Eddie Van Halen Eruption Guitar
EVH Gear
On the cover of Van Halen’s 1978 eponymous debut album, Eddie Van Halen thrusts his black-and-white striped instrument towards the camera as if he’s showing you the future. He played this guitar on his unprecedented and mind-blowing instrumental track “Eruption”, hence its nickname, and almost immediately, this monumental instrument became a timeless icon, symbolic of a paradigm shift in guitar-driven rock and roll.
While many a fan has attempted to duplicate his guitar over the past 40 years,Especially. the 5150 , now for the first time ever, EVH Gear has recreated Eddie Van Halen’s hand-built axe right down to every nick and scratch, as well as his period-correct case and case candy items.
Limited to only 30 guitars worldwide, the '78 Eruption Relic model features all of the original specs including an ash Strat® body, bolt-on maple neck with oiled back finish, straight 12” radius maple fingerboard with katalox face dots, black side dots and 21 mowed-down jumbo frets, hand-cut black pickguard, EVH Frankenstein humbucking bridge pickup, vintage Fender® Stratocaster® bridge with a Kluson® brass block and Schaller® tuning keys. Its white-with-black stripes motif paint job has been reliced to match the wear and tear from the band’s first-ever world tour, and is stylishly finished off with distressed eye-screw strap hooks and a 61071 stamped neck plate.
In a true homage to this pivotal period, EVH has also recreated Eddie Van Halen’s original G&G case (with reliced handle and latches) and loaded it up with the very items used by him at the time, such as '70s-era Fender Super Bullets strings, Van Halen '70s tortoiseshell picks, '78 chain strap and 3-in-One oil can. This model is also accompanied by an exclusive collector’s booklet, a backstage pass vinyl cloth sticker, 8"x10" 1978 concert photo of Eddie Van Halen, signed certificate of authenticity and an autographed vinyl copy of Van Halen.
- Limited to only 30 pieces worldwide
- 25.5” scale length
- Ash Strat® body
- Bolt-on maple neck with oiled back finish
- Straight 12” radius maple fingerboard with katalox dots and black side dots
- 21 ,owed-down (fretless wonder) jumbo frets
- Hand-cut black pickguard
- EVH Frankenstein humbucking bridge pickup
- Vintage Fender® Stratocaster® bridge with a Kluson® brass block
- Eye-screw strap hooks
- Schaller® tuning keys
- Reliced white-with-black stripes hand-painted lacquer finish
- 61071 Stamped Neck Plate
CASE CANDY: - Autographed Van Halen vinyl
- Custom-made period correct G&G case with reliced handle and latches
- Exclusive Eruption Collector’s Booklet
- '78 chain strap
- 3-in-One oil can
- Signed Certificate of Authenticity
- Two packs of '70s-era Fender Super Bullets strings in recreated packaging
- Van Halen '70s tortoiseshell picks
- Backstage Pass vinyl cloth sticker on the case plus one unused sticker inside
- 8”x10” 1978 concert photo of Eddie Van Halen
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David Lee Roth Era
Van Halen released a total of six albums with vocalist David Lee Roth: Van Halen (1978), Van Halen II (1979), Women and Children First (1980), Fair Warning (1981), Diver Down (1982), and 1984 (1984).
In the early 1980s, the band began having increasing trouble working together as a cohesive unit. According to Gene Simmons' book Kiss and Make-Up, Van Halen approached Simmons in 1982 about possibly joining Kiss to replace Ace Frehley, chiefly because of his personality conflicts with Roth. Simmons and Alex persuaded Eddie to remain in Van Halen, while Kiss replaced Frehley with Vinnie Vincent.
Shortly afterwards, Van Halen released the album 1984, from which the single "Jump", was their first and only #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100. Other singles released from the album performed well, particularly "Hot for Teacher", the video for which featured a skimpily dressed model playing the part of a female elementary school teacher and young actors portraying the band members as children. The album peaked at #2 on the Billboard charts, behind only Michael Jackson's Thriller.
Jimmy Page said at the time, "For my money, Van Halen was the first significant new kid on the block. Very dazzling."
In 1982, Van Halen was invited by producer Quincy Jones to contribute the guitar solo for Michael Jackson's single, "Beat It", but reportedly declined any payment for the recording, deeming a credit on the album sufficient.
Sammy Hagar Era
With the arrival of former Montrose singer Sammy Hagar in July 1985, the band's sound changed somewhat to adapt to the strengths of the new vocalist. Van Halen's keyboard playing became more prominent, as heard in songs such as "Dreams" and "Love Walks In". Hagar appeared on four studio albums with the band, 5150 (1986), OU812 (1988), For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991), and Balance (1995), as well as one live album,
During Hagar's time with Van Halen, some fans informally referred to the band as "Van Hagar" to distinguish it from the David Lee Roth lineup. With Hagar, all four studio releases reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts. For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge was awarded the 1992 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal. The live album Live: Right Here, Right Now peaked at No. 5.