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Riff Tone
Hear About It Later
Van Halen
Guitarrock1980s
Original Gear
GuitarFrankenstrat (homemade Strat-style guitar, maple neck, single humbucker, Floyd Rose tremolo)
AmpMarshall Super Lead 1959 100-watt (run through a Variac, 90V-100V, EL34 tubes, 1968-69 model)
Amp Settings
gain8
bass5.5
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Notes
Studio recording, 1981. Amp run through a Variac to lower voltage for increased saturation. No overdrive/distortion pedals; all gain from amp. Effects added pre-amp input, not in effects loop. Frankenstrat with single bridge humbucker, volume knob only.
Tone Character(10)
saturated British crunchtight palm-muted chugsaggressive attackharmonic overtonespercussive rhythmarticulate pick attackrich upper midrangecutting presenceclassic 'brown sound'modulated swirl from flanger
Difficulty
The riff requires tight palm muting, fast and accurate chord changes, and precise timing to match the flanger modulation, making it challenging for most intermediate players.
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Create Free AccountGuitarrock1980s
Original Gear
GuitarFrankenstrat (homemade Strat-style guitar, maple neck, single humbucker, Floyd Rose tremolo)
AmpMarshall Super Lead 1959 100-watt (run through a Variac, 90V-100V, EL34 tubes, 1968-69 model)
Amp Settings
gain8
bass5.5
Create an account to see all tone details
Create Free AccountEffects & Signal Chain
Notes
Studio recording, 1981. Amp run through a Variac to lower voltage for increased saturation. No overdrive/distortion pedals; all gain from amp. Effects added pre-amp input, not in effects loop. Frankenstrat with single bridge humbucker, volume knob only.
Tone Character(10)
saturated British crunchtight palm-muted chugsaggressive attackharmonic overtonespercussive rhythmarticulate pick attackrich upper midrangecutting presenceclassic 'brown sound'modulated swirl from flanger
Difficulty
The riff requires tight palm muting, fast and accurate chord changes, and precise timing to match the flanger modulation, making it challenging for most intermediate players.