I just had to... new clip... some changes...

[somethin'else]

aye ! Nice handy work there ! ehh... You couldn't PhotoShop less clothes ? WTF, man ?

thanks, are you kiddin'? I had to PhotoShop clothes back ON her! you shoulda seen 'er after she heard that clip!

[jnewlyn]

[quote="Ralle"]Thanx guys...
Well... I've been testing this back and forth, now... several times since I posted these last clips... and here's my two cents:

MM 1300: As long as my 1300 is ok, and do not sound worse than any other 1300, I have to say, that one is out of the question... Why? It's correct that it needs to be away from the strings, allright... but it does lack of these highs that I feel is nessacary for this tone... when backed down, the muddyness goes away, but so does the good highs as well...

If you swing the High E pickup pole, one screw width toward the bridge, and the Low E pickup pole on screw width away from the bridge, (the undeniable EVH Humbucker slant) you'll be home with the 1300. (remembering to keep it backed away from the strings a bit)
The best low end comes from this while everything else still fries and crackles, so to speak.

[stef]

1400 (8-9k) is the one that sounds really authentic. The dsd is also very good

[cary chilton]

Ralph, killer the 1400.nails that demo sound with AS Leadguy said, with all your other variables, literally hundredss. Stan, Ralph's not chasing his tails at all. Not to be a dick but Ralph's a real player and the hands make a huge difference reagrding a pro player, true. That said, Peter Thorn, monster player, but even his aml collection hasnt come this close, or rockstah. Thorn uses 75 watt scumbacks and and putting a 003 in Ralle's or Thorn's chain isnt gonna be huve here. In fact going off yohr clip the 003.will only roll off the highs , muddy up lows and beef up to mids. Recall Friendman's 003 studio clip wjich got you ecited about the speaker in the first place. But it was also mixed in with D120F and also extra highs added again withthe real EMT-140. At this stage of the game it is about making the Right cboices for your hands, hour guitar resonance and sustain, amp, pu's, cabling and FX and speakers and tubes and biasing in the way that works for you. Ralle os the first here to find it. Period.
Give Ralle a different attenuator or guitar and be would be back to square one for a awhile. Ed himself said how dire it is to match the perfect pu to the specific guitar, not just brand, specs but the perfect one.


Ralle please record some vh1, vh2, fw riffs about 2 minutes of each the 1400 and theDSD.
Same setings on the amp IF possible. ABSOLUTELY same volume levels on the recording of the 1400.& DSD SO AS NOT TO SWAYED FALSELY BY VOLUME IMPACT. Could you do do this for me, please? It would solve a lot for me. Also do not move the mic positioning, of course. Thank you. Also not picking on Stan, just needed to be said

[bmf5150]

ralle is an amazing player!dont take my comments the wrong way !all i meant with ralle usisng a completely differemt sounding speaker and nailing the booleg tone with that drake opt and the MM 1300 or 1400 pickup only proves that this is a vialble recipe to nail the VH tone.if you took the actual pre rola 003 cone greenbacks with that same opt and pickup i bet the tone would change alot and u would really second guess to weather EVH used that stuff.withthout the proper speakers to compare you cant trully say EVH used that pickup or opt,because you are compensating for a different sounding speaker..i think peter thorn nails the classic VHII tone and he is using the scumbacks speakers!even those are not correct,and dont sound like the pre rola greenbacks i have.how many of you guys heard scumbacks and 6402 next to real pre rola 003 cones speakers??dont take it the wrong way guys,both 6402 and scumbags are great sounding speakers but they dont sound like the real deal.with the proper speakers alot of your recipe may change!anyway none the less i enjoy your tone!as allways great playing ralle.none the less its awesome to be able to use modern speakers and such and get that close to the tone!!im not half the player that ralle or pete thron are,but in enjoy playing with this stuff..

