I like the stacks too. One time I saw ZZ Top, they were doing the wireless IEM thing. The whole stage set was some jungle/tiki hut motif thing, not an amp to be found. The tour before that just plain looked cooler with the wall of speakers, even if they weren't being played.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Explain Wolfgang's Van Halen's Live Rig
- Thread starter DJS
- Start date
I like the stacks too. One time I saw ZZ Top, they were doing the wireless IEM thing. The whole stage set was some jungle/tiki hut motif thing, not an amp to be found. The tour before that just plain looked cooler with the wall of speakers, even if they weren't being played.
The don't seem to get much respect around here - not surprisingly. I'm a bigger fan now after hearing them live. What amazing sound. Sure - Wolfgang won't be the next Entwistle, but he was dialed in to Eddie and Alex lock-step and actually helped cover where David couldn't hit his high notes the way he used to. It was also amazing to see how Eddie shaped his tone just right depending on the angle of his guitar, distance to the cabinets, pedals, and whatever switches, knobs he had on his numerous guitars.
did you ask them about how they put their pants on or did you actually witness each one putting on his pants?
billfitzmaurice
Commercial User
- Sep 15, 2004
- 16,860
- 278
- 76
- Disclosures
- Owner, Bill Fitzmaurice Loudspeaker Design
I had an all access pass, including back stage, and sometimes chatted them up in their dressing room, so on more than one occasion I did.
I like van halen too and don't care about the cabs either ,and kudos to Rosie O'Donnell
for winning the bass chair.
for winning the bass chair.
That stuff goes back to the original acts who used them onstage. They cranked them, and wore them out. So the player would use one stack, and have a second stack available in case the first disintegrated in mid-show. Then along came KISS, and they saw the look of those amps and expanded on it. And so massive walls of amps/speakers became part of the stage set.
I saw Van Halen in Toronto last week, and those cabs are definitely real as the techs played through them without PA support during a few quick soundchecks. As said before, Wolf had a mix of the new Fender tube amps and the EVH amps played through what looked like a few EVH 810s/stacked 410s and also what I think were a couple of Fender 215s or something along those lines.
I thought Wolfgang played great, right in the pocket, and did awesome on the backing vocals. And the tone coming out of that rig definitely ranks high on my list of best live tones that I've heard personally - it sounded totally awesome!
I thought Wolfgang played great, right in the pocket, and did awesome on the backing vocals. And the tone coming out of that rig definitely ranks high on my list of best live tones that I've heard personally - it sounded totally awesome!
EVH himself has been doing amps into speaker simulator then this to DI, and back to power amps for his own cabs - for decades.
Grateful Dead's Wall of Sound was a concept that began in '72, a full year before KISS was formed. The Who was playing with gigantic stage setups years before that even. KISS started nothing new when it came to sound, they started a revolution as far as stage performance though.
As for EVH, I don't agree with his 'you're out so my kid can play' attitude, but it's his band, he can do what he wants. He showed the world that by kicking out Dave and bringing in Sammy, then kicking out Sammy and bringing Dave back momentarily before switching back to Sammy and now we're back to Dave.
Mike seems to be doing fine for himself with Chickenfoot and is probably better off anyways.
levis76 said:Grateful Dead's Wall of Sound was a concept that began in '72, a full year before KISS was formed. The Who was playing with gigantic stage setups years before that even. KISS started nothing new when it came to sound, they started a revolution as far as stage performance though.
As for EVH, I don't agree with his 'you're out so my kid can play' attitude, but it's his band, he can do what he wants. He showed the world that by kicking out Dave and bringing in Sammy, then kicking out Sammy and bringing Dave back momentarily before switching back to Sammy and now we're back to Dave.
Don't forget Gary.
Up close, the sausage looks like dog poop.
It just might be dog poop if it is an imported Japanese sausage.............seeing as how they are making some "special" hamburgers over there.
Oh yeah, Gary...the guy who whined about Howard Stern wanting him to sing at 8 in the morning. Good career move. The guy's the new singer in Van Halen, gets on a radio show with 20 million rabid listeners, and refuses to sing because it's too early in the morning for his throat. Listen, if I'm going on a morning show and I'm the 3rd new singer in Van Halen, maybe I'll wake up a little early and warm up and try to give a good impression, you think? He got it all backward...you impress people first, THEN you start acting like a jerkoff on Howard Stern.
Just left the stage at sound check here in Chicago, and you can bet those cabs are for real! We'll be doing a whole rig rundown in an upcoming issue of BASS PLAYER, but his clean tone comes from two Fender Super Bassman heads -- one to the 8x10s, one to the 2x15s, and his dirty signal comes from 4x12 + 2x12 stacks of EVH 5150 IIIs. Those are dummy heads on stage, but the cabs are all live, and one of each is mic'd and blended with a DI for FOH. Sounds truly gnarly. The EVHs are over-the-top distortion, and there's a huge difference between the mid-heavy 8x10s and the beefy 2x15s. No distortion pedals -- all amp overdrive. Thanks to Wolf and his tech, Jim, for the tour!
I gotta hand it to the kid. He's doing good. The kid has talent. He's not just up there trading on the name...he's working the gig. And I think Michael's happier with Sammy, so mazel tov to all of them. Thx for the rundown Brian.
