#2- EDDIE VAN HALEN

Although he was born in Holland, he spent most of his life in America. Eduard Lodewijk van Halen (but commonly known as 'Eddie' Van Halen, or 'EVH') born on January 26, 1955 in Nijmegen, Netherlands, is a professional guitarist, most famous for being a co-founder of the hard rock band, Van Halen.

Childhood
Edward Van Halen was born to Jan and Eugenia Van Halen in Nijmegen, Netherlands. The Dutch Van Halen family moved to Pasadena, California, from Holland in 1962. Edward immediately started classical piano training, and won several talent competitions as a child (although during a radio interview he stated he cannot read music notation). Upon their arrival in America, his parents immediately sought a piano tutor for him and his older brother, Alex Van Halen.

However, playing the piano did not prove sufficiently engaging - he once said in an interview, "Who wants to sit in front of the piano? That's boring." Consequently, whilst Alex began playing the guitar, Eddie bought a drum kit and began practicing drumming. According to Eddie, while he was delivering newspapers (to pay for his drum kit) Alex would practice on it. After Eddie heard Alex's performance of the The Surfaris' drum solo in the song "Wipe Out", he grew annoyed that his brother had overtaken his ability and decided to switch and begin learning how to play the electric guitar.

Eddie was approximately twelve years old when he started playing guitar, and practiced constantly. He once claimed that he had learned almost all of Eric Clapton's solos in the band Cream "note for note" by age 14; however in later interviews he contradicted this by stating he could never play the solos precisely, instead he would modify them slightly to suit his style.

In an April 1996, in an interview with Guitar World, when asked about how he went from playing his first open G chord to playing "Eruption", Eddie replied:

“Practice. I used to sit on the edge of my bed with a six-pack of Schlitz Malt talls. My brother would go out at 7pm to party and get laid, and when he'd come back at 3am, I would still be sitting in the same place, playing guitar. I did that for years — I still do that.”

Eddie has many influences; most notably Eric Clapton, however he has also acknowledged the influence of Queen guitarist Brian May and fusion guitarist Allan Holdsworth.

Van Halen formation
Van Halen, originally called 'Mammoth, was formed in 1974. The band consisted of Eddie Van Halen on guitars and vocals, his brother, Alex, on drums, and bassist Mark Stone. They had no P.A. system of their own, so they rented one from David Lee Roth (who had auditioned for the band, but failed) - a service for which he charged $50 a night. Eddie quickly became frustrated singing lead vocals, and decided they could save money by letting Roth into the band. Soon, Michael Anthony replaced Mark Stone on bass. They opted to change the name of the band, reportedly due to another band operating with the same name - Roth is normally attributed with suggesting the name 'Van Halen'.

In 1977 Gene Simmons, saw one of Van Halen's shows and subsequently financed their first demo tape, flying the band to Electric Ladyland studios in New York to record "House of Pain" and "Runnin' With the Devil". Eddie disliked his playing on the demo, because he wasn't using his own equipment, and had to overdub guitar parts (which he had never done before).

In 1977, Van Halen were offered a recording contract with Warner Bros. records. Later that year, they recorded their first album, "Van Halen", which was released on February 10, 1978.

Roth years

Simmons persuaded Eddie to return to Van Halen, and shortly afterwards the band released the album '1984'; which yielded the band's first and only #1 pop hit ('Jump'). Other singles released from the album also sold well; particularly "Hot For Teacher", the video for which featured a skimpily dressed model playing the part of elementary-school teacher and school-age boys portraying younger versions of the band members. The album was praised by critics, peaking at #2 on the Billboard charts behind "Thriller" by Michael Jackson (Eddie Van Halen played the guitar solo on the song "Beat It" from that album).

David Lee Roth left Van Halen on April 1, 1985, citing personal differences with Eddie. He stated in Kerrang! magazine, "Eddie Van Halen isn't happy unless he's unhappy."

Hagar years

Following Hagar's departure, the release of a Greatest Hits package in 1996 coincided with an abortive Roth reunion. Two songs from these sessions were released, with the single "Me Wise Magic" reaching #1 on the mainstream rock chart. However, previous disagreements resurfaced and the reunion did not last.

The band auditioned many prospective replacements for Hagar, finally settling on former Extreme frontman Gary Cherone. Cherone predicted that the new line-up would last 'ten years'; unfortunately this would not prove to be the case, since the resultant album (Van Halen III) was received poorly. Cherone soon left the band, however, his departure was amicable. Once again without a lead singer, Van Halen went into hiatus.

