It's great to see & hear this - for me Diver Down is such an underrated record, which I enjoy as much as the first 4, and "Little Guitars" is one of their all-time best.
@@jegauss Oh man, they sure are! "Big Bad Bill" is one of my all time favorites, by any artist. "Pretty Woman" was the first thing I remember hearing from VH, on the radio on the school bus in 6th grade - I didn't even know it was a cover, I just thought it was a good song. For me "Diver Down" was their pinnacle of creativity in a lot of ways - it certainly was their pinnacle in eclecticism. All their records are great, and never get old to these ears, and it's a pleasure to hear you dig into them so we can hear them in a new way.
@@stephanietanner7927 Sis, plenty people agree with you, you are not alone. But let me ask you, do you really think Good Times, Hang 'Em High, Cathedral, Secrets, Intruder, Little Guitars, Big Bad Bill, Full Bug & Happy Trails SUCK? I can understand Dancing in the Streets, which Alex VH called "a total abyssmal failure" and Pretty Woman, which is probably overplayed, but Little Guitars and Hang 'em High are among their very best work, and the other tunes are decent. Cathedral and Little Guitars intro are some great guitar pieces by Ed. But if you really don't dig it, there's no law saying you have to like everything. I can't get into their Hagar albums after OU812 but plenty of people consider those records their best. Not me! Lemme ask you this - as a Van Halen fan, what are your faves?
Jim hits a sweet spot between guitar playing, tone chasing, and electronics tech that no one else does. Thank you for what you do, Jim. We love it and keep it coming.
Sounding good man! I can't wait to hear the full video. The low end in the opening riff sounds rough to me here, but that probably means you nailed it again, and it's _the album_ that has sounded harsh all along! DD was my very first VH album when I first discovered them in '85 and for all its faults, it's still one of my favorites.
These next two videos that I'm working on, are really, really involved. There's so much we don't know - Diver Down was recorded at Amigo Studios (not Sunset Sound) and 1984, was recorded at 5150 - we know even less about that studio. Especially in it's early configurations. So, These are going to be tough - I'm making progress, though. 😉
@@jegauss I hope you're new project is coming along fine. I hope you'll share about your little guitar in it. I heard a live video of Little Guitars last night and your sound was very close to Eddie's on that. I personally think the studio sound is much closer with yours in this video. It was either just a poor recording in the video or Eddie was using a "hotter" pickup than in the studio. It was much more distorted and less clarity with the chords than when he was plucking the upper strings. I shared that video on my FB channel last night if you wanted to check.
Hey Jim, really enjoy all your playing and info. Was wondering if you would be doing a deep dive into the 1984 sounds. The Panama sound in particular has always been elusive to me. Would love to see that and diver down. Thanks.
Hey Gregg! I hear you! The Panama sound has been elusive to me, too. But, I think I've got it - I'm working on the 1984 video right now. I'm not sure I'll do Diver Down, but maybe a few select songs from it....the guitar setup is pretty similar between the two albums - it's the studio that is the big difference on those two albums. Diver Down was recorded and mixed at Amigo Studios (except for Pretty Woman - that was done at Sunset). And of course, 1984 was recorded at 5150 - the studio was in the process of being built as they were recording...
The overdubbed rhythm guitar at the end (underneath the main riff) may be my favorite guitar tone of all time. I know it is the Frank, echoplex and 12301, but can't wait to hear you nail that tone. Comes in the left channel at 3:03.
Jim!!! My God, man. You absolutely nail it every time. Tone, feel, intonation, and most importantly… the swing. Would you ever make impulse responses from your cabs? I play in a few bands, and we’re all on IEMS, so no cabs on stage unfortunately.😢 There’s plenty of IR’s out there, but I think yours would be the cream of the crop! 🎉
Thank you, Joshua! I'm going to start looking into Profiles and IRs once I get done with the 1984 video(s), and I'll probably pick a couple off of Diver Down - right now, those are eating up my free time - but after that, I'm going to seriously investigate producing some IRs and modeling profiles.
@@jegauss you made my day!! Thank you! It would be so awesome if you made some IR’s, and I’ll buy em all! Thank you for all your hard work and dedication to all of this. You are a godsend, my friend.
