Category: Edward Van Halen
What do you know about the 6CA7 power tube? If you’re like me, you know that Edward Van Halen favored them back in the day, and that they are similar to EL34s but different. You might also know that they never came stock in Marshall heads, that EVH favored Sylvania big bottle 6CA7s, and that […]
Plus Ed’s version of the Nugent story Here are a few more excerpts from that book “Gear Secrets of the Guitar Legends,” these from the Edward Van Halen section – which is at best incomplete, at worst “wrong” in some places. “Wrong” is in quotes because for the most part no one’s really sure, so […]
Once in a while Guitar Player sends out these “flashback” emails of old interviews. One semi-recent one was Eric Clapton in June 1970, daddy-o. Although that was post-Cream – or “the Cream,” as it was called back then – he talked about his gear in Cream. Here are the juicy deets plus some notes: GP: […]
…A Little What exactly was the body wood of Edward Van Halen’s Frankie guitar? That’s one of life’s unanswered questions. It’s literally possible no one knows anymore, and the forensics of guitar wood aren’t exactly a scientific discipline. But we just got one more little piece of this ongoing puzzle.
And The Beatles As we learned earlier this week, the slammin’, woody heart of Peter Frampton’s current live rig is a ’70s 100w Marshall head modified by José Arredondo. Yes, the same José who modified Eddie Van Halen’s “grail” head and who knows what else. That makes at least three famous players – EVH, Frampton […]
The one and only Edward Van Halen was roundly criticized for his tone on the most recent VH tour. (Everyone’s a critic on the interweb!) I was at two shows on that tour, one in New Jersey (sounded bad), one in Madison Square Garden (sounded good). Neither guitar tone sounded particularly warm, but then again, […]
Here’s My List! My 8-year-old son makes me listen to only Van Halen and Led Zep in the car (he’s a good kid!), so to keep it interesting I started to pick out some highlights of Dave-era VH albums – and wondered, wouldn’t it be cool to have some of these things on the new […]
The latest of the perennial debates about Edward Van Halen’s early tone/rig, the post You Too Can Sound Like Angus and this AmpGAS! post got me thinking: Can anyone with decent chops – say, “Running With the Devil,” “You Really Got Me,” “Dance the Night Away,” maybe “Everybody Wants Some” and “Unchained” – get close […]
Today we continue with John Suhr “talking” – actually posting, in a looooong thegearpage.net thread – about his experience with EVH’s magical Marshall Super Lead amp. We pick it up with John’s comments to some doubters:
John Suhr! A hundred years from now there will be mythology about Edward Van Halen’s early VH signal chain. But right now the unending discussions about it (which I am not denigrating!) are largely rumor or misinformation resulting from some version of the telephone game: someone heard/read something, told someone else, etc. Mostly. But once […]
What did Edward Van Halen really say about his early tone? Did he really mean it? What can we read into it? Following is the remainder of the tone-related excerpts from the November 1978 Guitar Player interview (part 1 is here). Commentary by yours truly.
Part 1 By now no one’s exactly sure what Edward Van Halen really said or didn’t say about his tone and technique over the years. Even though lots of folks on this-here Internet thingy act like they know fo’ sho’, they either don’t or are misremembering. You really have to go back to what the […]
I’d heard of the Canadian metal band Annihilator but don’t think ever heard the band until I stumbled across this cover of the Van Halen tune “Romeo Delight.” The song was on VH’s third album, Women and Children First, and was also played by the band on its last tour. Take a listen. It’s good! […]
I have to say up front that Van Halen’s 5150 is one of my least-favorite VH albums. Naturally the songs and playing are good (truth be told I’m more of a Dave-era fan), but I’m not a huge fan of the buzzy guitar tone and the electronic drums. The VH brothers lost so much wood […]
And finally, here are the final highlights from the April 1980 Guitar Player cover interview of Edward Van Halen. Is [having a lot of Marshall heads live] to refine the sound? It’s to make a good tone even louder. Some people get a sound like an amplified AM radio. I like it to be like […]
Fair Warning Tone Ain’t All the Same
Got it in my head to figure out which Van Halen song tones – not album tones – I liked the most. Started with Fair Warning, whose balls I just can’t get enough of…which doesn’t sound so good but you get what I mean. Listen to it cranked in my car because that’s the only […]
Pondering VH’s Fair Warning Tone
LOVE the first four Van Halen albums. Always have, always will. Love the rest too, including the Van Hagar years (oops, forgot about VH III…), but those first four vinyl donuts are to me and many others just the nads. The nadliest of nads. They’re a band kicking the world’s butt in every way, and […]
Recently I was ruined yet again by a good amp. This time a bud’s Bogner Shiva, EL34 version. Let’s call him Sean – because that’s his name…. He’d been talking about how awesome it was for a while, and even though I know he has good ears, wasn’t too motivated to go try it. I’d […]
The Gene-EVH-Ace-Joe Perry Connection
Have you picked up “Guitar World Presents 40 Years of Van Halen” yet? Zactly – I didn’t even know it existed until I saw it in a bookstore (remember those? lol). Anyhow, I’m always amazed at how I think I’ve memorized every word ever written about Ed and his gear and then I read something […]
More On the YMI5150 Model-A Guitar
Few weeks ago I posted a brief “review” (outdated word) of Kevin Holbrook’s YMI5150 Model-A guitar. As a brief reminder, what got my attention were the following things: > A good wood combo: swamp ash, maple/rosewood. > An interesting and unique combo of components resulting in a Strat-shaped and -scaled guitar with an ABR bridge […]
Did You Read the Esquire EVH Piece Yet?
We’re going to have to wait yet another week for the interview with Kevin Holbrook of YMI5150 guitars because we have yet another newsworthy event. This time it’s the recent Esquire interview with Edward Van Halen. Now before you EVH fans get to getting your hopes up, let’s bear in mind the same ol’s: 1. […]
Show ‘Review’: Van Halen at the Garden
Took my 10-year-old son to see Van Halen at Madison Square Garden in New York City on March 1. I think he was more excited to see them than I was – not that I wasn’t, but this was the mighty Van Halen whose tunes the both of us have copped, jammed to and listened […]
