Gear used for VH I / II - low volume setup

[Fragle]

hi all

1.) can anyone give me (detailed) information on the gear used for the first two van halen albums? i know its like modified strat into old marshall but i dont know which exact guitar model (and which modifications other than a bridge humbucker (which one? i've heard he used a gibson paf?) and which marshall model etc.

2)now its getting unrealistic, but is it possible to get a sound at least similar to this one without going deaf? [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] i'm not really talking about bedroom volume, but not stage volume, too.
i live in a single family home so it can be louder than bedroom volume but without having my neighbours knocking at my door (or even police [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] ).

greets and thanks in advance

[quiksilver]

Re: Gear used for VH I / II - low volume setup

Others will give you better info than I can about Eddie's early setup, but my understanding is a "Plexi" Marshall running at a lower voltage, courtesy of a "Variac," together with an EchoPlex, MXR Phase 90, and an MXR 117A Flanger.

For a dirt cheap, low-volume rig, I recommend a Kramer Focus 1000 (Japanese-made Baretta w/OFR), usually available on ebay for around $150. Add a Seymour Duncan Custom Custom bridge pickup, for about $75.

Amp-wise, try the Behringer V-Amp. It has some nice early VH sims. I have the V-Amp Pro, which is cheap at $199, but the recently released "X V-Amp" footswitch model is only $69! This is a modeling rig, so it sounds fine at low volume. In fact, headphones are a very real option.

If you want to spend a bit more, you could get a new Kramer 1984 guitar from MusicYo for $699 and spring for a Pod XT, which, I am told (I have no experience with this) has a VH sim that is complete with Variax modeling.

[Fragle]

Re: Gear used for VH I / II - low volume setup

thanks for the reply

well, i fooled around with the xt some time ago and to be serious i wasnt *THAT* impressed with the variac'd marshall.
furthermore, what i dont like when it comes to modeling is the lack of dynamics. tubes (or analog signal paths in general) just seem to pick up more nuances of your playing than the more compressed feeling modellers.

well, the variac is another story...afaik its not very healthy for your amp if you use one [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] so is it possible to get that variac'd marshall sound out of another amp (maybe a later marshall with more gain? or a plexi with some booster (dod 250, or maybe a treblebooster (iommi [img]graemlins/headbang.gif[/img] ) )?

greets
fragle

[RacerX]

Re: Gear used for VH I / II - low volume setup

Are you joining/forming a VH tribute band?

[Fragle]

Re: Gear used for VH I / II - low volume setup

Originally posted by RacerX:
Are you joining/forming a VH tribute band?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">unfortunately, no [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] i'd love to have a vh tribute band, but it seems that nobody around here likes van halen [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

its just that i always liked the sound of those two records, and since my rocktron preamp covers most other sounds (still looking for a patch reminiscent of the 5150 amps) but seems to be unable to produce a sound like vh i'm looking for another solution - and to be honest i'm still looking for a poweramp for this preamp, so buying an amp that sounds similar to vh by itself and that can also be used as a poweramp for my rocktron (the old fx return solution [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] ) would be the perfect solution [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

what about some all tube combo like the dsl 401, the peavey classic 30 (or 50) or maybe even the hughes & kettner edition tube? those babies can get quite loud when used with an extension cab, so volume limitation shouldnt be an issue with them, and by themselves they have just the right volume for my needs (at least at the moment [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] )


greets
fragle

[DerekB]

Re: Gear used for VH I / II - low volume setup

Originally posted by quiksilver:
Others will give you better info than I can about Eddie's early setup, but my understanding is a "Plexi" Marshall running at a lower voltage, courtesy of a "Variac," together with an EchoPlex, MXR Phase 90, and an MXR 117A Flanger.

For a dirt cheap, low-volume rig, I recommend a Kramer Focus 1000 (Japanese-made Baretta w/OFR), usually available on ebay for around $150. Add a Seymour Duncan Custom Custom bridge pickup, for about $75.

Amp-wise, try the Behringer V-Amp. It has some nice early VH sims. I have the V-Amp Pro, which is cheap at $199, but the recently released "X V-Amp" footswitch model is only $69! This is a modeling rig, so it sounds fine at low volume. In fact, headphones are a very real option.

If you want to spend a bit more, you could get a new Kramer 1984 guitar from MusicYo for $699 and spring for a Pod XT, which, I am told (I have no experience with this) has a VH sim that is complete with Variax modeling.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Heres an Expensive way to go about it but IMO you won't get any closer then what these amp's have to offer.
www.mojaveampworks.comYou'll definitely have to use an Attenuator as well.

Derek