Hagar reunion
In 2004, after several years on hiatus, Van Halen returned with Hagar as their lead singer. A greatest hits package, "The Best Of Both Worlds", was released to coincide with the band's reunion tour. All bass parts on the new material on the album were played by Eddie Van Halen rather than Michael Anthony; this would prove a serious point of contention between the two.

The band toured the US, covering 80 cities. Despite taking $55 million dollars, it was revealed in Rolling Stone that the promoters had actually lost money on the tour. The final date on the tour appeared to bring tensions between Eddie Van Halen and Sammy Hagar to the surface, culminating in Eddie violently smashing his guitar before leaving the stage on the last date.

Reviews of the tour differed - some reviews were enthusiastic, whereas many stated the band had poor musicianship and the concerts contained apparently drunken behaviour. Michael Anthony stated that Eddie regularly performed in an alcoholic stupor:

“ I hate to talk smack about anyone in the band or whatever, but, y'know, Eddie, you know, he's still doing a bit of drinking and everything. There were nights where it was kind of like a rollercoaster, up or down, and myself, I would have liked to have seen him totally clean up if we were gonna take this further".

Possible Roth reunion
Persistent rumours have indicated that the Van Halen brothers are in talks with David Lee Roth to rejoin the band for a tour and/or new material. In the February 2006 edition of Guitar World magazine, Van Halen again talked about working with Roth during the summer of 2007:

“ I'm telling Dave 'Dude get your ass up here and sing, bitch! Come on!' As it stands right now, the ball is in Dave's court. Whether he wants to rise to the occasion is entirely up to him, but we're ready to go. ”

Regarding the news that Van Halen's 15-year old son Wolfgang may be playing bass in Van Halen this coming summer (indicating that Michael Anthony's status in the band is in question), Van Halen claimed his son's presence will have a positive effect on the band:

“ Wolfgang breathes life into what we're doing. He brings youthfullness to something that's inherently youthful. He's only been playing bass for 3 months, but it's spooky. He's locked tight and puts an incredible spin on our shit. The kid is kicking my ass! He's spanking me now, even though I never spanked him. To have my son follow in my footsteps on his own, without me pushing him into it, is the greatest feeling in the world.”

Van Halen also stated in a Howard Stern interview that although Roth is a "loose cannon," he is willing to deal with that.

David Lee Roth has stated that reuniting with the band is "inevitable":

“I see (the reunion) absolutely as an inevitability. There's contact between the two camps, and they have legitimate management. To me, it's not rocket surgery. It's very simple to put together. And, as far as hurt feelings and water under the dam... so what? It's showbiz! So I definitely see it happening.”

Recent events
Eddie Van Halen underwent hip replacement surgery in 1999, after an existing degenerative condition became unbearable.

Since the 2004 tour, Eddie Van Halen has largely disappeared from the public eye, with the exception of occasional appearances such as the 14th annual Elton John Academy Awards, and a performance at a Kenny Chesney concert. In the time between the departure of Gary Cherone and the 2004 tour, Eddie publicly stated that he has "ten albums worth of material"; however this material has yet to see the light of day.

In December 2004 at Dimebag Darrell's funeral, Eddie donated his famous black and yellow guitar from the "Van Halen II" album inlay, stating that Dimebag had always said that was his all time favorite guitar. The guitar was put in Darrell's coffin, and he is buried with it.

On December 5, 2005, Eddie's wife, Valerie Bertinelli filed for divorce in Los Angeles Superior Court. The Complaint for Divorce revealed that the couple separated on October 15, 2001. In an interview on Howard Stern's radio show on September 8, 2006, Eddie stated that he and Valerie share custody of their son, and that he sees him every day.

In July 2006, Eddie Van Halen recorded two new tracks ("Rise" and "Catherine") to be used in Ninn Worx pictures new adult film "Sacred Sin." These tracks have since surfaced on the internet.

Cancer
During the late 1990s Van Halen was treated twice for tongue and mouth cancer. During an interview with Howard Stern on Sirius satellite radio channel 100 on September 8, 2006, Eddie claimed that holding a metal pick in his mouth 12-14 hours per day while immersed in the electromagnetic radiation of his music studio caused his tongue cancer (despite this seeming scientifically unlikely). He said he continues to smoke because "cigarettes didn't cause the cancer".

