Tips for getting the most out of the GrailTone

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I recently snagged a GrailTone, and I really like it. However, I haven't gotten it to sound as good as some of the recordings I've heard. The sound I'm going for is that really aggressive sound where the notes just explode off the pick.

The first guitar I tried was a mutt strat with a Floyd Rose and a Seymour Duncan '78 pickup - sounded OK, but not quite there.

The signal chain: guitar (too many to mention) => Randall RM-4 => Two Notes Torpedo C.A.B (speaker cabinet and power amp emulator) using RedWirez and Torpedo impulses.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
 
This mod is unique in that V1 operates as parallel triodes as opposed to cascading in series. Loudness I is the brighter channel and Loudness II is thicker.

I suggest running the Bass at 11:00 and Mids/Treble/Presence at 3:00. Then dial the Loudness I up to get the general amount of gain you are after and fill the sound in by turning up Loudness II.
 
My suggested settings are:

Loudnes I cranked, Loudness 2 at 0, Bass at 0-2, Mids and Treble cranked. Presence to taste.

The classic Van Halen sound is pretty bright, I find the module gets too bassy/muddy with Loudness 2 or Bass knob past minimal settings. With all knobs in medium settings, it's great for classic marshall/ACDC type stuff. You just need to crank mids and treble to get that bright Van Halen sound IMO. Or at least that's what I need to do with my setup.

Other suggestions for VH sound:
Tubes = EL34
Speakers = Celestion Greenback or copies in 4x12
Bridge Humbucker setup, any guitar
Phaser/Reverb/Echo adds a lot to the VH sound, so don't forget that either
 
bass at midnight, all the other controls dimed except the master on the module. dime the power section volume knob as well. use the module volume for overall control.
 
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