You said it all Jim. I build guitars after spending years learning this craft on my own trems issues and reading the early Eddie's interviews. He was doing everything you say here. One other thing I do that I expected you to mention, is to raise the 4 inner screws attaching the trem to the body to reduce friction. This way the trem pivots on the external screws (both E strings). If the guitar still has tuning issues, I remove the trem and file the 6 holes on the trem's plate where the strings go through. If you file them round instead of the 90 degrees, you eliminate the chances of the strings getting caught on the sharp edge. We are definitely nerds....
Hey Patrice! I agree, that's another really good technique - especially if you get a bridge that's starting to "bind" a little in the pivot area. Depending on the bridge (if it starts to bind from wear), I often drill those 1/32" - 1/16" larger. I try to keep the screws in as long as possible, because I always feel like it's more "body contact." Or more "transference" to the body - don't know if that's true, but that's my story 😏
Jim is right on here and remember reading an article where Eddie talks about the physics of the guitar and how important it is to have the trem decked to the body for sustain and transference of string vibration!
Thanks Jim. There are alot of so called Van Halen experts on RU-vid! You are the absolute best one out there!! Not only have you mastered Ed's sound you have Ed's chops. Also you are happy share your knowledge with us mere mortals!! Thanks for sharing the love my brother 🙏
The info you put out is worth big money. I hope that you feel some appreciation from us fans because of all the "van halen tip" videos out there---- yours are actually worth watching as they offer real World valuable information. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. ---Ben By the way, "subtle differences" are the huge differences that seperated EVH from us regular folks. You seem to have a knack for finding those important "subtle differences" that make a big difference. Thanks again, Ben
I found a video from Carl Verheyen about setting up a fender style trem. I can do ridiculous whammy use and it stays in tune. If it goes a little flat, I just give the trem a little tug and back in tune. Like Jim says, ALL trems go out of tune at some point. I agree with Jim that I prefer the fender style trem rather than the Floyds
These videos are great Jim. I have a brass compensated nut on my 78 eruption strat and also got tired of dropping in the 3 in 1 oil. I use similar tricks to snap my strings back in tune (I have a vintage stock fender trem). I always knew those big over-bends Ed did after the deep dive bombs on VH1 were done intentionally to re-tune his strat. Funny side story is reading about how Randy Rhoads (then in quiet riot) would follow Ed around the club shows in the early days asking him how his trem stayed in tune cause his always went out. I think Ed’s reply was ‘do your own homework’ lol 😂 Love the vids, keep them coming 🔴⚪️⚫️ 👑
Thank you! Yep, I think a good portion of Ed's style, and note choice / bending, wiggle stick wiggles, were all done to get the guitar back in tune! 😉 Seriously, that's oversimplified, but it definitely had an influence, for sure!
@@jegauss This is great Jim! On the "Die Laughing" vinyl bootleg it became apparent how Ed was using the trem while tuning that the whammy dips were to bring it back in tune. I still do that with a floating Floyd to get it to stay perfectly in tune...never end a whammy maneuver with a Floyd, coming down to pitch, always going up to pitch.
Thank you Jim for taking the time and effort for the wealth of info you've provided in these videos. It means a lot. I would love to meet up some day I was there, in the store in '78 the day the album dropped. (Edit: this was a coincidence. I didnt know who they were at the time 🙂) I was just perusing through the record bins... I bought it on a whim bc the cover looked cool. Plus the photo of Ed with the Black and White version if Franky blew me away. I've read everything I could get my hands on through they years, but your knowledge about this stuff is the most detailed and thorough I've ever seen.! Would love to get you and Pete thorn together sometime Thanks again, Take care, Bob
Awesome Jim! Great to see you again. And you Rock that Eddie Brown Sound every time. All of these tips with Eddie rigs and setups are very helpful and I know you'll get tons of views on this one too. I appreciate the tip on how to get back in tune. You Rock!
Btw, I hope you might realize how much your hard work researching and making these videos is appreciated! You are a diamonds worth of value to us. You are so appreciated! And you are the perfect resource as you played Eddie's style and sound so well! Thank you and thank you for helping keep the King alive for us. You absolutely Rock!
Hi Jim and so glad I saw this vid! My ash 70’s Strat is set up the same way with standard trem decked lightly to the body, brass nut, and high string tree. The pickups are 78’ in the bridge and 2 Dimarzio VS-1 singles. And yes, winding strings like this and giving a little tug with the fingers or trem take care of tuning issues!
Hey Jim! I love these videos. I know I asked about keeping the Fender trem in tune a while ago, and you left a very comprehensive comment which helped greatly, especially with regard to getting the breakaway tension set. Glad to see this video is now up. I've been using that same string locking technique for years. I had a 2007 Les Paul Standard and in the manual they actually had a little explanation of how to do that string lock, and that's where I learned it. I've been curious about trying a brass nut, but I think you just answered that question for me! :-)
Thank you, Dan! Doing this video has been on my mind for awhile...sorry it took so long. Also, thanks for backing me on the Gibson "string locking" wind...I knew I wasn't dreaming 😉 Thank you for watching, and jumping into the comments!
Jimbo- you've got it nailed on the setup and tone! I have to set my guitars up to the way I play which means I float my Floyds and have no guitars ATM with a standard Strat bridge.. my Floyds do have trem stabilizers (or tremsetter) great idea too on the GraphTech nut!! And I LOVE the 22 fret white Frankie my man!