Eddie also revealed that he stopped the cancer via an illegal method (the nature of which he declined to specify) in conjunction with a pharmaceutical lab with which he's affiliated in New York state. He said a portion of his tongue was removed and experimented on, and then the technique was performed on him. He said he has lost one third of his tongue, though his speech sounds virtually unaffected. Despite his battles with oral cancer, Eddie has been photographed in public as recently as July 2006 smoking cigarettes.

Technique

Whilst relatively commonplace today, Van Halen's ground breaking techniques were originally a closely guarded secret; before the release of the bands eponymous first album, the guitarist would often play solos and more complex riffs with his back to the live audience. This was done at the advice of his bandmates to prevent any guitar players from stealing his style and technique before the album came out in 1978.

Tapping
Van Halen has claimed he developed his signature tapping approach after studying the guitar solo from the Led Zeppelin song "Heartbreaker" (played by Jimmy Page):

“I think I got the idea of tapping watching Jimmy Page do his "Heartbreaker" solo back in 1971. He was doing a pull-off to an open string, and I thought wait a minute, open string ... pull off. I can do that, but what if I use my finger as the nut and move it around ?" ... I just kind of took it and ran with it.”

Although Van Halen popularized the approach, he did not, despite popular belief, invent this technique. The first usage of tapping in rock music is most commonly traced to Steve Hackett's solo from "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight", a song featured on the Genesis album 'Selling England By The Pound'. Van Halen is known for holding the pick between his thumb and middle finger; this leaves the index finger free for easy transition between picking and two handed tapping.

In support of his large variety of two-handed tapping techniques, Van Halen also holds a patent for a flip-out support device which attaches to the rear of the electric guitar. This device enables the user to play the guitar in a manner similar to the piano by orienting the face of the guitar upward instead of forward.

Boiling Strings
Van Halen is well known for boiling new string sets before installation. This contributes to both the playability and tone of the strings.

“I boil the strings so they stretch, because if you just put them on and clamp it down, the strings stretch out on the guitar. I just take a pack and let it boil for 20 minutes in the hot water. And then I dry them in the sun, because otherwise they rust. But I only use them one night anyway, so who cares if they rust?”

Tone
Another critical aspect of Eddie's playing has been his guitar tone, the Brown sound. Van Halen achieved his distinctive tone by using an stock 100-watt Marshall amp, a Variac to lower the voltage of the amp to change the tone, and a "Frankenstrat" guitar Van Halen constructed using a Charvel Stratocaster-type body, a vintage Gibson humbucker pickup sealed in paraffin wax (to reduce microphonic feedback), a pre-CBS Fender tremolo bridge (later to be a Floyd Rose bridge) and a single volume control, with a tone knob in its place.

The, now famous, single pickup, single volume knob guitar configuration was arrived at due to Van Halen's lack of knowledge in electronic circuitry. Upon installing the humbucking pickup, he did not know how to wire it into the circuit, so he wired the simplest working circuit to get it to function. His later guitars include various Kramer models from his period of endorsing that company (most notably the Kramer "5150", from which Kramer in its Gibson-owned days based their Kramer 1984 design, an unofficial artist signature model) and three signature models: the Ernie Ball/ Music Man Edward Van Halen Model (Which continues as the Ernie Ball Axisl), the Peavey EVH Wolfgang (which continues as the HP Special), and the Charvel EVH Art Series, on which Eddie does the striping before they are painted by Charvel.

Tuning
Though rarely discussed, one of the most distinctive aspects of Van Halen's sound was Eddie Van Halen's tuning of the guitar. Before Van Halen, most distorted, metal-oriented rock consciously avoided the use of the major third interval in guitar chords, creating instead the signature power chord of the genre. When run through a distorted amplifier, the rapid beating of the major third on a conventionally tuned guitar is distracting and somewhat dissonant.

Van Halen developed a technique of flattening his B string slightly so that the interval between the open G and B reaches a justly intonated, beatless third. This consonant third was almost unheard of in distorted-guitar rock and allowed Van Halen to use major chords in a way that mixed classic hard rock power with "happy" pop. The effect is pronounced on songs such as "Runnin' With the Devil", "Unchained", and "Where Have All the Good Times Gone?".

With the B string flattened the correct amount, chords in some positions on the guitar have more justly intonated thirds, but in other positions the flat B string creates out-of-tune intervals. As Eddie once remarked to Guitar Player:

“ A guitar is just theoretically built wrong. Each string is an interval of fourths, and then the B string is off. Theoretically, that's not right. If you tune an open E chord in the first position and it's perfectly in tune, and then you hit a barre chord an octave higher, it's out of tune. The B string is always a motherfucker to keep in tune all the time! So I have to retune for certain songs. And when I use the Floyd onstage, I have to unclamp it and do it real quick. But with a standard-vibrato guitar, I can tune it while I'm playing.''

