STEVE VAI'S JOSE MODDED MARSHALL! AMPS IN THE ZONE #3 

This is not your average RU-vid video... it's a ROCKUMENTARY.

This video is an instant classic

I knew Jose fairly well. Before he opened that store he worked out of the back of a guitar store I took lessons & eventually taught out. It was on Lassen & Mason called BJ’s. It was owned by an ex-cop & the main teacher was Dave Bunch (who took lessons from Ted Greene - another story) lots of stuff came out of that store & Jose was the sweetest guy. Did some work for me & I regret selling that amp. I’m 60 now & grew up in the valley. It’s was the greatest time to be a kid & into music, as many of us were.

This video is SOLID GOLD. Thank you, Pete!

I love Vai's playing during his DLR era. It was so inventive that I never get tired listening to it.

Interesting stuff. After servicing and modifying 1000's of tube amps over the years, having owned and ran The Audio Doctor in Vancouver,, for about 20 years 80's-2000, I have learned a few things. The output transformer can radically alter the frequency response and dynamic response. I serviced Jimmy Pages Marshalls and studio processing gear when he was in Vancouver recording, back in the 90's. One of "those" famous 50W Marshalls needed a new output transformer. The Canadian distributor was out of stock. I put in a Partdrige O/P transformer (50W Hiwatt), all I had in stock at the time, which worked fine but it sounded like a Hiwatt, you know, kinda bright and sassy, to my ears. I was a bit worried, but Page loved it. Side note: The output amplifier section of a Dumble Steel String Singer was identical to an Ampeg V-4 ( 7027 output tubes). And I agree, the higher the plate voltage, the more spank, a Marshall has. Let's have more of these discussions, please.

I love Steve Vai. Pete asked him 1 question on how he came in contact with this amp and Steve gave us 1 whole chapter of his life history. 👍🤘.

i used to go to his shop .... he fixed and modded one of my amps ; sometimes do a little drinking with him...... he told me and my friend when we were at the shop that when he worked for Ampeg he was the "Amp Guy " on the Rolling Stones '69 American tour and you can see his bald head behind the Ampegs in the Stones movie Gimmie Shelter in the Madison Square Garden footage before the Altamont gig

This is why we have RU-vid! Great niche content for fans

As much as COVID sucks, the access that we have gained to all the legendary guitarists has been such a silver lining. Steve Vai, Andy Timmons, etc. have been opening the flood-gates with performances, teaching, rock history, and in-depth gear videos that I don't think would have ever been made, if it weren't for shelter-at-home. Thanks for bringing this to us Pete!

This is a terrific documentary of a great amp. What a sound. It's hard to believe Steve moved on from this. It sounds about perfect. Guitar players are never happy LOL.

I love how completely normal Steve Vai is. Growing up watching him on MTV with the triple neck heart guitars and the cover of Pasison and Warfare, it’s so nice to see him behind the scenes just being a regular, kinda nerdy fella. And I have never seen the man EVER seem like he wasn’t 1000% into whatever the interviewer wanted to talk about. He’s such a generous, sweet guy. Hard to believe that he’s the same guy who plays on all of those wonderful, beautiful, gnarly ass shred records.

Is this the first time seeing Dave Friedman actually playing a guitar on RU-vid?!

Pete's playing is so melodic and beautiful, you sort of forget he can shred his ass off. But yep, he can. Great video!

I called Jose Arredondo in 1984, and wanted him to mod my JCM800, and we had a long conversation about Marshalls not having enough gain, and he said he added more gain in his mods but he was not doing them anymore , since he was getting paid by Steve And Eddie not to. I could not believe he was telling me this, but it made sense, not having the competition get a hold of the sound everybody wanted.

VAI is like always so honest and vulnerable in his interviews.

Steve Vai - "And you're gonna do a video on those? I can't wait to see it then." I can't wait for Steve to see Pete's playing in this video as well, and hear how great he sounds. If Dave Weiner is unavailable for Steve's next tour, I'm sure Pete would be a great addition. He'd actually be one of the main reasons I would go see it.

