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 · 6 blocksLive values · Pedalboard
Guitar
EVH Frankenstrat
Pickups
single
Tuning
bridge
Strings
standard
MXR Phase 90
Marshall Super Lead 1959 (Plexi) via Variac
Marshall 4x12 Cabinet (Greenback)
Room Reverb (Sunset Sound Studio)
Shure SM57
MXR Phase 90
modulation
Speed
3Hz
Marshall Super Lead 1959 (Plexi) via Variac
preamp
Presence
5
Bass
5
Middle
7
Treble
7
Volume I
10
Volume II
0
Room Reverb (Sunset Sound Studio)
reverb · FX loop
Decay
1s
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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