EVH is the only area of guitar history you get clowned for being interested in.
I believe this is due to two things
- The trivial and minute level enthusiasts take their analysis
- The length of time people have been doing this, repeatedly.
It's worth noting that by 1983, when I was buying equipment for the first tour I'd ever do as a guitarist, there was a sign on the wall of the music store that said, "Anyone caught playing Eruption will be fed to the troll in the basement." So already within the first 5 years, the obsession was taking it's toll on other musicians who were less interested in chasing the trivial details of just one guy, though certainly most all were appreciative of his music and contributions, and some were also fans. But the geeking out and repetition was wearing people out. That was 40 years ago.
All that aside, I think if you want to get close to an artists style and sound, you would be smart to look into the people that influenced them. EVH's biggest influence (as cited in interviews) was Eric Clapton from the Cream days, particularly their live recordings. I can see the speed and ferocity of Clapton's playing showing in EVH's speed and ferocity, but I also kind of see the similarity between EVH's tone and the bright, snappy lead tone Clapton was getting going through late '60's Marshalls using his SG, ES-335 and Explorer (putting aside "Woman Tone" for now). Interesting that EVH was using a completely different body/neck wood guitar, but reportedly did put in an ES-335 pickup for part of the time. But despite the different gear, the tone was quite similar, though his playing is different. Knowing what guitars, pickups and amp when into Clapton's sound, and EVH's sound, and how different they were, yet sound similar, is helpful in understanding just how much variance you can have in gear and still get a similar sound. And it's also informative in how a particular pickup or guitar body/neck can counter act the other to bring you closer to the desired tone you are chasing.
From Rolling Stone OCTOBER 6, 2020
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/who-were-eddie-van-halen-influences-1071780/
(emphasis here is mine)
EVH: "
And then came Eric Clapton, who is at the top of my list. What attracted me to his playing and style and vibe was the basic simplicity in his approach and his tone, his sound.
He just basically took a Gibson guitar and plugged it straight into a Marshall and that was it. The basics. The blues. So, you know, then what I ended up personally doing… I didn’t like a Les Paul or a Fender. So I cross-pollinated the two — I took the best parts of each one and made my own guitar.
And basically Clapton is the only one that’s influenced me. In the Cream days.
By the time Cream broke up, I pretty much kind of took the ball and ran my own way with what I had learned.
. . . my favorite stuff was when he was in Cream. Which was only a couple, three years. It wasn’t a very long run, but what I really liked was their live stuff, like
Wheels of Fire and
Goodbye, Cream and stuff like that, because then you could really hear the three guys playing in their live element.
Interviewer: And you would literally slow down those records and learn every lick.
Yeah, I’d take the turntable and do that. Bottom line, it’s all blues-based… You’ve got three chords that are most pleasing to the ear, and you’ve got 12 notes to work with. It’s very basic. At the time of Clapton, of course you had Jimmy Page, [Jimi] Hendrix, [Jeff] Beck, and Townshend and all these guys… Pete Townshend was an influence as a rhythm guitarist. never really got into Hendrix. I don’t think I ever even bought a record of his. He was more abstract in his approach."
Sure, he had other influence's, but it's interesting to hear his thinking out loud. That's as important as knowing what magnet was in his pickup.