This will indeed be a reference video for decades to come. You've documented some important music/tech history here, Pete! Fabulous job.

Take note on how absorbed Pete is in focusing on capturing what Friedman and Vai say.. Amps in the zone..., perfect. Pete LOVES this stuff. Smart man, being respectful yet knowing experiences and knowledge gained only adds to and enhances his own quest to become the best that he can be.

This video needs to be stored in the Smithsonian as a national treasure! And secondly, as likable, generous, & honest Steve Vai is, he's obviously an alien. Not that it's any secret. What an incredible set of interviews.... ALL OF IT! Well done, Pete. Bravo.

Steve Vai is such a down to Earth humble guy thank you for having him on the show simply awesome

Thanks Pete for the history of Jose!! I met Jose back in 1980 when Van Halen released 'Women and Children First' I was taking guitar lessons at this small music store located on Mayall street in Chatsworth , I will never forget that day I met him. I walk into the music store for my lesson from Zac ,my music teacher when I saw about 24 Marshall amp heads and about 10 ampeg bass heads, and I asked Zac , who they belong to and he said ' Van Halen ' I freaked out big time, and he said Jose is repairing them would I like to meet him.. and I said 'hell Ya' so I went back into back of the building where he was working and I talked to him for about 1/2 hour. I also aksed him if he could mode my marshall just like Eddies! and he said he could come close to what Eddie had but not exactly what he had, because he was under contract with Ed, but he could get it pretty close. I also lived about a block from where he worked for years. I never got my Marshall done by him ,and I just kick my self to this day.. I'm currently trying get and Amp made by David Bray!! I've heard Freedman's amps, but I personally think David Bray has really captured Eddies sound!! and believe me I've had a lot of 100watt Marshalls, my last amp was a Soldano SLO 100 watt that I bought in 2004 it was ripping loud and I liked it, but it just didn't have enough high-end , I would have to use a Tube screamer to punch up the high-end.. the other store where Jose work out off on Van Nuys is around the corner where I used to practice in the rehearsal studio, off of Van Nuys and Canby!! Jose was The amp God!!!! Big time.

This video is documenting a time capsule. We have a real-deal Arredondo modded Marshall. If you love the Marshall tones on those 80s albums and have always wondered why your stock Marshall *just* can’t quite nail it, now you can HEAR why. Not surprised Mr. Vai discovered Marshalls via Steve Stevens. His tone on stuff like the Top Gun Anthem and Atomic Playboys are some of my favorites.

I love the fact that Steve was so accessible. Also, when he was talking about stage volume in DLR, I literally LOLd when he paused twice to laugh at just how loud he was on stage.

Shyboy intro was incredible! 🤘🏼🤘🏼

21:33 OH! I always thought that picture looked weird because the heads are so mashed together. Great video Pete!

Steve vai seems like such a nice guy, he always takes time to talk to his fans

...now this is a piece of RU-vid history. Instant classic.

Dave Friedman and Pete Thorn - two of my favorite guitar/gear/tone minds ever. Steve's cool too... ;)

Amazing content!! Thanks ever so much Pete!! You Rock!!

You cannot have the 80's Marshall mod conversation without talking about Lee Jackson. He was a huge part of the sound that was coming out of LA even before he started Metaltronix or Perfect Connection. Great guy, great designer and a resume that includes Vai, Gilbert, Wylde and a ton of others

Wow. I'll never tire of watching videos like this. I would love to see to full unedited interviews too. Thanks Pete.

Dave cleared up a big mystery for me....why a plexi's tone stack does virtually nothing, but Daves exact same tone stack works perfectly as it should.

Hearing Steve talk about DLR's need for more guitar stage volume makes me light up like a kid hearing grownups talk about Christmas.

Great, great, great video! Loved every second!

That was such a great video! And to have the Dave Friedman interview, your killer playing for reference & the Steve Vai interview at the end so informative & cool!

Pete this video was really stellar. All the history and technical expertise from Dave, Steve’s input, the playing, the tones...just terrific. Thanks for going through the effort of making the vid happen

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, You're a good man Pete Thorn.

