Category: Edward Van Halen
With the release of the EVH sneakers, the only piece of EVH gear left to see the light of the day – presumably for now – is the Drop To Hell tailpiece, or D2H. Although a few pics of it have been posted on the Internet, no one’s really sure about the whys and whats […]
Ed’s Sound: Priceless If you’re a fan of Edward Van Halen, ask yourself this question: How much money would you pay for a pickup that EVH personally designed with Seymour Duncan? Bear in mind that good humbuckers can cost anywhere from $40-$50 made by single-person boutique shops to $75-ish for a Duncan or DiMarizio, to […]
Yes, Edward Van Halen’s jaw-dropping tone has changed over the years. And yes, it’s been a lot of years since the first four or so Van Halen albums. But I have always believed that Ed – who obviously is a details guy, and a hands-on guy – remembers everything he ever did to get the […]
Cool ‘fly on the wall’ audio! When you play your geetar by yourself, who do you sound like? Do you play other people’s riffs or your own? I’ll go first: I sound like me, trying to play (lately) Edward Van Halen and Billy Gibbons riffs. Thirty years into my guitar-playing odyssey, I’m still trying to […]
Is heavier better or is lighter better? Ask 100 guitar-slingers what guitar bodies are best for tone, and you’ll probably have around 50 say heavy and 50 say light. Put ’em in a room together and things might get a little heated. I’ve heard people swear that more wood = more tone and sustain. I’ve […]
Plus some of EVH’s standard fibbing! Quick tidbits, starting with Robert Plant on not wanting to the the Zep reunion — via a radio interview you can listen to here:
The Edward Van Halen and Fender-backed “EVH” brand will soon be selling what they’re calling the EVH Frankenstein Humbucker – which implies that it’s a copy of “the” pickup in Ed’s first and main axe for many years, the Frankenstein, aka Frankie. That’s the guitar that was white with black stripes and then had red […]
Plus Sammy skull-cracks just about everybody (Dave, Eddie, Slash, Ronnie Montrose, Gary Cherone) – nicely! You may recall that Chickenfoot was the stand-in name, and now looks like the official name, of the Joe Satriani, Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) super group. They said an album and tour were coming […]
Did Edward Van Halen learn tapping from Brian May who learned it from Billy Gibbons? In a recent (and very good) Guitar Player interview of Brian May, conducted by GP associate editor Matt Blackett, the topic of two-handed tapping (aka, right-hand hammer-ons) came up. Rather than paraphrase the whole exchange, I’ll quote it below – […]
Full Wolfgang specs below! It’s almost time for the winter NAMM convention, so details about new gear are starting to come out here and there. One of the hottest items in terms of buzz is of course Edward Van Halen’s new EVH Wolfgang guitar. What Ed said about it to Guitar World’s fawning staff has […]
Want a custom EVH Wolfgang? Buy a car. Edward Van Halen is selling two 1956 Chevy’s at the famed Barrett-Jackson uber-expensive car auction this month, and with each car comes a custom-painted EVH Wolfgang guitar – painted to match the cars. These will of course be one-of-a-kinds, designed and at least held by the man […]
Devoted VH fans may know (should know) that Alex Van Halen coined the “brown” term now famously associated with his brother Ed’s woody guitar tone. Al used it to describe his snare sound, something like “brown, like beating on a log.” If that’s not woody, I don’t know what is. Al has probably the most […]
Do you subscribe to Guitar Player? I did for a long time, and then didn’t for many years. I clearly remember – as clearly as I can remember these days – an issue with a guy from The Cure on the cover. That was it for me. That was diversity for the sake of it, […]
Here’s more on the pickups in the new EVH Wolfgang guitar from the Ed interview in the latest issue of Guitar Player — which by the way was published with four different covers — plus some non-pickup nuggets about the new Wolfgang. > Part of this interesting quote was omitted unintentionally by GW in a […]
Every new Edward Van Halen interview is cause for comment. Lately most of the Ed interviews revolve around product launches, which is the case for the February (yes, February) 2009 issue of Guitar World, “on news stands now!” Anyhow, it’s always cause for comment because Ed is Ed, and because of his well-known penchant for […]
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 […]
