bandEQ 's Ed was using to boost his signal prior to hitting the plexi.
Most of the time, Box2 was not used, but from time to time he would have a second MXR EQ on his board.
The MXR EQ's were replaced by The Boss EQ's in the summer after the japanese leg of the tour.
Btw, Ed was not using a wireless yet in 1978.
The MXR pedals were stock script logo pedals.
In the early 80's, Ed had them overlooked by Jose to reduce unwanted noise (shielding and replacing cheap components with better ones).

The main plexi and his backup were loaded and the line level signal was fed to the univox before it was slaved to the superleads and out to the cabs.

It looks like he's bypassing the Flanger and Phase and going straight into the 1 box where the blue MXR EQ usually goes when it's connected.

Lead Robin Markc anyone

What was the purpose of the homemade loops? If Ed went guitar flange,90,eplex,eplex,thats the part Im trying to wrap my small brain around anyone? Somtimes box II not in use like you said he didnt want to use the mxr/boss ect. However, he went Guitar Flanger,90 echo,echo, sorry about the stupid ?

The EQ has no bypass......don't over think this....that been the problem with this discussion for the last 4 years

[MarkCameron]

OK! Strings 9-40 fenders! I know a lot of this has been posted before... but seeing how a lot of it was wrong, I just wanna be complete... springs in the back... what do you remember about those? Tremolo setup? I used to hear people back in the day say "closes like a garage door"... but the common setup has some float...

... no agenda here by me... I'm on board!

this often cited photo might have what you're looking for
http://wwwc.dcns.ne.jp/~epi/pedalboard23jul1978.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

looks like standard three springs, screwed up almost all the way. this setup doesn't have much float, especially with 9's.

No floating..it sounds better tight to the body

[spaceace76]

What was the purpose of the homemade loops? If Ed went guitar flange,90,eplex,eplex,thats the part Im trying to wrap my small brain around anyone? Somtimes box II not in use like you said he didnt want to use the mxr/boss ect. However, he went Guitar Flanger,90 echo,echo, sorry about the stupid ?

The loops just bypassed the MXR Eq's. They didn't have a stomp switch back then, and since they boost about +18dB, you'd probably build a looper for them too! I believe that the loopers were used with the Boss Eq as well, since it didn't have a dedicated stomp switch either, just the remote switch jack. Easier to use the same loop with either EQ than use one for MXR and another for Boss.

[spaceace76]

OK! Strings 9-40 fenders! I know a lot of this has been posted before... but seeing how a lot of it was wrong, I just wanna be complete... springs in the back... what do you remember about those? Tremolo setup? I used to hear people back in the day say "closes like a garage door"... but the common setup has some float...

... no agenda here by me... I'm on board!

this often cited photo might have what you're looking for
http://wwwc.dcns.ne.jp/~epi/pedalboard23jul1978.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

looks like standard three springs, screwed up almost all the way. this setup doesn't have much float, especially with 9's.

No floating..it sounds better tight to the body

Exactly. I think there's an interview where Ed said he set up his strat with the bridge right up against the body. It sounds great and helps with trem tuning stability.

[papawoofer]

And contrary to what Mark might think I would say here , for the time that was genius. A great idea to tame the monster but preserve the tone. everybody was ALWAYS being told to turn down then.

For the record there were a few guys in my neighborhood who were on a similar track in the mid 70's. We discovered we could plug into an Earth PA head, dime the channel volume and use the master for overall volume to get "that sound". Who knew WTF "tone" was??? Then we found out if we used an ElectroHarmonix LPB-1 Booster in front we could really make it sing.

Hmmm, slamming the front end with a booster and controlling the overall volume with a master...we were breaking ground and didn't even know it!!

+1!!!! its cool to see the evolution of one of the best tones ever and alot of it was due to necessity

[MXR117]

Robin,

two delays for Ain`t talkin about Love?
Intro 300 ms and 110 ms? verse an Chorus 300 ms?

Thanks a lot!
MXR

[MarkCameron]

And contrary to what Mark might think I would say here , for the time that was genius. A great idea to tame the monster but preserve the tone. everybody was ALWAYS being told to turn down then.

For the record there were a few guys in my neighborhood who were on a similar track in the mid 70's. We discovered we could plug into an Earth PA head, dime the channel volume and use the master for overall volume to get "that sound". Who knew WTF "tone" was??? Then we found out if we used an ElectroHarmonix LPB-1 Booster in front we could really make it sing.

Hmmm, slamming the front end with a booster and controlling the overall volume with a master...we were breaking ground and didn't even know it!!

+1!!!! its cool to see the evolution of one of the best tones ever and alot of it was due to necessity

None of this was new or strange to me...it was very simple....alot of guys I knew did this stuff. But this is the stuff that I was into and doing in 82 for friends and bands I worked for.... BUT Eds playin.....thats the big thing...this stuff is just the iceing on the cake