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...like his old slapped together Frankenstrat and Marshall, he'd sound like he did on the first coupla albums? Was listening to VH3 and then their debut, and the tone changes remarkably (I knew it had changed, but not THAT much...)

No, he plays different now. New recorders, new mics, different rooms, different producers. And any other variable you can think of.

I think he could but probably wouldn't. In addition to the factors RA mentions, I suspect that he's lost some high end on his hearing so he doesn't hear things the same. I'm guessing that's one reason why the guy who invented the brown sound doesn't sound so brown anymore.


Originally Posted by Reckless AbandonNo, he plays different now. New recorders, new mics, different rooms, different producers. And any other variable you can think of.

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He is in a different state of mind, so he wouldnt sound the same. But his style has pretty much been the same during the years and is easily recognised anyway.

If he plugged in all the classic VH era gear, had Ted Templeman at the board, and wrote some slammin new tunes, I think he'd be pretty close to sounding like he did.

However, he's not the same guy he was in his mid 20's, and there's nothing anyone can do to put him back in that unique place. I think he's realized much of the criticism, which is why he's come back with the frankenstrats.......but he needs to be dealing with Bogner or Marshall, not Crate or Peavey.

For those that don't know, Reinholdt Bogner was the guy who Eddie trusted to rebuilt his old Marshalls from the VHI and II era.

Actually quot;the brown soundquot; was at first a reference to Alex's snare drum...which was more quot;tonkquot; instead of quot;bap-shh.quot;

After the first VH album, Eddie never went back to the same tone ever again. Van Halen II, Women and Children, Fair Warning, Diver Down, 1984 and so forth, all have different tones. Some people might think VH I and VH II's tone were the same, well, because it's Eddie playing, but listen again.


Originally Posted by SlyFoxxActually quot;the brown soundquot; was at first a reference to Alex's snare drum...which was more quot;tonkquot; instead of quot;bap-shh.quot;

Alex's snare sound has always struck me as being real different than most but I kinda like it! It grows on you after a while.

Edward has matured musically (those are basically his words) so he wouldn't play like he used to. He focuses on the music now, not just how many notes he can fit into a certain amount of time. But quot;couldquot; he? Probably. He's still got chops most people would kill for.

His playing these days on that last tour was not that great for Ed Standards... I bought an unoffical DVD of the show i went to and when you sit down and watch his guitar solo it is so low compaired to his glory solos of the past.... But that being said i'm just glad he is working and playing.

I think being young and wild like they were in the late 70's had a lot to do with the way they played and wrote their music... They have changed, the world has changed...... Those albums are a great moment in time. I really enjoy some of their early demos i have heard. The 1976 Gene Simmons demos are amazing! The original version of House Of Pain is on that demo.... What a lot of Fans do not know is a lot of the tunes on the 6 Roth era albums were written in part before 1978... They re-worked their demos and changed stuff but there is tunes like Voodoo Queen that turned into Mean Street and stuff like that. There was a Riff on their pre-signed 1978 demos that ended up on Balance in 1995. Those early and young years of Van Halens club days was were the best stuff came from! Sure they wrote stuff for albums along the way too, but all the classic stuff was there in the beginning on their 40 or so demos. Some of the tunes they did live pre-VH 1 and stuff on their demos that were never released are so killer they should re-record them now and kick some ass. Just because they are old demos does not mean they don't kick butt by todays standards!

Ed's tone back in the Roth era was so much cleaner then his extremely high gain tone of the last 15 years... His Marshall years were cleaner and brighter sounding.

As much as i love the early VH i just like to see them working in any shape or forum..... Such a waste of talent when they have to take a period of time away. But everyone needs to take care of themselfs too so i guess the rest from touring helped Ed look after all the junk had in his life going on at home and his health. Hope they come back with another album soon.

WhoFan

I just bought some GT6CA7 tubes ( Van Halen 1 amp; 2) I should pick the Dual rectifier up tomorrow. I wonder how much the difference is in the tubes? I know the Mesa is not a Marshall but curious to see how close it comes to early VH. Has anyone else used these tubes? I bought a set of EH6CA7 tubes rated the same to compare and cant wait to hear the differences. I will sell the quad of 6CA7s I dont end up with along with a 1 month old (20 hrs) svetlana EL34 tubes as well if anyone is interested.

I agree with gearjoneser that his producer's seem to make or break his song structure amp; guitar tone. ED, GET YOURSELF A GOOD PRODUCER!!!!!!!!!!!!

The lack of a quality producer on VH III is the biggest reason why it's a disjointed babble of crap. In hindsight, they probably should have got Nuno.

Ed's amps, guitars, effects, etc, do have settings. VHoholic is 1 guy who's shown what you can do with the Perv 5150 .

hey remember that everyone changes, it doesnt matter what or when but everyone and everything changes, hearing the VH I and II and then the III there is so many years in between so he grew up and so as his tone... remember too that Peavey made him a good offer, but he took advantage on that to make a hell of an amp, i have a Peavey magazine in which it came a VH column, column ??? like 6 pages of him, explaining the begining of the 5150 stack and combo and then the Wolfgang, I just wish to find a wolfgang to buy...
JJ

Did you know that some of Peavey's ads for the Wolfgang showed him playing a MM Axis? I almost died when I saw it.

I think the 5150 is the best amp i have ever owned! I wish i had bought a few more of them when i saw them used for $500...... Now that Ed's name is no longer on the amp people are asking more for them....... I paid $250 for my First 5150 head from Peavey and $200 for a 5150 4x12..... Went to the warehouse and picked it up about 10 years ago now.... The cab was a beat up artist loaner and the head was taken off a music store that owed Peavey money or something..... They could not sell it for new but sold it to me for what they were owed. I also bought a bunch of repaired goodies off them too....

WhoFan

I wonder why people even care any more......

Funny coming here and seeing this topic. Don't rorry about my tone. I don't.
I just write songs and play guitar Thanks for the concern!


Originally Posted by Ed Van HalenFunny coming here and seeing this topic. Don't rorry about my tone. I don't.
I just write songs and play guitar Thanks for the concern!

Eddie, dude! Is it really you???


Originally Posted by Ed Van HalenFunny coming here and seeing this topic. Don't rorry about my tone. I don't.
I just write songs and play guitar Thanks for the concern!

You do know that he prefers to go by quot;Edwardquot; Van Halen, don't you?

Whoah, is that for real? He does go by Ed. (doin some research)