Interesting point about winding the strings upwards…it’s counterintuitive but gonna give it a try on my next string change. 👍 So all the nuanced notes in Ed’s solos could just be him tuning on the go! 😁
Yes Jim you're right on the setup and techniques to pull the strings back in tune. I do this on my EVH Strat and works perfect! Still have a brass nut though but have graduated from 3 and 1 to Nut Sauce and works fine!
Really appreciated, you have all kinds of fun stuff to try in this video. Never thought about the 'sitarish" nature do to the lack of break angle, but it kind of sounds cool too.
Very very interesting. I did that stuff way back before I really knew how to set up a guitar. And yes before I had a Floyd. I always just chalked it up to the fact that I didn’t know what I was doing. And that I stumbled onto the concept of what goes up CAN come down with a push or pull of the bar. And vice versa. Damn I bet you’re right and that’s what Ed was doing. Mind blown. I bet a million guys did the same thing. Damn.
Yep, when I first heard the way he was using the "wiggle stick", way back in '78 we all immediately starting blowing the dust off of those stratocasters and tried to figure out what he was doing and how to make them work...so much of it is just the techniques that you learn, both playing and setup...and it definitely affects how you play - just the same way I'm sure it did with Ed. Fun stuff....thanks for watching!
Yeah Jim, thanks man. Another great one. I wonder if you read the same articles as a kid that I did. I can not recall where this came from, as a friend had given me a photocopy of some real early interviews. (Maybe Guitar Player, probably others). And Eddie said this - he would boil his strings first to get some of the stretch out. (I'm not sure that did much because they'd still have to literally stretch while it was tensile, being strung up and tuned. And also he said he would drill out the trem block so that the ball end would sit a little closer to the "base plate" of the Fender trem. That makes sense to me actually - less room for that string to wiggle and possibly turn a little while he dive bombs. The way he could keep the thing in tune, even with all his (your) tricks was nothing short of miraculous, especially live.
Thanks P! Yeah, I'm not so sure about the boiling - we all read those articles, like you said. I tried the string boiling, and I really don't think it did anything. My guess is that's more of Ed's "mis-direction" on his early tricks and techniques. He may have boiled old strings when the band was still broke, before they were signed and touring, but that would've been to boil the gunk out of them and try to get some more life out of them. Bass players used to do that pretty regularly. I'm also not sure about drilling the block - I certainly wouldn't be surprised if he tried that, too. I've got blocks where the holes are "shallow" and some that are "deep." I'm not sure I've noticed a tuning difference with those, either...😉 I think most of the problems happen at the nut, and then how freely the bridge pivots. The other stuff, may help, but I'm thinking it's pretty minimal within the scope of everything else. But, we'll never "really" know...he tinkered with everything, and I'm sure he tried anything he could think of, plus he was known to tell some tall tales...but, it's fun trying to figure it out. Thanks for watching!
Hey Jim, I've always loved the black and white Frankie. I have a white Charvel with black pick guard, and I think the black striped paint job would look really good on it. Man, the Floyd floating trem is so touchy though. Since my coma ( battling pancreatic cancer right now), I play kind of heavy handed. While muting the strings the notes often drop in pitch. Enough whining from me. Thanks for what you do brother. You are much appreciated.
Hey Tony! Man, I get notes like yours, I need to rethink the things I bitch about and irritate me 😉 I hope you beat that cancer! My thoughts are definitely with you! But, about the palm mute pushing you out of tune, you can get yourself one of those "trem-setters" - really easy to install, or I usually put a small piece of wood on the neck side of the tremolo cavity. So it rests against the steel block of the tremolo itself. That way you can't pull up on the trem, you can set your spring tension a little tighter so that the weight of your hand doesn't push the bridge out of tune...I hate floating trems, by the way....good luck with that, but keep up that fight!
Yep - I see a lot of guys with a non-fine tuning floyd bridge on their strats. It's not a bad way to go. I just really like the sound of those vintage bridges.
Can you go into detail on how you set the bridge screws as far as how far down ya tighten them, and then how far you back them off after tightening them?? Thanks in advance.
Great video Jim. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure I read in an old Guitar Player magazine interview that Eddie preferred the vintage trem vs the Floyd. He went on to say that even though he used the floyd live, he would put the old original Fender trem back on for recording as he preferred the sound. I think this may have been around the time of WACF. Hey it may just have been 'Eddie talk' as he did often at times. Just thought I'd mention it as not sure many people may have read/remembered that old interview.
Thank you, Dale! No, you are correct with your recollection. It's always been a question if he used the Frankenstein at all on WACF (maybe some overdubs and possibly on Loss of Control), and he had a standard trem on it, around that time (he did have a floyd at the latter part of the 2nd world tour, but switched it back for the studio). And, I'm still not entirely sure, but I think it's very possible that he switched back to the regular trem for Fair Warning - if so, I believe that was the last album he did the swap out for. The "slack string" dive bombs you hear in Everybody Wants Some, is the Floyd Rose on the Bumblebee. So, that was the first time he recorded with the Floyd.
Hi Jim I found you just a couple weeks ago on RU-vid. You were talking to a couple of people and that's how I noticed. You seem like you had a lot of knowledge and then I started falling you. I had no idea you were here and yes you do. No you're stuff I love to be able to? Bring my EVH stripe series oven to talk about some things. I live in New York but that would be awesome anyway jim thanks You? Jammed out When I heard eddie van halen's his 1978 Debut album came out I will hooked like millions ofather the mand change change my life. I don't even know what my life would be like if there was never a Eddie Van Halen.