[Ralle]

Hey Stan... Cary, good to see you guys...
Here's what I think on the speaker issue:
I belive that the speakers do have a great impact on the sound... of course... But as long as I'm inside the sound, conserning listening to the different freqs, the snarl, bite, edge, mids, highs and lows... I can pretty much use any speakers, as long as I use the SAME ones during the testing... The speakers are different... but at these low levels, the differences would only be the final produced sound, that is made with in the amp... I mean, it's quite easy to distinguish the sound eaven if I played threw stereo speakers ( over doing it a bit ), as long as I use those same speakers from test to test. When that is done, I would say; find the right speaker that can nurrish the sound in the way you want... make it work like the final sound you hear on the demos... put a mic infront of a cab and record it... listen, and deside if the speakers are right... either way, the sound from the amp will come threw... If I lack some highs with in the sound, the distorted sound, I will hear that on allmost any speaker... as long as I have been using that same speaker threw out all the testings... I have a 65 or 75 watt celestion speaker ( from a JCM cab, I think )... sounds awefull, but even now and then, I plug it in just to for fun... I hear all the same thing from the amp, as I do with the green backs, different ballance, of course... but it wouldn't make me want to change anything in my amp, if it got uggly, cause if it did, it's quite clear that it's the speaker that's wrong, not the amp...
That's what it's all about... finding it in the amp... what kinda distortion... where the snarl is...if the bass is muddy... and so on...

The speaker are very important, but they do not shape the sound inside the amp... they let the sound come out in various ways... it's more like turning up or down the eq's on a stereo... warm enough, harsch enough, enough lows or highs... how you want the allready made and done sound to come out... hell, that's the reason for using eq's after the amp into a powerstage... to be able to adjust the FINAL sound from the first amp... if needed...
I feel the 30 watters have a bit more clairity, a bit bigger sound than my 25 watters... but that don't effect, or have any impact on the type of distortion I have inside my amp... just a different way to bring it out...

Great discussion, though

[cary chilton]

Ralle get those done for me! Stan, the speaker is a filter, and it has final on the eq curve, true. But, all of these comparisons on the exact same design, so the eq curve filtering is moot. Different material, thicknesses thereof, magnet quality, etc and volume will play their parts on speaking compression which inturn shapes the waveform and the sound of the waveform. Fast attact on the upper mids, medium attack on lows etc could be due to not only all the factors but amp settings, turbes, voltages, pu type, playing style etc signal processing volume and pre power tube compression making the biggest impact. Vintage paper is going to sound different for sure, but keep in mind Ed was usin
speakers of the day and or no older than 10.years

[Ralle]

He he... maybe I should get me some new ones... mine are allmost 30 years old

[leadguy]

Just speakers alone have a big effect IMO.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRmAUzKef-w[/youtube]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRmAUzKef-w" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[rgorke]

Just listen to the clips Pete did for Jim and the new Blackback and PVC speakers. They do impact tone. BUT, Ralle is right, if he starts changing a bunch of things in the signal chain, the experiment falls apart.

[Ralle]

It allmost feels like I'm making a sin, after getting the sad news about Ben...
But I guess the show must go on...
Here's a clip of RWTD... same speqs as in the last clip... the 1400 pu

This is for you Ben

[dazzlindino]

nice crunch...just right....very cool.....

[rgorke]

It allmost feels like I'm making a sin, after getting the sad news about Ben...
But I guess the show must go on...
Here's a clip of RWTD... same speqs as in the last clip... the 1400 pu

This is for you Ben

Sounds great as usual Ralle. Don't feel bad, Ben would want us to continue chasing tone.

Seems to be some extra compression on this clip. Anything else different?

[Ralle]

No... everything is exactly as in the previous clips... well, I raised the pu closer to the strings... that's it...

[rgorke]

No... everything is exactly as in the previous clips... well, I raised the pu closer to the strings... that's it...

Weird. that clip didn't have the notes blossoming or blooming like your others. Maybe its me.