I was fiddling with my guitar rig today and was listening to VH 1, which never gets old no matter how many times i hear it.  I was finally able (after 20 years of playing) to get a very close simulation of ed's tone on that record using a Marshall DSL 50 head and an MXR phase shifter in front of the amp.  It inspired me to try to learn some of those old licks again.

Any of you guys have the tab to the "on fire"? I was trying to learn the very fast chromatic lick after the first verse/chorus.

can't get it right...any help appreciated.

[url]http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/OLGA/all/van_halen.html[/url]

Hope this works for ya.

Mark

If you really want to get his tone, you need a variac. Now, whether you boost the voltage or knock it down is subject to some debate...

And you've got to "dime" and "hump" your Marshall to get the proper tone.

Also, old Schaller Golden Fifty humbuckers if you're wanting to be 100% authentic.

The tone i have using the marshall is very close to the VH tone on VH1.  Closer than i have every heard on any other rig.

The key is the MXR phase shifter.  I had to do a slight mod on the pedal to knock the output level down to match the original model ed used back in the 70's.

The marshall DSL 50 is only 50 watts so the tubes break up sooner than those non master volume plexi's that ed used.  don't need a variac to get the tone unless you use one of the older model heads (no master volume)...

Lexicon makes a rack with a pre-programmed "Old EVH" and "New EVH" patch. It's dead on. Of course the processor costs almost 2k.