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Knowledge entry · 1983 / Bark at the Moon recording sessions

Jake E. Lee — Bark at the Moon (Jose Marshall)

Jake E. Lee · Jose-modded Marshall (chassis spec not publicly verified) + Laney head + EV speakers

Jake E. Lee's lead tone on Ozzy Osbourne's "Bark at the Moon" (1983) has been the subject of decades of forum reconstruction. Per Dave Friedman (Headfirst Amp Panel #13, March 2026, ~[148:25]):

> *"Bark at the Moon was recorded with a Jose Marshall."*

The recording rig per panel discussion: Jose-modded Marshall head + Laney head + EV (Electro-Voice) loaded speaker cabinet. The specific Marshall chassis-year and which Jose-mod variant (with or without diodes; specific V0 + cascade combination) is not publicly documented in the same detail as EVH #12301 or Mars's Dr. Feelgood amp — flag as "Jose-modded Marshall confirmed; specific recipe not independently verified."

What makes this attribution interesting:

1. Jose-school adoption in the early-80s LA hard rock scene was broader than EVH + Lynch. Adding Jake E. Lee to the documented player list confirms the mod was reaching multiple high-profile sessions in 1983, not just EVH's circle.

2. The Laney pairing. Per Panel #13 [89:15], the Laney AOR is topologically a "Jose / Friedman BE-style circuit with one extra gain stage and a tighter front end" — so Lee's two-amp rig was effectively two Jose-adjacent circuits run together. This is a useful datapoint for understanding the early-80s tonal palette where Jose-school topology was the implicit reference even in non-Jose-modded amps.

3. EV speakers vs Celestion. Most Jose-school documented players (EVH, Lynch, Sykes, Mars, DeMartini) ran Celestion-loaded cabs (G12M, G12-65, V30). Lee's EV loading is unusual and contributes to his distinctively tighter, less midrange-honky tone vs Brown Sound.

JMIL surface area: the "Mars Dr. Feelgood" preset (V0 + cascade + Jose MV + NFB tightened, no diodes) is the closest JMIL approximation to Lee's likely rig — his tone is open, articulate, and percussive in a way that's incompatible with diode-shelf compression. Pair with the V30 cab IR (the closest available proxy for an EV-loaded cab — both have stronger upper-mid emphasis than a Greenback).

Related mods (4)

  • Extra preamp tube (V0 stage)T1
  • Cascaded V1 → V2 (cold clipper)T1
  • Jose Master Volume (pre-tone-stack)T1
  • NFB resistor change (100k / 4Ω tap)T1

Citations