VHI: Who Does it Best? Metro or Bray?

Which would you choose for a Van Halen I/II Style Marshall?

  • Metropoulos 12,000 Series 100W

    Votes: 4 17.4%
  • David Bray 4550 50W Deluxe

    Votes: 9 39.1%
  • Suhr SL68 50W

    Votes: 5 21.7%
  • Germino

    Votes: 2 8.7%
  • Other (Explained in Comments)

    Votes: 3 13.0%

  • Total voters
    23

glpg80

Well-known member
So if you had to choose, which would you go with, and for what reason?

I'm craving a marshall style amplifier that can cop VHI (atomic punk, running with the devil, etc.) fairly easily and accurately. I'm stuck between looking for a Metro 12,000 series and grabbing a new Bray 4550 50W Deluxe.

Not interested in Friedman. Dave's work is great but doesn't do it for me. Same with Splawn. Love Scott's cabs, but a pass on the amplifiers.
 
What about a Bogner Helios? I don't really know, I haven't played either the Metro or the Bray, and haven't spent much time with a Helios. I'd think that it would probably get in the neighborhood, though. I've heard great things about the Bray, the Metro, and the Helios, but reputation is all I know. I greatly admire the VHI tone, but it's just not my tone of choice.
 
I didn’t vote, but honestly, the people modding these amps are the ones making them sound like VH. I understand Bray has an extremely heavy hand and uses like 13 gauge strings. Look at Rockstah, his mod 5 sounded great through his rig, but no so much when other people got them...I had one and I couldn’t get it to sound good (4 other people told me the same thing). Michael R/T has some killer clips and HE makes them sound killer...I’ve yet to hear someone else post a clip of his mods making it sound like Michael does. Just my .02.
 
LP Freak":3vx56nn1 said:
Add Germino to the list. Greg puts out some great amps.

Do you know what specific model you're referencing for this type of tone? I looked on his website but he doesn't seem to market explicitly to a 68 era plexi for VH?

journeyman73":3vx56nn1 said:

Didn't know Suhr had an amp line covering this as well! I'll update to add it to the list.
 
ChurchHill":akv0s1iz said:
What about a Bogner Helios? I don't really know, I haven't played either the Metro or the Bray, and haven't spent much time with a Helios. I'd think that it would probably get in the neighborhood, though. I've heard great things about the Bray, the Metro, and the Helios, but reputation is all I know. I greatly admire the VHI tone, but it's just not my tone of choice.

The Helios is a great amplifier too, but I don't believe it hangs with the models mentioned above for tried and true VHI reproduction. I think if I were going to Helios route, I'd probably grab a ceriatone kit and build my own modded platform spinoff.
 
glpg80":v8cp7crh said:
Philo Beddoe":v8cp7crh said:
Has this ever been discussed before?

I'm sorry, what's the name of this forum again?
I would discuss this but it's not the tone for me, it's great but I'll fail trying to be someone else. EVH can be himself better than anyone else...but that's another discussion :D
 
I had a Bray 4550 Deluxe & tried a Germino for 2 weeks. The AFX2 gets me closer than those.

It does help to have Rocco's hands though :thumbsup:

 
Not to take away from the Metro or Bray, I think Michael's RT mod get closest to a cranked plexi tone with gain. Next up I think the Bogner Helios sound great as well, has a loop and switching capabilities. Here's a Helios 50 doing VH, see what you think.

 
glpg80":3cr0hjpn said:
LP Freak":3cr0hjpn said:
Add Germino to the list. Greg puts out some great amps.

Do you know what specific model you're referencing for this type of tone? I looked on his website but he doesn't seem to market explicitly to a 68 era plexi for VH?
The Headroom 100 is supposed to be based on an early '68.
 
exo-metal":2zhaeusb said:
glpg80":2zhaeusb said:
Philo Beddoe":2zhaeusb said:
Has this ever been discussed before?

I'm sorry, what's the name of this forum again?
I would discuss this but it's not the tone for me, it's great but I'll fail trying to be someone else. EVH can be himself better than anyone else...but that's another discussion :D

I flub just about every van halen song I've ever attempted to cover :LOL: :LOL:

I like the tone and it would be fun to have an amplifier that can get the earlier tones. My 5150 just can't get there and the Henning seems too modernly voiced - it doesn't do the breakup or sponge thing very well. It's just something missing that I'd like to have but can't dial in with what I've got.
 
harddriver":thnpjmtv said:
Not to take away from the Metro or Bray, I think Michael's RT mod get closest to a cranked plexi tone with gain. Next up I think the Bogner Helios sound great as well, has a loop and switching capabilities. Here's a Helios 50 doing VH, see what you think.

The Helios sounds great. Seems there's a lot of crossover between that tone and the crunch of a 5150 II though? Seems to sound more modern in the video than raw plexi - but then again that could be a plethora of pedals or other stuff I know nothing about.
 
ChurchHill":2gog2ojb said:
glpg80":2gog2ojb said:
LP Freak":2gog2ojb said:
Add Germino to the list. Greg puts out some great amps.

Do you know what specific model you're referencing for this type of tone? I looked on his website but he doesn't seem to market explicitly to a 68 era plexi for VH?
The Headroom 100 is supposed to be based on an early '68.
This and the Lead 55LV will do what you’re looking for.

 
LP Freak":1517zrwk said:
ChurchHill":1517zrwk said:
glpg80":1517zrwk said:
LP Freak":1517zrwk said:
Add Germino to the list. Greg puts out some great amps.

Do you know what specific model you're referencing for this type of tone? I looked on his website but he doesn't seem to market explicitly to a 68 era plexi for VH?
The Headroom 100 is supposed to be based on an early '68.
This and the Lead 55LV will do what you’re looking for.


This amp would be a great choice.

The original recording probably has a bit more top end sizzle than this, but that is really splitting hairs. Can't go wrong with the Germino if you're after the early VH thing.
 
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