PDA

View Full Version : STEVE VAI’S “EAT 'EM and SMILE” DLR MARSHALL FULL STACK



sadaist
03-14-2012, 03:13 PM
Motherfuck. This is on ebay right now. Commence drooling fellas!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/290683338989?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_500wt_1261

Steve Vai and Vai.com have just posted some interesting items to eBay: the modded Marshall full stack Vai used on David Lee Roth's 1986 Eat 'Em and Smile album and lengthy supporting tour.

The listing includes Vai’s 100-watt, four-input Marshall JMP Plexi head and matching "white face" 4×12 cabinets. The starting price was $1,000.

A portion of the proceeds will go toward the Make-a-Noise Fund, which provides musical instruments to cultivate and preserve musical awareness, development and education.

The 100-watt Marshall JMP was given to Ted Templeman by Steve Stevens during the New York recording sessions for Eat 'Em and Smile. The amp was then modded to Vai’s liking by Lee Jackson, who was known for his Marshall modifications in the '80s and '90s. It was Vai's main amp for the Eat 'Em and Smile sessions and lengthy supporting tour (1986 to 1988).

The Plexi head features an extra gain stage, frequency adjust control, effects loop and master volume. It has been well maintained in Los Angeles and features matching Drake transformers, KT88 quad-matched power tubes and hand-selected pre-amp tubes.

The cabinets are outfitted with Celestion Vintage 30 speakers. Both cabinets bear Vai’s signature and certification and are in perfect working condition.

http://www.guitarworld.com/sale-steve-vais-modded-marshall-stack-used-david-lee-roths-eat-em-and-smile-album

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/STEVE-VAI-S-EAT-EM-and-SMILE-DLR-MARSHALL-FULL-STACK-/00/s/MTYwMFg5Mzc=/$(KGrHqJ,!hIE8jc-6HFYBP(54k6!ig~~60_57.JPG

For sale: Steve Vai’s Marshall 100 watt 4 input JMP Plexi & matching “white face” 4×12 cabinets used on David Lee Roth’s “Eat Em and Smile” record and the 1986-1988 David Lee Roth tour.

The 100 watt Marshall JMP was given to Ted Templeman by Steve Stevens during the NYC recording sessions for “Eat Em and Smile.” The amp was then modded to Steve’s liking by Lee Jackson, famous for performing sought after custom modifications to Marshall amplifiers for top artists in the 1980′s and 1990′s. It was Steve's main amp for the "Eat Em and Smile"sessions and used on the entire David Lee Roth tour. The 100 watt plexi head features an extra gain stage, frequency adjust control, effects loop & master volume. The head has been well maintained in Los Angeles and features matching Drake transformers, KT88 quad-matched power tubes & hand-selected pre-amp tubes to Steve’s liking.

The twin 4×12 cabinets are outfitted with Celestion Vintage 30 speakers made in Ipswich, England. Both cabinets bear Steve’s signature, certification & are in perfect working order. This is your chance to bid on a historical piece of equipment used by a legendary performer in their international breakthrough role. This is an official Vai.com auction. All questions will be answered as promptly as possible. A portion of the proceeds will go to he Make-a-noise fund, a 501.3c which provides musical instruments to cultivate and preserve musical awareness, development, and education.

Local pickup in Los Angeles is preferred, intentional shipping is available. Buyer to pay packaging and shipping costs. Click on an thumbnail image below to see detailed images.

sadaist
03-14-2012, 03:15 PM
Why is Vai selling this? Dude can't be hurting for money. Possibly just doing some house cleaning & making room? Weird. A very cool piece of Dave history for sure.

SNIPER
03-14-2012, 03:19 PM
This would be nice to own, thats for sure.

SNIPER
03-14-2012, 03:22 PM
I had a head like that ounce. I had Ross Robinson do the mod on it in 1990. Wish I still had it.

sadaist
03-14-2012, 03:27 PM
Reserve not met at $4500. I wonder what the reserve is or how much it will sell for. Any guesses? $5k? $10k?

SNIPER
03-14-2012, 03:29 PM
$9,500

sadaist
03-14-2012, 03:31 PM
LOL ..$5.20 expedited shipping. Someone from Australia should buy it just to fuck em over on the s&h.

Ship It & Smile!

vandeleur
03-14-2012, 03:32 PM
Love at first site ...... Come to momma ..... If I had the cash

Hardrock69
03-14-2012, 03:40 PM
Wonder what year the head is....late 70s I would say...

