JOSE ARREDONDO

nitro · Post by **nitro** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 9:18 am

If you review my first thread jose started to do mods for ed when they started to make van halen II also the mxr microamp didnt come out until the early 80 i believe 82 i spoke to jim dunlop about that and also mxr pedal collectors.

guitar007 · Post by **guitar007** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 9:34 am

So...if Jose didn't mod his amp(s)...who did? His #1 has that switch/pot...what is it and who installed it? I doubt he bought it that way from the Rose Palace...but who knows.

Let me clearify: So...if Jose didn't mod his amp(s) *prior to VHII*...who did? His #1 has that switch/pot...what is it and who installed it? I doubt he bought it that way from the Rose Palace...but who knows.

Concerning the Micro Amp...I'll post the pic ASAP.

rockstah · Post by **rockstah** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 1:00 pm

listen to "im the one" again.

908ssp · Post by **908ssp** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 1:20 pm

I think he used an Echoplex as a clean boost. There are pictures of his rig with the Echoplex running before the amp. This wasn't unknown some guys used tape recorders because they had the mic in and out through a tube amp.

nitro · Post by **nitro** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 2:09 pm

guitar007 that mod was done when they started to make VAN HALEN II the first album VAN HALEN I there were no mods it was his plexi marshall with a distortion unit in front of the amp with his mxr phase 90 and his mxr flanger and his ep3 echoplex.

rockstah · Post by **rockstah** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 2:11 pm

and u can hear that if you listen.

Mr G · Post by **Mr G** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 3:12 pm

If possible, I reccommend you try plugging a mxr distortion II infront of ANY regular well tuned 100 watt plexi. Blend both the amp and pedal controls to get the right amount of power and pre amp tube gain/saturation...and then play with the resonance control for fun! (as used in the 5150...maybe a bit of a link here perhaps?

...its a huge sound, scarily close to the first VH album...

However, I have also head that later on his pre-amp was changed/modded to be that more like a fender champ....(tres strange)....but at the end of the day we can only add these suggestions to the long list of ~potential~ things done to achieve that kind of sound....

Back to square one again....doh!

rockstah · Post by **rockstah** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 3:20 pm

*whispers* ... modded 2203 preamp

Flames1950 · Post by **Flames1950** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 4:17 pm

rockstah wrote:*whispers* ... modded 2203 preamp

I know you came scary close to the sound with your 2203 experiment Mark, but seriously, why would you pay someone extra to mod a four input into a 2203, when 2203's are as common as dirt? Even the later '86 tour pics show racks of four-holers, and by then Eddie could certainly have gotten whichever he wanted.....doesn't make $$ sense to me, but then I guess neither did things like hookers, booze, coke or heroin either!!

rockstah · Post by **rockstah** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 4:35 pm

Andy,

*shrug* well... perhaps he wanted alittle more out of his amp... and then u have techs that know amps and ed goes "can u give me a little more out of the amp?"(of course the tech learned from experimenting and learning differnet circuits.) and the guy goes "sure ill give ya alittle more."

simple as that.

Mark

(seems to me people tend to forget, ed was just like any of us, searching for tone. and he wasn't as happy as people may think of the much sought after tone he did have. )

guitar007 · Post by **guitar007** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 5:07 pm

nitro

I have a pic, again from the VH1 tour of Japan, where you can clearly see the same switch/pot on the back of the amp. Please understand...I'm not trying to argue. Our goal is the same. How did Ed do it? People have made several claims as to how it was done. I take it all with a grain of salt. Like any good investigator, you have to have a certain approach to getting the facts. I believe it only if I see it. I probably wouldn't believe Ed if he told me. He'd have to prove it!

There have been many pics floating around the net showing his VH1 rig. Nowhere did I ever see a distortion box. That doesn't mean he didn't use one of course. But being that his 1st tour tone was the same as his 1st album, and the rig evidence is well documented through the pics, I tend to believe that his touring rig is that same rig he recorded that 1st album with.

Question: If it is as simple as a Distortion Plus & a 68 Superlead…why wasn’t everyone in L.A. getting that tone?

NitroLiq · Post by **NitroLiq** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 5:37 pm

Mr G wrote:If possible, I reccommend you try plugging a mxr distortion II infront of ANY regular well tuned 100 watt plexi. Blend both the amp and pedal controls to get the right amount of power and pre amp tube gain/saturation...and then play with the resonance control for fun! (as used in the 5150...maybe a bit of a link here perhaps? ...its a huge sound, scarily close to the first VH album...

IIRC, that's what Randy Rhoads' setup was during Blizzard of Ozz...mxr dist+ and Marshall stacks.

rockstah · Post by **rockstah** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 5:57 pm

by first distortion pedal i meant the one that was mustard in color not the later mxr distortion which was more yellow.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-MXR-Distort ... dZViewItem

the later ones have the small red light on them - the originals had no light on top.

and yes randy used one as well but dont let that confuse you.

mightymike · Post by **mightymike** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 7:46 pm

Thanks for the link bro.
I just bought it.
Fuck It

rockstah · Post by **rockstah** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 7:57 pm

nice, man. haha