This is the most informative video I've have watched in a long time. And the amp sounds so good. Thanks Pete Thorn!

This format is excellent Pete, keep em coming!

We've all been waiting 30 years for this video. I never knew those were the amp Steve I was running on all that stuff in the 80s. I figured he was like everybody else running jcm800 at the time. I'm really glad you did this video.

Pete, I haven’t even got to Steve part yet, but the format is just insanely Great 👍 This is guitarists’/musicians’/history buffs’ dream content actually. This’s Discovery/History/National Guitarastique channels all in one with astonishingly inspiring info! Thank you, sir for making this great chest of invaluable information being available and presented in such a humble way to the masses. Sure hope more is on its way sometime soon. This video made my day! (Week, Month even Year maybe who knows)) not to mention, the amp really turned out to be an awfully niiice sounding gem

That was fun to watch, thank you!

Thoroughly enjoyed this, very informative and as always Pete’s playing is unreal!

This is great- The tone on "Big Trouble" is one of my faves- the high notes stay fat but the low notes on the solo are somehow slightly hollow ... just killer tone. You know everybody was waiting to hear if Steve could make us not wish he was Eddie... and Steve Vai was just being himself... and it sounded fantastic.

Wow. The "loudness" button on an old stereo. That brings back some memories of my dad yelling "Turn it down!".

Excellent vid! Great interview with Steve.

Yup. That's an A++ video. Thanks for all the work you put into that. Luv and Peace.

Holy crap!! That tone at around 24:25!! That’s just freakin’ gorgeous! José sure knew what he was doing!

That opening with playing Vai’s DLR “Shy Boy” is sick af. Awesome video. Historical, informational, and just plain killer.

Wow! What an amazing video! Enjoy everything you do Pete, Thank you!!!

Thanks for making this video Pete. It was very enjoyable and full of great information. Your playing is fantastic.

Steve's reaction to the amp, to see one of his old workhorse's alive and well would be a cool thing to see. Love your videos Pete. Anyone with half your ability and knowledge would still be considered a beast.

Amazing Pete, such an incredible look into the history of arguably the best sounding Marshall I've ever heard. Can't wait to see more man. :)

This is one of the most informative and useful videos I have ever seen on RU-vid. Kudos, Pete!!!

Pete, this is outstanding! You really are killing it with your channel, great info and interviews with Dave Steve-In my opinion this is one of your best!!! AND you kick ass on guitar.

This is one of the best video's I've ever seen! 🤘😍 Thank you so much Mr Thorn for doing this!!!

Thank you Pete for making one of the top videos ever on the history of RU-vid... for sure I'll return to this one forever ... really happy that you pull this off for al of us... your kindness and professionalism is something really special!! Thank you and greetings from Portugal 😎💪👍👍👌🙏🙏

Pete, as always I thank you for these awesome videos. Your a true professional and a gentleman.

Awesome video with lots of interesting informations!!! Thank you very much, Pete :)

Well this just made my day! I’ve been looking for and hoping for a video like this for 10 years. This is all the info us Marshall lovers have always wanted about the Jose mods. Thanks Pete and Dave, you guys rock!

D U D E - W O W!!!!! That Marshall tone was all I ever dreamt about back in the 80's when I was learning guitar. I loved it so much I went into electronics & have done a few Jose Mods over the years. I'm still a gear dreamer & this video really took me back to when it all started for me. Thanks for sharing brother!! I keep dreaming about your Suhr PT Sig guitar & actually plugged in my soldering iron!! I have an old Peavey that needs some lovin' about now!!! This really blew me away man! Keep doing the good stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!🤘😁🤘

Thank you Pete for this wonderful video. Lots of work behind, super playing from you, some awesome Marshall tones, lots of interesting stuff to hear from Dave Friedman and Steve Vai. Massive. Very good. Thank you!

Superb video, really fun to watch!

Pete this was amazing content, I hope you get more legendary pedigree amps, best video you have ever done!

