Isn't the "brown" sound Eddie Van Halens tone? Man, he is a phenomenal player but I never thought his tone was very good.
It's kind if ironic that the "brown" tone sounds like shit isn't it?
Well, I can appreciate it more now I guess, but at the time when the first van Halen album came out....no. I thought the playing was mind boggling but I wasn't crazy about the tone. In my opinion there was too much pregain .and flange. It was too processed sounding for my personal taste.You don't like van halen's tone? Of course, I'm talking the original 70s one, not the over choruses 80s and 90s tone.
Well, I can appreciate it more now I guess, but at the time when the first van Halen album came out....no. I thought the playing was mind boggling but I wasn't crazy about the tone. In my opinion there was too much pregain .and flange. It was too processed sounding for my personal taste.
you're right. Like I said, I can appreciate it more now. I thought Eddies chops were awsome, but the tunes were kind of lame. The best tune on the album was "you really got me" and it wasnt even theirs. I have heard EVH get excellent tone. I just wasn't crazy about the guitar tone when I first heard it. But, I think the tone was pretty much irrelevant because I was blown away by his chops In no time music stores were full of dudes sitting in front of amps...with the pre cranked...finger tapping "Eruption". Every hair band had a neck tapping soli in every song (except their sappy love ballads). It was the Era of the pre-gain. Most of those music store neck tapping guitar heroes couldn't get good tone on stage in a live band situation if their lives depended on itExcept that definitely was not your typical amp pre-gain. There was no preamp gain on the VH amp. That was cranked amp near meltdown gain.
I thought Eddies chops were awsome, but the tunes were kind of lame.
Jimi, I think you have your timeline messed up. Van Halen 1 came out in 1977. The hair band thing didn't start until '83.
Yup. I remember thinking WTF very well. Went to see them thinking no way they can do that live. Surprise, surprise... I saw them in August of '79 and they were all that.Those old enough to have been young in 1978 can attest to the "holy shit...WTF?" response that they inspired. That first album, and especially side 1, was among of the strongest musical statements I've ever heard in my life. "Eruption" was a musical manifesto in under two minutes.
I like chorus. I have a simple boss chorus and I often use it when playing clean
Depends on the genre and placement. Chorus on heavy grind guitars can make shit muddy as hell.
I know all of us have seen and heard things that cause shitty guitar tone.
One thing that is very common that I see is using too much pre-gain or "crunch". It's like brill cream...a little dab will do you. Nothing, IMO, ruins tone as much as too much pre.
Anyone else have any tone destroying pet peaves?
Yeah but hating chorus is trendy right now,