A buddy of mine is going to be shipping me his Kemper so that I can spend some time with it, and work on trying to capture some really good profiles that have all of the post eq-ing built in. That's probably going to start happening around mid-november.
I'd love to play my authentic Petschulat mini through your rig, sounds phenomenal. I have a (much less accurate, tonally) cover up on my channel with the guitar I built with advice from the original builder of the minis. One of the coolest guitars of all time. Most people don't know that the original actually has a built in amp/speaker circuit in the back of the guitar that can be activated with a push/pull on the volume, so you can play it 'amplified' while on the run. I imagine Ed had this in the bus for the back half of the Fair Warning tour just plucking out little tunes like what would become Little Guitars.
Hey Chillybeef! Yeah, I'd love to play that Petschulat mini thru my rig, too! I've never actually played one - I know Dave is still making them, but it's a long waiting list, not to mention a lot of money for what I'd actually do with it.
@@jegauss And, as much as I respect and admire Dave for what he did, not only on the original, but in giving me advice and wonderful stories about that time in his life - the ones he's making now aren't totally accurate. I know he did a few that were more like the Nancy Wilson mini, but he's never done one that was identical to either of Ed's to my knowledge. After I made mine, I saw him tooling up to start making them again, and it looked like they were more authentic than his previous reissues. But that project has been in the dark for awhile now. Shame, I was ready to turn everyone who begs me to make one to him LOL. they're VERY difficult to make, the originals were truly impressive instruments. FYI, Tommy Colletti turned me onto your stuff. Really enjoying the content.
@@Chirbeef Yeah, I was thinking about maybe just picking up the Stewmac mini-kit, and routing another mini- humbucker into it. It would be better than my Epiphone, and wouldn't be expensive to do. But, even at that, I can barely justify that expense, either. I'd honestly never play it. It's kind of a conversation / novelty piece, but unless I'm regularly doing the VH tribute thing, it's probably not even worth it at that. But, I'd love to have one of yours or Petschulat's 😉
@@jegauss I had one of those Epiphones 12 years ago, but gifted it out. The stock hardware, and electronics needed upgrading for it to be useful as a player, and I suppose at the time I didn't justify the expense. There was something about the string tension as well. Anyway, I hope you are able to keep the videos coming, even if they are short.
@@qua7771 Yeah, they're awful...I refretted it, new tuners, set the neck at a different angle and routed the pickup hole closer to the bridge - it's "barely" useable now.
@@jegauss I wish someone else offered them. I had a good small gold top in the 80's but I think I gave it to my little brother. Who knows what happened to it. I might look to the Chinese market for one.
Jim, my amp tech just finished my 67'JTM50 build, would love to show you some pics! He added a shared to split cathode switch to give it some super lead accents.
More of a comment on your whole body of work-- For all of the switching magnets in pickups, sen vs. korina, pot values etc., you're kind of the poster boy for the "tone is in the hands" argument that Ed himself used to make in every magazine interview (seemed like he switched to a "I'm tone chaser" rap in his later years). You capture more of the EVH vibe than any other TH-camr. And probably could get a good EVH sound going with a Baretta Special plugged into a DSL1. Thanks for the teaser and all the deep dives!
Thank you, Steve! I really appreciate the kind words. So much of it is learning to play with dynamics - pick hard, pick soft, dig, pick angles, etc...also, just learning to play with higher action and less gain is a big part of it, too. I grew up that way - and I grew up playing non-master, Marshall amps...there's a learning curve with those, too. And, they make you honest - they don't cover your mistakes very well 😉 But again, thank you for watching and thank you for the kind words.
I have always said that I don't know if there's a god above or not, but there's no way there wasn't some sort of divine intervention when Alex played the last two songs on 1984. Those drum parts are ridiculously good, surpassing even what Eddie did on them. As far as I'm concerned, 1984 needs to be sent on the next interplanetary space probe so other civilizations can know.
