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Does the stock Plexi has enough gain to play VH

Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2023 7:00 pm
by GuitarBilly
HACK JOB ALERT: I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO PLAY HOT FOR TEACHER. :lol:


With that out of the way. :lol: There was a recent discussion on the Marshall forum on whether a stock plexi has enough gain to play the VH stuff. A lot of people seem to think that Eddie had modded his amp for more gain. I think his amp may have been modded in some way but not for more gain.

Anyway, I asked what would be a good track to test if there was enough gain and someone suggested Hot for Teacher. Which obviously, I do not know how to play. :facepalm: :lol: So I learned the basics of it mostly going by memory and made this video.




My conclusion is that yes, the stock gain is more than enough. The playing issues I had on this video are my limitations, not the amp's. In other words, I'd need more practice to get this right, but not more gain. The plexi is not even fully cranked on this video, like 7.5 out of 10 and that's definitely enough gain to play that track. :idk:

I think EVH was a lot cleaner than a lot of people think. When people contrast" AC/DC gain" vs "VH gain", IMHO it's not that different. A bit more with VH but not a lot. Especially if the comparison is between Eddie and Angus. These 2 players are very close in gain. Malcolm is definitely cleaner.

Re: Does the stock Plexi has enough gain to play VH

Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2023 7:06 pm
by Marc G
hell yeah a stock plexi has enough gain for that kinda stuff..... the problem is without a master volume or attenuator you're going to be loud AF to get the drive, compression and sustain to nail the tone IMO

Re: Does the stock Plexi has enough gain to play VH

Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2023 7:08 pm
by GuitarBilly
Marc G wrote:hell yeah a stock plexi has enough gain for that kinda stuff..... the problem is without a master volume or attenuator you're going to be loud AF to get the drive, compression and sustain to nail the tone IMO

Yeah I used the Jet City attenuator for this so the amp wouldn't blow my head off :lol:

Re: Does the stock Plexi has enough gain to play VH

Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2023 5:58 am
by Landshark
GuitarBilly wrote:I think EVH was a lot cleaner than a lot of people think. When people contrast" AC/DC gain" vs "VH gain", IMHO it's not that different. A bit more with VH but not a lot.


found this out years ago while i messing around playing D.O.A., trying to get that chunk.

always just assumed he had super high gain modded amps on the early albums, but that is not the case. the confusion probably comes from the fact he eventually ended up making the 5150's with obscene amounts of gain

like they say, its in the fingers ... :rawk:

Re: Does the stock Plexi has enough gain to play VH

Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2023 12:39 pm
by EndTime
not sure what I think besides, its maybe got enough gain, but the low end is not getting the VH sound..

Theres an old Plexi 50 watter at the shop and it definitely had more gain than I thought tho.. But it sounded more biting than this.. But this is a camera io.. So all that camera audio compression isn't helping hear it accurately

Re: Does the stock Plexi has enough gain to play VH

Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2023 12:51 pm
by GuitarBilly
EndTime wrote:not sure what I think besides, its maybe got enough gain, but the low end is not getting the VH sound..

Theres an old Plexi 50 watter at the shop and it definitely had more gain than I thought tho.. But it sounded more biting than this.. But this is a camera io.. So all that camera audio compression isn't helping hear it accurately

yeah, also the PPIMV rolls off the highs at the level of attenuation I was using. If I run the PPIMV wide open or at least louder then home volume, the highs come back and it opens it up.

Re: Does the stock Plexi has enough gain to play VH

Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2023 2:31 pm
by Dave
I'm sure slaving the stock plexi circuit to some robust clean power through a bunch of Greenbacks adds that fat low end and bite. Either way, definitely has enough gain.