Nail the ToneVan Halen

Eruption

Van Halen · Van Halen · 1978

"Eruption" is the Frankenstrat's single rewound Gibson PAF in the bridge, straight into a dimed 1968 Marshall 1959 Super Lead fed by a Variac, with an MXR Phase 90 and Echoplex EP-3 in front and a Univox EC-80A for the octave-dropping dive at the end. Everything on the amp is on 10, so the tone shaping is all in your picking hand and the volume knob. Tune down a half step or nothing will line up with the record, and remember the big ambience is Sunset Sound's echo chamber, not a pedal.

Where these numbers come from: the player said these settings themselves

Tuning

Eb standard (down a half step)

The record actually sits roughly 10-15 cents sharp of Eb, so tune slightly sharp of Eb standard if you want to play along with the album.

Part: Solo

Guitar

  • "Frankenstrat" (homebuilt Strat-style, Boogie Bodies body) · Gibson PAF humbucker (rewound, wax-dipped) · bridge pickup (only pickup, wired straight to volume)

Amp

1968 Marshall 1959 Super Lead 100W

GAIN
10.0
BASS
10.0
MID
10.0
TREBLE
10.0
PRESENCE
10.0

Eddie ran the head with every control dimed and used a Variac to control level, and later said the head itself was stock - in 1978 he claimed he was raising the voltage to mislead copycats, while he was in fact lowering it (accounts of the setting range from about 89V to 140V). Forum accounts of the session say the 4x12 was miked with a single SM57 at Sunset Sound; the Super Lead has no gain or reverb control, so the "gain" value here is the channel volume.

Pedals

  • MXR Phase 90 · phaser · Speed knob at 9-10 o'clock, his one fixed setting; also acts as a treble boost into the amp
  • Maestro Echoplex EP-3 · tape echo · Short slapback, delay slider low (roughly 10-12 of 35); left in line as an always-on preamp/boost
  • Univox EC-80A Echo Chamber · tape echo · Slowed motor for a long, pitch-dropping repeat - used for the octave-diving harmonic that ends the track
  • Sunset Sound echo chamber · studio reverb · Moderate send; audible on note tails and the final dive, not a pedal but a big part of the recorded sound

Tone character

saturated brown sound · compressed power-tube breakup · forward upper mids · swirling subtle phaser · long chamber reverb tail · singing harmonic sustain

advanced

Two-handed tapping arpeggios at speed, fast tremolo picking and pull-off runs, pinch harmonics, and whammy dives that all have to stay in time and in tune.

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Sources