Tone library / Van Halen / When It's Love

When It's Love amp settings — EVH Hypersonic 5150III 6L6

The Van Halen guitar tone for “When It's Love”, dialed in for a EVH Hypersonic 5150III 6L6 with a EVH Wolfgang Special. Studio cut, OU812 (1988) — signature heavy chorus rhythm/solo hook

Original rig

Marshall Plexi (variac-dropped) / Soldano prototype amp into Palmer PDI-03 load box; Kramer 5150 humbucker guitar; Eventide H3000 / SPX90 micro-detune stereo chorus and rack delay

Saturated, singing 80s arena lead and rhythm with thick stereo pitch detune/chorus and warm plate ambience

Amp settings — EVH Hypersonic 5150III 6L6

CHANNELBlue (Crunch)BRIGHToffBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	6
Bass	5
Mid	7
Treble	6
Presence	6
Reverb	0
Master	4

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Eventide Micropitch

(FX loop) replicates Eddie's classic rack H3000 dual micro-pitch widening

Pitch A 4 · Pitch B 6 · Depth 5 · Mix 4

02Dunlop Echoplex

(FX loop) warm quarter-note echo layered behind the detune

Sustain 3 · Volume 5 · Delay 4

03Catalinbread Talisman

(FX loop) smooth studio plate reverb space

Mix 3 · High Pass 5 · Time 4 · Pre-Delay 2

Why these settings

The EVH 5150III Blue channel has far more cascading preamp gain than Eddie's late-80s hybrid rig, so gain is kept at an articulate 6 rather than pushed to 8+. The mid control is pushed to 7 on the 5150 EQ to balance the naturally scooped high-gain power section and give the Wolfgang's bridge humbucker Eddie's vocal midrange cut. Setting the detune and delay into the amp's FX loop preserves the clean spatial clarity heard on the studio mix without smearing the front-end distortion.

PRO TIPPick firmly with a hard, heavy pick angled slightly toward the bridge to accentuate pinch harmonics, and let the Eventide micro-pitch provide the perceived width rather than adding excess preamp gain.

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These settings are for a EVH Hypersonic 5150III 6L6. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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Song, artist and gear names are used to identify the tone being matched; ToneAdapt is not affiliated with or endorsed by the artists or manufacturers mentioned. Settings are AI-generated starting points — trust your ears.