Van Halen Sound with EPSi NAILED

https://soundcloud.com/neuronicism/van-halen-sound

Very happy with this combination of Maxon OD808 (OTB: 393), Eleven Rack (Treadplate M mids cranked), EPSi in FX Loop with Owhammer Modern Studio Mix (OwnHammer_412_MAR-CB_V30-CH_T1_SP = Chinese V30).

Definitely see no need to upgrade to Axe FX or a bunch of gear any more.

Preset: https://db.tt/T4UJJhug

The preset's good without an overdrive too, just gotta dig in a little more. This Treadplate M has been my goto for sounds lately. With the right cabinet, it can really rock.

That sounds pretty convincing to me.

Yeah, I usually don't "boast" about sounds bc I end up with something I know is only what I like to use, but this really sounds like the 80's rockers. I made a patch I really hated right before this and almost hung it up for the night, then started playing around with EQs on a patch & just used a double mid boost type sound (Maxon into the Eleven Racks JRC, both with very little gain). I'd gig with this, I can playevetyyhing from classic VH to Extreme and be happy. A switch in cabinets gives me the Jake E Lee sound for Ozzy or I can just turn the tone knob on my guitar down a bit for varieties of guitar sounds.

Dude that sounds great! I am really considering the EPSi to run with my 11R. I assume you are disabling the cab in the 11?

Yeah, no cabs on these needed other than the Ownhammer ones loaded with EPSi. This sound is exactly what you will hear, no post processing at all.

So are you using the 11R live? If so, how many different cabs do you use or do you base your patches around one particular cab? Have you A/B'd the Ownhammers against their 11R counterparts and if so, what were the findings?

i did a whole thread on the Epsi where i outlined the differences. basically, the Ownhammer sounds like a real studio setup as opposed to just direct mic with no eq. the 11R is more raw and needs eq to refine it.

As for live, it would all depend on what you feel works, but some of my favorite Ownhammer impulses are made for live playing too. I set up an EQ to shape them a bit more for my taste because I'm just jamming & want to feel it more or have it more ready for recording, but I bet if you go without an EQ for those live ones, they'll be just right.

It's essentially the same set of IRs that makes the Axe FX good for live use too. You get studio mixes, live mixes, individual mics, and all of them are through various power amps. The individual power amps make up the meat or openness of the tones. If you were to play live, I would load up all three versions to test out and see how they hold up that way you don't have to try and EQ anything.

There's a few impulses of cabs & mics that aren't much different than Eleven Rack's, but the subtle things like muting, harmonics, and sustain are better with most Ownhammer IRs.

This particular preset works good through the ENGL V30 IRs too, without the Maxon overdrive. I'm finding some cabinets really bring out the mids and change the way the gain comes through, so external pedals aren't really needed. That's what happened when we tested out a Mesa Boogie 2x12 V30 cabinet with a really cheap Crate amp. Minimal boost/gain needed for some speakers to sound good for hard rock & metal.

It sounds Great and even sense a little Nuno in there!

I think with the Alnico Blue cabinet, it was a lot closer to Nuno' ADA/Pornograffitti tone bc I was playing Decadence Dance with one of the speakers and sounded about right.

VERY awesome job! It is oozing with 80's / VH vibe!

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Thanks guys. I've been getting a lot more out of the EPSi than I thought. The Eleven Rack EQs really come alive when you have IRs that are already polished in a studio shaping the tones.

My favorite thing so far having IRs in pedal is that I can play more of the stuff I want to play and don't stop to try and tweak patches. It feels right and does what I want. The only thing I've been tweaking with lately is coming up with stereo IRs to make a doubled guitar sound that sound good completely dry, but other than that, I can come up with most of my ideas with this patch unless I need like a heavier metal sound or cleaner sound for blues. I'm getting some cool AC/DC & Extreme - III Sides sounds with just the MS-30 and my overdrive pedal, no EQs or FX on at all.

and this is what it's all about....finding a tone that inspires you to play instead of tweak.

let me know if you have any good stereo IR's available. i have been wanting to make some out of the Ownhammer IR's but i haven't had the time.