I figured this out with my regular strat. It has staggered tuners so the break is important. The G and B strings were giving me problems sometimes. I actually fixed my setup recently just by taking the strings out from under the string tree. Whatever that did probably helped the break (I think staggered tuners were used for that as well) and now it stays in much better. But if I change strings, it can change the way the guitar is behaving. Especially if I change the gauge or brand of string.
Hey Guy! Yep, you're right - any little change can affect how well these standard bridges work. I'd always find the temp / humidity changes would send mine into a tailspin. I used to do more fly dates, and I'd fly up to something like Minneapolis in the middle of January, after packing the guitars up here in Nashville. They never liked that transition much!
@@jegauss I bet they didn't! I also agree with you and @garbeaj that the Fender trem system sounds better in general than a Floyd. Has a totally different feel than the guitar I have with a Floyd Rose as well (EVH). They are just harder to keep in tune when doing massive dive bombs and other whammying
I played a B.C. Rich NJ Series Warlock with a Floyd Rose Speedloader Trem setup and loved the way I could play as aggressively as my music called for and it would stay in tune... then when the "Only one machine that makes the strings and it broke" controversy reared it's ugly head, I tossed it and started playing an Epiphone Les Paul Custom with a fixed bridge (which I've always despised) and a cossbreed I created between a Fender California T-Bucket Series elec/Acous and a B.C. Rich Mockingbird ST with the Floyd Rose Special Trem I stripped everything off the B.C. Rich and installed it in the T-Bucket Acoustic... I could do touch the face of God acoustics then hit a switch for screaming demon electric... the bracing for the trem was the hardest part... as was keeping it in tune... but it eventually worked itself out... still being disappointed in the Speed Loader incident, I've not even considered another Floyd Rose, but your vid has me definitely wanting to give getting acquainted with a trem setup on the Fenders a shot... one never knows... or quits learning... thanks bro...
Hey, Jim. I recently bought a guitar with a non-locking tremolo and I've got a quick question regarding "top winding" the strings - do you "top wind" ALL of the strings? Or is it only some of them? Forgive me if this is a silly question...
There are a couple other things one can do as well, like - Pre-stretch your strings to get out most of the extra play. Another thing I found was a Hagstrom guitar ( I forget the model ) but it has 2 truss rods in it ( Just looked it up ) they are the XL models. Those guitars are very hard to put out of tune, and I do believe it has something to do with both truss rods keeping that neck strong and straight as one does dives, bends, hammer on and pull offs. Another thing to throw out there is when you are going crazy behind the guitar, and it goes out of tune, this is where self tuning guitars can be awesome. Yes, they have guitars that self tune and not only do they do it very quickly, but the tuning can be done with the volume off. So if you do a run on an intense solo a split second of turning down the volume, pressing a button then turning the volume back up will be all that's necessary to be in tune again. Those guitars are weird! Wonderfully weird!
@@jegauss I should clarify, it's Peavey's AT-200 that tunes up really quick, NOT Gibson robot guitars. The difference is Gibson is robotic and Peavey's auto-tune guitar is digital/computerized. The gibson guitar will be in true tune when it is tuned by the robotic tuner. However, the peavey guitar can be absolutely out of tune BUT the digital computer ( if you will ) in the Peavey guitar will sound off out of the amp in perfect tune. The Peavey guitar in my opinion is the weirdest of the two, but wonderfully weird! I mean, think of it, you want to play BUT say your hand has been hurting from the tension of the strings ( bend ups & Eddie and Randy LOL! ) because of Peavey's design you can make your strings extremely flexible to the texture you prefer and with a press of a button that Peavey guitar will bypass the "True Tuning" ( as horrible as it may be ) of your guitar and sound it off through the amp as being completely in tune! THAT IS AMAZING!!!! That can be similar to the world's worst singer, who can't sing a song if their life depended upon it, walk up to a specialized microphone system and sing sounding like the Best Singer Ever! Did I just invent something? A complete fantasy for those who can't sing a note! Then suddenly a Star. Peavey has been underrated for way too long! It's simply because no one likes the name "Peavey." However, some of their products are truly AMAZING!
This is exactly how he does it. You can hear Edward on the 77' Pasadena Civic bootleg tuning in between songs. While tuning, he's flicking the whammy to balance the string tension between both sides of the nut.
Yeah, I've tried the stringjoys - I loved them, but I kept popping (unwinding) the D string over the saddle (and I keep my saddles smooth and polished, and rarely break other brands of strings in the same manner - I do, but this was 3 sets of stringjoys, back to back). Anyway, I reached out to them, and their response really kinda pissed me off. I haven't bought a set since. Thanks for watching!
Jim, I've been tuning "with the bar" forever. I find that very few ppl even understand what I'm explaining. Heck, nobody younger than us, (were about the same age), can even tune by ear any more. Funny anecdote about tuning. Randy Rhoads said in a magazine interview that he approached Ed once and asked him how he made his trem stay in tune. This is so Ed Ed told him that Jeff Beck told him how to do it - and it's a secret. Lol You probably know this already but your viewers may find that story interesting. Take care
@@AllenGarberGuitarFun Randy and Ed both had spoke to each other, you should really check into that 1. Quiet Riot and Van Halen had a billing for the show at one point. Quiet Riot opened up for Van Halen back in the day. Ya, they talked for sure. This was before Van Halen had been signed and went huge. You have to remember, they played the same places, and people seen these huge players, before they became the Legends that they are. George Lynch was even playing the circuit and trying to make a name for his self as well, and Randy even mentioned him a few times, also. George ended up taking Randy's spot teaching at his mothers music school, when Randy left to play with Ozzy.
