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

Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love amp settings — Yamaha THR10II

The Van Halen guitar tone for “Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love”, dialed in for a Yamaha THR10II with a Erg 131c Stratocaster. Studio version, Van Halen (1978) - intro arpeggio riff & rhythm track

Original rig

1968 Marshall Super Lead 100W (variac lowered to ~90V), Ibanez Destroyer (Korina body / PAF humbucker), MXR Flanger, Maestro Echoplex EP-3

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

Amp settings — Yamaha THR10II

CHANNELLead (Classic)

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

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Onboard Flanger Block

Engaged via Yamaha THR Effect knob around 9-10 o'clock for the signature slow, sweeping jet whoosh

Speed 2 · Depth 6

02Onboard Echo Block

Engaged via THR Echo/Rev control to emulate the EP-3 slapback delay

Time 3 · Feedback 2

Why these settings

The Yamaha THR10II Lead amp voice recreates the plexi-style saturation of Eddie's variac Marshall without needing external pedals. Mids are boosted to 7 to deliver the aggressive wooden bark of the Korina Destroyer through your Strat's bridge humbucker, while bass is kept tight at 5 to avoid low-end mush during rapid palm-muting. The THR faceplate has no physical presence knob, so upper-harmonic sizzle is handled by bringing treble to 6.

PRO TIPPick aggressively right against the bridge saddles using heavy palm-muting, letting each arpeggiated note ring cleanly through the slow flanger sweep just like Eddie's isolated track.

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These settings are for a Yamaha THR10II. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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