Ate dinner with Ed's Tech in Denver last night

[T.J.Fuller]

Hey guys I haven't been on here for a long while, reason being, I moved to Denver about a year ago.

but, I see some of the regular's still hanging around !!

But, with that said

VH is Playing Red Rocks tonight and I had some musician friends fly in, to spend the weekend and to all hit the show.

One of my good friend's from Columbus Ohio knows Ed's guitar tech for the tour and we got to hang out last night and discuss all things EVH.

His name is Tom Webber and he was very down to earth and had a lot of knowledge - absolutely a great guy.

I will see him again sometime later today - so if you guy's have some questions you are dying to know
post them and I will see what he says.

One of the things he was very dead set about
was Ed being able to hear and know when the amps need the bias tweaked
just by listening and throwing him that look. lol

He says he knows from the look -- time to crank the bias.


Reminds me of the Eric Johnson story of Eric being able to discern what type of battery is in a particular pedal !!

[JimiJames]

[white noise]

Tom is supposed to be a great guy.

I would ask what settings he is using for both of the sde3000's and the pcm 70.
Also what guage string he is using for his low E (40 or 42).

[Santino]

Ed's been using 009"-042" since the '90s. Maybe even the very late '80s. Not sure exactly when he made the switch.

Very cool of you to offer to ask our questions and thank you! I'd like to know what new pedals Ed is working on. I'm betting delay. Chorus and octave are good guesses too.

Most importantly, the new el34 amp. I hear he has the prototype with him on the road. Is he using it live and how does it really compare to his old Marshall? Oh, and does the new white Wolfgang have the Stealth black paint under the white? What's the story there? I could go on all day!

[rgorke]

1) this tours tone seems much much better, is it from the adjustable resonance mods to his 5153 amps (see below) or something else?
2) is he using that modded amp or is he using the Stealth or is he using the new EL34 based amp?

You can also see the external bias points in the picture as well.

[T.J.Fuller]

hey roger how is it going ?

Since I had just met him last night , I went easy on the 100 questions but, you know I have same questions you guy's have

So my friends ( rick and steve ) that were there last night with me -- Had went to Tom's warehouse / shop in Cincinnati
before the tour started , so man wish they knew to ask those SDE3000 / PCM70 questions then.. lol

Ed's is using new amp and other than bias adjustments he was adamant that is stock, and I believe him.

he did say they were trying out different tubes earlier and were blowing tubes a lot

he was concerned about that but, it ended up being issues with the tubes NOT the amp or amps.

so even stock tubes being used but, he tweeked out my friend's 5153 amp down in Cincy

and said he would go thru tubes more often but, again these adjustments were just higher bias.

he said he was concerned for Angus Young's hearing on, on a completely other note , he said that Angus live rig was most brutal sound he had heard on stage. LOL

[Santino]

Ed's been using the Stealth heads since the 2012 tour. I keep saying it's all mic placement and whatever was used to record them. He does not sound like Tokyo Dome in person!

And as for the strings he switched to Peavey Wolfgang strings probably when he designed the Wolfgang around 1996. That's when he switched to .042" for his low E. Why the EVH gear site says .046 in some places I don't know. That's a good question!

[T.J.Fuller]

It was raining at red rocks yesterday around sound check --- so didn't go.

But, Ed's Tech texted us after the show to ask what we thought

I made sure to ask via text about Ed's string gauge -- and it is confirmed .009s with 42 for the low E not .40

Might as well take a second to give a review of last night

everyone was a little fearful show might be canceled ---- when VH hit the stage , it think they blew the rain clouds out of the area.

I tell you just last week I saw Rush at Pepsi center in Denver -- and that show simply amazing !!!

so I was looking to see if VH could bring it like Rush

This show fucking rocked guys !!!! the sound was frikkin amazing and I mean amazing back up vocals , Ed's Guitar tone
soooooooo much better it was insanely good, Alex's drums just sounded incredible

and when Roth stayed in the lower vocal register's --- They just ruled

So anyone doubting the tour --- just go - you wont be sorry
youtube does not do their sound any justice at all.

Songs that were amazing were

light up the sky
drop dead legs
beautiful girls
women in love
dirty movies -- blew me away!! awesome!

Roth sang these songs so spot on - it was great !

[Megaro]

I was at the soundcheck at Red Rocks. The ticket says rain or shine for a reason ! The stage was so slippery at one point during soundcheck that Ed almost slipped while moving back from his pedal board. Even though they were still getting some rain even under the stage canopy, they played the full soundcheck. Ed was just smiling away.

We saw them unload before the show at the Trading Post where they back up the buses before moving them up the hill to the amphitheater. Ed was the second person off the tour bus. That also said a lot to me. He is one quick dude for 60.

Soundcheck was great. They let you move right up to the railing, so I camped out nearest to where I could watch Ed's hands. He plays drop dead legs just as tabbed out in the thread that is posted in this subforum. It was really a treat to watch him play. He was very relaxed and his playing technique was effortless. I about flipped when he took out what looked to be a dead nuts stock EVH circles guitar and played it for I'll Wait. He has a great rhythm line under the keyboards.

[T.J.Fuller]

awesome - would've liked to meet up for soundcheck but, didn't work that day for us

Tom said Ed has 4 guitars for the tour

Relic'd white one

a relic'd red one

Crop circle guitar ala I'll Wait.

and he also has a Star Guitar for tour ( don't know if he has pulled that one out yet )

using 3 stealth heads / 3 bottom cabinets

[Sean_McFly]

This info is getting my super pumped to see them August 13th!!!! I can't wait to hear Light Up The Sky
I wonder what the star guitar is? Maybe he'll break it out by August

[vanhalen5150]

Aug 7th in Toronto for me.

[JohnnyGtar]

Ed's is using new amp and other than bias adjustments he was adamant that is stock, and I believe him.

Hi T.J.,

Forgive me if I sound dense by asking this, but when you say Ed's using the new amp, are you referring to the not-yet-released EL-34 based one that is supposed to nail the old tone?

If that's what he's using, I'm sold, because his tones are SICK on this tour. Thank you!

[Blix]

Ed's is using new amp and other than bias adjustments he was adamant that is stock, and I believe him.

Hi T.J.,

Forgive me if I sound dense by asking this, but when you say Ed's using the new amp, are you referring to the not-yet-released EL-34 based one that is supposed to nail the old tone?

If that's what he's using, I'm sold, because his tones are SICK on this tour. Thank you!

As I understand it he means a new stock Stealth.

They must have changed something compared to the previous tour, how they miked it or different settings or something, because it surely doesn't sound the same.

[T.J.Fuller]

no it is definitely Stealth head for sure ---

Tom said there is still R&D going on with the EL-34 head
he didn't elaborate much on that because he mentioned that being more of Matty ( Matt Bruck )and Ed's thing
I guess they really run the EVH brand.

confirmed 3 stealth heads being used -- and hotter bias being the key ingredient to the tone on tour.

I would describe the live tone this way --- the VH2 tone on steroids.

maybe that is why I was really blown away by beautiful girls , women in love --- live

and DDL and Dirty Movies ....wow.....couldn't wipe smile from my face.