Interview from 1979
EVH: So then I found out about Charvel, but I'm suing them right now because it's actually my guitar design that's keeping them in business. See, Wayne Charvel sold it to another guy, and Wayne was a real cool dude. When he owned it, I was considering endorsing it. And then this other dude took over, and he's just sold so many of them for like a grand apiece.
GP: Are these Eddie Van Halen model guitars?
EVH: Yeah!
GP: No kidding.
EVH: No kidding! It looks like a Strat, but it only has one pickup in it, one volume knob, no tone, no fancy garbage. It's painted the way I like 'em, and it's rear-loaded - you know, it doesn't have a pickguard. I'm not saying my guitar is "Wow, the new guitar," but it is a guitar that you could not at the time buy on the market. This guy kind of exploited my idea, so I'm suing him. See, I feel kind of fucked doing that, but all I want him to do is stop. I don't give a damn about the money. But the main reason I did that was to have something that no one else had. You know, I wanted it to be my guitar, an extension of myself. Just the other night - Christmans Eve - I went to the Whiskey. A band called Weasels was playing, and the lead guitarist had a guitar exactly like mine. I just don't understand how someone could walk onstage with my guitar, because it's my trademark. You know, when people see a freaked-out striped guitar like that, with one pickup, one volume knob, they obviously know it's mine.
GP: There goes your identity.
EVH: Yeah. And also, him selling it and advertising, makes it seem to the fans like I'm selling myself. They don't know that I'm against it. They think that I'm out for the bucks. That's not it at all. So it's kind of a drag.
GP: Describe your ideal guitar.
EVH: Pretty much what I have. That's the main thing that pisses me off about Charvel, because I spent $150 building my own guitar.
GP: The first one?
EVH: No, all of 'em! Well, maybe a little more because of the bicycle paint. But it's $150 to buy the parts, except for the pickups.
Fast Forward to 2004:
www.evh-guitars.com
How times change.....
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