@@standingvertical3048 I’m well aware of that one gig at the Glendale College Auditorium where Quiet Riot and Van Halen shared the bill (Quiet Riot did not open for Van Halen, it was co-headlining), but I repeat…there is no evidence or credible reference to Eddie ever speaking to or meeting Randy. There are several unconfirmed recollections by some that claim they had met, but these are totally unconfirmed anecdotes, not facts corroborated by evidence.
Hey Shredhed! I agree...I grew up before digital tuners., Yeah, there were strobe tuners, but who could afford one of those??? Certainly not me 😉 I would always tune by ear, and tune the guitar to itself - you're right so many players now, don't even think that way.
I think I saw a picture of ed's string retainer for the B and the E. it looked like he had 2 of the little bushings underneath the string retainer. I do this on my strat's; their only purpose for me is to keep the strings from popping out of the nut which I bet eddie did too. His nut slots were very wide and very deep, even on the bumblebee neck with the bone nut.
I’ve never seen a picture of Eddie’s string tree with the two bushings. Fender/EVH put them on the ‘78 Eruption, but I actually think they might have gotten that from seeing pictures of my ‘78 replica online which I posted around 2013. If you have a picture of Eddie’s ‘78 era Frankenstein with two bushings clearly visible, please let me know…
Hey Tanner! Yeah, I've got 2 bushings on mine, too...but, I think garbeaj is right - at least in the early years. I remember I used to just keep mine really, really loose. You'd hear the single bushing bouncing around, if you were playing without an amp. I finally got sick of "chasing the slots" when I was re-stringing, so I put another bushing underneath, and tightened it up 😉 But yeah, it's really only on there to keep the strings from popping out of the nut slots....
Been thinking for a while about building a Superstrat without a Floyd. The Gotoh 510, Vegatrem and Wilkinson Locking Saddle trems all seem like really solid solutions for being able to keep in tune without all the Floyd hardware, particularly using locking tuners as well. Any thoughts?
Absolutely! Locking tuners on their own, make a huge difference. I've got a couple of strats built with still just a standard bridge, graph tech nut, and locking tuners, and they stay in tune really, really well. A locking bridge would be just that much better. I honestly really only keep this VH guitar and another configured like he did, otherwise I'd feel like I was "cheating." 😉 I occasionally play in a VH "tribute" band, and our claim to fame is that we do it with the same gear they did - try to be as authentic musically, and gear-wise as possible.
The problem with those is that they don’t have the sound or the feel of vintage Fender style vibrato systems and they don’t stay in tune any better than a well setup Fender vibrato system as Jim has demonstrated here. Locking tuners don’t have an impact on tuning stability since you can just attach the strings normally and get the same performance. Locking tuners make string changing a bit easier, but standard tuners perform just as well with regard to tuning stability.
@@jegauss ahh, that’s good to know. Yep, I could see issues playing out with a VHI tribute guitar that didn’t have the Strat trem! It’s great to try and play this stuff with the same tools that were used! Do you think a Floyd is still necessary for big divebombs? It’s interesting that Ed stayed with the Floyd for his whole career, despite the tonal compromise.
@@odgeUK Yeah, there's just certain things that only a Floyd can do...they serve their purpose and I, of course have guitars equipped with those, too. Honestly, I think Ed, just got used to the Floyd, and it's ease of use, and just worked around the tonal changes. He started using more overwound pickups, etc....I just feel the guitar is more "organic" or toneful with the original bridge, stamped saddles, pot metal block, etc...there's a certain charm to them - at least to me.
Hey Bill...yes, I probably should've covered that, too. I keep tugging on the strings, and tuning back to pitch, until they stop dropping pitch. It usually takes about 5-10 minutes. After that, they're stretched!
Hey Scott! Yes, he did, or they were Mighty Mite, or Schecter...there were a few that were making those back in the mid-late 70s. But, those that are even more "nerdy" than me (I know, hard to believe), speculate that those saddles were only the guitar right around the time that they shot the cover for the first album. They can't find any other instances where those saddles were on that guitar. It looks like they ended up on the Dragon guitar, if memory serves...? But, to answer your question, sure, they'd have an affect on tone. Brass was the big thing in the 70s...it was "the" upgrade to so many guitar parts, bridges, nuts, knobs, etc...I would say the guitar may have been just a slight bit warmer, and maybe a slight bit of increased sustain, because those saddles had slightly more mass than the stamped fender saddles...but, in my opinion, certainly not enough of a change to scour the internet for some 70s, Brass, Keyhole saddles.
Hi Jim, I’ve been blown away and grateful with all of your videos. Killer playing and fantastic content. Thank you for all your hard work in researching this stuff and for choosing to share it. Couple questions... are you top winding the B and high E string as well? Also, on the Gibson guitars, was Ed running 9-40 on those as well? Thanks again and keep rocking!
