Which guitars did EVH use on these songs???

[LypsLynch55]

OK, I havent been able to find the answers to these two questions anywhere....certain songs, EVH used different guitars, like "You Really Got Me", "Hot for Teacher", "On Fire", he reportedly used the Ibanez Korina Destroyer guitar, the Frankenstrat on others, and then later on, the Kramers and the Steinbergers and then eventually the EB/MM and then Peavey Wolfgang.

But, does anyone know which guitars he used on:

1) Solo to "I'll Wait" off 1984. It sounds like he using a rhythm (neck) pick-up in certain parts of the solo but then he pulls up on the bar at the very end and "wiggles" it. My buddy and I always argued about this. What guitar did Eddie use that he had at that time that had a bar and a neck p/up? Additionally, since I dont **think** that the Floyd's have a recessed cavity (and the 5150/Pacer style Kramer didnt have one) at that time yet (I dont think the recessed cavity made an appearance until 1988), did he hit the note w/the bar already depressed and then wiggle it slowly back up to pitch so as to give the effect of pulling up (raising the pitch) on the bar?

2) The solo on "When its Love". The video shows EVH w/the 5150 Kramer but that only had the one humbucker p/up in the bridge position (The "slant" Bridge-H/b) but the solo on the album definitely has a very bluesy, neck p/up almost strat-like sound to it.

Does anyone know? These questions have been haunting my dreams for years!

3) And last but not least, it seems to me that part of EVH's "flanging" sound on songs like "Unchained" comes not only from his old MXR Flanger, but also from moving the point of attack (where he picks the string) up and down on the Low E (Actually, in this case, the Low D) along with the flanging effect to accentuate it. He does this again on "Dont Tell Me" off Balance as well. Does anyone else agree with this/confirm this?

Mucho Gracias Amigos.

Paul

[jimmerwoo]

I don't know the answers to any of these - But I'm looking forward to hearing some more knowledgeable responses on this! Thanks for posting this! I'd be interested in hearing what you've learnt about how he plays other songs.

Anything that can help us try and nail the EVH sound (to this level of detail) is very useful. Thanks once again...

[wahwah]

strat78 is your man for this...he has a degree in bits of info such as what direction the wind was blowing when Edward recorded 'Eruption' and what sandwich he ate before doing 'Unchained'!!! Oh, and his ear for detail of tone is unsurpassed. He's the guy for this for sure!

[billandgitana]

Originally Posted by wahwah

strat78 is your man for this...he has a degree in bits of info such as what direction the wind was blowing when Edward recorded 'Eruption' and what sandwich he ate before doing 'Unchained'!!! Oh, and his ear for detail of tone is unsurpassed. He's the guy for this for sure!

wind out of the north north west at 7 mph, and a ham and cheese sub with extra mayo and mustard..
I have no idea...but little info like that is pretty kewl trivia though...
I will have to check back later after the more knowledgable one answer...

[Rythameen]

Originally Posted by wahwah

strat78 is your man for this...he has a degree in bits of info such as what direction the wind was blowing when Edward recorded 'Eruption' and what sandwich he ate before doing 'Unchained'!!! Oh, and his ear for detail of tone is unsurpassed. He's the guy for this for sure!

LOL, I knew he was good on the subject, but I didn't know how good.

[P.J.]

Originally Posted by LypsLynch55

OK, I havent been able to find the answers to these two questions anywhere....certain songs, EVH used different guitars, like "You Really Got Me", "Hot for Teacher", "On Fire", he reportedly used the Ibanez Korina Destroyer guitar, the Frankenstrat on others, and then later on, the Kramers and the Steinbergers and then eventually the EB/MM and then Peavey Wolfgang.

