Poundcake
A dirty rhythm guitar over two doubled electric 12-strings.
What is the Poundcake guitar tone?
The Poundcake guitar tone is a dirty rhythm guitar over two doubled electric 12-strings, heard on Van Halen's 1990s hard rock recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and Van Halen reportedly tracked it with a 1989 Soldano SLO-100, the amp Eddie Van Halen used to record most of For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge because his Marshall Super Lead was fading, with the Marshall used sparingly and a prototype of what became the Peavey 5150 also in use, though these accounts do not say which amp is on this song or name the guitar; the song drew little reaction until producer Andy Johns suggested Eddie play the rhythm tracks on a 12-string, and what you hear, he told Guitar World, is two electric 12-strings doubled beneath his usual dirty guitar, an odd sound that was not really planned; at Johns' suggestion he also used overdubs and a wah pedal to round out the track's thickness; the intro and the solo feature a battery-powered Makita 6012HD drill, which he found was in the same key as the song and held to the pickups and scraped over the strings, and he says a guitar technician was running one of the drills at 5150 Studios while he played; the solo runs four bars, four more and then two, with a few quiet keyboard chords in the middle, in F sharp minor against a song in E major at 108 beats per minute; it opens the album and was its first single, reaching number one on the US Album Rock Tracks chart, and the album, which Ted Templeman also produced, came out on 17 June 1991. This is a mid-forward sound rather than a scooped one, and it usually sits closer to the edge of breakup than to full saturation.
You do not need that exact gear to land in the same place. What carries this sound is the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup choice and the order of the effects, and all four can be rebuilt on equipment that costs a fraction of the original. The numbers change from amp to amp, because a high-gain head and a small practice amp reach the same voicing from different knob positions. That translation is what Tonelify works out for the rig you actually own.
Poundcake amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 6, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 6, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup.
- Gain 6
- Bass 5
- Middle 6
- Treble 6
- Presence 6
- Reverb 2
- Signal chain
- Makita 6012HD drill against the strings → Wah pedal → Soldano SLO-100, the album's main amp
- The control that matters most
- Middle, kept forward. The album's main amp was a Soldano SLO-100 and the song layers two electric 12-strings under the main guitar, so set a thick, mid-forward crunch and add a 12-string part, or a light octave or doubling effect, for the shimmer on top. The drill at the start and in the solo is a cordless drill on the strings, not an amp setting.
These positions are free and they are a starting point. A Katana, a Spark and a valve head reach this voicing from different knob positions, so Tonelify rewrites every value above for the amp and guitar you own. Your first match is free with an account, and needs no card.
Adapt these to my amp- Pickup
- Bridge pickup
These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. If you tell Tonelify which amp you own, it rewrites every value above for the controls that amp actually has.
Does the Poundcake tone sound off on your amp?
Pick what you hear. You get the knobs to turn from the starting point above, and how far.
What gear did Van Halen use on Poundcake?
A 1989 Soldano SLO-100, the amp Eddie Van Halen used to record most of For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge because his Marshall Super Lead was fading, with the Marshall used sparingly and a prototype of what became the Peavey 5150 also in use, though these accounts do not say which amp is on this song or name the guitar; the song drew little reaction until producer Andy Johns suggested Eddie play the rhythm tracks on a 12-string, and what you hear, he told Guitar World, is two electric 12-strings doubled beneath his usual dirty guitar, an odd sound that was not really planned; at Johns' suggestion he also used overdubs and a wah pedal to round out the track's thickness; the intro and the solo feature a battery-powered Makita 6012HD drill, which he found was in the same key as the song and held to the pickups and scraped over the strings, and he says a guitar technician was running one of the drills at 5150 Studios while he played; the solo runs four bars, four more and then two, with a few quiet keyboard chords in the middle, in F sharp minor against a song in E major at 108 beats per minute; it opens the album and was its first single, reaching number one on the US Album Rock Tracks chart, and the album, which Ted Templeman also produced, came out on 17 June 1991.
Sources: Wikipedia: Poundcake (song), Wikipedia: For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, Ultimate Classic Rock: Van Halen cook up a hit with Poundcake
Tonelify reads that chain and translates it to the amp and guitar you already own, returning gain, bass, mids, treble and presence values along with a pickup position.
How do you get the Poundcake tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Poundcake
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Poundcake tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Poundcake?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 6, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 6, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup. These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. Tonelify rewrites the same values for the specific amp and guitar you own, because a high-gain head and a small solid-state combo reach the same dirty rhythm guitar over two doubled electric 12-strings from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Poundcake tone?
Middle, kept forward. The album's main amp was a Soldano SLO-100 and the song layers two electric 12-strings under the main guitar, so set a thick, mid-forward crunch and add a 12-string part, or a light octave or doubling effect, for the shimmer on top. The drill at the start and in the solo is a cordless drill on the strings, not an amp setting.
Can you get the Poundcake tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with a 1989 Soldano SLO-100, the amp Eddie Van Halen used to record most of For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge because his Marshall Super Lead was fading, with the Marshall used sparingly and a prototype of what became the Peavey 5150 also in use, though these accounts do not say which amp is on this song or name the guitar; the song drew little reaction until producer Andy Johns suggested Eddie play the rhythm tracks on a 12-string, and what you hear, he told Guitar World, is two electric 12-strings doubled beneath his usual dirty guitar, an odd sound that was not really planned; at Johns' suggestion he also used overdubs and a wah pedal to round out the track's thickness; the intro and the solo feature a battery-powered Makita 6012HD drill, which he found was in the same key as the song and held to the pickups and scraped over the strings, and he says a guitar technician was running one of the drills at 5150 Studios while he played; the solo runs four bars, four more and then two, with a few quiet keyboard chords in the middle, in F sharp minor against a song in E major at 108 beats per minute; it opens the album and was its first single, reaching number one on the US Album Rock Tracks chart, and the album, which Ted Templeman also produced, came out on 17 June 1991, but the parts that define the sound are the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup position and the effects order. Those translate to other equipment, which is what the adaptation step does.
Is Poundcake a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a riff part with a distorted character, from Van Halen's 1990s hard rock catalogue.
Does Tonelify cost anything to try?
Your first match for your own gear is free with an account, and needs no card. After that it takes a plan, charged when you subscribe: Stage is $6.99 a month for 20 matches, Headliner is $10.99 a month for unlimited matching within a fair use limit of 150 new matches a day, and yearly billing works out cheaper on both. Reading this page and the rest of the library costs nothing and needs no account.