Thank you, Bradford! Very much appreciated! To answer your questions, yes - I still top wrap the B & E strings. The string tree is very, very high, so the top wrapping still helps. Also, Ed did run 9-40s on the Gibsons as well. They're pretty "slinky" and slappy when tuned down close to Eb, but they also help contribute to the tone that you hear on the records - especially that fat/spanky sound he gets on the low E and A strings.
Hello Jim , would you have a good source where to buy a brass nut ? I ordered one from Amazon and waisted my money on junk , very light and not tall enough . Maybe it's sprayed aluminum . lol
Hey Lou! So, the best luck I've ever had with brass nuts is on eBay (believe it or not). But, I kind of gave up on using them. They really only affect the sound of the open string (mostly), and you have to oil them all the time. I've since gone the way of the Tusq products - much easier to work with, and they're self lubricated. But, check eBay. It should be pretty easy to find, especially if you've got a 1-5/8" or 1-11/16" nut width. Good luck.
@@jegauss Thank you Jim for your input ! Very nice of you ! Bruno my friend and I follow everything you do here from Quebec ! You're the best ! Cheers!
Hi Jim, thank you for another great and informative video. I don´t like the lack of warmth of the Floyd compared to traditional strat bridges also, they sound to metallic and thin, even when playing unplugged. I was wondering if the early Floyds ( without fine-tuning ) would be in some way closer in warmth to traditional tremolos, since they appear, at least to me, to be more in contact with the guitar's body.
Hey Jorge! Thank you! I don't remember the tone back then. I was so excited to actually get one...we got it when we (my local music store), actually called Seattle Information and got Floyd Rose's phone number. He was selling them out of his garage back then...unfortunately, I sold, or gave that bridge away long ago - when the fine tuning models eventually came out. Anyway, the original bridge did have more mass - it came with a large, thick block, not unlike the aftermarket ones you can buy now, and the base plate and saddles were very heavy duty. If I remember correctly, when the chrome started flaking off, I think the saddles were brass, too. But, to answer your question, I don't remember...I was just so happy to have one, it probably could've sounded awful, and I wouldn't have cared 😉
@@jegauss Hi Jim, thank you so much for you answer, you gave me details about the original bridge, about the mass for instance, which are interesting, and explains why brad Gillis has about 30 units. but I believe that even in the him, doesn't go in so much detail. I wonder if there is any modern tremolo that is comparable to the original FR, in terms of mass or material?
@@fernandes5986 Of course! You're very welcome....you know, I can't think of a bridge that's come along since, that has had as much mass as those originals bridges did...
They do...but, if you wind the strings properly and properly "tie" them to a standard tuner post, there's really not much difference. But locking tuners are nice for doing re-strings!
if i deck the trem to help keep the guitar in tune it makes the bar difficult to use, maybe something i have to live with but it's a real shame because when the trem is floating it's really nice, even with a floyd it kind of has to be decked to use a d-tuna, unless i keep a 2nd guitar for d-tuned , not great. these are the frustrations with a trem guitar, i really need one for the 80s stuff i do but i can see why many guitarists don't bother these days and have a fixed bridge.
Hey partner! Im addicted to your channel..I keep coming back. But on one of these comments you talked about drilling the holes bigger..im assuming you were talking about drilling out the bridge plate a bit. If that's the case, what type of drill bit do you recommend to do that?
Thank you! I appreciate that...as to drilling the bridge holes a hair bigger - that bass plate is really soft, I think they're just plated brass, or some similar alloy. I just used an "average" hardened steel bit, that came out of a "Milwaukee" or "Dewalt" drill bit assortment. They aren't wood bits, or anything like that (although I used them with wood all the time), I think they call this type of bit a "twist drill bit?" But anyway, nothing fancy. I just opened the holes slightly - did it with a hand drill, with very little effort. Hope that helps!
Thank you, and you're welcome. My pickup height tends to be a little further away than the guys that push them up as tight as possible...On this particular guitar, with the last note on the neck fretted, it's still a "strong" 1/8" away from the bottom of the string.
Ever had any luck with locking tuners? I use nut sauce and it helps a bit. Always wonder if a Teflon nut would work or be too soft? Is that a standard fender trem bridge?
Hey Andrew! Yeah, I use locking tuners on some other strats of mine...and Floyds on others. But, for this guitar I try to keep it as "authentic" as possible. I haven't really tried a teflon nut. Although, isn't the graphtech a combo of graphite and teflon? I'm not sure...but, they work very well. The early ones used to wear out, but I've had this one installed for quite a few years, now. And yes, that's a standard, Fender '60s reissue bridge.
@@jegauss Thank you kindly, makes sense they would combine the graphite to give it better longevity. Thank you for your input and these awesome videos!
It really depends on the pickup, and what you want out of the guitar. I love my traditional strats, and I love my Les Pauls - the single coils tend to be more touchy when it comes to how close you can have them to the strings - they can affect sustain and tuning because of the magnetic field. Humbuckers not so much....but for playing the VH stuff, for most of it, you only need the bridge pickup - so that works for me 😉
@@jegauss Yes, that's what I meant - magnetic pull, interesting .. SINGLES affect more than doubles, seems counterintuitive. Same here for Metallica, I'm considering a single pup explorer. Thanks.