Etienne
03-14-2012, 03:45 PM
Did Vai use pedals (Boost or Distortion) with this amp back then? Or delivers the added gain stage enough sustain for lead sounds?

SNIPER
03-14-2012, 03:45 PM
Wonder what year the head is....late 70s I would say...

I would say.

Jagermeister
03-14-2012, 03:46 PM
Cool.

jhale667
03-14-2012, 03:48 PM
Definitely drool-worthy. :baaa:

Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk

Hardrock69
03-14-2012, 04:07 PM
Though I have to wonder....the listing says "intentional shipping is available...".

What if I want "unintentional shipping"?

ELVIS
03-14-2012, 04:07 PM
$9,500

That was my exact guess...thief!


:biggrin:

Seshmeister
03-14-2012, 04:12 PM
It's not online at the moment but in Vai's night by night journal of that tour it seems that his amp(which was modded) blew every few nights so I'm not sure I would want this...

ELVIS
03-14-2012, 04:15 PM
Wonder what year the head is....late 70s I would say...

Based on the pic it would be from 1976 to 1980...

But it shure ain't no plexi...


:elvis:

ELVIS
03-14-2012, 04:16 PM
It's not online at the moment but in Vai's night by night journal of that tour it seems that his amp(which was modded) blew every few nights so I'm not sure I would want this...

And his sound wasn't all that great to begin with...

Nice conversation piece though...

Seshmeister
03-14-2012, 04:16 PM
Did Vai use pedals (Boost or Distortion) with this amp back then? Or delivers the added gain stage enough sustain for lead sounds?


I seem to remember he had a distortion or OD pedal for solos only.

ELVIS
03-14-2012, 04:54 PM
Their fucking feedback is 0%


:biggrin:

Hardrock69
03-14-2012, 05:00 PM
I never cared for his tone. For the most part it is too laboratory sterile. Definitely not a plexi, and I know it is 76-80, as I have one. Just curious of the exact year. For no particular reason other than curiosity.

ELVIS
03-14-2012, 05:05 PM
Seems like the ebay listing would be more fourthcoming...

sadaist
03-14-2012, 08:01 PM
That was my exact guess...thief!


:biggrin:


Fuck Sniper over like in Price Is Right.

9,501!


or wait. 9,499. Which way do they do it? 1 dollar more or less than the person behind you? Fuck. haven't watched that show in a long time. I didn't spay or neuter my dogs either. Puppies!!!

SNIPER
03-14-2012, 08:11 PM
I never cared for his tone. For the most part it is too laboratory sterile. Definitely not a plexi, and I know it is 76-80, as I have one. Just curious of the exact year. For no particular reason other than curiosity.

I didn't care for his tone either however it was still better than Ed's 5150 album tone IMO.

SNIPER
03-14-2012, 08:12 PM
Fuck Sniper over like in Price Is Right.

9,501!


or wait. 9,499. Which way do they do it? 1 dollar more or less than the person behind you? Fuck. haven't watched that show in a long time. I didn't spay or neuter my dogs either. Puppies!!!

Ha ! I watched TPIR today. ..Got rained out of my day job.

SNIPER
03-14-2012, 08:18 PM
I also had an early 70's Marshall with the small logo with a Ross Robinson mod. That thing was a beast! I sold it to Chris Poland back in 1991.

sadaist
03-14-2012, 08:27 PM
I also had an early 70's Marshall with the small logo with a Ross Robinson mod. That thing was a beast! I sold it to Chris Poland back in 1991.


Megadeth Chris Poland? WTF dude? That's insanely awesome! Their best songs were with him "My Last Words & Black Friday"

SNIPER
03-14-2012, 08:36 PM
Megadeth Chris Poland? WTF dude? That's insanely awesome! Their best songs were with him "My Last Words & Black Friday"

Yep, My band room was across the hall from him in Vernon, Ca (when he was doing Damn The Machine) I was jamming with Ross Robinson and Dave McClain at the time before they were famous of course.

vandeleur
03-14-2012, 08:48 PM
Fucking cool story \m/

degüello
03-14-2012, 11:20 PM
Ha, just came over to post this. Beat me to it.

Very cool piece of history.

degüello
03-14-2012, 11:22 PM
I was a bit surprised by the KT88's...

jhale667
03-15-2012, 12:16 AM
It's not online at the moment but in Vai's night by night journal of that tour it seems that his amp(which was modded) blew every few nights so I'm not sure I would want this...

