Fuck You Ed

[Vinnie Velvet]

Yeah, I was happy Roth finally got back with the group. Not as much because it took ten years after 1996 (lot of wasted years to my mind), and Anthony wasn't there. But it was cool to be able to see Roth and Eddie onstage together again and experience some old the old magic again.

The flame wars were fun to watch...from a distance. I'll admit to getting some rubbernecking enjoyment out of it.

The Links I was aware of. Had been on the site once or twice to look around, but it was way too pro-Eddie Van Halen for my taste. To the point where you couldn't say anything remotely critical about Eddie or the state of the band without a million people dousing you with the Eddie Kool Aid. Plus, there was nothing going on there that I couldn't get here in terms of content I wanted, or quality posts. Am assuming you're talking about the Van Halen Links site.

I actually migrated over here from slawterhouse to ddlr.com and then this place.

Yes I'm referring to the Van Halen Links site run by Brett.

Ah Slawterhouse I remember posting shit on there. Good times. Also DDLR.com.

[Von Halen]

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.

[Heater]

It seems like Ed was always a dick to Mike, or thought very little of him. That 82 interview showed that as did the Billboard one in 2015 or whenever it was. Mike’s vocals were a HUGE part of their overall sound and none of their songs would be as great as they are if he was missing, it was shitty how Ed tried to minimize Mike’s input. When Ed knew he was dying, HE should have been the one reaching out to make amends. So to some extent, yes, fuck EVH.

[ZahZoo]

Bulletin Boards were the precursor to what we refer to as social media... a foundation that continues today. Prior to that you had news groups in the very early days of public interaction sites on the internet. Back when when we used dial-up modems on telephone lines to connect to this digital world. Facebook is just part of the journey. Something new is a click/tap away...

A lot has changed in the last 25 years... somethings remain a constant... human interaction is messy, but it's it's a part of what makes us unique, interesting and evolving.

Troll on... jackasses!

[Nitro Express]

Bulletin Boards were the precursor to what we refer to as social media... a foundation that continues today. Prior to that you had news groups in the very early days of public interaction sites on the internet. Back when when we used dial-up modems on telephone lines to connect to this digital world. Facebook is just part of the journey. Something new is a click/tap away...

A lot has changed in the last 25 years... somethings remain a constant... human interaction is messy, but it's it's a part of what makes us unique, interesting and evolving.

Troll on... jackasses!

Yeah like social credit scores, censorship and the internet of things. In the future, health insurance companies might require you to wear a device that monitors your body functions. The Information Age can be wonderful or it can be dark. With the government and big tech in bed together with no checks on it, it's getting dark quick. In the past the internet was a free and open space. Today if you post the wrong thing and you command enough attention you can have you bank accounts canceled. We are in the early stages of high tech fascism.

[Nitro Express]

It seems like Ed was always a dick to Mike, or thought very little of him. That 82 interview showed that as did the Billboard one in 2015 or whenever it was. Mike’s vocals were a HUGE part of their overall sound and none of their songs would be as great as they are if he was missing, it was shitty how Ed tried to minimize Mike’s input. When Ed knew he was dying, HE should have been the one reaching out to make amends. So to some extent, yes, fuck EVH.

I don't have to psycho-analyze a person to appreciate a certain talent they have. I want to be entertained. I could care less about the inner drama or what a person eats for breakfast. I think there's two kinds of fans. Ones who buy the product and others who obsess over their idols to unhealthy levels.

For me, Ed entertained me and I appreciated his talent. Do I obsess over it? Nope. Ed is dead. The cigarettes and unhealthy lifestyle shortened his life. No surprise. There isn't anything left of the old Van Halen that interests me. It's finished.

[Nitro Express]

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.

Sam is in his 70's. He's put on weight and he seems to drink quite a bit. Too bad he doesn't smoke. Them damn cigarettes are what get you unless you are Keith Richards.

[Nitro Express]

We were way ahead of the time with social media and as everyone now knows from Alex Jones upwards, the internet works best on anger and conflict. Apart from everything else DLR Army lost a lot of fizz when Hagar became irrelevant after the reunion.

It's not all just about Facebook and Twitter I see Bulletin boards for sports teams still do pretty well as it's good to have a place to meet with like minded people about something you really like and rant shit without worrying if your boss or Aunt May is going to be disturbed about it.

Yeah the Roth Army was a pretty slick website in the day. I discovered it looking for bootlegs which were starting to pop up on the internet. Once YouTube became a thing all that stuff ended up there.