But, does anyone know which guitars he used on:

1) Solo to "I'll Wait" off 1984. It sounds like he using a rhythm (neck) pick-up in certain parts of the solo but then he pulls up on the bar at the very end and "wiggles" it. My buddy and I always argued about this. What guitar did Eddie use that he had at that time that had a bar and a neck p/up? Additionally, since I dont **think** that the Floyd's have a recessed cavity (and the 5150/Pacer style Kramer didnt have one) at that time yet (I dont think the recessed cavity made an appearance until 1988), did he hit the note w/the bar already depressed and then wiggle it slowly back up to pitch so as to give the effect of pulling up (raising the pitch) on the bar?

2) The solo on "When its Love". The video shows EVH w/the 5150 Kramer but that only had the one humbucker p/up in the bridge position (The "slant" Bridge-H/b) but the solo on the album definitely has a very bluesy, neck p/up almost strat-like sound to it.

Does anyone know? These questions have been haunting my dreams for years!

3) And last but not least, it seems to me that part of EVH's "flanging" sound on songs like "Unchained" comes not only from his old MXR Flanger, but also from moving the point of attack (where he picks the string) up and down on the Low E (Actually, in this case, the Low D) along with the flanging effect to accentuate it. He does this again on "Dont Tell Me" off Balance as well. Does anyone else agree with this/confirm this?

Mucho Gracias Amigos.

Paul

I'm quite sure but not %100 that Ed used his regular Strat style Red and White pinned striped guitar. That axe has a rhythm pickup and I think I heard somewhere that thats what he used.

[TopJimmy78]

Originally Posted by LypsLynch55

OK, I havent been able to find the answers to these two questions anywhere....certain songs, EVH used different guitars, like "You Really Got Me", "Hot for Teacher", "On Fire", he reportedly used the Ibanez Korina Destroyer guitar, the Frankenstrat on others, and then later on, the Kramers and the Steinbergers and then eventually the EB/MM and then Peavey Wolfgang.

But, does anyone know which guitars he used on:

1) Solo to "I'll Wait" off 1984. It sounds like he using a rhythm (neck) pick-up in certain parts of the solo but then he pulls up on the bar at the very end and "wiggles" it. My buddy and I always argued about this. What guitar did Eddie use that he had at that time that had a bar and a neck p/up? Additionally, since I dont **think** that the Floyd's have a recessed cavity (and the 5150/Pacer style Kramer didnt have one) at that time yet (I dont think the recessed cavity made an appearance until 1988), did he hit the note w/the bar already depressed and then wiggle it slowly back up to pitch so as to give the effect of pulling up (raising the pitch) on the bar?

2) The solo on "When its Love". The video shows EVH w/the 5150 Kramer but that only had the one humbucker p/up in the bridge position (The "slant" Bridge-H/b) but the solo on the album definitely has a very bluesy, neck p/up almost strat-like sound to it.

Does anyone know? These questions have been haunting my dreams for years!

3) And last but not least, it seems to me that part of EVH's "flanging" sound on songs like "Unchained" comes not only from his old MXR Flanger, but also from moving the point of attack (where he picks the string) up and down on the Low E (Actually, in this case, the Low D) along with the flanging effect to accentuate it. He does this again on "Dont Tell Me" off Balance as well. Does anyone else agree with this/confirm this?

Mucho Gracias Amigos.

Paul

I am no expert on these and I could be wrong but I will attempt to tackle these lol


1. Well if he did pull up on the bar then it is definetly not the frankie as he placed that coin at the end of the bridge to prevent it from goin up, as for the neck pickup well he did use a Flying V for Hot For Teacher on that cd so maybe that is what he used


2. Well it coukd be a Strat as he has played diff instruments on the cds, not just a just Frankie or the MM or the Wolfgang, he has played strats before and he did use a Tele for Runaround and I think he did use a strat for Finish What Ya Started


3. Well on Don't Tell Me he kind of hits the dropped D at the bridge with the edge of his pick to get that sound in the intro

[LypsLynch55]

Originally Posted by TopJimmy78

I am no expert on these and I could be wrong but I will attempt to tackle these lol


