Pete Thorn's Tone Secrets #1 "ECHO INTO DISTORTION" 

"If it sounds good, it is good." Words to live by, and maybe put on a t-shirt.

Mind blown. I've been playing Ain't Talkin' Bout Love all these years with my delay in the loop and wondering why it's just not quite right per the record. Wow! Thanks Pete!!!

I’m amazed by your ability to talk coherently for an uncut 6 minutes. Wow dude. My videos are so chopped up.

Awesome video. Pete is such a great player and his explanations are so clear and concise. Seems like a really nice and humble guy too!

One thing that really helps the Echoplex work in front of a dirty amp is that it's also producing a fair amount of its own distortion especially when cranked. That gives it a nice compression that glues it all together.

Growing up EVH was my hero...you totally nailed it.

You nail it.As an older bassist I have always been in love with the echo Plex, nothing sounds like it ( except the Roland space echo)but so much can fail and they're so delicate and the prices of those vintage units are nuts.That mxr pedal is a God send.

Another (completely unrelated) example is East Bay Ray from the Dead Kennedys. "Holiday in Cambodia" is a fantastic Echoplex in front of a Marshall sound. Great video!

“If it sounds good, it IS good.” That right there is a beautiful sentiment.

Van Halen's tone on the second album was the pinnacle of tone for me.

very very cool Information Pete! I'll use that for my demo once I get my hands on pedal! Thanks!

Awesome point. An aha moment. Delay plugged into a dirty amp. You're actually one of the best talkers that i actually listen to. Keep it up sir.

Pete, you’re tone is impeccable! Thanks for the VH tips.

Having seen hundreds of music/instruction videos over the years, I have to say yours are the best. Your presentation, your demeanor, your concise explanations and insights coupled with your exceptional playing, all blend to make your videos more than worth the time for clueless idiots like me! Thanks You!

I never see a better explanations about delay into distortion. Is like discovery another world. Thank you Pete, you're awesome!

Thank you for doing what you do, Pete. There is a new, young generation of aspiring guitar players and rock musicians coming up, and your videos will serve as part of their education. Your work is important.

Prince had a very unconventional way of placing his pedals and his "effects" tone was completely original and awesome.

Another cool delay trick is the one used by the guitarist for Annihilator on Alice in Hell. There's this incredible thrash metal chug tone in the palm muted rhythm part when the vocal starts, and the way he got it to sound that way was by running a delay after the distortion but in parallel and putting a gate after it which cuts the delay's decay when you stop playing, so you only hear it when the guitar is actually being strummed. You don't even realize you're hearing a delay, it just sounds awesome. If you listen to it on the recording, it's like the gold standard thrash metal tone, in my opinion.

Lifeson put the delay in front of his amp on Temples Of Syrinx. It's a great sound.

On Fire was just amazing, I forgot how cool that song is. Spot on playing and tone as usual.

setting up a rig is art. Never thought of it that way.... awesome statement...

Great stuff Pete. Thanks for taking the time for these clips. Van Halen is my favorite "band" guitar player. He filled up a power trio more than a lot of bands with two guitar players.

Eddie is a genius as here we are 40 years later still trying to figure out his incredible use of just a few effects. You can use a similar delay time with volume swells for "Cathedral." Also, "women in love."with tapped harmonics & delay. One more thing, the dive bomb at the end of Eruption" can be done by striking the last note then turning the time control down on the pedal ending in an amazing wash of sludge and slow repeats just like the record.

I’m On Fire is such a great Eddie tune with the EchoPlex. As well as Ain’t Talkin Bout Love, like you said. The repeat in the chorus of ATBL had me running in circles for years when I was young.

Excellent demo thank you. I discovered you in one of the Neunaber Immerse Reverb Pedal demos, bought one after your review, and was so impressed by your playing and pleasant approach, had to subscribe. Melbourne, Australia.

Wow. That is an outstanding tone and when you go from G to C with the B/C hammer-on, it just screams. Thank you.

Wow Pete. That VH sound was on the money. Close my eyes and it was EVH...

This vid made me plug my delay in front of Super Lead and I love what I hear. Thank you for this!

This is awesome - keep em comin, Pete!

awesome work and playing Pete. You rock!! RIP EVH! #gonetoosoon

Outstanding work sir thank you for helping us wankers!

You’re so good at this. Playing, communicating... awesome.

Damn how have I not found this guy's videos before now?

