Mike Soldano talks about EVH's Marshall

[lester]

Hey, the customer is always right.

 

[Blix]

Oh my, again?

 

[SLOgriff]

George at Metro seems to nail "THAT" tone pretty well. Makes me want to pickup one of these Metro 12000 series.

 

[gibson5413]

I never said he bought it FROM Sunset Sound, I said he bought the same stuff that Sunset sound had...

There is no recording by another artist ANYWHERE that sounds like that, and I'm not buying it's from a '69 spec stock amp...bullshit.

So, congratulations. You disagree with most people in this thread. Why continue to belabor the point? You can believe whatever you want, but to continue kinda rudely disputing what everyone is saying serves no purpose, don't you think?

Steve

Congratulations...you lost a prospective client. Not that I think you give a shit, but you lost one just the same.

Because I asked you why you are being so disagreeable and rude about this debate? So be it, then...

Steve

+1

What a strange response from paulyc.

 

[nitro]

Ive said this many times before during my many conversations with Jose Arrendondo,Jose explained to me(point blank/swear to God)that Edward used sometype of overdrive/distortion pedal to achieve the gain/distortion that's on VH1(first album)Jose didnt know what type of unit was used, he also explained that during the end of the 78 tour he(jose)performed a master volume mod to Edwards main plexi.Edward did talk about( only one time talked about it)in a Japanese magazine interview(1978)about using a custom made fuzz/distortion pedal.Ive played/owned many STOCK plexis(cranked/variaced) and none of them achieved the gain/distortion that you hear on VH1(first album).Many players back then used marshall plexis and none of them achieved the sound that Edward achieved on VH1.If its possible can someone post the ISO track of running with the devil and then compare the gain/distortion to the clips that have been posted you will hear a difference.Edwards plexi(plexis)were modded by Jose no question about it Edward always had plexis in Jose's shop that's with out question.When you listen to VH1 vs VHII there is a difference in gain/distortion I believe its due to the overdrive/distortion that Edward used for VH1.

 

[Mailman1971]

Stock........??



....more like hidden secret mod that no one knows about. Not even Eddie.

 

[gtrwun]

I never said he bought it FROM Sunset Sound, I said he bought the same stuff that Sunset sound had...

There is no recording by another artist ANYWHERE that sounds like that, and I'm not buying it's from a '69 spec stock amp...bullshit.

So, congratulations. You disagree with most people in this thread. Why continue to belabor the point? You can believe whatever you want, but to continue kinda rudely disputing what everyone is saying serves no purpose, don't you think?

Steve

Congratulations...you lost a prospective client. Not that I think you give a shit, but you lost one just the same.

Really? Are you really that worked up over this topic?

 

[Loudness250]

Back when the 1959 Handwired came out, the owner of my local guitar shop had me come into the amp room with one other guy, he plugged his own custom strat into the full stack and dimed it! And this guy is a Van Halen freak and knows pretty much all the songs. Plugged straight in with a full stack dimed, it had the sound and the gain. I was really surprised!!

 

[nitro]

Are we talking the VH1(first album)sound or what,each album had a different sound.VH1 had the most aggressive sound and most players are trying to achieve THAT sound over the others.

 

[paulyc]

I never said he bought it FROM Sunset Sound, I said he bought the same stuff that Sunset sound had...

There is no recording by another artist ANYWHERE that sounds like that, and I'm not buying it's from a '69 spec stock amp...bullshit.

So, congratulations. You disagree with most people in this thread. Why continue to belabor the point? You can believe whatever you want, but to continue kinda rudely disputing what everyone is saying serves no purpose, don't you think?

Steve

Congratulations...you lost a prospective client. Not that I think you give a shit, but you lost one just the same.

Really? Are you really that worked up over this topic?

No, actually I'm not...but I don't think I was being "rude" to anyone in particular, but more to the whole hype/myth/BS that EVH's amp is stock...I just don't buy it...and it's my right to think that, and I was considering a Bottle Rocket, and said so in that thread where Steve introduced it...I even asked if it would be possible to do a rack mount version of it. I've never had a problem with Steve, I wished him well in the thread about his hand, have asked him amp questions and just don't feel as though it's appropriate for him to call me rude, and assume that because I don't agree with most of the people in this thread that I should just drop it...by that logic he could have told/asked anyone/everyone else to drop it also, but I know I'm not a member of the good 'ole boy network in here, and that's fine...I was advised when I signed up that it was a tough crowd from several sources, and I've seen it get ugly in here (and been part of some of it), so I know how it works.

