Steve Vai/David Lee Roth 'Eat Em & Smile' Era - I Need Help

Jack Napalm

Jack Napalm

Power User
Okay, I need some help. I am trying to recreate the vibe of Steve's rig for this album. I think Eat Em & Smile is one of the best all time rock records. Vai used the following on the album and I want to recreate the rig in the Axe.

Official Vai.com Auction: Steve Vai

I am not a Marshall guru so I need some help here. Would you use the Plexi 100 or the 1987X? Is the Plexi the same as the JMP? If I used the 1987X would you increase the Power Tube Bias to emulate 100watts instead of 50?

Anyone have any insights into the mods that were done? With the power tubes being KT88 power tube type should stay at Pentode. Would you do anything else to recreate a KT88? The extra gain stage seems easy enough to do with the input trim.

For cab's I am thinking the 4x12 G12H30 or 1960B V30. Any other suggestions?

I believe he also used an SD-1 or OD-1 for a boost and a Roland SDE3000 for delay and chorus.

Any help in creating this patch would be appreciated. I am not trying to tone match. Just recreate the rig and vibe. I want to spend the next few months learning as much of that album as I can.


Thank you,

Mark
 
i think i would be looking at the modded jcm 800. with the mods and extra gain stage that his amp had, it was probably closer to the modded 800.
 
Lee Jacksons Marshall mods were somewhat unique in that he did include the mid-shift frequency select control and most all of his mods put the extra gain stage between the tone stack and the the phase inverter. There are no models in the Axefx that do this. That's not to say getting the DLR EEAS tone isn't in the Axefx, but you are going to have to get to Rome by a different road. If I were to suggest one of the amp sims that I know gets pretty close in architecture, voicing and gain levels, I would suggest the Cameron CCV channel 2 without the saturation on, or the Friedman HBE without the saturation on. Turn the gain down and boost with the drive pedal. That should get you close but it will take some experimentation.
 
Thanks, I tried those amps out and the HBE seems to work pretty well. I didn't have luck with the Cameron. The HBE seems to have a little more 'grind' when boosted. I'll keep playing with it.
 
I get a get Vai tone with the leggy ,with OH v3 stpr db um 4,or basket weave tv mix and petrucci v30 mix:encouragement:
 
Well here is my first attempt at a patch. I am still learning how to play Yankee Rose.

Axe-Change - Download Preset - Yankee Rose - by jacknapalm

Still a work in progress. Built from notes in Steve Vai Guitar Extravaganza.

Scene 1: Opening Chord
Scene 2: Rhythm
Scene 3: Talking Guitar (Adjust Wah to taste or set it for your pedal)
Scene 4: Solo/Fills
Scene 5: Bridge

Setup to run in Stereo.

This is not a tone match. I just wanted to create the vibe of the song with my equipment and learn along the way. Also, I don't have the pickups he used in his guitars nor his hands. Looking for suggestions on improvement. The opening chord delay settings sound right, after the delay has kicked in. The 120ms delay on the rhythm seems too long. I am not hearing that on the album version.

The Steve Vai Guitar Extravaganza book has some great notes on the setup and performance.

Let me know how to improve this patch. I don't have the greatest listening environment at the house and haven't tried this out at rehearsal or sound check yet.
 
vai88rack7fs.jpg

vai88board4jr.jpg
 
agreed, eat em was a lee jackson mod. Someone posted on another forum that Steve Stevens said the Eat em and Smile rig vai is auctioning off was his touring rig and not what was used in the studio on the record... I wonder if theres truth to that? it would significantly lower the collector value IMO.
 
Thanks, I wouldn't doubt it sounds a little thin. I have been using it in my office with desktop monitors. They are adequate but not great. It sounds bass heavy to me. I need to unbury my CLR and hook it up so I can dial it in better. Nice to know its on the right track.
 
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