Hey Rice! Don't know that I'll do the whole song, but I'll try to hit those really cool, unique parts. As it is, there's so much going on with this album, I'm not sure I'll be able to cover it all with one video...we'll see. I'm still pretty far away from figuring out all of the tones, production, etc....but, I'm gaining on it.
@@jegauss Well thank you! I think I can speak for all of us when I say that I appreciate everything that you do. Looking forward to seeing what you have in store!
@@PhpGtr I love the way Alex drives the sound. I don’t think people talk about him enough but when Eddie is in the same band I guess that’s the way that it goes. I was listening to Bottoms Up last night several times and was marveling at not just the groove but Alex being in the pocket man he was in the zone.
Hey Danny - yep...the MXR was used for signal loss with the univox EC80 echo. When he switched to the Boss EQs (in Japan), those were also for overall signal loss / boost and tone shaping because of cable length runs and when he started using the wireless rig.
Thank you, Ryan! The amp is just a generic 100 watt '68 build - it's got Mercury Magnetics iron and some good caps and components. But, it's really just a stock build. I've got a Marshall reissue plexi that I love, too - I'm going to be using it for the 1984 video that I'm working on. I've got a few others kicking around here, too...they all sound really good - the orange one that I use in most of these videos is my main amp live, and the Marshall reissue plexi is my backup...it's just a little warmer and slightly cleaner. So, long story short, there's really nothing special about the amps - essentially stock 100 watt super leads.
Thanks Jim! The tone is absolutely incredible and spot on every time! Great work and looking forward to the 1984 video, especially with the drop dead legs clip you had uploaded!
Great video Jim! I have a Epiphone peewee les paul just like yours in this video, however, mine is always out of tune lol. Do you have this problem as well or did you manage to fix it?
Thank you! Yeah, it's not a very easy guitar to keep in tune - for the longest time I had an adjustable bridge on the guitar so I could actually set the intonation, but I've since put the original back on. I've replaced the tuners and that helped, I've re-fretted it, and that helped a little (for the intonation), and I run 10s on it. I've tried it with heavier and lighter strings, but the 10s seem to be the best fit. I also tune it by "relative tuning." It doesn't work with a tuner. You have to tune the guitar to itself. And, it won't play in tune all the way up the neck. It's all a compromise. Good luck!
@@jegauss Thanks for the reply! I will try changing the tuners for sure, also thinking of putting a different pickup in as well. They are pretty cool guitars even though they are hard to keep in tune lol
@@jegauss thanks for the info on the epiphone. Esp build a mini LP under the Edwards brand, how's that for a coincidence! On the hunt for one currently. Thanks for your effort in putting these Van Halen vids together, they really are greatly appreciated by Van Halen guitar community.
Hey Danny, - So, it's a little lower than what you might expect. However, not too far out of spec - a "strong 3/32" on the low E and a "strong 1/16" on the high E side (string depressed at the 22nd fret).
Hey Jim for the first album brown sound video you said you variac’ed down to 87 volts. Was the bias set for 120 volts? Also how does different bias settings sound, do they affect gain like turning down the voltage?
Hey Branden, I don't quite recall what I did on that one for bias - my guess is that I had the bias pot cranked, which comes out to about 50ma at 90 volts - I think Ed just cranked it up and left it - he just couldn't turn the variac up past 90 volts. Otherwise the tubes would redplate. As far as the bias and how it affects tone, typically when the bias is "hotter" the amp gets a little warmer, and it's a fuller type of "gain." When the amp is biased cold, the amp is a little brighter and thinner. But, keep in mind, when the variac is turned down to 90 volts and the bias is at approximately 50ma, that's actually a normal bias for the reduced plate voltage. Hope that helps. Good luck!
Thanks for the info Jim. It’s kind of a trip, on my 73’ Marshall when I crank my bias pot it only comes out to about 33ma when the amp is at 89 volts. I guess I’d probably have to use a different value bias pot to get it to crank up more. All and all what I’ve just been doing is turning everything up to 10 on my amp and just using the variac to get the volume where it needs to be for when we have band practice or play live. I guess in an interview that’s what ed was saying he used to do in the early club days.
Epiphone released these a number of years ago - not sure if they still offer them? I know Stewmac.com offers a kit - it's probably nicer than this Epiphone. But, I've had for at least 25 years.