 

[Anonymous]

I never said he bought it FROM Sunset Sound, I said he bought the same stuff that Sunset sound had...

There is no recording by another artist ANYWHERE that sounds like that, and I'm not buying it's from a '69 spec stock amp...bullshit.

So, congratulations. You disagree with most people in this thread. Why continue to belabor the point? You can believe whatever you want, but to continue kinda rudely disputing what everyone is saying serves no purpose, don't you think?

Steve

Congratulations...you lost a prospective client. Not that I think you give a shit, but you lost one just the same.

Really? Are you really that worked up over this topic?

No, actually I'm not...but I don't think I was being "rude" to anyone in particular, but more to the whole hype/myth/BS that EVH's amp is stock...I just don't buy it...and it's my right to think that, and I was considering a Bottle Rocket, and said so in that thread where Steve introduced it...I even asked if it would be possible to do a rack mount version of it. I've never had a problem with Steve, I wished him well in the thread about his hand, have asked him amp questions and just don't feel as though it's appropriate for him to call me rude, and assume that because I don't agree with most of the people in this thread that I should just drop it...by that logic he could have told/asked anyone/everyone else to drop it also, but I know I'm not a member of the good 'ole boy network in here, and that's fine...I was advised when I signed up that it was a tough crowd from several sources, and I've seen it get ugly in here (and been part of some of it), so I know how it works.

It's not appropriate to call someone rude who is being rude? I don't get it... You've been very disagreeable in this thread, responding to people's posts with "bullshit", telling them they are wrong about what they hear when they play a cranked 12000 series Marshall or clone ("Sure you have" ring a bell?)- seems to fit the definition. Everyone else seemed to be discussing this in a respectful manner until you started that behavior.

Also, if being called rude is all it takes for you to not buy an amp from me when you really want one , don't you think that is being awfully thin-skinned. Geez, it's not like I called you a rotten bastard and said your kids were ugly or something. We've also had plenty of other pleasant discussions on a range of topics as you mention, yet this minor disagreement is all it takes to make you change your opinion of me and my business, which, BTW, is unrelated to this discussion? Wow...

One other thing. I've been posting here a long time, much longer than I've had an amp business. Unless I'm posting about my amps, I'm posting here as an individual, posting my personal opinions and I don't see why you need to bring my business into it when we aren't discussing it. If I fixed cars and you knew it would you have said you'd never bring your car to me for repairs? No, you bring up my business because you happen to know I have a gear related business and you think that will embarrass me in some way in front of the other gear buyers here. It is always the first place people go when they disagree with something a gear guy posts on these forums and it is annoying...

As far as other people's reactions to your post, there is no "good 'ole boy network" in here, most of my old friends here left long ago or barely post - that is your own paranoia. People just know when someone is overreacting when they see it...

I hold no grudge against you on this. Really no big deal, but I feel it's worth making some of these points to you... If you want a Bottle Rocket in the future, I'd be happy to sell you one. If not, no problem. I'm not reliant on the amp thing to make a living - it is more a labor of love as I've said many times before...

Steve

 

[paulyc]

Steve,

I don't have a problem with you per se, but you can't step out of your amp building persona when it suits you...you take the good with the bad...it wasn't my intent to embarrass you about it, if that's how it came across, I'm sorry. I've had dealings with a couple of guys that own businesses on this forum and I've never been called any name by any of them, and I think that's how it should be handled...people here know you sell amps and, like it or not, I think that gives you a certain "street cred" in discussions like this that a lot of other members wouldn't have, so maybe you can see my point. Personally, I thought your comment to my theory about the Bandmaster , something along the lines of "I doubt it" was rather terse and to the point, but I let it slide...wasn't worth making a fuss over, but when you come out and call me a name, directly, in public, was it not your intent to embarrass me ? For the record, the forum owner was the one who told me about the good old boy network, and he offered to make introductions to all of you for me and I declined, so he felt it was needed, or he wouldn't have offered...I think his quote was something along the lines of "They're good guys, but can be a tough bunch"...or words to that effect...So I'm not sure it's paranoia on my part...

Yes , I've been very disagreeable in this thread, because the vast majority are attacking my position...that is what a disagreement is, no ? You guys are defending your belief, and I am defending mine...Ejecta and I have had words in the past, and he gave me "I'm sure neither of you know what Dave and Ed talk about" which is why he got the "Sure you have", to which I got "You're delusional"...tit for tat...no harm no foul (at least on my end). I didn't tell him to go fuck himself...THAT would be really rude.

