Fuck You Ed

[Terry]

It’s only rock and roll. Look. Eddie Van Halen and most the people who made a living in his profession aren’t exactly the most stable people in the world. You actually have to take what these people say with a huge grain of salt. You are talking about people who go from rehab center to rehab center. Break down to break down and between trips to the counselor and shrink they stick explosives up the cat’s ass. They get away with it because the cops are fans.

Most of the people in Ed's profession don't really have much to say worth listening to if they're offstage. Goes for most rock star interviews. May be some things of interest some of these rock musicians say in interviews if they're talking about their take on the band they are in. By and large, once they start talking about any subjects outside of that, there's little to nothing they have to say that you wouldn't hear from any person anywhere else.

[Nitro Express]

Don't forget Eddie boiled his guitar strings... but not just any water could produce that tone. Only Pasadena Pond Scum™ from the city water system in the 70's had the right mineral content to turn his Ernie Ball Super Slinkies into tone magnets!

That was the poor musician’s trick to get the gunk out of the strings and bring some life back to them. Yeah Ed boiled his strings when he was poor but as soon as he was getting advances from Warner Brothers I doubt it.

[Nitro Express]

Ed used Extra Light Fender nickel wounds not Ernie Ball. The Fenders had a bullet shaped end that fit snugly into a Strat trem block. They were designed to help a Strat stay in tune better. Ed was using a Fender Srat tremolo in the early days. Fender still makes those strings with those funky ends.

[Nitro Express]

I was going to mention the boiling of his guitar strings thing! Which he may or may not have actually done according to which story you read/believe.

There was also the 'dipping of his pickups in wax' thing or potting the pickups in wax.

Both of which were part of that mystique in the early 1980's as to how Ed got the sound he did, and when you read them in a guitar mag back then along with the variac stuff it seemed like Ed was using this tricked-out gear and secretly conjuring up his sound.

For me, it was always a bit more what he was doing with his hands than the tones he was getting. I enjoyed the way the guitar sounded on those CVH albums, to be sure, but it was what he was actually playing that I was trying to figure out.

Al told Ed not to divulge too much to the public so Ed would sometimes tell half truths. He did use a Variac but he actually turned the voltage down. He said in an interview he turned the voltage up and would watch the tubes melt. Of course if you turn the voltage up you are going to make the filter caps in the amp explode. Ed also said Jose Arredondo made massive modifications to his amp. Jose did do mods and became famouse for it but Ed’s amp never was modded. Jose’s would do maintenance and repair work on it. He was struggling so Ed put his name out there to help him out. Soon after Jose’s was backlogged with over a year’s worth of work. Everyone wanted the Jose mod which was basically putting clipping diodes in the preamp.

[Nitro Express]

I would say the biggest factor in sounding like Ed is you have to play like him. If it’s not happening with the strings nothing that comes after matters. What Ed was chasing was getting what he was doing with the strings to come through. He wanted a sensitive pickup and amp. That means a lot of gain. A guy at Sunset Sound said Ed wanted him to play through rig and he go’s see! Everything you do on the fretboard rings out through the speakers. That’s what I’ve been chasing. It was getting the harmonics and subtle tapping to ring out. But you have to be able to get those sounds with the strings first. Ed was really good with his fingers. Most guitarists can’t play Mean Streets. Even Nuno admitted that’s one song he just can’t do.

[Terry]

I would say the biggest factor in sounding like Ed is you have to play like him. If it’s not happening with the strings nothing that comes after matters. What Ed was chasing was getting what he was doing with the strings to come through. He wanted a sensitive pickup and amp. That means a lot of gain. A guy at Sunset Sound said Ed wanted him to play through rig and he go’s see! Everything you do on the fretboard rings out through the speakers. That’s what I’ve been chasing. It was getting the harmonics and subtle tapping to ring out. But you have to be able to get those sounds with the strings first. Ed was really good with his fingers. Most guitarists can’t play Mean Streets. Even Nuno admitted that’s one song he just can’t do.

Some parts of the Mean Streets Intro I can do. The tapped harmonics parts of the intro I can do, mostly because I started with DTNA and the Women In Love intro and the Spanish Fly intro to learn the technique.

The beginning of the intro where he's doing that slap funk bass technique with his thumb and index finger I can't do. I've seen the close-up footage of him doing it and watched other people on youtube who can do it: I understand the physicality of where the thumb and index finger need to be placed on the fretboard, along with the muffling Ed is doing with his left/fretting hand. I simply can't alternate the thumb and index finger quick enough and slap them on the neck precisely enough to make it sound like it should. Nope, not even close.

