Panama Tone: How did they mic Eddie?

[Sean_McFly]

Ok, so I've been listening to the isolated Panama guitar track lately, and from what I know about how VH I-Diver Down sounded, it sounds like Eddie was mic'ed with either one or two SM57...then comes Panama and 1984, and the game changes, so to speak lol! When I listen to how bright and airy Panama's guitar track sounds, not to mention the unique pinch harmonics in the solo/intro, I've deduced that perhaps they mic'ed Eddie from a distance with a condenser. After doing some experimenting myself, I found that I get the best results for Panama when using a condenser about 8 inches away from top speaker of the 4X12. Here's Eddie's isolated guitar track :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxA4WgIZmO8
If you want to compare it to the track I recorded, here's the link to the recording: https://soundcloud.com/sean_mcfly/mcflys-panama-cover" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Please play nice lol I know it's risky recording an amp in an untreated room. If you'd rather hear the close mic'ed sound clips, let me know
Please excuse the playing lol this was more of a tone experiment than a performance haha
Stay frosty

[kennzo5150]

Hmmm not bad, roll off some of the crispness in your tone. Make it a tad rounder, warmer ,fatter , and you would close. Give a rig run down, you know the drill ! Ha ha

[julkke]

I believe it was recorded with one sm57 pretty close to the center of the cone and then high pass filtered.

[Blix]

Definitely no room miking, the reason the isolated track sounds like it does, is because the left and right side is summed.

[Sparky4444]

I swear I saw a picture of Eddie in 5150 for 1984 back in the day where there was a LDC on a cab...for the life of me can't remember where this was....

Thing about the LDC is it gives a full, more bodied sound, which is warmer in the low-mids...

I think that a track was recorded with an LDC and that is what feeds the reverb...the reverbs sound HUGE, always have, and a LDC will give you that way more than a 57...

Try using the 57 for dry and the LDC for the reverb only, and see how big things get -- and fast!

[kennzo5150]

O.k. I listened too this again with headphones. The mic you are using is wrong, switch it to an sm 57. The reason why panama sounds different than the rest of the album is because that is the only track where the 5150 guitar is used. What amp, speakers, pickup are you using?

[garbeaj]

The reason why panama sounds different than the rest of the album is because that is the only track where the 5150 guitar is used. What amp, speakers, pickup are you using?

The 5150 guitar was not used to record anything on 1984. The guitar was used first on the 1984 tour and was first recorded on a Van Halen album with the 5150 record.

The Zlozower photographs of Ed in the studio during the time of the 1984 album release show the Frankenstein, the original vintage '58 Gibson Flying V, and the Ripley tele-style prototype that was used to record "Top Jimmy" and "Ripley" (later heard on The Wild Life soundtrack). There are three bass guitars also pictured, two standard Fender style and what one bass that appears to be a six-string bass.

This misconception has led to many problems with people experimenting with using Kramer guitars or replicas trying to copy the sound of the 1984 Floyd Rose tremolo tracks like "Panama" that more than likely used the Frankenstein in the Kramer "beak-neck" phase. The 1984 tour Kramers like the 5150, the "Hot For Teacher" and any of the other banana headstock Kramers were never used on 1984.