1. Well if he did pull up on the bar then it is definetly not the frankie as he placed that coin at the end of the bridge to prevent it from goin up, as for the neck pickup well he did use a Flying V for Hot For Teacher on that cd so maybe that is what he used


Well, I know that he used a Korina Gibson V on HFT b/c he destroyed the Destoyer (the irony!) by hacking it up, so he used the V w/the double volume controls to do the fast switch between the the clean (actually w/dirt but volume backed off enuff to sound clean) and the boogie part w/the trademark brown sound. But if he did use the V on the Solo to "I'll Wait", that would mean that very end of the solo was an overdub with another guitar. Right? The Gibson V didnt come w/a trem and I dont think that Eddie installed one b/c he doesnt use the bar at all during HFT. The rumor mill also has it that EVH used the Gibson V on "Top of the World" but if he did he must've used a different (read "Ernie Ball" which he began endorsing around F*CK) axe for the solo b/c he uses the bar in it w/the harmonics.


2. Well it coukd be a Strat as he has played diff instruments on the cds, not just a just Frankie or the MM or the Wolfgang, he has played strats before and he did use a Tele for Runaround and I think he did use a strat for Finish What Ya Started

When did he play a Strat after the first few albums? The Strats that he played on the first few albums werent "Strats" in the traditional term - they were Strat bodies w/different necks (Ed preferred wider necks than what the Strat had), a H/B in the bridge and there were no rhythm pickups or if they were, he disconnected them (the Frankenstrat, for example). After 5150 comes out, he is seen playing mainly the 5150/Pacer-style Kramer and the Steinberger for stuff like Summer Nights and Get Up. On FWYS, I think that he used the old Teisco Del Ray direct into the board, no amp (the same one featured as one of three guitars that Eddie has on the cover of Guitar World magazine which named him guitarist of the decade, states that he singlehandedly saved R-n-R guitar playing with the "Beat It" solo and has a transcription for Beat It in it. It came out in early 1990. The cover is black and EVH has three guitars on him and that big Eddie grin). Cover is like this:


He could have used a Strat. I do know that he says what he used in one of the 1988 Issues of Guitar For The Practicing Musician - the one with Wake Up Dead by Megadeth, Always w/Me, Always w/You by Satch, Black-n-Blue by VH. I cant remember what other songs were in the mag. It had a grey marble like cover. In it, Ed talks about how he likes Allan Holdsworth, the guy from Pink Floyd who played the bass w/drumsticks, etc. I am pretty sure he gets asked a question about FWYS in the interview and he says XXXX Guitar, direct into the board. So as far as FWYS, that answers pretty much that. I know that he used a 12 string on Cabo Wabo, so he could have pulled out a random guitar for "When Its Love". On "Runaround", I think he also uses a 6 string bass or whatever that crazy thing he also plays on "Man on a Mission" off F.().C.K.

3. Well on Don't Tell Me he kind of hits the dropped D at the bridge with the edge of his pick to get that sound in the intro

Right, he picks it at an angle so that you get a percussive, quasi-pick slide effect. But in addition to that, he subtley moves where he is striking the Drpd D string from just near the bridge down the string towards the neck and then back down towards the bridge. THis creates a subtle "Flanging" effect, as when the pick moves away from the Bridge pickup, the flange sweep is going away and as the pick moves back towards the bridge, the sweep returns.

EVH has alot of subtleties that he does like this to nail his signature sound/licks. I have found that the best way to nail those harmonics in the breaks in "Panama" is to actually hold the pick between the middle finger and thumb, just like Ed does and this way, your palm causes harmonics to sound because of the way its positioned as Ed shifts from muting the strings to causing harmonics to sound w/his right hand.

Just a little .02$ I've gathered over the years, FWIW.

