Electric Guitars

[Kazinator]

I've been amusing myself with covering some vintage Van Halen material recently. The tone is great, except that my B string just does not cut through. You need this for those triads and suspensions rooted on the A string.

Was Eddie known to play with the pole pieces? Or was it pre-eq?

[Kazinator]

Oops! Harmony Central's upload code cut the end off. Ah well. I didn't hit the harmonic tone very well there anyway in that take.

You can see how the upper notes of those triads don't cut through all that well, like suspension embellishments on the C#m and B.

[DaveAronow]

I think it was because he was just GOOD!

[DaveAronow]

But seriously, every situation is different. Yes I would start with adjusting pup height and even individual pole height if you are inclined to go there. Otherwise, next step is to try a little eq, and then my next suggestions would be a little compression. So many other variables could contribute or degrade, like dead strings, loose or improperly seated but, does your neck have a sustain destroying shim in it, etc, etc, but start with new strings, then pup height, then eq, then compression, but the effects should be used only after you have physically attempted altering all the adjustments on the guitar itself.

If none of these things work, try playing golf for a week. That should cure you of ever complaining about guitar problems again.

[Chad]

That is odd. The B string is often the loudest. That's why vintage staggered Strat pickups have the B pole the lowest. Also, that's why most string packs have the B string smaller in gauge relative to the other strings.

My first guess would be that you have a defective or worn out B string currently installed. Has this been an ongoing problem for a long time with different sets of strings?

[Armitage]

He used light bottom strings, so the mids stand out more.

[sammyreynolds01]

Armitage basically mentioned my question. Are you scooping the mids?

[Kazinator]

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sammyreynolds01 wrote:
Armitage basically mentioned my question. Are you scooping the mids?

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Oh yeah, with a diesel-powered excavator on caterpillar tracks!

You can park cars down to P3 in this EQ curve, baby!

Next, I'm thinking of branching out into the open pit mining industry.

The problem here is most likely old strings. I will report back after changing. I even have fresh sets laying about, but I've been too lazy to slap one on. Or maybe no lazy so much as liking the tone of the strings, which are not only sounding good but showing very nice tuning stability and not breaking.

I don't even hate the sound, but it was just an observation that Eddie's has a certain punch and clarity in those upper notes.

This tone of mine is not even an attempt to make a VH sound at all! It's just my regular metal patch that I have not tweaked in any way to "brownify" it or whatever. I don't do VH riffs except recreationally once in a while (and I will have you know I can quit any time I want to).

[onelife]

there is a good article about pole piece heights (magnet stagger) on the Kinman website

[jtr654]

He played through a Marshall 100 watt on 10 and that where he got that compression. Pickup was a PAF and rear mounted .

[Mad Tele]

thats what the b in b.r.o.w.n. sound stands for. figure out the rest and its like having the pick of destiny.

[noisebloom]

His tuning probably has something to do with it. Since B is only four notes from G, he thought the intonation sounded "off," so he tunes his B string a few cents down from the expected note (from Bb, since he tunes in Eb).

http://www.harmonycentral.com/t5/Guitar-Jam/Eddie-Van-Halen-s-B-String/td-p/13590743

A good explanation can be found in the OP in this thread on MetroAmp.com:

http://forum.metroamp.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=3753

[Kazinator]

All I wanted to know is whether there was any information about EVH havine done something with the string-to-string balance of his humbuckers.

It's not that there is anything wrong with my guitar or strings in particular. Rather, it's a problem with everybody's guitar.  You just don't hear the chord notes leap out and grab attention in that same way in most "everyday" guitar tones.

Since starting this topic, I've been able to make a big difference in the right direction with EQ: simply by boosting the 5Khz band.

I suspect pre-eq may play a role.

[sammyreynolds01]

Could it have been pre-eq yes but alot of people don't nearly dial in enough treble on their amps. Ed's was pretty much on 9 or 10. Also Marshall's have a presence knob which will also help boots the high frequencies and give you more bite.

[Mad Tele]

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Kazinator wrote:

All I wanted to know is whether there was any information about EVH havine done something with the string-to-string balance of his humbuckers.

It's not that there is anything wrong with my guitar or strings in particular. Rather, it's a problem with everybody's guitar.  You just don't hear the chord notes leap out and grab attention in that same way in most "everyday" guitar tones.

Since starting this topic, I've been able to make a big difference in the right direction with EQ: simply by boosting the 5Khz band.

I suspect pre-eq may play a role.

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this is what they mean by 'tone is in the hand' but its not. Its in the eq and /or recording technique. I dont know how Page gets his open G, behind the nut bends to jump out. (dazed and confused solo for example) Mine sound weak when I play them. I figure hes panning them louder in the mix or something.

[sammyreynolds01]

You're probably right. In the studio you can layer tracks and tweak them however you want.

[DaleH]

Big F-n sound board...

[GilmourD]

I think one thing people don't realize about EVH is that his hands are strong as fuck and he picks like he has a jackhammer in his right arm.