Spent a lifetime playing guitar without using effects, just straight into a nice tube amp. Now I’m just getting into effects and as my amp has no loop this video has encouraged me to keep experimenting and realise there really are no rules. Thank you Pete.

Man, you're a huge inspiration for me and I'm just finding your channel. Looking forward to seeing how you see things! Thanks for the info and the inspirations you've already given me!

Paraphrase of a Cab Calloway quote, but none the less meaningful. His words when media of his day were quizzing him if his jazz was real music : "If it sounds good, it's music". Also, many of the guitar tracks from original recordings have been flooding youtube since EVH death. Many of these tracks seem to point to not only post production reverb, but also echo. Surprisingly. ...I'm sure you've seen them since this video was uploaded. Great video man!!

I found your channel years ago..when you did the "how to play Eruption" vids..I follow you since, and your channel really became a gold mine for guitar players..damn I even bought a lot of pedals just because of your reviews...so..thx Pete

Hey Pete, great video. As a side note I would have mentioned, to me the biggest reason for using a delay in an "effects loop" is if you use a channel switching amp. In my opinion that's where you run into problems, going from your clean channel to dirty channel. The delay volume will change and sound like utter chaos. If you have a single channel amp it really doesn't matter if it's set clean or crunchy, you can usually run the delay in front of the amp without issue most of the time.

Thanks for taking the time to show this, Pete. I've played for 18 years and never knew it made such a difference. Looking forward to the rest of this series.

such a kick watching your stuff Pete, thanks for taking the time to do this for "us"!

Slapback is my absolute favourite thing. Most people think it's only for country and rockabilly stuff but you'd surprised how many hard rock recordings have those sounds.

Great clips ... your explanations are really good as (obviously) is your faultless playing technique. It's no accident you have over 157,000+ subscribers. This is someone who's extremely confident in his technique who leaves any ego outside the door. The clear speaking voice helps ... very listenable. You've been very generous with your time. It's appreciated. And inspiring.

I also like to put my delay in front of my crybaby. You get some really fun sounds.

This is so awesome, so much dynamics

This guy is THE KING of rock guitar and GEAR! Incredible musician, intelligent, accurate technically, insightful and cool! I'm 55 been playing for 35 years and can get lazy musically. I watch a Pete Thorn video and I end up saying " I think I'm getting inspired! Thanks Pete.

Love the idea of "tone secrets". These little tone nuggets help the get wheels turning for other unorthodox ideas. This video was very interesting and I'll be looking forward to the follow ups!

SO glad I found my way to your channel Pete, thank you and keep up the awesome work mate. You're one hell of a player and the wealth of information you're putting out there is incredible and very much appreciated. Edit: I see from watching your channel that you;re pretty humble about compliments on your demo-style, but man you are REALLY the benchmark for this type of stuff mate. Such great work and such a knowledgeable and yet relatable description. I love to "nerd out" on all sorts of things but even I get swamped, mentally, when some guys talk delay timing and little minute detail stuff cause we all have different words to describe obscure sounds and tones etc. You on the other hand describe things very well and in a way that just makes sense to me aye. Great stuff, really great.

I know I'll always learn something from a Pete Thorn video - great job Pete!!

Ross Halfin T shirt - wow - i remember that guy from Kerrang ! magazine around 1980-81!

GREAT video, some of the best tones I've ever heard are delay into old heads with no fx loop

Nice delay bro its better than the boss delay!!!! (A fan for chile)

Its like controlling the mix level with your playing dynamics! Nice vid!

Wow!!!!! Night and day different. Thanks dude I learned something today 😊

Funny Pete-- before I learned "the right way" to set up my board, I ran my CarbonCopy before my OD pedals. Like the way it sounded, but being a new player, I heard all the seasoned players say it was wrong. Looking forward to the series.

wow, i can't believe i'm just now finding these tone secrets videos!! this is great!

Where can we buy your Kemper profile?!

best channel ive subscribed to in awhile

Great Tip Pete. BTW, IMO, Your Kemper Patch here sounds okay but the "Top Jimi Kemper Brown Sound Pack" ...OH MY GOD!!! To my ear, they are indistiguisable from the Van Halen 1 tones. I don't know what they cost but if I had a Kemper, it would be a no brainer!!!! If you haven't already, please check it out on RU-vid. Thanks For Your Vids Bro!

You brought up a great point. A digital delay doesnt get that sound. When I first tried to copy those EVH tones I went through two digital pedals then got a MXR carbon copy and nailed it.