Two great guys right there, Pete thorn & Steve vai. Now get two of those Jose amps and do some jamming together

Thanks for the video. Awesome playing as always.

Thanx for this wonderful video, Pete!!! This amp sounds amazing!

It sounds SO DAMN GOOD, plus you're an extraordinaire guitar player Pete!

Just incredible! This was like a time machine lesson and view into those killer tones that Steve was unleashing on the world in his DLR era. We have all heard of the legendary Jose mods. But to hear from Dave Friedman what they were about and you showing us how they sound is so cool!!!! Great video!

Awesome history and info there Pete! Thanks!

Dear Pete, Dave and Steve, your interview and demo is amazing! I am so grateful, thankful and interested in it!. Be healthy, happy and blessed! Greetings from Bulgaria! :-)

Loved the tech talk...loved the musicianship!

Great stuff, thank you so much. Lots of excellent of info about the legendary Jose mods in an entertaining format.

Fantastic video Pete! Truly great information on a legendary amplifier and Dave's input was great as well.

Thank u for doing this demo!! Jose Arredondo was a really nice guy . I had the pleasure of speaking to him , back in the day. Wanted one his mods so much!!!

Marshalls have that magic treble sound. It’s bright but always pleasant. Never harsh and cuts thru like an sob. What a beautiful sounding amp! Thank you Pete!!!!!

Great video indeed Pete! Thanks for sharing

awesome stuff...thanks Pete..rock on !!

Dave Friedman is such a knowledgeable guy and always keen to share it with others. Great video.

Amazing sound and amazing stories. I love this kind of video: lots of humans connections & stories... Not only cold info's. Tnx Pete for bring to us this piece of history. Love it.

Spectacular, Pete!!! This is a really cool vid! Thank you for this.

One of most informative,coolest videos you have ever made Pete... and you’ve made a lot of them!

Thank you some much Peter for nailing a 15 year-old tone curiosity of mine! Back in early 2000s i swept the internet looking for those Arredondo Mods without success after reading a mention on Steve's Passion and Warfare songbook. That was quite a treat :D

Damn I never imagined amp/music history videos could be this well done! Amazing content

What a beautiful interview with Vai! Thank you so much Pete for this great content

This was really fun to watch. Thanks, Pete!

Pete is the perfect balance of guitar nerd, gear nut and virtuoso guitarist. Well Done!!!!

I really appreciate you and Dave going as in-depth on this topic as you did. I've often seen the blanket statement of "jose mod" used but never seen it go into as much detail, and explaining the variations. Many rock and metal guitarists I like have or had a Jose Marshall of one sort or another during their careers, so this was pretty cool to get an "under the hood" explanation. Keep kicking ass.

Pure rock guitar awesomeness! Superb playing, tones and the history behind. Congratulations Pete!

Excellent video Pete! Thanks!

Vai is very gracious to allow those amps to be used before he has a chance to try them himself. You're a lucky man Pete. Also a huge thanks to Mr. Dave Friedman for his insight and knowledge.

Pete, you are the quintessential guitarist's guitarist. It's so great that you're such a gear head & love demoing & discussing all this stuff, and doesn't hurt that you're such a monster player on top it all so we get to hear everything to it's fullest. Great chat with Dave & Steve, love the history & juicy tidbits. Steve is a great guy to listen to as well, a genuinely nice guy. Thank you kind sir, you really hit it home on this one, worth staying up a bit later than usual by far.

Pete, it's like you looked into my mind and made a video explicitly for me. Incredible work! Love this kind of guitar history

Pete I've always enjoyed your work but you have outdone your self with this. phenomenal.Thanks.

Dave Friedman looks like Brian Dennehy when he filmed “Tommy Boy”.

Had a HS bud that played his Strat through a Marshall.. He mentioned Jose.. SO 40 years later, I am finding out who Jose was.. WOW.....

Thanks for all the time you spent on this presentation👍

Wow! This video is now part of a cool part of history ! Thanks for putting this together

Oh my god, dude. The amount of work and information that you put into these is spectacular! So informative! Thank you. You made art and not just some RU-vid video. Great playing too.