Dave's art. Ed's guitar. Separated at birth?

[twonabomber]

hmmm...

[ZahZoo]

So now we're led to believe Dave invented the famous stripped guitar concept that literally framed Ed's career..?

Hmmmm...

[Kristy]

He's so fucking clueless and senile these days. Must be the cancer treatment drugs and the radiation chemotherapy fucking with what's left of his minuscule brain cells. Edwardo's "art" was all his own yes, even the god damn reflectors. Roth is a poor man about to be cut from the Van Halen royalty check writing business so he invents this shit. By the way, Beethoven had more than one "hit." So fuck him and the origami horse he rode in on.

[Terry]

Got thirty seconds into the clip, which is about the limit of my endurance these days re: listening to Dave enjoying hearing himself talk.

On the face of it, kinda smacks of claims Roth made a few years ago...dunno if I have the chronology correct, but I think it was when it was made clear in the latter part of 2019 that Van Halen wasn't going to be touring again in the near-future and in advance of Roth doing his Vegas stint that was just prior to his KISS 2020 tour opening slots...when Dave started saying how he would hum the music to solos and Ed would took what Dave hummed and translate that into guitar solos, that Dave was far more instructional in regard to telling Ed what he should be playing on the CVH stuff to a degree that nobody had ever described or claimed before 2019...

And, well, I suppose it may well be true in terms of being within the realm of possibility, just as these claims of Dave 'designing' the color scheme for the Frankenstein guitar may well be true in terms of being inside the realm of possibility, but considering how many vitriolic insider barbs the various members of Van Halen slung at each other in interviews when they weren't getting along, I tend to think if this 'Dave designed Eddie's guitar' claim was true...THAT claim would have been made long before now, and back in the years (1985-2006) when Dave for the most part wasn't getting along well with the Van Halens.

The further down the road Roth has gotten, these types of 'I was the ultimate mastermind behind Classic Van Halen' statements by him have increased in terms of frequency and scope. I tend to give them a grain of salt, mostly because once Roth starts talking - and talking, and talking, and talking - the pace of his speech tends to outstrip his brain. He's a good bullshitter with at times interesting stories and tales to tell; good tales and stories have a degree of truth in them, but also embellishment and self-aggrandizement.

Honestly, I couldn't get through much more than a few minutes of Roth's last couple appearances on the Rogan show. Dave comes across to me more like somebody in a retirement home babbling a stream-of-consciousness patter of non-stop nonsense these days than an interesting rock star interview subject as he did back in the 1980s and 1990s.

[Seshmeister]

I've definitely heard Roth claim this before, at least a few years ago when Ed was still alive. Maybe even way back on the Roth Radio show. I'm surprised no one else here remembers.

Also he may have his faults but he doesn't usually tell big lies in interviews unlike the rest of them.

I always find it weird how if you look at the comments on the YouTube there are always way more positive than you get here which is kind of meant to be sort of like a bit of a fansite??

So when people aren't bitchin about Roth they are bitchin about how quiet it is here?

[Seshmeister]

I would also like to point out Roth is way more visually artistic than Ed, did all the designs on albums and merch all the way up to the the 2 reunion albums, why does anyone find it unlikely he suggested the masking tape thing early on????

[Nickdfresh]

This was all Roth's idea for the 1984 Tour:

[ZahZoo]

I've definitely heard Roth claim this before, at least a few years ago when Ed was still alive. Maybe even way back on the Roth Radio show. I'm surprised no one else here remembers.

Also he may have his faults but he doesn't usually tell big lies in interviews unlike the rest of them.

I always find it weird how if you look at the comments on the YouTube there are always way more positive than you get here which is kind of meant to be sort of like a bit of a fansite??

So when people aren't bitchin about Roth they are bitchin about how quiet it is here?

There was a time when we had a fair amount of "fans" posting positive comments and generally celebrating Dave and the activities of Van Halen... This place was alive in 2007 through the ADKOT release/tour. In a large part that was fueled by a fair amount of public activity and music involving Dave and the band... It was the slow times and some mismanagement of some of the member/troll culture that sent the positive fans to social media sites.

[Seshmeister]

Leaving us - the negative people.

$5 to the first person that can track down that previous interview where Roth mentioned coming up with the stripes thing. I think he said he stole it from elsewhere, maybe a punk band?

