Mean Street!

[ZEPFREAK]

Hey..Just a quick thought...I don't know about you guys..But I was waiting for ever for Fair Warning to come out! When I got it and played it, I heard the slapping intro to Mean street..Then comes this little progression folllowed by the greatest sounding open G that I have ever heard in my life.I mean as far as the greatest sound ever!!..My girl was saying."Why do you keep playing that over and over.."Let it play"..And I was saying"Have you ever heard anything sound like that!!..When you talk about the sound..That's the sound!!..I think what I like about Van Halen the most is that he had this great playing style..But he brought along the greatest sound ever!..I think the sound of his amp was just as important to him as his playing style.

[Namar]

Oh man, totally, that little open chord that hangs for a second as the main riff starts, it's just a supernova of guitar tone, isn't it! Rich, organic, warm, but raw, bright, lots of presence, and about to explode all at the same time. Very complex, but in control at the same time.

Whacking the open d&g strings, and trying to recreate that sound is how I try to orient myself on every amp I play.

I'll be able to replay that tone in my head until my brain turns to dust.

Good stuff.....

The other interesting thing about van halen's tone, is how many non-guitarists were floored by it as well. It just sounds cool...

Up in the same league is Eric Johnson's tone on ah via musicom as well. The 2nd nuclear explosion of guitar tone for me. My wife even likes that sound, and she doesn't particularly care for the guitar. The prettiest guitar tone ever, the ultimate woman tone. VH is more the ultimate macho tone, to overgeneralize grossly, hee hee.

Heh, it's like it's sometimes better to get tone advice from someone who has no interest in guitar, you get more of a genuine opinion than asking another guitarist. They hear alot of the stuff you don't, as they are outside of the infatuation, hehhhh.

[ZEPFREAK]

Yeah..I love Eric Johnson's sound as well..Of Course..Another great sounding Marshall! Cliffs of Dover is an amazing piece of music..There is actually a guy here locally in my area that plays that song very well..On a Les Paul at that!!.He is not Eric by any means but he does pull it off amazingly well even on the Les Paul!..I'll tell you another guy that is known as an EVH clone that has a great sound and some really cool chops is Vito Bratta..If you have never heard White Lion's cover of Radar Love, you need to give it a listen..It's real sad that that guy is out of the music business..I heard that he had a real bad problem with Carpal Tunnel syndrome.

[yngwie308]

You guys are right,when I first heard that opening riff /magic chord,that was it!!!
A whole brown sound industry was created then,as much as the first two VH albums.Seeing those clips of Eruption,with their very talented guitarist
gave me the goosebump vibes of the early VH which unfortunately gone forever,but the tribute bands carry on the vibe and tradition so well,I cannot hear the opening to Mean Streets enough,and I too use it to test guitars and amps as a reference!
Yngwie308/Dave Talkin