@@thebudge333 You know, I'm undecided...I like the sound of skinny strings better, but you pull them out of tune so easily that intonation becomes a problem when you're playing chords. I'm about to try a set of 10s to see if that's a good compromise. I'm thinking that's going to be the way to go....but the jury is still out.
Nope not quite there, its close on the beginning but lacks in the low mids a bit, the latter part is on point the highs and high mids, but lows and low mids are not there bro, nice job dude.
Thank you, kewl breeze - yeah, I agree. It's going to be tough to do it exactly as Ed did, unless I get one of the Dave Petschulat mini Les Pauls - just like Ed's. But, I'm still fine tuning. This video is just a test - I'll get closer 😉
It's great to see & hear this - for me Diver Down is such an underrated record, which I enjoy as much as the first 4, and "Little Guitars" is one of their all-time best.
I agree! I think Diver Down is a great record. The covers are creative as hell, too!
@@jegauss Oh man, they sure are! "Big Bad Bill" is one of my all time favorites, by any artist. "Pretty Woman" was the first thing I remember hearing from VH, on the radio on the school bus in 6th grade - I didn't even know it was a cover, I just thought it was a good song. For me "Diver Down" was their pinnacle of creativity in a lot of ways - it certainly was their pinnacle in eclecticism. All their records are great, and never get old to these ears, and it's a pleasure to hear you dig into them so we can hear them in a new way.
Bro I think diver down sucks my opinion doesn’t have to be yours
@@stephanietanner7927 Sis, plenty people agree with you, you are not alone. But let me ask you, do you really think Good Times, Hang 'Em High, Cathedral, Secrets, Intruder, Little Guitars, Big Bad Bill, Full Bug & Happy Trails SUCK? I can understand Dancing in the Streets, which Alex VH called "a total abyssmal failure" and Pretty Woman, which is probably overplayed, but Little Guitars and Hang 'em High are among their very best work, and the other tunes are decent. Cathedral and Little Guitars intro are some great guitar pieces by Ed. But if you really don't dig it, there's no law saying you have to like everything. I can't get into their Hagar albums after OU812 but plenty of people consider those records their best. Not me!
Lemme ask you this - as a Van Halen fan, what are your faves?
@@AppleOno mine are Ain’t talkin bout love,5150,and unchained
Good Lord Batman, he knows Van Halen like no other. Thanks Jim for you awesome dedication to us guitar nut out there.
Ha! Thank you, Jamie!
Awesome, looking forward to the next VH deep dive Jim!
Thank you! I'm working on both Diver Down and 1984.....
@@jegauss You're such a tease🤤
Can't wait for Diver Down & 1984...I hope they are at least 60 minutes each😎
@@rastadarrin Ha! I think they'll have to be at least that - or I'm going to have to split them up. There's just so much to cover...
Jim hits a sweet spot between guitar playing, tone chasing, and electronics tech that no one else does. Thank you for what you do, Jim. We love it and keep it coming.
Thanks Blind Whitey! I appreciate that!
That's a rare combination of skills.
So well done Jim, thanks for demonstrating that! As time passes, it seems Eddie's talent & legacy are even more relevant. So freakin' original.
Thanks Max! Yep, the further I get into these later albums, the more there is!
Sounding good man! I can't wait to hear the full video. The low end in the opening riff sounds rough to me here, but that probably means you nailed it again, and it's _the album_ that has sounded harsh all along! DD was my very first VH album when I first discovered them in '85 and for all its faults, it's still one of my favorites.
Hey P! No, you're right - not quite right here...still a work in progress....
LG is my favorite. I kept playing VH LG my wedding morn., 'twas a lil nervous. 'Married 10 years this June.
always a good day when a Top Jimmy Gaustad video pops up in my notifications!
Love it! Thanks Chris!
@@jegauss Top Jimmy Cooks! Top Jimmy Swings! He’s got the look! Top Jimmy: He’s the King…..
I thoroughly enjoyed this. Man, you are right there in the ballpark on this one, and I know it wasn't easy. Excellent work.
Thank you!