Equipment

Guitars
Van Halen built his trademark red and white striped "Frankenstrat" guitar (originally black and white) by hand, using an imperfect body and a used neck picked up at Wayne Charvel's guitar shop. The body and neck were constructed by Lynn Ellsworth of Boogie Bodies guitars, who was working for Wayne at the time.

Eddie named his line of signature Peavey Guitars after his son Wolfie. In 2004 the Peavey company parted ways with Van Halen, reportedly because Eddie launched an on-line sale of homebuilt and assembled Charvel guitars, sold by the name of the "EVH Art Series Guitars", while he was still contractually obliged to Peavey. The guitars sold for large sums on eBay, and were essentially replicas of his famous Kramer "Frankenstrat" guitars, played by Van Halen mainly during the David Lee Roth era of the band.

Amplifiers
It's been claimed widely that Eddie Van Halen's #1 Marshall amplifier has either been both completely stock or slightly/heavily modded. Techs who claim to have seen inside his amp such as Chris Merren and Doug Roccaforte allege that at the time of recording Van Halen's first album, the Marshall amplifier was completely stock. However, amp tech Mark Cameron claimed he found a schematic of EVH's amp in amp tech Jose Arredondo's shop after he died that showed numerous modifications that had been performed by Jose. As well as the "Jose" 16 Ohm load box, it had a transformer-coupled line out that was used to create a line out signal, which was then run into another Marshall amp's input. Basically it uses the first amp like a tube stompbox, and getting increased distortion, feedback, and gain that way. Regardless of whether the amp was modded, its serial number was 12301, which dates it to the transitional period at Marshall of 1967-1968 when the circuit of the 100 watt Marshall 1959 changed gradually from the 'Bass' circuit to the 'SuperLead' circuit. The fact that most '12000 series' (serial number in the twelve thousand range) transitional amps made during this period were a mixture of the two circuits makes it more plausible that Ed's amp was in fact stock, since the mixture of the two circuits provides a tone not dissimilar to Eddie's.

The infamous use of a variac with this amp has caused great confusion among guitarists and fans alike. Sending the reduced mains voltage of 90v into the amp does not increase distortion but actually reduces the amount the amp can produce. It is also unlikely that it was used to lower volume, since the actual reduction in volume from running a fully cranked Marshall 100w amplifier at 90v is slight. The most likely use of the variac was to produce the high end roll off and increased compression in the preamp distortion that is a result of a lower B+ voltage in the preamp and phase inverter sections of the amp, but also presumably to reduce the harmful effects of the "resistor mod" that was performed on the amp in the early days of Van Halen.

The "resistor mod" performed on the amp was the inclusion of a very high wattage (and thus physically large) resistor that was placed in between the output transformer primaries (pins 3) of the inner two output tubes of Eddie Van Halen's amp. This not only greatly reduced the volume, it also dramatically changed the tone and was responsible for the unprecedented amount of distortion from the power tubes that can be heard from the amp. This modification was also the reason for the large amount of power tube and output transformer failures that Eddie Van Halen's amp has become famous for. Several pictures exist today of Eddie's amp in the club days with a large resistor hanging out the back. By using a variac to lower the plate voltage being sent to the output tubes, less stress was placed on the tubes and therefore reduced the incidence of tube failure.

Between 1993 and 2004 Eddie was sponsored by Peavey Electronics to use their 5150 Amplifiers, which he had a part in designing. Following the ending of this relationship, Peavey renamed the amplifier as the 'Peavey 6505', with slightly updated styling but original circuitry.

Floyd Rose System

A crucial component of Van Halen's personal style is his use of the fulcrum vibrato for electric guitars. Developed in the mid-20th century, early versions of this device allowed the guitarist to impart a vibrato (slight, wavering pitch change) to a chord or single string via movement of the bar with the picking hand. Pressure on the bar, attached to the guitar's bridge, slackened the strings and momentarily lowered the pitch. This vibrato device is often mistakenly referred to as a tremolo, due to an early Fender nomenclature error (tremolo correctly refers to a fluctuation in volume, rather than pitch).

