Van Halen Letterman 1985 Clips

Strat78 · Post by **Strat78** » Wed Mar 11, 2015 3:42 pm

If Ed would have used a non floyd guitar the solo tone would have been real nice, but I love the riff tone that guitar is getting. I wish Ed would do more session work, it's great seeing him just "working" like one of the guys, no stupid stage antics, just putting the music first.

echoplexi1974 · Post by **echoplexi1974** » Wed Mar 11, 2015 3:59 pm

Yeah, even a solo record would be cool. I think Dave is done. I won't shell out another $150 to watch Dave trash the catalog with awful singing and creepy dancing. And I just can't get into Eddie's new tone. Especially considering the tone he had before. Session work or a solo record would be the way to go now for Eddie.

T.L. · Post by **T.L.** » Wed Mar 11, 2015 6:21 pm

echoplexi1974 wrote:Yeah, even a solo record would be cool. I think Dave is done. I won't shell out another $150 to watch Dave trash the catalog with awful singing and creepy dancing. And I just can't get into Eddie's new tone. Especially considering the tone he had before. Session work or a solo record would be the way to go now for Eddie.

I definitely agree with this.^

Strat78 · Post by **Strat78** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 9:41 am

You know what else is cool about this session, Ed seems dead sober!

Rich_D · Post by **Rich_D** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 11:47 pm

Strat78 wrote:You know what else is cool about this session, Ed seems dead sober!

Yeah no shit. As in, no shit from Ed. Just smokin' it! It being the guitar. Is there any real reason to think that's not just the Marshall with the Echoplex and a variac set to 89?

Star*Guitar · Post by **Star*Guitar** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 12:35 am

I think Phil is right. He just pulled two tubes. He still sounds really loud to me. In that first frame Letterman squints at the crescendo. He makes like its from getting into the bands music and he ends it with that clenched fist like he's the conductor. But really, when he squints, it looks to me like a reflex from the pain from the volume but he morphs into a pleasure look for the viewers.

garbeaj · Post by **garbeaj** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 12:25 pm

fivecoyote wrote:That was awesome, tx much for doing and posting. My 2c to contribute is...I don't hear that weak, one-coil-doesn't-register Frankie pickup To me that sounds hotter. Could be just the amp but....

He was playing the Kramer 5150 in both Letterman appearances, so whatever pickup he had in the Frankenstein (broken coil or otherwise) would not have been in the 5150 guitar. It was the modded SD '59 in the Kramer 5150.

The tone on the Letterman appearances (and Farm Aid-same sound) is essentially what I was chasing with this guitar build and pickup:
http://forum.metroamp.com/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=42216

This was as close as I've gotten with this guitar and my Rockstah Marshall:

Strat78 · Post by **Strat78** » Mon May 04, 2015 8:23 pm

echoplexi1974 wrote:I don’t know if someone has posted these clips before but I made mp3 sans all of the talk in between Eddie’s jamming with the late night band. How the hell did he get that tone? Sunshine Of Your Love is sick…!!! Fat, tight, and the right amount of cut. How in the hell….?
https://soundcloud.com/echoplexi1974/va ... letterman1
https://soundcloud.com/echoplexi1974/va ... letterman2

And while we are bumping old threads, this one was pretty useful. Just sublime at 2:34 of the first clip.

awangotango · Post by **awangotango** » Tue May 05, 2015 12:37 pm

sounds like overly compressed and squishy variac'd '68SL. The sunshine riffs are moving into fart territory, the distortion's clipping quality is not his best, and it's got no balls/too compressed. All things that tend to happen with extreme variac'ing. there's no chest thumping midrange with a variac under 110V. the ballsiest vh tone is without a variac or reamp or attenuator ime. Just dial in the head to sound like it is using one, by selectively adjusting the various preamp bias points instead of globally lowering all the heaters and you can get that tone but keep the balls/weight to the attack. plus you won't lose all the upper end chime and swirl which the letterman amp has none of. it's a controlled for middle america tv audience tamed beast tone, instead of a raging on the edge feedback machine which is what the best ed tone was imo
I like pulling tubes, and i don't hear it on letterman. hot for teacher on the other hand sounds like could be 2 pulled. it's leaner and cleaner and tighter. the letterman tone sounds fatter and more compressed suggesting all 4 are working if i had to wager.