Very cool !!!!
Thank you!
Great, Looking forward to a long ramble!!
Man I love your videos but I haven’t seen one in awhile even though I’m subbed. I hit the bell this time. As always you didn’t disappoint.🍻
These next two videos that I'm working on, are really, really involved. There's so much we don't know - Diver Down was recorded at Amigo Studios (not Sunset Sound) and 1984, was recorded at 5150 - we know even less about that studio. Especially in it's early configurations. So, These are going to be tough - I'm making progress, though. 😉
@@jegauss nice, I’m looking forward to seeing them.
Very impressive 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Thanks Gabe!
One of my favorites!! Hope you do the full version. Usually play with a capo. Cool setup.
Hey Gary! I agree, it's just such a cool song / guitar part / vocal.....all great!
@@jegauss I wore out Diver Down when it came out!!! I think an underrated album but one of my favorites.
Yeh!! Yeh!! Awesome Jim, you've got some big huge sound out of that setup! Will love to hear about it. You Rock my friend!
Thank you, Doug!
@@jegauss I hope you're new project is coming along fine. I hope you'll share about your little guitar in it. I heard a live video of Little Guitars last night and your sound was very close to Eddie's on that. I personally think the studio sound is much closer with yours in this video. It was either just a poor recording in the video or Eddie was using a "hotter" pickup than in the studio. It was much more distorted and less clarity with the chords than when he was plucking the upper strings. I shared that video on my FB channel last night if you wanted to check.
Very cool, such a great tune. Never knew Epi made minis.
Thank you! I've had this one for about 25 years, not sure they still do?
Hey Jim, really enjoy all your playing and info. Was wondering if you would be doing a deep dive into the 1984 sounds. The Panama sound in particular has always been elusive to me. Would love to see that and diver down. Thanks.
Hey Gregg! I hear you! The Panama sound has been elusive to me, too. But, I think I've got it - I'm working on the 1984 video right now. I'm not sure I'll do Diver Down, but maybe a few select songs from it....the guitar setup is pretty similar between the two albums - it's the studio that is the big difference on those two albums. Diver Down was recorded and mixed at Amigo Studios (except for Pretty Woman - that was done at Sunset). And of course, 1984 was recorded at 5150 - the studio was in the process of being built as they were recording...
@@jegauss thats good news. I really appreciate all you do. Take care and thanks for responding.
Jim I always like seeing the professor. Appreciate you
Cheers 🍷
Thank you!
The overdubbed rhythm guitar at the end (underneath the main riff) may be my favorite guitar tone of all time. I know it is the Frank, echoplex and 12301, but can't wait to hear you nail that tone. Comes in the left channel at 3:03.
Hey Ron! Yeah, I agree - that tone is really, really good. It captures the essence of what that setup sounds like in the room.
Jim!!! My God, man. You absolutely nail it every time. Tone, feel, intonation, and most importantly… the swing. Would you ever make impulse responses from your cabs? I play in a few bands, and we’re all on IEMS, so no cabs on stage unfortunately.😢 There’s plenty of IR’s out there, but I think yours would be the cream of the crop! 🎉
Thank you, Joshua! I'm going to start looking into Profiles and IRs once I get done with the 1984 video(s), and I'll probably pick a couple off of Diver Down - right now, those are eating up my free time - but after that, I'm going to seriously investigate producing some IRs and modeling profiles.
@@jegauss you made my day!! Thank you! It would be so awesome if you made some IR’s, and I’ll buy em all! Thank you for all your hard work and dedication to all of this. You are a godsend, my friend.
Jim….
Please please please make your own Kemper Profile pack with ALL these spot-on VH tones in your arsenal. It would be a massive success !!!
I’d buy
A buddy of mine is going to be shipping me his Kemper so that I can spend some time with it, and work on trying to capture some really good profiles that have all of the post eq-ing built in. That's probably going to start happening around mid-november.