Marshall mods can be finicky... Doug Aldrich has a modded plexi that sounds amazing that he said blew a transformer every 6 months or so but "it's worth it"...in that case I'd agree. I'd love to test the Vai plexi out.

(I almost wrote "tranny" to abbreviate transformer, but that would have read...awkwardly...:lmao: )


Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk

Nitro Express
03-15-2012, 12:32 AM
If you beef up a plexi to make them more reliable they don't sound as good. You need that weaker transformer being pushed to where the windings are overheating and it's only a matter of time before it shorts out. That magical sound really is components being pushed right up to the edge of failure. People have tried to get the vibe with reliability and they never can quite nail it. It's still the holy grail people have been chasing for 40 years.

Hardrock69
03-15-2012, 05:47 AM
Really after going to concerts for 37 years, I have only seen a very few where the guitarist had a killer sounding head. Sometimes from the most unlikely sources.

In July 1977, REO Speedwagon opened for the Doobie Bros. in Columbia, SC.

Gary Richrath and Kevin Cronin were both playing 59-60 Les Paul Standards. They had Marshall plexi heads (half-stacks) and they really really sounded fucking kickass.

sadaist
03-15-2012, 06:11 AM
Ha, just came over to post this. Beat me to it.

Very cool piece of history.


lol...sorry. I was looking at news for DLR to see what was said about him breaking up that fight the other night and this popped up.


Personally I'd rather have the microphone Dave used to record EEAS.

ELVIS
03-15-2012, 08:23 AM
I can sell you a bottle of the air he was breathing at the time...

ELVIS
03-15-2012, 08:25 AM
I'd love to test the Vai plexi out.

Sent from my piece of shit BlackBerry 9800

It's not a plexi by any stretch...

Seshmeister
03-15-2012, 08:37 AM
So buy it and then ask for a refund after you play it a bit.

I couldn't tell if it is or isn't a Plexi but given your recent 'wrong about absolutely everything' track record it must be. :)

ELVIS
03-15-2012, 08:47 AM
For it to be a plexi, the front and rear panels would be made out of plexiglass, which ended sometime during the 1969 model run...

My 1969 Superbass had a metal front panel and a plexiglass rear panel and was considered pretty rare...

I sold it on ebay for $2000


:elvis:

Seshmeister
03-15-2012, 08:49 AM
So goody two shoes Vai is false advertising?

sadaist
03-15-2012, 08:54 AM
I can sell you a bottle of the air he was breathing at the time...

Hank Hill & Dale Gribble to view the alien marfa Lights pass some alien stuff vendors selling from their tailgates.


Vendor - "Wanna buy some alien urine"?

Dale - "How much"?

Vendor - "2 mayonnaise jars"

Dale - "Hank, do you have 2 mayonnaise jars"?

ELVIS
03-15-2012, 08:56 AM
Whoever made the auction for him doesn't know...

And it's vague...

There's no year or model specified...

It's probably a '76-'80 Superlead...

indeedido
03-15-2012, 09:42 AM
He periodically sells gear to make room and to donate the money to charity. He sold the triple neck heart guitar a few years ago. He has more gear stashed around than Carter has liver pills.

sadaist
03-15-2012, 11:31 AM
He periodically sells gear to make room and to donate the money to charity. He sold the triple neck heart guitar a few years ago. He has more gear stashed around than Carter has liver pills.


That's pretty cool. I didn't think he would be hurting for money. Surprised to hear he sold that guitar though. What a weird shaped thing. A head bonking just waiting to happen. Play that during a show & you're going home with bruises everywhere.

twonabomber
03-15-2012, 12:05 PM
i bid on it, just to say i did. :D

ELVIS
03-15-2012, 01:52 PM
I didn't just to say I didn't...


:biggrin:

twonabomber
03-15-2012, 01:56 PM
you're waiting on a very special half-eaten donut to come up for auction, aintcha?

ELVIS
03-15-2012, 01:59 PM
You have to knock Yngwie out to get a half-eaten donut...

jhale667
03-15-2012, 05:00 PM
I was looking at it on my BB so really couldn't tell...upon closer examination it's seemingly a metal-face 4-input JMP...so the circuit was probably fairly close to a Plexi in its original state...? Will double-check Aspen Pittman's book when I get home.

sadaist
03-15-2012, 05:37 PM
i bid on it, just to say i did. :D


LOL. I had a feeling someone here might. As long as you don't hit that reserve you're safe.