[Nitro Express]

Yup being nice and friendly is boring. People want drama and they especially want a train wreck.

[Nitro Express]

Mike got his percentage in Van Halen whittled down over the years, while he was still in the group. About the only reason I can think he went along with that is a passivity about it all that is hard for me to understand on the outside looking in. He didn't grow up with the Van Halens, so it wasn't like they were childhood friends. May well be that on a personality level Anthony wasn't much more amicable with the Van Halens than he was with Roth. Maybe Anthony just got along better with Sammy Hagar on a personality level than he ever did with the Van Halens or Roth.

In the end, who had Anthony's back? Not Roth. Not the Van Halens. Hagar did. If you were Anthony, out of those 4 who would you consider to be worth hanging out with? The three guys who didn't give a shit if you were there or not vs. the guy who appreciates what you brought to the table as a player and likes hanging out with you as a bud?

Seems a pretty easy determination to make were I in Mike Anthony's shoes.

Mike is a Type B personality. They tend to be non-confrontive. Also Mike probably viewed himself as expendable or he knew the Van Halen's did. Of course seasoned professionals like Andy Johns and Ted Templeman knew what Mikes vocals added to the mix. Mike was an important element. Anyways Mike knew how lucky he was. He was in one of the biggest rock and roll bands ever. Van Halen made good money. He figured even with the pay cuts he was still doing better than if he was in another band.

It turned out well for him. He's got a nice place in Newport Beach. He's got a lot of nice cars. He seems to be the one with the most stable family life. Mike is still married to his high school sweetheart and seems happy.

[MasonL]

I hear this argument a lot that "it was all about Eddie" so it didn't matter who the singer was. Nothing could be further from the truth. In the golden days of Van Halen, Roth was the point guard. He was the one who kept everybody bought in and focused on the mission. Ed was incredibly insecure who falsely thought he could lead a band. He has one specialty and he does a hell of a job at that. He should've stuck to being one of the greatest instrumentalists in the history of the sport. His little makeshift home studio ruined the Classic Van Halen.

I always thought that a big reason why Ed never wanted to work with Dave again until 2007 was because he would have to compete again. He couldn't just order the singer around like he tried to do after 1985 and eventually did with Cherone. Or that the music would be so good that it would make him look like a fool for ever calling it "Van Halen" without Dave.

All in all, just a lot of wasted years and opportunity to become one of THE greatest bands ever - they still are in my opinion - but the average listener just lumps VH in with the Def Leppards, Motley Crue's and Poison's of the world. That's a shame because the real lineup was legitimately one of the greatest ever. By the time they got Dave back in '07 they were just a nostalgia act.

[MasonL]

But I'll throw a fuck Dave in too. That dumbass has never been able to get out of his own way. He could have been more humble in 1996. He could have done more, much more, to make 2007 on more productive and better quality. Especially from 2012 on.

Dave certainly could have made some more reasonable and restrained decisions throughout his career, but then he wouldn't be himself. I think if he had stuck with Vai/Sheehan for much longer he could have stabilized his solo career and would've maintained some popularity throughout much of the 90's. But it's not really in his wiring to be businesslike. He really just makes decisions on a whim and then later figures out what his goal is.

At least he was being true to himself for the most part. Unlike a certain singer, who just does whatever will make him money at the end of the day. Selling out. You have songs about "sex without love" and then two tracks later a song about spank lines. You have "Good Enough" and then "Not Enough." You have "Dreams" and then "The Dream is Over." Just total cash grab/whatever is popular now mindset. There's no vision there.

[Terry]

I don't have to psycho-analyze a person to appreciate a certain talent they have. I want to be entertained. I could care less about the inner drama or what a person eats for breakfast. I think there's two kinds of fans. Ones who buy the product and others who obsess over their idols to unhealthy levels.

For me, Ed entertained me and I appreciated his talent. Do I obsess over it? Nope. Ed is dead. The cigarettes and unhealthy lifestyle shortened his life. No surprise. There isn't anything left of the old Van Halen that interests me. It's finished.

It was always that thing since 1996, trying to figure out what was going on behind the scenes, trying to figure out the personalities offstage, trying to figure out why it went wrong and who was to blame. As if even knowing any of that would make a difference anyway re: Van Halen doing or not doing whatever.