🙌 we’re not worthy, we’re not worthy! 😂👍👍👍
I'd love to play my authentic Petschulat mini through your rig, sounds phenomenal. I have a (much less accurate, tonally) cover up on my channel with the guitar I built with advice from the original builder of the minis. One of the coolest guitars of all time. Most people don't know that the original actually has a built in amp/speaker circuit in the back of the guitar that can be activated with a push/pull on the volume, so you can play it 'amplified' while on the run. I imagine Ed had this in the bus for the back half of the Fair Warning tour just plucking out little tunes like what would become Little Guitars.
Hey Chillybeef! Yeah, I'd love to play that Petschulat mini thru my rig, too! I've never actually played one - I know Dave is still making them, but it's a long waiting list, not to mention a lot of money for what I'd actually do with it.
@@jegauss And, as much as I respect and admire Dave for what he did, not only on the original, but in giving me advice and wonderful stories about that time in his life - the ones he's making now aren't totally accurate. I know he did a few that were more like the Nancy Wilson mini, but he's never done one that was identical to either of Ed's to my knowledge. After I made mine, I saw him tooling up to start making them again, and it looked like they were more authentic than his previous reissues. But that project has been in the dark for awhile now. Shame, I was ready to turn everyone who begs me to make one to him LOL. they're VERY difficult to make, the originals were truly impressive instruments.
FYI, Tommy Colletti turned me onto your stuff. Really enjoying the content.
@@Chirbeef Yeah, I was thinking about maybe just picking up the Stewmac mini-kit, and routing another mini- humbucker into it. It would be better than my Epiphone, and wouldn't be expensive to do. But, even at that, I can barely justify that expense, either. I'd honestly never play it. It's kind of a conversation / novelty piece, but unless I'm regularly doing the VH tribute thing, it's probably not even worth it at that. But, I'd love to have one of yours or Petschulat's 😉
Secrets and Little Guitars truly are 2 of Eds best moments. I am sure you will do the album justice Jim.
Yeah, really under rated album in my opinion...great songs and the covers are great, too!
@@jegauss
I agree 100% Mr Jim
Wow, that's good. That little guitar looks almost like a mandolin. I might try this song using a capo.
Thank you! I like playing it with a capo better than I do with this "Little Guitar." The frets are too close together! 😉
@@jegauss I had one of those Epiphones 12 years ago, but gifted it out. The stock hardware, and electronics needed upgrading for it to be useful as a player, and I suppose at the time I didn't justify the expense. There was something about the string tension as well. Anyway, I hope you are able to keep the videos coming, even if they are short.
@@qua7771 Yeah, they're awful...I refretted it, new tuners, set the neck at a different angle and routed the pickup hole closer to the bridge - it's "barely" useable now.
@@jegauss I wish someone else offered them. I had a good small gold top in the 80's but I think I gave it to my little brother. Who knows what happened to it. I might look to the Chinese market for one.
@@qua7771 I'd order the Stew Mac kit....it's cheap and it's probably better quality than the Epi...
Amazing!!!
Thank you!
Love it!
Thanks!!
One of my Favorites ! Just Pure Eddie ! Let’s do a Deep Dive On Diver Down !!! Fuck Yeah !!!
It's just such a great song, loaded with multiple great riffs.
Jim, my amp tech just finished my 67'JTM50 build, would love to show you some pics! He added a shared to split cathode switch to give it some super lead accents.
Sounds killer! Send me some pics and sound clips!
Still, sounds wonderful.
Thank you, David
Awesome work as usual!!!
Thank you, Brian!
Totally awesome !
Thank you!
sounds Amazing!!!
Thank you!
This just makes me smile war to ear lol❣️🤩🤘
Thank you, Andrew!
Geez made the Epiphone sound amazing!
Thank you! It's a work in progress - not quite there yet.
YESSSSSSSSS
working on it.....
Love it!
That puppy sounds great.
My only concern is that strap and accompanying hardware being sufficient to support the guitar 😉😁
Ha! yeah, it's a heavy little beast!
Fantastic Jim.
Than you, Jonathan!
Hey Jim, I'm seriously jonesing for some new =VH= content from you🤤 When is your Diver Down or 1984 'deep dive' dropping??? No Pressure😎
I know, I know......1984 has been really tough. But, I'm getting really close.