Hi Jim, happy Friday and well done again, but I'm surprised you didn't address the setup of the six bridge mounting screws which is critical for tuning. And have you ever considered trying the staggered post Kluson B and e tuners that are used on the Eric Johnson Strat that eliminates the the friction of the tree because the strings are wound downward very deeply on the post to create the proper break angle needed over the nut eliminating the need for the tree?
Hey Chris! Thank you! And yes, you're right, there's a few things I missed - I end up editing these videos sometimes too much. I did have the bridge setup in the "full length" video, and probably should've kept at least some of it in there. I originally compared Ed's setup to a "factory" Fender setup, and was detailing the difference, but it got a little long winded 😉 And yes, on some of my other strats, I use the staggered post, locking tuners - they're great (not the Klusons, but I've got a few different brands, all good). You get almost floyd rose type tuning stability with them. The only reason I don't use them on the Van Halen guitars that I build is that I try to be as true to the original as possible. The VH tribute band I (used to / still do, we're on a "hiatus" 😉) play with, we always said we were going to play / perform the music as true to the original as possible. That includes all of the equipment, too. Amps, guitars, drums, effects, etc.....so, that's why I keep this particular guitar and I sometimes have my bumble bee set up with a standard trem / tuners, depending on my mood - to keep the authenticity, and it's kind of fun to "fight" the guitar a little! Thanks for watching and jumping into the conversation.
@@jegauss LOL. And that's not to imply that setup will work best on any other guitar just stating how his was. What was your amp rig setup on your old live vid of DOA? Your tone and playing are all that, bravo
@@chriskrueger1865 Hey Chris, you know, hard to say what I was using back then - exactly, anyway. But, if I had to guess, I was using one of my Marshall 1959 SLP reissue heads, with 6Ca7s, wide open, but running the variac as low as I could get it - or, it's possible that I was running a "straight up" dummy load (either a hot plate or a Palmer PDI-03) on the Marshall, and then into a another power amp to power the 4x12s. With a Roland Delay and Lexicon Reverb in between the load and the power amp. It's probably fairly likely that's what I was doing - the load rig - that room is pretty small, but I've played there with just the variac and a 4x12, too. But, I think I can see part of my "smaller rack" on the side of the 4 x 12s....I used to do the load thing more often, just because it's so much easier to "control" in smaller clubs.
It's funny how mention "ice cream man" because if you stop and think a moment it's a "Blues Tune" with one of the most wildest bizarre heavy metal solos ever! Perhaps it is the most wildest "Blues Tune" ever. Imagine Eddie playing with a blues guitarist unfamiliar with "ice cream man" Eddie shows him the rhythm and the blues player says "no problem, I got this!" They start jammin, then it gets to the solo Eddie's tearing it up, and now the blues guitarist is like "What the hell was that!?" Yeah, Eddie Heavy Metalized the blues! Should be called a "Red's Tune" because when Eddie got into that solo he left the blues behind!
I agree - and even that super fast, spread run, is all pentatonic blues based......it's not a stretch (pun intended) to say that Ed expanded the "reach" of the blues...
@@jegauss It's amazing that there's so much to say about this 1 great guitarist. One thing is for sure, when Eddie came out with "Eruption" he made history, by making every other guitarist look like an amateur! As he sent every guitarist back to the drawing board to learn new styles and techniques of playing, which he dominated. No other guitarist was/is so influential as Eddie. Eddie was the absolute best. If you love Randy, George Lynch , Reb Beach, Steve Lynch, Bucket Head etc... You can thank Eddie for all those other fine guitarists. Yeah, Eddie made guitarists step up their game and if you didn't perhaps the best you could sound like or would be able to achieve would be like Warren DiMartini. Which ain't bad, but we all reach for that top banana, don't we?
Great video! I heard a trick from Cesar Diaz (i think) for SRV's guitar, where he used to solder over near the ball ends of the strings on his tremolo equipped guitars. I wonder if that makes a difference with breaking strings
Thank you! Yes, I've heard that one, too...I'm not really sure the purpose of that. He used such "ropes" to begin with, I'm not sure it'd be for string breakage???? I'm not sure. Unless the soft solder held itself in the block tighter, and kept if from moving around? Maybe better tuning stability???
Rene Martinez was Stevie’s longest serving guitar technician and that’s probably the person you are referring to. Stevie broke strings because he used very heavy strings and played with a lot of force from both hands and a lot of wide bending. To the best of my knowledge (and I’ve met both Rene and Stevie and spoken to them about what they did to keep their guitars in tune), Rene never did this on Stevie’s strings. Putting a small bead of solder is an old trick that might help prevent the string from unwrapping from around the ball end, but that has never happened to me in 40 years of playing. If that ever happened, it would be because of a quality control issue from the string manufacturer. Rene did use the insulation jackets from common wires to create a sleeve that he would put over the string as it breaks over the block as the string heads toward the saddle. He claimed that he believed that might have helped with breakage. I rarely break any strings even with heavy playing time so I don’t think it is much of an issue.
@@jegauss Rene Martinez was sliding a piece of electric wire sleeve over the strings to protect the strings from the trem plate's sharp angle. This is to prevent strings from braking. You can see them (sometimes red) on some SRV " number one " pictures.
@@patricegadal6371 Yeah, I didn't think of that....especially with the heavy gauge strings he used, I bet there could be a problem with the wound strings actually "breaking" / unwinding at that point.
Welcome back Jim. Great stuff as ever. Eddie said he learnt a trick from Jeff Beck. Was that the. Bar warble? How can you keep a Les Paul in tune? Any secrets.