[twonabomber]

I probably have it. I saved all the listening threads from DDLR. Not sure what PC it's on though. All I have on this one are the audio files.

[Terry]

I would also like to point out Roth is way more visually artistic than Ed, did all the designs on albums and merch all the way up to the the 2 reunion albums, why does anyone find it unlikely he suggested the masking tape thing early on????

He may well have...I personally have no...what...investment one way or the other if it was Dave and not Eddie.

I just find it weird that it took, at minimum if the Roth Radio show was the first mention of it, 30 years for that claim to have been made...as opposed to Roth making that claim years earlier when Roth and the Van Halens were bitching about each other in the press: "Man, I was the mastermind of that band to the point where I came up with the design for that iconic guitar!"

Like, Dave in the wake of the 1996 fallout would be candid about him and Ed doing cocaine at Ed's wedding, but apparently Dave designing the Franky color scheme was a sacred secret that was somehow off-limits in terms of public disclosure?

Perhaps, but perhaps not.

[Terry]

I've definitely heard Roth claim this before, at least a few years ago when Ed was still alive. Maybe even way back on the Roth Radio show. I'm surprised no one else here remembers.

Also he may have his faults but he doesn't usually tell big lies in interviews unlike the rest of them.

I always find it weird how if you look at the comments on the YouTube there are always way more positive than you get here which is kind of meant to be sort of like a bit of a fansite??

So when people aren't bitchin about Roth they are bitchin about how quiet it is here?

Out-and-out lies?

I'd like to think not.

I wouldn't think for a moment that Roth's ego - which even the most ardent Roth fan wouldn't disagree is slightly larger than average, certainly when it comes to Van Halen - couldn't possibly cause him to overinflate his role (substantial, to be sure) in terms of what transpired in Van Halen at times. To hear Roth tell it these days, Ted Templeman, Pete Angelus, Noel Monk, Ed Anderson were all basically along for the ride on Roth's coattails in terms of importance/relevance back when CVH was working. Those four guys tell a different story. Where does the truth lie? Somewhere in the middle? Who the fuck knows? Not us with 100% certainty. We weren't there. Hell, those that WERE there were drunk or high on coke more than a little of the time.

[Mushroom]

The November 2021 issue of Guitar World has a great article on the evolution of the Frankenstrat. But it doesn't attribute any of the original idea to DLR, so this doesn't answer the Dave question. The article also points to Youtuber Johnny B Guitars who made some fascinating videos about Frankie.

http://https://www.guitarworld.com/features/eddie-van-halen-frankenstein-origins

The August 1977 issue of the punk fanzine Slash provides fascinating clues that support a possible inspiration for Ed’s signature striped guitar finish.

A review of several consecutive punk shows at the Whisky from June 20-22, 1977, appears on pages 19 and 20. The review for the second night states, “Van Halen paraded around in what they had been led to believe were the latest punk outfits,” and a photo of Roth and the Van Halen brothers in those outfits is on the issue’s rear cover.

The review section covers two shows by the Dils at the Whisky – one on June 22 and a gig at a later date. The review is accompanied by a photo on page 20 of Dils guitarist Chip Kinman playing a white Les Paul Custom copy adorned with black electrical tape at criss-crossing angles. It looks uncannily similar to, albeit much cruder than, Ed’s black and white Frankenstein design.

Van Halen attended numerous punk shows at the Whisky during the summer of 1977 in the downtime between recording their demos and the album. During this timeframe they even wrote several new songs (Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love, Loss of Control and Atomic Punk) that were Van Halen’s unique interpretation of punk.

It’s plausible that Ed saw at least one Dils gig at the Whisky in June or early July. Kinman recalls seeing Van Halen at several of the Dils’ gigs at the Whisky and telling his bandmates, “the hippies are here again.”

By the time Van Halen performed on New Year’s Eve 1977 at the Whisky A Go Go, the Frankenstein’s second control knob was gone. One other short-lived but immortal change was captured during the photo session by Elliot Gilbert for the debut album cover images, where Ed replaced the ’61 Strat vibrato with a brass Mighty Mite vibrato tailpiece.

[ZahZoo]

The idea for the striped pattern was most likely inspired by Chip Kinman of The Dils, a punk band. No idea if Dave copped this or Ed...

[Vinnie Velvet]

Dave's influence is "proof in the pudding".

All you have to do is compare CVH to Van Hagar.

Musically, stylistically, etc.

I rest my case.