@@jegauss Where Oh Where is Jim Gaustad ????? Kidnapped😳Abducted by aliens👽Became a Mormon & moved to Utah with his 5 wives🤱🤰🏻👩🏽🍼🤰🏼🤱🏼
More of a comment on your whole body of work-- For all of the switching magnets in pickups, sen vs. korina, pot values etc., you're kind of the poster boy for the "tone is in the hands" argument that Ed himself used to make in every magazine interview (seemed like he switched to a "I'm tone chaser" rap in his later years). You capture more of the EVH vibe than any other TH-camr. And probably could get a good EVH sound going with a Baretta Special plugged into a DSL1. Thanks for the teaser and all the deep dives!
Thank you, Steve! I really appreciate the kind words. So much of it is learning to play with dynamics - pick hard, pick soft, dig, pick angles, etc...also, just learning to play with higher action and less gain is a big part of it, too. I grew up that way - and I grew up playing non-master, Marshall amps...there's a learning curve with those, too. And, they make you honest - they don't cover your mistakes very well 😉 But again, thank you for watching and thank you for the kind words.
Just came to check if there had been an update to the Channel without yt telling me. Hopefully this means diver down is soon
Working on them........both Diver Down and 1984. There's a lot to tackle on those.
Killer!!!
Thank you, Dan!
Hoping to see you do girls gone bad all the way through. Should have been a number one radio hit. Eddie’s guitar break is sick on that one.
I have always said that I don't know if there's a god above or not, but there's no way there wasn't some sort of divine intervention when Alex played the last two songs on 1984. Those drum parts are ridiculously good, surpassing even what Eddie did on them. As far as I'm concerned, 1984 needs to be sent on the next interplanetary space probe so other civilizations can know.
Agreed!
Hey Rice! Don't know that I'll do the whole song, but I'll try to hit those really cool, unique parts. As it is, there's so much going on with this album, I'm not sure I'll be able to cover it all with one video...we'll see. I'm still pretty far away from figuring out all of the tones, production, etc....but, I'm gaining on it.
@@jegauss Well thank you! I think I can speak for all of us when I say that I appreciate everything that you do. Looking forward to seeing what you have in store!
@@PhpGtr I love the way Alex drives the sound. I don’t think people talk about him enough but when Eddie is in the same band I guess that’s the way that it goes. I was listening to Bottoms Up last night several times and was marveling at not just the groove but Alex being in the pocket man he was in the zone.
Awesome Jim!! Are you trying out different pickups in that Epiphone? Sounds great!
Dayum yes
Thank you!
Hey jim I have a question have you seen the Japanese picture of his pedal board the one from 1978 with the band EQ pedal?? For Van Halen 1??
Hey Danny - yep...the MXR was used for signal loss with the univox EC80 echo. When he switched to the Boss EQs (in Japan), those were also for overall signal loss / boost and tone shaping because of cable length runs and when he started using the wireless rig.
@@jegauss gotcha and thank you so much Jim
Tasty!
Thank you!
👍👍👍👍
Absolutely killer tone. Nailed spot on! What is the plexi clone that you are using? It sounds fantastic in these videos!
Thank you, Ryan! The amp is just a generic 100 watt '68 build - it's got Mercury Magnetics iron and some good caps and components. But, it's really just a stock build. I've got a Marshall reissue plexi that I love, too - I'm going to be using it for the 1984 video that I'm working on. I've got a few others kicking around here, too...they all sound really good - the orange one that I use in most of these videos is my main amp live, and the Marshall reissue plexi is my backup...it's just a little warmer and slightly cleaner. So, long story short, there's really nothing special about the amps - essentially stock 100 watt super leads.
Thanks Jim! The tone is absolutely incredible and spot on every time! Great work and looking forward to the 1984 video, especially with the drop dead legs clip you had uploaded!
Well? Was your test successful? Does it feel like a little guitar?👏🏻😂‼️
Funny....I must've left it in the dryer too long!
LOVE that tiny body , hilarious, but it sounds so good .
Thanks Herb!
Great video Jim! I have a Epiphone peewee les paul just like yours in this video, however, mine is always out of tune lol. Do you have this problem as well or did you manage to fix it?
