Edward Lodewijk “Eddie” Van Halen (born January 26, 1955 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch-American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Eddie Van Halen is widely known for his innovative performing and recording styles in blues-based rock, tapping, intense solos and high frequency feedback; he is also known for energetic and acrobatic stage performances. The All Music Guide has described him as “undoubtedly one of the most influential, original, and talented rock guitarists of the 20th century.”

Tone
Eddie (a self described “tone chaser”) achieved his distinctive tone, known as the “Brown sound”, by using the EVH “Frankenstrat” guitar, a stock 100-watt Marshall amp, a Variac (to lower the voltage of the amp to change the tone) and effects such as an Echoplex, an MXR Phase 90, an MXR Flanger and EQs. Van Halen constructed his now legendary Frankenstrat guitar using a Charvel factory “2nd” body and neck (cost $50), a single vintage Gibson PAF humbucker pickup (sealed in paraffin wax to reduce microphonic feedback), a pre-CBS Fender tremolo bridge (later to be a Floyd Rose bridge) and a single volume control with a knob labeled “tone”.

Charvel made a signature model EVH called the “Charvel EVH Art Series Guitar” that sported one pickup, a Floyd Rose locking tremolo, a custom wound pickup, and could be ordered in either black and white; black, white, and red; or black and yellow. The guitars are not reliced like the original Frankenstrat, but share a similar neck profile.

Fender has recently sold 300 replicas of the original Frankenstrat, with a 71 nikkel, sigaret burnes, scratches and all, for $25,000 each and is the parent company to Eddie Van Halen’s EVH brand. The Fenders are only the black, red, and white.

The next videoclip is an interview of Eddie speaking Dutch (Kaaskop).