Hey Willie! Thanks! Yeah, I'm sure it was quick wiggles of the bar to bring it back...that's honestly the only way they work. Jeff Beck was really the first one, I think, to use the bar "musically." As far as a Les Paul....man, that's a whole different animal. They have their own set of problems. I own 4 of them, and they're all a pain. The nut has to be cut perfect, the intonation has to be set for the position you want to play in, either that or get an earvana nut, so some kind of compensating nut, make sure your strings are stretched, and re-stretched....they're just a pain in the #ss 😉
I don’t think Eddie ever said he learned a trick from Jeff Beck. He liked albums like ‘Blow By Blow’ and ‘Wired’ and he definitely liked Beck’s pick slides, but there is no interview in which he said that he learned any specific “trick” by listening to or speaking with Jeff Beck.
@@derek9658 There is no such article. You must be misremembering something…I assure you, no such article or interview exists. If Eddie ever met Jeff Beck it would have been in the late 90s or early 2000s, by which time Eddie had already mastered his own methods of keeping the Fender vibrato system in tune. Remember, the first Van Halen album came out on February 10, 1978.
@@derek9658 You are mistaken because Eddie never said that he learned any trick from Jeff Beck in any interview. If there ever was such a statement from Eddie you would be able to prove it by posting the source of such a statement, but you can’t because Eddie never made any such statement in any interview. I’m not trying to be rude either, I’m just pointing out the fact that you are mistaken in your memory.
@@jegauss The level of authenticity you have achieved is about as close as it gets. Eddie would feel right at home. I always look forward to your videos. I wouldn't mind seeing a video with some old, and new material covering gear.
@@qua7771 Thanks as always, A.R. I appreciate it! I've been thinking about what I should do next. I'm going to cover some things from Diver Down and 1984, but I need to do some short, quick hit, instructional stuff, more like this video. It's a good idea and I need to think about it some more. 😉
@@jegauss A compilation of clips from previous video would make a nice summary video. I would love to see a tech talk between you, and Pete Thorn. Off topic, but may I ask what type of capacitors are in you amp? Also, what size bright cap do you think Eddie had? I'm modding a Ceriatone. Thanks in advance.
@@qua7771 That'd be cool...I can imagine it would probably be a pretty fun tech talk...as far as caps go, I've got mostly the Sozo yellow caps, and a few Mustards - but mostly Sozo. For the bright cap, I'm thinking 4700 PF. That's what mine has in it, too. But, it's really hard to say. Marshall was changing those components all the time.
Great tips Jim. I enjoy watching your videos. That Gibson Explorer guitar behind you, is it true that Eddie used Chris Holmes’ Ibanez Destroyer and took a chain saw to it? Or maybe I got the story wrong. Keep on Rockin’ buddy. 🎸⚡️🔊💥👍
Eddie used the saw on his own Ibanez Destroyer to create the “Shark” look. He simply borrowed the Chris Holmes Destroyer to record much of ‘Women and Children First’ and he then returned it to Chris. It is intact and it is currently owned by Doug Anderson of The Tone Zone/Van Halen “museum” in Pasadena. He has loaned it out to Dweezil Zappa and Craig Parker Adams occasionally.
@@AllenGarberGuitarFun Thanks for the correction. I simply miss heard or read and confused the two Destroyers history. Crazy that it affected the tone, according to Eddie.
@@luisvillarreal5262 That’s true, but it’s no surprise that the tone was affected by cutting out wood from that particular area near the bridge…mass nearest to where the strings are seated will always change the sound drastically.
Thank you, Luis! I see that your question got answered - garbeaj is the guy I go to for the specifics of the stuff I just don't know...so you can be confident that it's very accurate. 😉
@@AllenGarberGuitarFun It's mostly true, except that Eddie did some mods on Chris's guitar too. He couldn't leave anything stock. Chris also mentioned that the bridge was backwards when he got it back. If I remember correctly, Chris was at the hospital and his Mom got the guitar back.
Yes, true...but, the gauges that we VH nerds are looking for are .009 - .011 - .016 - .024 - .032 - .040 Those are the original gauges of the Fender 150XLs But, thanks for throwing those out there! I appreciate it.
Yeah, you're right - I know that - I just probably typed it wrong - those are and have been my favorite gauges for years - nearly impossible to find anymore. Back when I was on the road, I used to have GHS Boomers make me custom sets - 9, 11, 15, 24, 32, 40.....@@peteyoung7665
Yep. I've used them - I like them. Their factory is actually not too far from me. I should hit 'em up for an endorsement discount! $14 per set is a little pricey 😉
staggered locking tuners are definitely the way to go for some people. Locking tuners virtually get rid of any slipping in the wraps around the post, and the staggering removes the need for the string retainer.
You can get identical tuning stability from standard tuners as you can get from locking and staggered tuners. It has to do with how you attach and wind the strings to create the best break angle. You don’t have to “upwind” on all strings as Eddie and Jim do, only on specific strings to get the correct break angle and downward pressure on the nut. I use locking staggered tuners, but it is more about ease of use rather than tuning stability.
Yep, there's a lot of ways to get tuning stability out of these "standard," non-locking tremolos. However, I keep the VH style guitars as "authentic" as possible - so I'd be "cheating" if I did something different. We used to, may do again, one of these days, play in a VH "tribute" band, and we do our best to do it with the same equipment as they would've used back then. I've got a few other strats that have locking tuners, upgraded bridges, etc...but there's just something fun about "fighting" the original setups.