Thank you! Yeah, it's not a very easy guitar to keep in tune - for the longest time I had an adjustable bridge on the guitar so I could actually set the intonation, but I've since put the original back on. I've replaced the tuners and that helped, I've re-fretted it, and that helped a little (for the intonation), and I run 10s on it. I've tried it with heavier and lighter strings, but the 10s seem to be the best fit. I also tune it by "relative tuning." It doesn't work with a tuner. You have to tune the guitar to itself. And, it won't play in tune all the way up the neck. It's all a compromise. Good luck!
@@jegauss Thanks for the reply! I will try changing the tuners for sure, also thinking of putting a different pickup in as well. They are pretty cool guitars even though they are hard to keep in tune lol
Jim, is the epiphone your playing the same scale length as Ed's mini LP?
Really looking forward to your Diver Down and 1984 videos👍
Hey Dale! Yes, I believe it is - it's like a 20" scale. It's small. Those frets are really close together!
@@jegauss thanks for the info on the epiphone. Esp build a mini LP under the Edwards brand, how's that for a coincidence! On the hunt for one currently. Thanks for your effort in putting these Van Halen vids together, they really are greatly appreciated by Van Halen guitar community.
Hey Jim I have a question what is the height between your strings and your pickup on your Greco destroyer for vh1?
Hey Danny, - So, it's a little lower than what you might expect. However, not too far out of spec - a "strong 3/32" on the low E and a "strong 1/16" on the high E side (string depressed at the 22nd fret).
What tuning are you using to get this on a little guitsr
the guitar is tuned to F# with a drop E
Hey Jim for the first album brown sound video you said you variac’ed down to 87 volts. Was the bias set for 120 volts? Also how does different bias settings sound, do they affect gain like turning down the voltage?
Hey Branden, I don't quite recall what I did on that one for bias - my guess is that I had the bias pot cranked, which comes out to about 50ma at 90 volts - I think Ed just cranked it up and left it - he just couldn't turn the variac up past 90 volts. Otherwise the tubes would redplate.
As far as the bias and how it affects tone, typically when the bias is "hotter" the amp gets a little warmer, and it's a fuller type of "gain." When the amp is biased cold, the amp is a little brighter and thinner. But, keep in mind, when the variac is turned down to 90 volts and the bias is at approximately 50ma, that's actually a normal bias for the reduced plate voltage. Hope that helps. Good luck!
Thanks for the info Jim. It’s kind of a trip, on my 73’ Marshall when I crank my bias pot it only comes out to about 33ma when the amp is at 89 volts. I guess I’d probably have to use a different value bias pot to get it to crank up more.
All and all what I’ve just been doing is turning everything up to 10 on my amp and just using the variac to get the volume where it needs to be for when we have band practice or play live. I guess in an interview that’s what ed was saying he used to do in the early club days.
He loves Van Halen
Yeah! What C. Nash said! 😉
He has like 8 Van Halen guitar
Woah, is this a custom build or did Epiphone release these at one point?
Epiphone released these a number of years ago - not sure if they still offer them? I know Stewmac.com offers a kit - it's probably nicer than this Epiphone. But, I've had for at least 25 years.
Yes rad Jim. One of my all time favorite songs. And off their least favorite album.
Thank you! Yeah, it's just a great song!
@@jegauss also. I got a mini guitar in a trade quite a while back. I’ve heard heavy gauge strings work better on those. Thoughts?
@@thebudge333 You know, I'm undecided...I like the sound of skinny strings better, but you pull them out of tune so easily that intonation becomes a problem when you're playing chords. I'm about to try a set of 10s to see if that's a good compromise. I'm thinking that's going to be the way to go....but the jury is still out.
Nope not quite there, its close on the beginning but lacks in the low mids a bit, the latter part is on point the highs and high mids, but lows and low mids are not there bro, nice job dude.
Thank you, kewl breeze - yeah, I agree. It's going to be tough to do it exactly as Ed did, unless I get one of the Dave Petschulat mini Les Pauls - just like Ed's. But, I'm still fine tuning. This video is just a test - I'll get closer 😉