No. 0071978·hard-rock·5 blocks
Eruption
The 'brown sound' that changed rock guitar forever. Eddie Van Halen's tone on the debut Van Halen album is a Frankenstrat with a single humbucker through a Marshall Plexi 1959, reportedly powered through a variac to lower the voltage and achieve a thick, compressed, harmonically rich overdrive at manageable volumes. An MXR Phase 90 adds a subtle swirl. The result is a warm, singing sustain that is neither too clean nor too distorted — it sits in a magical sweet spot that responds to every nuance of Eddie's playing.
Van HalenSignal path · input → output · 5 blocksLive values · Kemper Profiler
Guitar
EVH Frankenstrat
Pickups
single
Tuning
bridge
Strings
standard
Compressor
Phaser
Search Rig Exchange for 'Plexi'
Natural Reverb
Compressor
← Studio compressor
Intensity
3
Attack
0.0s
Volume
0
Phaser
← MXR Phase 90
Speed
3Hz
Mix
50
Search Rig Exchange for 'Plexi'
← Marshall Super Lead 1959 (Variac)
Gain
8.5
Bass
5
Middle
7
Treble
7
Presence
5
Natural Reverb
← Studio room reverb (Sunset Sound)
Decay
1s
Predelay
20ms
Mix
15
Engineer's note
File 007
The 'brown sound' that changed rock guitar forever. Eddie Van Halen's tone on the debut Van Halen album is a Frankenstrat with a single humbucker through a Marshall Plexi 1959, reportedly powered through a variac to lower the voltage and achieve a thick, compressed, harmonically rich overdrive at manageable volumes. An MXR Phase 90 adds a subtle swirl. The result is a warm, singing sustain that is neither too clean nor too distorted — it sits in a magical sweet spot that responds to every nuance of Eddie's playing.
— Eddie Van Halen
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