Eruption amp settings — Boss ME-80

The Van Haley guitar tone for “Eruption”, dialed in for a Boss ME-80 with a Jackson Super Strat. Studio version, Van Halen (1978) - Main solo and tapping section

Original rig

1968 Marshall 1959 Super Lead (variac lowered), Frankenstrat with bridge humbucker, MXR Phase 90, Echoplex EP-3, Univox EC-80, Sunset Sound plate reverb

Aggressive, harmonic-rich brown sound with chewy lower-mid bite, subtle phasing sweep, and trailing echo/plate reverb

Amp settings — Boss ME-80

CHANNELPREAMP: LEAD (or MS1959 I+II if using Boss software)BRIGHToffBOOSTon

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	8
Bass	5
Mid	9
Treble	8
Reverb	6
Master	6

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss ME-80 OD/DS (BOOST / OD-1 block)

Used to push the preamp block with tight bass and extra sustain

Drive 3 · Tone 6 · Level 8

02Boss ME-80 MOD (PHASER block)

Recreates script Phase 90; kick on primarily for the tapping section

Rate 3 · Depth 5

03Boss ME-80 DELAY (ANALOG / TAPE block)

Emulates the Echoplex slapback/echo trailing the solo

Time 3 · Feedback 3 · E.Level 4

Why these settings

The Jackson Super Strat's bridge humbucker hits the ME-80 input with modern output, so the LEAD preamp gain is set to 8 with mids pushed to 9 to match Eddie's Marshall Super Lead bark. An onboard OD boost block tightens low-end flub while giving endless sustain for the two-handed tapping run. For the ending dive-bomb oscillation effect, max out the delay block's feedback knob while manipulating the pitch.

PRO TIPPick hard near the bridge with the edge of the pick to accentuate the upper-harmonic squeals, and keep the phaser speed set slow (around 9 o'clock) so it acts more as an EQ comb-filter than an overt modulation swirl.

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These settings are for a Boss ME-80. 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.