Van Halen Needs A Guitar Tech
Trivia time: 11 years ago today, Diamond Dave was fired from Van Halen after rejoining the band in June. Dude currently has a job -- and from many accounts the reunion tour's going well -- but after Eddie Van Halen flopped through an out-of-tune "Jump" in Greensboro last week, looks like the boys need to fire and hire a guitar tech.
Pretty hysterical. Speaking of which: Check out Dave's giant inflatable mic ride and lift ... preferably with the sound off (no wonder he has a job!). But was Eddie's monitor off? Did he figure he'd Sonic Youth it? Did he forget how it was supposed to sound?
Who knows, but maybe it's the stinking, screeching incident that's driven the finger-tapper into teaming with a ... flower shop? Ah, sweet sweet smells. All you have to do is order a floral arrangement in excess of $100, and you're entered to win some sweet swag. First prize is a signed guitar, which is cool enough (you can recreate your own out-of-tune solo at home!), but EVH "striped tennis shoes" valued at $5,000? Seems like Smashing Pumpkins pricing.
Posted at 10:18 AM in Video
Tags: Van Halen
Yeah, that sounded awful. Still, I bet not too many people who were there really minded, even if they weren't drunk. Though I suspect some memories may be ruined once they see this.
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That whole intro part sounded remarkably like "Mister Roboto."
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Kinda funny that this happened.
In late August, Edward and his former long time guitar tech, Lonnie Totman had parted ways. It didn't sound like an amicable split according to his posting on a Van Halen message board:
http://classicvanhalen.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10911
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Guys,
Changes to rig are new head/cab/speakers, new guitar (still in proto phase), original whammy pedal, and new EVH dunlop wah (still in proto phase). Removed are the Demeter trem and Line 6 rack delay (never used anyway).
As for his flanger and phaser sound there is simply no secret. His settings are nothing unusual. Its all in his right hand. He hits very hard and that drives the pedals hard. Thats it.
Peter, not sure about Denver. Keep an eye on website. An early itinerary I have says Denver is possible early next year.
As for me, I'm done for good with EVH as of a couple days ago.
I have never spoken publicly about who EVH really is and what his behavior is really like. Plain and simple, I have absolutely nothing nice to say about the man. I could easily lay the truth down but I'll take the high road, like the very class act Michael Anthony and wish him best of luck with his tour and issues.
L(onnie).
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wow 11 yrs!! i am gonna see them tonight in phila. emm $8 bbeers, $15 dollar parking and a bunch of uncle ricos(time machine request)! cant wait!!!!! i am bummed erbout MA and wolfie but the such is life. GO PHILLIES!!!!!
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RE: "That whole intro part sounded remarkably like "Mister Roboto.""
Imaginary Dana, that intro part is the title track to the album "1984"; a synth instrumental.
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re: needing a guitar tech:
I hear Michael Anthony's not doing anything these days.
Thank you.
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The PROBLEM is the GUITAR: EVH NEEDS TO USE THE ORIGINAL "CHARVEL" GUITAR FOR THE CORRECT
VIBRATIONAL RESONANCE...
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He had the wrong guitar for the song and he didnt realize, it was a half step down. Keep staying Sober Ed! lol
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Simple explanation here. Eddie's guitar was in drop D tuning and was not tuned back up to standard pitch for the song. He is playing it right, it is just tuned down a half a step.
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Don't blame Eddie. Its the keyboard tape that is a half step sharp. Even Wolfie is off from the keyboard. Jump is in C and the keyboard is playing c sharp. Doo Doo happens.
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Here's what probably happened. The synth part isn't "on tape". It's an audio file recorded at 44K, residing on a computer ready for instant playback. Attached to that computer is an audio interface. Many of those interfaces have switches on the front so that you can slave your computer software to the clock speed of the interface. If you set the interface for 48K, the result will be a keyboard part playing faster than normal... about 1.5 semitones sharp. That's exactly what the keyboard pitch is. And, if you compare Eddie's guitar licks note for note with the original recording, you'll clearly hear that he's playing PERFECTLY IN TUNE. Mystery solved.
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plain and simple, van halen sucks. where is artificial hip when you need them?
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Before 'Jump', 'Ain't talkin' 'bout love' is a little bit out of tune too
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Hey Lonnie,get A life! And take your high road with you...if you got something to say,say it...no need to be coy about it.He has more on you than you he!
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MA created a conflict of interest when formed the other half...what a pathetic move! Coatails all the way! What disrespect! If you read between the lines MA comes off sounding anything like a "class act".He is playing the nice guy but being nice is not a sentiment,It's an act! Sammy and MA have treated VH poorly in the press....AND THEY CANT HOLD A CANDLE TO EDDIE! SINCE WEHN DID THEY BECOME SPOKES PERSONS FOR A BAND THEY ARE NOT EVEN IN???
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very interesting, but I don't agree with you
Idetrorce
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Van Halen reunioun tour .....
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHAAAAAAAA !! !!
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In fact, DaleB is absolutely right. Everything recorded is sharp. About 1.5 semitones, just like he said. The sample rate for CDs and their resulting ripped files is 44100 Hz, or 44.1 KHz, which, if incorrectly reconfigured to play on a 48000 Hz (48 KHz) sample rate system, is played faster to keep the resolution. The audio that results has a higher resolution, but sounds out of tune, because it's playing faster than it should. It's actually just like tape!
As for the guitar, it does sound like crap. He has the wrong guitar for the sound he wants. Also, if he doesn't know he's not in tune with the screwed up audio, there's room to improve... a LOT of room. I had to stop the video. I couldn't take the noise anymore! He should have had the tremolo on the guitar fixed at about the 1.5 semitones that was to recover. I can't believe he didn't fix anything!
MYSTERY SOLVED... FOR REAL! ::
Eddie Van Halen used the wrong guitar and didn't fix himself to the "new" tuning of 1.5 st #.
The sound engineers they hired were idiots and didn't know what the switch labeled "44.1K/48K" meant. They also didn't notice what the problem was or even that there was a problem and didn't change any of the audio settings, especially not fool with the sample rate switch.
In essence, Van Halen's config, team, and performance was PHAIL.
Cheers!
- Ben Reaves
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