Yes, that is a Warmoth neck. That one is a 10" or 12" radius (I've had it for years - I'm thinking it's a 12") It's like a copy of the original mid-70s Charvel, 1-3/4" wide necks. I loved those necks, and I haven't been able to find one since the early 90s. So that's what this neck is made to emulate. As far as the 250K pots go, I switch them out often. I flop around when I'm looking for a certain sound. I don't use them to necessarily "darken" the tone of a pickup, but they take just a little bit of gain / fizz off of the pickup. I like them for that. So yes, I often do. As far as Ed and the Frankenstein goes, I theorize that he had the 250K in that guitar thru the recording of Fair Warning. I think it got changed to 500K after that.
@@jegauss thanks! Fantastic info! Is the neck just a standard thin profile? It’s interesting to me that Ed went from a 1-3/4” to 1-5/8” nut width, that’s a huge change for me!
@@PFDarkside Yep - standard thin profile. I think it's a huge change, too. I prefer the wider necks - especially if they have a 10" (or 12" I prefer 10") radius. They're just more comfortable to me. I certainly have 1-5/8" necks, but I always gravitate to the wider ones...I wonder why he changed???
My personal replica I just oiled the nut and everytime I dive bomb jus bend the mess out of the G string an it’s back 😭 probably not the best way but works
Just set the bridge flush with the body as Eddie and Jim did and follow Jim’s instructions…just dive with the bar after bending with the left hand and you’ll be back in tune.
Very cool tricks and tips! But to me, it's frustrating as hell to bend and have the guitar go out of tune. Sure, if set up like you recommend, hitting the bar probably brings the guitar back in tune. Just give me a Floyd, and no more tricks needed! Plinky tone be damned! PS - Did you see the new "Eruption" Strat EVH is putting out? Ash body, brass nut, standard Fender trem. Looks like your guitar. Only it'll be $1,800 or so.
Hey Andy! Thank you! And, I agree - a floyd is just so much easier, but I've just always gotta have a couple of guitars that fight me back a little 😉 Yep, I did see the new EVH offering. I'm glad they're using the right body wood, and not the usual basswood. I built mine about 12 years ago, with Warmoth and Musikraft parts (and a fender bridge, schaller tuners (originally) - I think it cost me like $625.00...still a lot, lot more than what Ed built his for.
@@jegauss Seems Ed worked with what he could afford at the time. As soon as Floyds came out, and he had the cash (by ‘82 or so) he never used the standard trem again.
@@AndyK.23 Or, probably better stated, "worked with what was available" at the time. He used the floyd for the first time in late, late '79-early '80 and used it on a couple of tracks on WACF. It was of course, the non-fine tuning, original / prototype floyd - by the time the fine tuner versions got perfected, he had them on everything - so that was probably right around '82-'83. But, he still didn't use them for much in the studio, at least not in those early years. I recall that I read somewhere (guitar player mag?) that even though he had finally installed one on the Frankenstein by the middle of '80 tour, he switched back to a standard trem to record Fair Warning. Then, of course, when they went out on the road in support of Fair Warning, he had that early Floyd Rose on the Frank...I'm still not entirely sure which guitars he used on D.D. But, I don't think it was much of the Frankenstein, and we know that the bulk of 1984 was recorded with the '58 V, so I know he really liked the Gibson scale length / hard tails for a large portion of the studio work, on those first 6 albums. Anyway, that's a long, drawn out answer, but I started thinking about it, to see if that really was a correct statement 😉
@@jegauss You definitely know more than anyone else about early VH! The “what he could afford” was mostly directed at the $50 body and neck. Very interesting that he didn’t use the Floyds on the albums! Guess he hated the tone?
@@AndyK.23 Nah, there's some WAY BIGGER nerds out there than me 😉 But, yeah, I probably know quite a bit. I wish I could remember the article / publication...he said that he'd put the regular bridge back on in the studio. My guess, it was only Fair Warning, and probably Diver Down. I was listening to that one this morning, and his tremolo use on that album is pretty tame. Just like it is on Fair Warning...we'll probably never know. Just like his pickups, too. I think he used mostly low ouput pickups in the studio. Except for Fair Warning - the two albums after that are very clean and bright, and even the songs that he uses the tremolo on, are also clean and bright. So I think he'd switch out the pickup in the Frankenstein for the studio, along with the bridge. Live, he wanted a thicker tone, to compensate for the Floyd Rose and the wireless systems, so he'd go to the overwound, darker, fuller sounding pickups...just my theories, but if I just trust my ears, that's what I keep coming back to.
He never boiled strings for the vintage Fender style vibrato. He claimed he did that for the Floyd Rose, but the reality is that he didn’t ever boil strings on the road and he probably never did it at all.
Hey Chris - I agree with garbeaj - if Ed ever did boil strings, I think it was because they were too broke to buy new ones, and boiling would get some of the gunk out of them...I did that a few times, many, many years ago - for the same reason.
You know, there's something called Floyd Rose Bridge, it was invented 40 years ago. It solved all these issues you're having, Eddie Van Halen used it since the early '80s until his death. You should try it.
Really??????? That's amazing! 😉 So, either I'm missing your sarcasm, or you completely missed the point of the video....either way, thanks for watching.
