<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">You probably heard that Eddie Van Halen died of throat cancer, having also battled lung cancer. You may not have known that he had his fingers in basically every aspect of guitar, amplifier, and pedal design.<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">He helped invent the aftermarket “partscaster” as a fashion trend within guitars: non-brand name bodies of companies like Warmoth, third-party pickup winders like Seymour Duncan, various amp vendors who weren’t Marshall or Fender (both of whom he had affiliations with at various points), and pedal manufacturers galore. More to the point, his attitude that a guitar body was just a guitar body and you should make one that pleases you ran counter to the “you will take what we offer you” line that had prevailed until then.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">His family didn’t have a lot of money (possibly explained by his father being a clarinetist), so he was always looking for ways to do things on a budget.<br class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">This is a piece he wrote for Popular Mechanics about his various approaches to guitars, his patents, and having extensively modified his guitars from the start:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a15615/how-eddie-van-halen-hacks-a-guitar/" class="">https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a15615/how-eddie-van-halen-hacks-a-guitar/</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><blockquote type="cite" class="">The other issue, with Fenders, at least, was the clear lacquer they'd put on the neck.</blockquote><br class=""></div><div class="">This is partly a wood issue. Maple necks (which is what Fender was using then and still mostly uses) need to be finished to remain stable unless they’re roasted maple, which was not available then. These days, that translates to a base price difference at Warmoth of $197 vs 157 for a Strat neck, or 25% more.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">On the other hand, pro guitarists tend to replace necks because of mishaps anyway (which is one reason a lot of players like the bolt-on style of Strats), so it’s not as huge a disadvantage as, say, dropping a Les Paul (known for snapping off headstocks because of the geometry of the guitar): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIAAGtQ6Kv0" class="">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIAAGtQ6Kv0</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">The only homage I’ve seen on YouTube that really covers the range of things Eddie did for the industry apart from his lead guitar playing is this tribute by Ben Eller:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krHLP-DN1OY" class="">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krHLP-DN1OY</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">His most famous solo, Eruption, off the first Van Halen album, was notable for two things:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">1. Sonically, it was just SO DIFFERENT than anything out there. Like: how did he make that sound?</div><div class="">2. The speed he was able to play at.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Here’s an isolated guitar section of it:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mie71FaZnsg" class="">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mie71FaZnsg</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Here’s how it’s done (spoiler alert: double tapping): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQK5enW8vEc" class="">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQK5enW8vEc</a> but this goes through it phrase by phrase.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">One of the better covers of the Eruption solo is from Tina S who was 14 at the time:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV6SmY04WdE" class="">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV6SmY04WdE</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">…and later went on to cover this much longer Beethoven, which remains my favorite tapping solo; she’s 17 here:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6rBK0BqL2w" class="">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6rBK0BqL2w</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I wonder what 1978 Eddie would have thought of that tapping solo that owes so much to his Eruption technique (and metal guitarists’ adoption of tapping generally).</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I was fortunate to see Van Halen live three times in small venues, twice before they were signed, and once after they were signed but before their first album came out. Comes from being a Pasadenan listening to new music on local radio. Lots of crap played, but occasional gems.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Deirdre</div></div></body></html>