Pete will you be sharing your suhr profiles?

Very cool. I'm a new subscriber and am addicted now. So many things to try. I wish this type of medium was available when I was younger and had more time to noodle with stuff. Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge, Pete.

That's great Pete! I'm fan of your work. In the future will you make some tips to have a good solo sound?

Well Pete I gotta say bud as a professional audio tech for the last 30 odd years and a guitar hobbyist you have totally nailed the tone on Aint Talkin About Love steller VH tone.

I didn't actually think it was possible but you have upped you game with your RU-vid videos Pete. Without your guidance I wouldn't know a damn thing about my gear. Thank you so much and stay in the zone.

Awesome stuff, as usual. Best demo guy on the net. Always entertaining. Thanks.

always a joy to watch this guy.

Man that tone is just so awesome !

Good stuff, Pete. You just got yourself a subscription =)

Great video Pete. Looking forward to the next in this series.

I have an Echoplex...what a great video thanks!

Ugh that tone, god damn that Kemper can sound amazing!

Great video Pete as always.👍✌

may I have your Kemper profiles Pete? :) or sell them sire!

I just bought that pedal and the 101! What a set up and I will put in front of my am as you pointed out is correct.I thank you.

Love you Pete, please let your hair grow back again :)

thanks for the Vid. Echoplex is my next purchase. I must've spent weeks trying to set it up with at Digital Delay and could never accomplish it. The parts are not that hard but the right pedal at the right time is integral to nail the song. Thank you Pete.

Great stuff Pete that sounds awesome.

Great video Pete! I learned a lot from this. I hope you don't mind if I reference this video in another one that I'm working on currently. Keep 'em comin'!

Probably one of the most useful vids I've seen... Thanks so much! Btw - you really should make a 'Pete Thorn Kemper Pack'. I'd buy! Cheers!

I'm am currently doing this with all my effects like I did back in the 80s when I had my jcm800. Love the tones even chorus has a nice raw character in front..I just dig that old school sound in front of my tube amps.

Thanks for this tip! Just tried it today and it's really helpful for getting certain specific types of sounds. really inspiring!

Love your videos. Thank you for all the knowledge. I always wondered about The echoplex into the front of the amp. I have just recently bought an EP3 and run it into the front of my old Marshall and oh my God. That EP3 preamp is MAGIC, even without the echo.

Excellent Pete...just what i was looking for.

Really liked the demo and explanation of settings. Thanks!

Wow I had forgotten all about this! Back in my Death Metal band days I liked running straight into the amp without pedals, except it was a bit dry for the solos. Then I scored one of those old Ibanez analogue delay pedals. Ran the gat straight into it then into the input of my 5150. It did the trick. Was certainly a fair bit "mushier" than if it had been in the loop, but with careful setting of the delay/feedback it was totally usable. Those pedals run on two 9 volt batteries, but because they are analogue the batteries last for ages. Which meant no buggering around with power supplies etc.

This video is awesome! I totally want a good analog delay pedal now.

Such a great tone

Glad to see your using the G10 Wireless. I just got one and I love it.

Hey Pete, I might be misunderstanding this but it appears that when echo goes into distortion the basic ratio is that the harder you dig when picking, the louder the echo, which leads to more distortion.

Cool idea. Useful info and not the typical video topic. Good job.

Sounds sweet. I just ordered the kemper. I cant wait to use it with my boss es8 and pedals. Your videos are very inspiring. Keep them coming.

Wow Pete! Great Tone! Van Halen Had a Great Ear for Giant Tone and You nailed a very similar Tone! 🎸🎶🤘🏻

This is soo badass! Pete u are the best.

That Suhr SL68 Kemper profile is sick!

Great Vid , i find that Pete Thorn has some really Cool things going on ;-), On the Original Van Halen Record , it sounds like there was more Reverb . And my theorie is that Dave Friedman takes Eddie´s Legendary Plexi as the Blueprint for the BE-100 ;-)...

Great video Pete. Now imagine this is what Brian May was, and does with THREE cranked AC 30's!

How did I miss this vid Pete!! Very very cool man...I’ve been Messing with pedal order and you’re right it’s art just do it if it works.

Great vid..thanks man. you break down stuff so well and i appreciate your effort and tiMe, right on for you.

Great video! Thanks for explaining this Pete!

great video. really enjoyed that and especially anything van Halen!!!!! btw the tone was so right on!!!! wow stellar job, Pete