Typical versions of this device are prone to tuning problems, and are generally finicky, unstable, and limited in their pitch-changing capability. Leo Fender's development of the fulcrum vibrato for his Stratocaster line of guitars in the 1950s imparted greater tuning stability and range. This technology was exploited by guitarists in the Surf music genre, as well as other artists such as Jimi Hendrix, who pioneered the use of the Stratocaster's vibrato bar for dive-bomb effects and feedback manipulation.

The Fender vibrato unit still suffered from a lack of tuning stability that would not be addressed until the late 1970s by Floyd Rose. The key to Rose's innovation was the introduction of a string clamp located near the nut of a guitar's neck; these new systems are referred to as double-locking vibrato units, and the clamp unit referred to as a 'locking nut'. This device allowed Van Halen far greater latitude in vibrato use than was possible with previous designs, and without the dramatic loss in tuning stability. With a proper setup and periodic maintenance, the double-locking vibrato is an extremely stable and reliable device.

Consequently, Van Halen was able to forge a whole new level of musical expression with the vibrato unit, expanding greatly on techniques developed by earlier players such as Jimi Hendrix. His music incorporated a vast array of never-before-heard guitar sounds, such as shrieks, growls, dive-bombs, chirps, squeals and grunts.

Van Halen went on to collaborate with Floyd Rose on improvements to Rose's device. Among Van Halen's suggestions were the supplemental (fine) tuner knobs on the vibrato unit itself which allow the player to fine-tune the pitch of the guitar after the locking nut was engaged: these fine-tuners are now a feature on virtually all such vibrato systems.

Though Rose incorporated many of Van Halen's suggestions, he was slow to give credit for the guitarist's technical contributions, ultimately resulting in a degree of animosity between the two former collaborators. More recently, Van Halen designed and patented the D-Tuna device, which enables a player to quickly detune the lowest string on a Floyd Rose vibrato-equipped guitar down a full step, extending the effective tonal range of the guitar.

Eddie plays with a non-floating vibrato configuration that allows lowering of pitch only; he shuns the full floating configuration due to its inherent lack of tuning stability. The floating vibrato configuration is particularly susceptible to tuning degradation when a broken string sets the unit into imbalance on its pivot point; typically, the tuning will go sharp from the loss of tension previously supplied by the broken string. To counter this, Van Halen's vibrato unit is configured (by slightly over-tensioning the return springs) to rest on the surface of the guitar when not in use. This serves as a stopping point for the fulcrum rotation, thereby compensating for any loss of tension due to a broken string. Moreover, this setting makes the bridge transmit much more vibration to the guitar body, thus obtaining a better sound.

Van Halen also pioneered the mainstream use of the Trans-Trem system on the Steinberger line of guitars on "5150", most notably on the song "Summer Nights" where the song goes through several key changes while retaining the same chord voicings. The Trans-Trem system allows for the effect of an instant "capo", increasing the pitch of all strings up to a full step and a half (G) or lowering the pitch up to 2 1/2 steps (B), simultaneously and instantaneously.

Solo work

• Most famously he was called in by Quincy Jones to play guitar on the song "Beat It", from Michael Jackson's 1982 album, "Thriller". Steve Lukather of Toto played the main guitar riff and rhythm, with Eddie playing a solo that was allegedly blended, or "comped", from three different takes. The subsequent success of the track played a key role in getting R&B videos played on MTV. The combination of Jackson's pop sensibilities, Quincy Jones' production and Van Halen's guitar work melded several genres of music, and helped each to find new fans. Concurrently, Van Halen's song "Jump" was played in discos, inner-city R&B clubs, and on rock radio.

• in 1984 Eddie collaborated with Queen guitarist Brian May on the "Star Fleet Project" - a 3 track EP consisting of a rock styled rendition of the theme to the popular anime children's show, a May penned track (Let Me Out), and an improvised blues track (Blues Breaker).

• He played bass on Sammy Hagar's 1987 solo album "I Never Said Goodbye".

• He has also done soundtrack work for movies such as "Back To The Future", "Over The Top" ("Winner Takes It All", a collaboration with Sammy Hagar), "Twister" (The track "Humans Being" featuring Sammy Hagar, along with the instrumental "Respect The Wind"), "Wild Life" (an instrumental entitled "Donut City"), and "Lethal Weapon 4" (The track "Fire In The Hole" from Van Halen III).

• He has recorded with Dweezil Zappa, Jeff Porcaro, Roger Waters, Steve Lukather, and Thomas Dolby, amongst others.

Source: Wikipedia

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