Tone library / Van Halen / Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love amp settings — Boss GT-1

The Van Halen guitar tone for “Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love”, dialed in for a Boss GT-1 with a Jackson JS22 Dinky. Studio version, Van Halen (1978) - intro riff & rhythm

Original rig

1968 Marshall Super Lead 100W (Variac @ ~90V), Ibanez 'Shark' Destroyer (Korina body / Super 70 PAF humbucker), MXR Flanger, MXR Phase 90, Maestro Echoplex EP-3

Punchy 'Brown Sound' crunch with chewy upper-mid bite, tight palm-muted lows, and dynamic flanger/slapback ambiance

Amp settings — Boss GT-1

CHANNELPREAMP: MS1959 I+II (Plexi) + 4x12 Original Cab IRBRIGHTonBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	7
Bass	5
Mid	8
Treble	7
Presence	6
Reverb	3
Master	7

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss GT-1 OD/DS (T-SCREAM Boost)

Clean boost in front of the Plexi model to tighten the low-end palm mutes

Drive 1 · Tone 6 · Level 8

02Boss GT-1 FX1 (FLANGER)

Set to emulate the MXR Flanger sweep heard on the main arpeggiated riff

Rate 2 · Depth 6 · Resonance 7 · Manual 5

03Boss GT-1 DELAY (TAPE DELAY)

Echoplex EP-3 slapback delay emulation (~125ms)

Time 3 · Feedback 2 · E.Level 4

04Boss GT-1 REVERB (PLATE)

Emulates Sunset Sound studio plate reverb ambiance

Time 4 · E.Level 3

Why these settings

The Jackson JS22 ceramic bridge humbucker has higher output and sharper treble than Eddie's vintage PAF, so the amp treble is set to 7 rather than cranked wide open. Pushing the mids to 8 and using the internal Tube Screamer block with zero drive and high level replicates the tight, percussive bass response of a Variac-starved Marshall Super Lead. The GT-1's MS1959 Plexi model carries the core amp crunch without introducing fizzy digital preamp gain.

PRO TIPAnchor the side of your picking hand firmly across the low strings for an aggressive palm-mute, and pick close to the bridge saddle to bring out the harmonic bite on the opening arpeggiated pattern.

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Boss GT-1 settingsALL SONGS FOR THIS AMP Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love on other ampsSAME SONG, YOUR AMP Van Halen tonesALL SONGS Van Halen on the Boss GT-1SAME ARTIST, SAME AMP Jackson JS22 Dinky tonesSAME GUITAR Tone libraryEVERYTHING

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