Ok, after posting >THIS THREAD< I added all of this afterwards, but decided to just make a new post in here with it.....


If any of you are tone freaks like I am, here's a little tip on getting similar tones to him. Use a relatively low gain bridge humbucker that has a very open and harmonicaly rich tone, a maple neck and fretboard, and something along the poplar/aldar/basswood lines for the body. There are a few other details for the guitar, but those are the basics. As for amps, you'll need an EL43 power tube based amp, with a british voicing. The power amp needs to be pushed really hard, so that you get some nice power tube saturation, and then bring in the preamp gain to add more gain if needed (start off with it fairly low). You also don't need as much gain as you might think. Too much gain will muddy your tone up, and he had a really clear and open tone. CRANK YOUR MIDS! An overdrive/distortion pedal like the Boss DS-1 or SD-1 can also help, but get as close as you can with your amp first. Finally, to get that extra chewiness he has, you'll need an MXR Phase 90 phaser pedal, with the rate/speed set very low. A few other effects that will help are Flanger (MXR-117 to be very specific), Chorus (a Boss CH-1 works for me), and Delay. A compressor and an EQ pedal would also be handy.

There is a lot more to his rig than all that (such as using a wet/dry/wet setup, an Eventide Harmonizer, slaving his amp out to separate power amps, sending his signal to Palmer cabinet simulators for FOH, etc...), but those are the basics. His rig is constantly changing, but guess what... He always sounds like himself.

Following those guidelines will get you pretty close to the famous "Brown Sound". But, unless you learn to play just like Eddie, and have his hands and touch, you'll never sound just like him. Hey, what's so bad about that? I know it's fun to sound like your heros, but why not work on developing your own tone that is unique to you, and works with your style of playing. I love the "brown sound", and like using something similar when I'm jamming on some VH tunes, but other than that, it just doesn't work for my style of writing and playing.

Just remember that these are guidelines, and not rules. You would still sound like yourself playing through Eddie's acutal rig, and Eddie would still sound like himself playing through your rig. So, don't get discouraged trying to copy someone elses tone... Work on finding out what tones work best for your playing and writing styles.