[LypsLynch55]

My responses are below Top Jimmy's in the smaller Italicized text and then in the regular font at the bottom, just to clear the confusion as to who is saying what in my last post

Originally Posted by LypsLynch55

Right, he picks it at an angle so that you get a percussive, quasi-pick slide effect. But in addition to that, he subtley moves where he is striking the Drpd D string from just near the bridge down the string towards the neck and then back down towards the bridge. THis creates a subtle "Flanging" effect, as when the pick moves away from the Bridge pickup, the flange sweep is going away and as the pick moves back towards the bridge, the sweep returns.

EVH has alot of subtleties that he does like this to nail his signature sound/licks. I have found that the best way to nail those harmonics in the breaks in "Panama" is to actually hold the pick between the middle finger and thumb, just like Ed does and this way, your palm causes harmonics to sound because of the way its positioned as Ed shifts from muting the strings to causing harmonics to sound w/his right hand.

Just a little .02$ I've gathered over the years, FWIW.

[TopJimmy78]

I read somewhere in a Guitar World mag I think I can't remember what issue it was that actually Top Of The World was the last track he actually used Frankie on

[TheMadNote]

Regarding I'll Wait since it's a punched in solo over an already established rhythm part don't discount the possibility that he may be turning a tuning peg with his left hand (combined with the bar of course)instead of just pulling up on the bar ala Vai on Attitude song(since EVH didn't use a bar to pull up). That's one possibility anyway.

[LypsLynch55]

Originally Posted by TheMadNote

Regarding I'll Wait since it's a punched in solo over an already established rhythm part don't discount the possibility that he may be turning a tuning peg with his left hand (combined with the bar of course)instead of just pulling up on the bar ala Vai on Attitude song(since EVH didn't use a bar to pull up). That's one possibility anyway.

No, that's not what he's doing. He's hitting a D on the G string with the bar pre-depresses and he wiggles it back forth between having tension and slack on the strings via just the bar while SLIDING the pre-bent note up the neck and while wiggling the bar. To manipulate the tuning peg, he would have to let go with his fret hand which is just impossible to play the notes hes playing w/o having three hands. It sounds to me like he is using a Strat or Strat variety guitar with either a middle or neck p/up or both on. Another little tid-bit about this song, is that being a keyboard tune, the guitar is tuned to E standard, not E Flat like most DLR VH songs (Aint Talkin' Bout Love being one exception that also jumps to mind), so the sound is gonna be different than the usual VH sound.

[ziggysmalls]

I am pretty sure that both on I'll Wait and When Its Love he is playing a strat. Not a Frankenstrat but one with single coils. I cannot remember where I read it but I am pretty sure. He talked about When Its Love being like Clapton and he wanted to use a Strat to get a similar sound. I'll Wait I am not as sure of but I thought I read it somewhere else.

[TheMadNote]

Originally Posted by LypsLynch55

No, that's not what he's doing. He's hitting a D on the G string with the bar pre-depresses and he wiggles it back forth between having tension and slack on the strings via just the bar while SLIDING the pre-bent note up the neck and while wiggling the bar. To manipulate the tuning peg, he would have to let go with his fret hand which is just impossible to play the notes hes playing w/o having three hands. It sounds to me like he is using a Strat or Strat variety guitar with either a middle or neck p/up or both on. Another little tid-bit about this song, is that being a keyboard tune, the guitar is tuned to E standard, not E Flat like most DLR VH songs (Aint Talkin' Bout Love being one exception that also jumps to mind), so the sound is gonna be different than the usual VH sound.

It's a harmonic. He's hitting a harmonic which would allow him to have a free hand to twist up a tuning peg. But I'm not going to argue with you.

[LypsLynch55]

Originally Posted by TheMadNote

It's a harmonic. He's hitting a harmonic which would allow him to have a free hand to twist up a tuning peg. But I'm not going to argue with you.

No need to argue; we're both right. He DOES it a harmonic that he manipulates with the bar but the very end of the lick at the end of solo he starts with a harmonic and then actually frets a note and slides up on the G string while shaking the bar.