EVH's guitars

[jgcable]

Just curious... I know that Eddy had a bunch of really trashed looking Frankenstein guitars. red/white stripes, white/black stripes, black/yellow stripes... etc...
Do you think these guitars were set up perfectly or do you think they were as poorly set up as they looked?
What I mean is, were Eddy's guitars just average thrown together mutts or did they just look that way.

[MBreinin]

Re: EVH\'s guitars

Well, I know for a fact that the original Frankenstein had to be seriously reworked by Tom Anderson, because Eddie had installed the Floyd incorrectly and it apparently wouldn't intonate properly. Of course, that didn't keep Ed from using it that way for years.

Eddie was always tinkering and fixing. He could do his own refrets, of course his own electronics, etc. He would bring a huge bag of tools and parts on the road when he toured. The crew nicknamed him "Tools".

I think his guitars were setup to meet his tastes. I am sure that many would find them awful, and many would find them great. The yellow and black was built for Eddie, so until he started swapping stuff around on it, I am sure it was setup correctly.

He still plays Frankie, so that guitar must have some serious magic to it...because Eddie can afford to play ANYTHING, and could probably get just about anything for free if he wanted to.

He did innovative things as well...cutting the nuts very wide and stringing from the bottom up to help maintain tune on V-Trem guitars, etc.

He was as much of an innovator in the way he built guitars as he was in the way he played them.

Can you IMAGINE the balls it took to rewind and pot a real PAF yourself??

Mike

[Tune_Up]

Re: EVH\'s guitars

I have a feeling if I would probably not like the way EVH's guitar are setup. I'd say Eddie is used to playing his guitars. I'm sure they are setup the way he likes them.

[Donovan]

Re: EVH\'s guitars

[ QUOTE ]
I have a feeling if I would probably not like the way EVH's guitar are setup. I'd say Eddie is used to playing his guitars. I'm sure they are setup the way he likes them.

[/ QUOTE ] Almost everyone has a hard time on someone elses guitar. the setup is a really personal thing, and every one is different. Hell I don't even like some of my own guitars sometimes. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[hammer84]

Re: EVH\'s guitars

You should read Tom Anderson's account of his work on Frankie. He said it was a disaster. The accounts I have heard are EVH's guitars are set up very different than you would expect with high action and very sloppy trems.

[jgcable]

Re: EVH\'s guitars

[ QUOTE ]
You should read Tom Anderson's account of his work on Frankie. He said it was a disaster. The accounts I have heard are EVH's guitars are set up very different than you would expect with high action and very sloppy trems.

[/ QUOTE ]

That is exactly what I expected. I bet SRV's guitars were nightmares too.
The more I learn about the guitar greats it seems that high action is pretty normal. Its certainly easier to keep a guitar set up consistant night after night with high action.

[hammer84]

Re: EVH\'s guitars

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You should read Tom Anderson's account of his work on Frankie. He said it was a disaster. The accounts I have heard are EVH's guitars are set up very different than you would expect with high action and very sloppy trems.

[/ QUOTE ]

That is exactly what I expected. I bet SRV's guitars were nightmares too.
The more I learn about the guitar greats it seems that high action is pretty normal. Its certainly easier to keep a guitar set up consistant night after night with high action.

[/ QUOTE ]

If want the other end of the spectrum find the article by Satriani's tech. He goes thru major pain to keep Joe's guitars action super low, he even shims the floyd to match the radius of the neck.

[XSSIVE]

Re: EVH\'s guitars

[ QUOTE ]
he even shims the floyd to match the radius of the neck.

[/ QUOTE ]

IMO that should be done on any floyded guitar if you want it to play at its best. i do it on all the guitars i build (or buy). it's just the right way to do it otherwise it's just 1/2 assed thrown together and will never play the way it could/should.

-Mike

[charvelguy]

Re: EVH\'s guitars

Back when Ed was rewinding a real PAF, those pups were only 10-15 years old..and waaay more affordable than they are now. Probably was not even a working pup. I wouldn't have tried a rewind for my tastes on those first as well... I would have tried my hand at rewinding something else like the Ibanez. Still...rewinds require rather meticulous work and some homework, a realm where your everyday guitarist doesn't go. From what I've read, he attempted this several times with different gauges of wire and turns.

I've often thought of shimming the center saddles to match the radius of the neck on my floyds...only makes sense.

[pro-fusion]

Re: EVH\'s guitars

I've shimmed Floyd saddles--works great, especially on 7-string guitars, where a difference between the saddle and neck radiuses is especially noticeable.

[ChickenScratch]

Re: EVH\'s guitars

Wow, I would think that with the stuff Ed was playing he would have his guitars set up with surgical precision! Just another little thing to add to the EVH legend I guess.

[~K~]

Re: EVH\'s guitars

[ QUOTE ]
You should read Tom Anderson's account of his work on Frankie. He said it was a disaster. The accounts I have heard are EVH's guitars are set up very different than you would expect with high action and very sloppy trems.

[/ QUOTE ]


+++1 I've heard the same as well .. Ed also has a very heavy feel so even high action to him isn't as much of an issue ...Certainly makes somewhat of a case for tone coming from ones hands ..

[xchoppersporvida]

Re: EVH\'s guitars

hmm, its weird that his guitar was set up sloppy, cause i once read somewhere that he said he likes small frets cause the intonation can be more exact, but now after reading this, i really dont see why that would matter.


also, the thought that his action may have been really high and he can still play like that just further reinforces the idea that eddie van halen is god.

[quiksilver]

Re: EVH\'s guitars

Doesn't Ibanez ship their locking trems with shims installed?

I wouldn't be surprised if EVH has a relatively high action. I can hear his physically aggressive attack in the music. It's one of the (many) reasons I can never really duplicate his playing.

[MikeE]

Re: EVH\'s guitars

Check out these 2 links to threads on the Anderson Forum. Tom has worked with a lot of great guitar players and has some great stories to tell.

http://andersonforum.com/board/showt...ighlight=halen

http://andersonforum.com/board/showt...ighlight=halen