Here's The Van Halen Demo Material

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 11:28 pm

Concerning the Kiss issue. I always thought the band was cheesy and they bored me to death. But I know others that think the opposite. Who's right? ALL parties concerned! It was just not effective music for me on a personal level. I was and still am heavily into Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and a host of others that thought were far better given what I like. However, while I have no interest in trying to nail dowd the EVH methods for myself, I still find the playing exciting on the demo, even if it is not the sound I'm used to hearing either from Eddie. Maybe that's part of what I like about it.

Crunchboy · Post by **Crunchboy** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 12:30 am

So much for "tone is in the fingers". That tone is a far cry from the VH1 tone.

Sounds like KISS. But I love KISS. If those guys didn't dress up like Superheroes, they'd simply be known as one of the great Hard Rock acts of the 70's. I can see through that because I listen with my ears, not my eyes.

The accidental genius of the early VH records was single-tracking the rythym guitar. If you've got a truly great tone, double-tracking just detracts from it's purity. If the guitar was double-tracked on those early VH records, this forum wouldn't even exist.

mightymike · Post by **mightymike** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 7:48 am

These recordings say as much about the recording gear, and who was running the studio, as it does about Eddie's amp.
I don't know who was running the studio, because everything was
lifeless. Looks like recording is "in the hands" to a degree as well.
I'm sure they had access to nice gear, Eddie's amp aside, it should have sounded a lot better overall, don't you think?

On some of the guitar stuff,it is "in the hands". He could have been playing through a POS, and the technique would have still dropped a lot of jaws.
but even though the amp was missing that bottom end punch, and sparkly dynamic harmonics and high end feel of EVH's magic marshall., there were a couple parts on those demos that sounded great in spite of the KISS gear .IMHO
(Much less reverb too.)

It must have been weird using someone elses gear, he made the best of it like a pro.

A lot has been said about how Ted Templeton made EVH
sound great, and about Eddie's amp, but Ted really earned his money making DLR sound a lot better on VH1
He got all you were gonna get out of that horse.
He's a fucking magician.

It makes me want to clone his gear, and master it's use

Ruben · Post by **Ruben** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 8:30 am

+1

Anyway, another thing; if Ed's amp had always been stock, then what makes Hendrix amp sound different? He also used to crank his amps to the max...and he used Superleads, but the sound is really different you know what I mean.

What I'm saying is;

* Ed's amp just sounds better than any Superlead
* simply has been modified or
* Ted T. made it sound better than it actually did.

To quote Hendrix;'Who knows'?

Crunchboy · Post by **Crunchboy** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 9:00 am

Hedrix used single-coils, for one.

I think the demos sound great. I love them. But the tone is much different than VH1, proving the point that tone is not all in the fingers. But who really beleives that old wife's tale anyway? The phrase should be changed to: "Performance is in the fingers, tone is in the amp."

Another thing to remember about these demos is that they were DEMOS! Nobody was trying to make a finished product. The guitars sound dry and unmolested. I like it

mightymike · Post by **mightymike** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 9:12 am

It's the combination of all those ingredients, that add up to the total tone.
Recording technique and equipment, the amp (With the right circuit, trannys tubes, ect..), the guitar (with the right pickups), and the fingers.
They all count.

erigm · Post by **erigm** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 12:57 pm

"Performance is in the fingers, tone is in the amp."

Well put Crunchboy!

mightymike · Post by **mightymike** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 4:08 pm

I was listening to the demo and later album version of House of Pain
side by side and you can really hear the fizzies, on the demo.
Put a 100pf cap on that KISS amp

awangotango · Post by **awangotango** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 4:51 pm

the KISS gear theory holds water with me. Those clips totally sound like a lame-ass marshall with nasty 6550's. And that's KISS's marshall description as well. Case closed for me.

5150loveeddie · Post by **5150loveeddie** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 11:00 pm

Holy shit those track are so fuckin good, love it, sounds like shit but the good one........I loved KISS, saw them when I was 15 and I freaked completly at the show...........

caver · Post by **caver** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 2:08 pm

There were some bootlegs on the Roth Army site.
Downloads have been screwed up since last year.
Anyway there was one of them playing many cover tunes. Great stuff. I think it is called Covers Band From Pasadena.

,,,,,I can remember when Rock and Roll All Night was a hit and being played on AM radio.

BrownSound1 · Post by **BrownSound1** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 5:25 pm

Yeah, we used to host a lot of stuff at the RothArmy, but it got to be VERY expensive.