I should say, though, with the tapped harmonics in general I couldn't figure out how that was done until the late 1990s/early 2000s when tabs came out describing how to do it and I started collecting VH live video boots that showcased Ed's hands close-up. Pinched harmonics and natural plucked harmonics I learned fairly quickly after I started playing, along with finger tapping, but tapped harmonics not so much.

[Nitro Express]

The Mean Streets intro is basically doing bass slap funk on a guitar but to sound like Ed you have to be spot on. I liken it to forging a signature. Everyone is going to slap a bit differently. Also how your guitar is set up is very important. String tension and height play a big factor here.

[Nitro Express]

Ed was a pretty short guy. The first time I saw Van Halen in person I’m like woah, these guys are shorter than I thought they would be. Ed had big strong hands though and really fluid fingers. Not everyone has hands like that so not everyone is going to be able to play like him.

[Seshmeister]

Some parts of the Mean Streets Intro I can do. The tapped harmonics parts of the intro I can do, mostly because I started with DTNA and the Women In Love intro and the Spanish Fly intro to learn the technique.

The beginning of the intro where he's doing that slap funk bass technique with his thumb and index finger I can't do. I've seen the close-up footage of him doing it and watched other people on youtube who can do it: I understand the physicality of where the thumb and index finger need to be placed on the fretboard, along with the muffling Ed is doing with his left/fretting hand. I simply can't alternate the thumb and index finger quick enough and slap them on the neck precisely enough to make it sound like it should. Nope, not even close.

I should say, though, with the tapped harmonics in general I couldn't figure out how that was done until the late 1990s/early 2000s when tabs came out describing how to do it and I started collecting VH live video boots that showcased Ed's hands close-up. Pinched harmonics and natural plucked harmonics I learned fairly quickly after I started playing, along with finger tapping, but tapped harmonics not so much.

Yeah the rhythm of it is what defeated me back when I used to sit trying to do these things.

Back almost 20 years ago now (how can it be that long???) I asked Brian Young about how he had nailed it and he said it took him a couple of weeks but I don't know what that means - is that 8 hours a day for a couple of weeks or 10 minutes a day?

Nowadays we have stuff like this on YouTube and it makes me think I could maybe eventually get there with the help of it but who has the time?

[Rikk]

On 10-6-2020 I considered saying the same thing, pretty much "fuck you, Ed" for foisting Hagar on us. I deleted what I typed and posted this instead:





I did say somewhere that there is no God, because if there was, He would have taken Hagar before Ed.

Can't believe I missed your original post. YES, there was a silver lining to the sad news about Ed.

That said, it's ok...Eddie appears to Sammy in dreams now with riffs and songs...thank God their "great partnership" can cuntinue...

[Rikk]

Brett is the biggest bitch on the internet. NOBODY sucks off Clichegar more than Brett. He should have changed the name of that shithole to the Van Hagar Links, years ago. He will be more sad when Clichegar croaks, than he was when Ed croaked.

I actually came here in 2004 because I was posting some truly non-combative posts about not being happy with the state of Van Halen. I thought it was a cheap compromise to bring Hagar back on board...at the time, I was more passionate than I became later about Roth finally coming back. And, out of nowhere, Brett jumped out himself and told me to shut the fuck up or he would kick me off the Links permanently. You know, ALL CAPS and lots of !!!!s. He was like a mad dog in heat.

MAX messaged me and told me to check out the Army. He said, "You can say what you want there." I came over here and was much happier.

I had some good conversations about VH at the Links in my early times there...but every other thread was "This is off-topic; closing" or "Stop arguing, fellows or I'll ban you." The place fucking sucked.

Brett used to come over here when he was bored (which for a while was quite frequent).

The guy was a fucking cunt.

I have no idea what drama happened with DDLR, this place, etc. I was off-the-radar too long and missed it.

I enjoy coming back and posting time to time...I'll never stop doing that.

At least I know I can say what the fuck I want here and not worry about getting "banned"...and if I were banned, who gives a fuck? I have a family and a nice big house and fuck it all... But I like posting here. If I hear things about some war that happened or something, I'm usually out-to-lunch. I haven't been involved in a big flame war since me and several others were fighting the great fight against FABULOUS SHADOW in all her fatness...(ah, good times)