Strat78 · Post by **Strat78** » Tue May 05, 2015 1:40 pm

That's a great seminal VH tone, why are you posting in the VH section, were not talking about a Paul Kossoff tone.

awangotango · Post by **awangotango** » Tue May 05, 2015 2:09 pm

disagree that letterman tone is anywhere near his best tone. when ed tries to pull off his versions of vintage tones , cream, zz etc with his squishy version of his tone, it really reveals how deballed a variaced SL can sound compared to the real thing. Standing in front of a 90v variaced marshall half stack vs the real thing is night and day. One makes your pant legs blow in the breeze the other barely sends a chill up your shorts. To each his own, but I want to stand in front of a jet engine and feel it thump the chest. ed's tone with chest thump is a seminal tone imo and his contribution to vintage guitar tones is his use of diming the marshall and not his use of variac. and I disagree with the current metroamp concensus that the variac is a great item, or needed to get ed's tone or reasonable volume and i'm suggesting without it you can actually get ed's tone, but balsier. wtf does that have to do with kossoff or where to post. this forum is now almost as lame as ed;s watered down version letterman tone and when you get rid of all dissent, you'll officially have a forum equivalent to the tokyo dome or ellen gig. then the complete deballing process will be complete.

rdodson · Post by **rdodson** » Tue May 05, 2015 3:17 pm

awangotango wrote:disagree that letterman tone is anywhere near his best tone. when ed tries to pull off his versions of vintage tones , cream, zz etc with his squishy version of his tone, it really reveals how deballed a variaced SL can sound compared to the real thing. Standing in front of a 90v variaced marshall half stack vs the real thing is night and day. One makes your pant legs blow in the breeze the other barely sends a chill up your shorts. To each his own, but I want to stand in front of a jet engine and feel it thump the chest. ed's tone with chest thump is a seminal tone imo and his contribution to vintage guitar tones is his use of diming the marshall and not his use of variac. and I disagree with the current metroamp concensus that the variac is a great item, or needed to get ed's tone or reasonable volume and i'm suggesting without it you can actually get ed's tone, but balsier. wtf does that have to do with kossoff or where to post. this forum is now almost as lame as ed;s watered down version letterman tone and when you get rid of all dissent, you'll officially have a forum equivalent to the tokyo dome or ellen gig. then the complete deballing process will be complete.

It isn't that there is no room for dissent, it is that this forum has attracted over the years people who love that tone. It is unique and the people here like it. This isn't the generic Marshall forum or Amp Palace or whatever. To be surprised that the members here like it is akin to being surprised that Polar Bears like fish.

JimiJames · Post by **JimiJames** » Wed May 06, 2015 12:08 am

rdodson wrote:
awangotango wrote:disagree that letterman tone is anywhere near his best tone. when ed tries to pull off his versions of vintage tones , cream, zz etc with his squishy version of his tone, it really reveals how deballed a variaced SL can sound compared to the real thing. Standing in front of a 90v variaced marshall half stack vs the real thing is night and day. One makes your pant legs blow in the breeze the other barely sends a chill up your shorts. To each his own, but I want to stand in front of a jet engine and feel it thump the chest. ed's tone with chest thump is a seminal tone imo and his contribution to vintage guitar tones is his use of diming the marshall and not his use of variac. and I disagree with the current metroamp concensus that the variac is a great item, or needed to get ed's tone or reasonable volume and i'm suggesting without it you can actually get ed's tone, but balsier. wtf does that have to do with kossoff or where to post. this forum is now almost as lame as ed;s watered down version letterman tone and when you get rid of all dissent, you'll officially have a forum equivalent to the tokyo dome or ellen gig. then the complete deballing process will be complete.
It isn't that there is no room for dissent, it is that this forum has attracted over the years people who love that tone. It is unique and the people here like it. This isn't the generic Marshall forum or Amp Palace or whatever. To be surprised that the members here like it is akin to being surprised that Polar Bears like fish.

FUCKING RIGHT

awangotango · Post by **awangotango** » Wed May 06, 2015 12:58 am

I hear ed's going to reissue the 1x12 peavey bandit with stripes and a resonance fart knob on the back to commemorate the 30th anniversery of his letterman tone. tone so good you'll butter your popcorn.

garbeaj · Post by **garbeaj** » Wed May 06, 2015 6:09 am

Strat78 wrote:That's a great seminal VH tone, why are you posting in the VH section, were not talking about a Paul Kossoff tone.

You know I absolutely agree...the Letterman/Farm Aid/Saturday Night Live tones are my absolute favorite Ed tones, even eclipsing the first album tones (!) for me personally.

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Van Halen Letterman 1985 Clips

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