Ed had a great talent that entertained. I suppose it was because he and Van Halen entertained me beginning at an age when was young enough to still buy into those rock star celebrity myths. I guess it is part of getting older and the perspective that comes with that...I guess it's difficult to realize your childhood or teenaged heroes are only human but doing so is only natural and healthy.

I still like the music, which in the end is all that ever mattered all along, really.

[Nitro Express]

It was always that thing since 1996, trying to figure out what was going on behind the scenes, trying to figure out the personalities offstage, trying to figure out why it went wrong and who was to blame. As if even knowing any of that would make a difference anyway re: Van Halen doing or not doing whatever.

Ed had a great talent that entertained. I suppose it was because he and Van Halen entertained me beginning at an age when was young enough to still buy into those rock star celebrity myths. I guess it is part of getting older and the perspective that comes with that...I guess it's difficult to realize your childhood or teenaged heroes are only human but doing so is only natural and healthy.

I still like the music, which in the end is all that ever mattered all along, really.

Oh people thought Ed had a magic black box in the day. Now you can read and watch interviews with people who worked on Ed’s equipment and knew him. Nothing magical about any of his stuff. People drove the prices of Sylvania 6CA7 tubes thinking they would give you the magic sound. Ed used them because they lasted longer. His favorite tube to use was the Telefunken EL34 but EL34’s aren’t very robust and not the best to use in a amp turned to 10 and expected to work through a few live shows.

Anyways Ed’s tone is a Super Distortion pickup into a Echoplex preamp into the Tebble High Gain input on a 1967 Marshall Super Lead 100 head into a Marshal 4x12 cab with two JBL D120 speakers and two Celestion greenback speakers. For effects it’s a script Phase 90, MXR Flanger, Univox tape delay, echoplex tape delay set to a short slap back delay.

That’s the classic VH formula and unless you wrangle the strings like him you ain’t going to sound like him. But that was his rig. Oh and he did drop the amps voltage to around 89 volts with an Ohmite variance. Makes the amp a tad quieter and gives it more sag.

[Terry]

Oh people thought Ed had a magic black box in the day. Now you can read and watch interviews with people who worked on Ed’s equipment and knew him. Nothing magical about any of his stuff. People drove the prices of Sylvania 6CA7 tubes thinking they would give you the magic sound. Ed used them because they lasted longer. His favorite tube to use was the Telefunken EL34 but EL34’s aren’t very robust and not the best to use in a amp turned to 10 and expected to work through a few live shows.

Anyways Ed’s tone is a Super Distortion pickup into a Echoplex preamp into the Tebble High Gain input on a 1967 Marshall Super Lead 100 head into a Marshal 4x12 cab with two JBL D120 speakers and two Celestion greenback speakers. For effects it’s a script Phase 90, MXR Flanger, Univox tape delay, echoplex tape delay set to a short slap back delay.

That’s the classic VH formula and unless you wrangle the strings like him you ain’t going to sound like him. But that was his rig. Oh and he did drop the amps voltage to around 89 volts with an Ohmite variance. Makes the amp a tad quieter and gives it more sag.

When I first started learning the instrument in the early 80's at a young age, I'd read articles and interviews in Guitar Player and later Guitar World where Ed would sort of detail the specs of what he was using. Back in my first few years of playing before I got a decent guitar and decent amp, I figured Ed must have all this customized equipment to get that "Brown Sound". After a few years when I got a decent guitar and a decent amp and some decent DOD stomp boxes, I could fiddle about with the tone controls on the amp and the effects pedals and get a good tone.

Same as today, where my primary electric is a 1990 Charvel San Dimas with one double-coil stock San Dimas pickup in the bridge and a single volume knob. My Peavey Transtube Blazer 158 is just a 15 Watt amp with reverb (I sold off my Marshalls in the early 90's when I stopped playing in bands). I've got a Pro Co Rat distortion pedal, an MXR Distortion + pedal, an MXR Phase 90 along with a BOSS Digital Delay and Boss Flange Shifter. Between all that stuff, which is just fairly basic electric guitar equipment, I can fiddle around and get a tone close enough to what Ed was getting to my ears.

It's exactly as you said, in that unless you knew what he was doing with his hands - and that was far more important than his gear - you could play with all the most expensive official EVH high-end equipment there is and you're not going to sound like him. Even beyond that, though, how far does one want to go to approximate what Eddie was doing? People paying $20k or whatever for one of those Franky replicas...

There's only one Eddie Van Halen. Even the most accurate EVH clone is still an EVH clone.