Buying an amp is an investment, and while I'm sure your amps are rock solid, I'm not comfortable giving a large sum of money to someone that called me rude on a public forum...makes me wonder what kind of mud would be slung in the event that something (however unlikely) were to go wrong with the amp or the transaction, and that's my right as a consumer. I had a Marshall modded by a member of this forum who shall remain nameless, and I thought their handling of the whole situation was sub-par, and I won't make that mistake again, even because of the slightest hint of anything.

BTW, I've seen you make plenty of terse comments to people on here (peterc52 in the Bottle Rocket thread for one, where he asked you about why you were mounting the tubes directly to the PCB), and you asked him if he read your first post ? Maybe he just didn't start at the beginning...did he deserve that ? Hell, I ASKED YOU about mounting tubes to PCB boards in a thread somewhere and I thought your answer, while not outright rude, was sarcastic at the very least, but I let it slide... It's the internet, this is really small potatoes in the grand scheme of things...It's guitar gear for Christ's sake.

 

[Mr. Willy]

This thread just got stupid.

 

[SLOgriff]

This thread just got stupid.

It got stupid mostly because of "paulycs" aggitated and angry posts against anyone who disagreed with him....was bappy to see Steve call him out for it.....i was about to do the same. Getting tired of his negative condescending remarks!

 

[Rocksoff]

I think it's pretty obvious (from clips etc) that with the right Plexi and just a PAF, then someone can play EVH licks with adequate gain but there is also the option of a higher output pickup for even more gain and EVH was using these higher output pickups at least sometimes ala the Mighty Mite in the Destroyer photos and his Seymour rewound PAF's (Seymour's EVH pickup was the Custom).

There is also the EQ's but EVH used them between the last effect (Echoplex) and the amp(s) for cable loss and a bit of EQing with some amps, and there are photos of EVH playing the Franky at the DOTG in 1978 and bypassing the EQ on his pedalboard, so EVH had enough gain from the Franky alone without needing the pedalboard EQ at all.

Rudy Leiren said that EVH used the EQ only with some guitars and also with rented amps (a bit of amp EQing).

 

[paulyc]

This thread just got stupid.

It got stupid mostly because of "paulycs" aggitated and angry posts against anyone who disagreed with him....was bappy to see Steve call him out for it.....i was about to do the same. Getting tired of his negative condescending remarks!

Come at me bro...

 

[Shiny_Surface]

We have had some guru's come into this thread and say "Yes, Ed's amp was stock except for this piece, that part, this thing and then this secret part that I'm not telling anyone what it is but I am including it in my own version of this amp build for my customers.

Glad I'm not the only one that noticed some builders withholding some component knowledge and using it as bait to sell their own amps.

 

[Mr. Willy]

This thread just got stupid.

It got stupid mostly because of "paulycs" aggitated and angry posts against anyone who disagreed with him....was bappy to see Steve call him out for it.....i was about to do the same. Getting tired of his negative condescending remarks!

Come at me bro...

You're really getting worked up over nothing.

 

[guitarmike]

Because if you listen to other players (even one's as good as Ed, like Gary Moore before his blues life took over his playing), I don't hear ANYONE playing through a Marshall that sounds like that...without a distortion box...Hendrix, Malmsteen, Moore, Page, Clapton...NOBODY has a sound that dirty.

I've played some bone stock Marshall Plexi's that when cranked had the same amount of gain I hear in the isolated tracks that are on the web. There is no mystery.

There is no mystery now but for a long time there was. It's obvious one of his amps was modded, one of the pictures of the amp in the studio clearly shows what looks like a master volume on the back. It is also obvious that people have figured out how to take a stock NMV Marshall and recreate Eddie's tone. What gets lost in these discussions is just how secretive Eddy was about his rig and how it was set up. How it was set up is the key to that tone, more so than any mods that may or may not have been done to the amp. Many, many people were and still are blown away by his tone and his chops. Nobody before him played like that or got a Marshall amp to sound that way, that is why people continue to chase his tone.

 

[paulyc]

This thread just got stupid.

It got stupid mostly because of "paulycs" aggitated and angry posts against anyone who disagreed with him....was bappy to see Steve call him out for it.....i was about to do the same. Getting tired of his negative condescending remarks!

Come at me bro...

You're really getting worked up over nothing.

To clarify, I wasn't talking to you, I got no beef with you at all...