Van Halen Rules!
Part Three - The Epic Journey of Mont Hagen...
In the final chapter in the Epic of Mont Hagen, we take a look at one of the greatest of Rock 'n Roll influencers. Sammy Hagar is well documented as being a great vocalist and entertainer, but there is one more significant person or group that formed my impression of great Rock and mind blurring guitar licks.
Since 1978 when the Van Halen album was released, Eddie Van Halen has made as big a mark on guitar history as anyone to have ever played electric guitar.
Is it safe to say that without Van Halen, there would be no Joe Satriani, Stevie Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen or even the "drop-D" guitar tuning which led to 1990s "Grunge" Bands? Maybe… but either way, Edward Van Halen is credited with many changes to rock and roll, and is without a doubt one of the most gifted rhythm and lead guitarist to have ever played.
Paul Stanley of Kiss had seen Van Halen play in a Hollywood bar and told Gene Simmons about him. Gene immediately had the band fly to the “The Electric Lady Studio” in New York City to cut a demo album.
Eddie credits his biggest influence from Eric Clapton. By age 14 he claims to have know all of Eric’s guitar solos note per note. It is reported that at 15 he played lead guitar for KISS in the song "Christine Sixteen", but I can’t corroborate that credit. At 18, he shocked his guitar idols who knew everything had changed the moment they heard "Eruptions" from the debut album "Van Halen."
Van Halen, in a May 1984 interview with Eduard Dauphin in Creem magazine, said “I don’t even listen to the radio. I don’t buy records, I don’t listen to anything. I don’t mean that I think I’m too good, that I don’t have to – but I don’t get inspired by listening to anything, except maybe Debussy.” Was he on to something there? Was Eddie more avant-garde than anyone, even Cream, gave him credit for? Was Eddie a Reagan-era Thoreau? Regardless of what one thinks of the guitar playing on “Eruption," his point here is apropos. He already felt too encased by derivative pop music, too encased by oldies, that he felt it was interfering with his ability to create new things (contrary to what he said earlier about Clapton being his biggest influence).
This was 24 years ago, when most of the Western world still had four TV channels, a radio, and a daily newspaper as their media. What a change of events one man can make to the contribution of Rock n Roll…
Photo:
Van Halen Picture : Oakland Alameda County Stadium, Oakland California July 23, 1978 Day on the Green Concert.
The original Van Halen band inclued Eddie's brother Alex, David Lee Roth and Michael Anthony. Alex Van Halen had started playing at an early age with Eddie, and they had actually traded instruments at some point. The pair formed a band with Eddie on lead volcals and guitar and Alex on the drums. Alex is known for his double kickdrum action, but as usual, drummers are more behind the scene and not the center of attention.
This could not be said for David Lee Roth. Dave was the original singer for Van Halen, and he gave a particular flavor to the tunes they cut. But his act was more of the “Dog and Pony” variety. The real talent came from Eddie. Did we really know what “hammer ons” were before Eddie cranked up the heat on the first track of their release with Eruption? The minute the needle hit the record I was dumbfounded, and after four bars of Eddie ripping through my brain, I HAD to have that album.
In 1985-96 Sammy Hagar completes our wicked journey of rock history by joining Van Halen. I don't think this group reached their full potential, but it was probably hindered by alcohol and drugs. This occurred after Sammy had a very successful solo career with hits such as "I Can't Drive 55." The picture above is actually from the reunion tour in 2003-2005. This was short lived due to addiction problems in the band.
Roth rejoined Van Halen in 2007 for a North American tour, which became the highest grossing tour in the band's history. Roth was ranked by Hit Parader nineteenth on their list of the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Singers of All Time. Wolfgang Van Halen, Eddie's son, joined the band to the shagrin of his mother, Valerie Bertinelli.
Beer Barrel Budget:
The equipment that Van Halen implemented is a rather “Rags to Riches” story. His first Strat style guitar, which is his most famous, was build from Wayne Charvel’s Guitar Shop with scrapped seconds made by Boogie Bodies. It was a second, "recalls Ed. "I gave the guy $50 for the body and got a neck for $80. I picked up the two and slapped them together." That’s right folks, the guitar that Eddie Van Halen used to create some of the most incredible rock riffs ever with (including the immortal "Eruption") cost it's owner only 180 bucks!.
I got to see Eddie’s guitar in 2007 at the NAMM show in Anaheim. Fender had purchased Charvel at that time and had Eddie do a small show. The guitar was displayed in Fender’s suite. Eddie installed a PAF humbucker from a Gibson ES-335. in the bridge position essentially creating a “Fat Strat”. The pickup is canted slightly because Eddie noticed that it was not wide enough for the width of the bridge and strings thus the diagonal position. Close observation showed that a quarter was used behind the Floyd Rose bridge to keep it from moving back or to change to step down tuning. The front pickup was never used to my knowledge. The selector switch in the middle where a center pickup would reside does not work. 
In 1979, Eddie began to play a black, rear loaded pick guard Charvel with yellow stripes. This was later replicated by Charvel along with the black and white striped model and the red white and black model (EVH Art Series Guitars). Eddie’s awesome stage antics led to the destruction of the original neck, so he replaced it with "whatever was handy". It appeared to be an explorer style headstock on a later version of Frankenstrat. During Van Halen's second tour (supporting the Van Halen II album) Ed replaced the original whammy bar with a prototype locking tremolo system built for him by Floyd Rose. He also added truck stop reflectors to the rear of the body so when the spotlight was on him he could reflect the light to the audience. The guitar is known both as a "Frankenstrat" and as THE "Frankenstrat." Fender reissued the guitar in relic form in 2007, the limited run selling at $25,000 a guitar. However, a "new" (non-reliced) Frankenstrat is currently available through the Charvel company, but has been discontinued, for significantly less, the first time Van Halen has consented to the commercial release of a guitar with his signature graphics on it.Another guitar that he used was a stock Ibanez Destroyer unmodified on a lot of the tracks on Van Halens first album such as You Really Got Me and Runnin' With the Devil and a modified Ibanez Destroyer on some tracks on Van Halens second album and a borrowed unmodified Ibanez Destroyer on some tracks on the Women and Children First album. 
Amps:
Eddie likes his Marshall Amps…
Pictured are 1967 100 watt Marshall 1959 Plexi Super Lead heads.
This amp model was used to record all of the early Van Halen albums. It is widely debated as to whethere the original amp he used is completely stock. Some say there were shorting resistors on the output which made it difficult for the transformers to survive. To fix this problem it is proposed that a Variac was used to lower amp voltage to 89 volts, which made it easier for the transformers to survive. Eddie claimed that the lower voltage gave the amp a warmer tone. It is not clear what the story was but this may have added to the compression on the output stage. The amp was powered by 6 CA7 Sylvania Power Tubes. Do you think the racks in the picture needed a fan to keep cool? 
It is apparent that Eddie isn't suffering from a lack of equipment as can be seen in the picture above. Eddie has had multiple endorsements from MI gear companies, such as Peavey in the above picture with David Lee Roth. There are at least eight Peavey 6505 120W Guitar Amp Heads on that stack. Anyone care to calculate the SPL at 10 Meters?
The Legend lives on. Let’s hope that Van Halen comes out with more cutting edge music in their later years.