Anyone under 40 care?

[nevusofota]

There's a point in time when any artist becomes less influential.

This is not fact. Especially not true for a pioneer of a particular genre..................... i.e. EVH.

 

[jack butler]

Not on the the topic, but you're probably right about Jazz guitarists delving into influences. I know nothing of Jazz guitar or Blues guitar, but rock guitar has evolved drastically in the past 30 years. I'm totally ignorant of Jazz,Classical,Blues or any other style of guitar.Have Jazz,Blues,Classical guitar evolved at the rate rock guitar has?

Sure, but this is more a question of generation gap. When does the direct influence end?

Players in all genres benefit by studying what influenced their influences.

I think its more of a genre question than a generation question. Most jazz and blues guys are influenced by the pioneers in the genre. You'll be hard pressed to find a "young" jazz guitarist say they are influenced by Pat Metheny and John Scofield then say they hate or don't care about Wes Montgomery. Maybe "young" rock guitarist aren't as disciplined and don't take the time to learn, understand and respect the origins of modern rock guitar.

 

[King Guitar]

I was into Randy Rhodes and Glen Tipton from the 1980s and then Slash and Izzy from the late 1980's and 1990's

 

[nevusofota]

Not on the the topic, but you're probably right about Jazz guitarists delving into influences. I know nothing of Jazz guitar or Blues guitar, but rock guitar has evolved drastically in the past 30 years. I'm totally ignorant of Jazz,Classical,Blues or any other style of guitar.Have Jazz,Blues,Classical guitar evolved at the rate rock guitar has?

Sure, but this is more a question of generation gap. When does the direct influence end?

Players in all genres benefit by studying what influenced their influences.

I think its more of a genre question than a generation question. Most jazz and blues guys are influenced by the pioneers in the genre. You'll be hard pressed to find a "young" jazz guitarist say they are influenced by Pat Metheny and John Scofield then say they hate or don't care about Wes Montgomery. Maybe "young" rock guitarist aren't as disciplined and don't take the time to learn, understand and respect the origins of modern rock guitar.

I think it depends who you ask. A jazz/blues musician would say it has. If you ask your parents if rock/metal changed since the 70's, they would say no, you would say most definitely.

 

[Shask]

I am 34 and ever really got into Van Halen period.

 

[rlord1974]

I actually listen to more Flock of Seagulls songs these days then Van Halen. True Story.

Well, that's because they actually wrote some really great tunes. Case in point.....

Damn, after listening to those tunes, I think I'm going to go put on some roller skates and boogie down to the sock hop!

 

[midnightlaundry]

EVH is one of the most influential rock players of all time; and there's only a handful of them. There's no denying that he owned the entire 80's decade from start to finish.

But I'm not surprised that people in this me/i generation take him totally for granted.

That said, I'll take a rock song that I can sing a melody and drink a beer to over some zipperhead instrumental anyday because that's rock n roll..

 

[bonedarrell]

I am 34 and ever really got into Van Halen period.

????

 

[steve_k]

I've moved on and am chasing Nickelback tone now.....

However, I remember driving my VW Beetle, with a VH 8 track tape in the deck and air guitaring my ass off. And, when I bought that first JCM 800 my first pedal was an EH Clone Theory. I wore the grooves off of Running with the Devil after I figured out how to tune to Eb. At the time, it was the best around.

Can't really stand them today and will immediately reach for the remote. It was Led Zeppelin, early Metallica, Iron Maiden, etc. that I cut my teeth on. I still enjoy them today to listen to and play.

As far as chasing EVH tone though - it is more of a hobby for most. I wouldn't read too much more into it than that. Personally, I stay as far away from Brown Sound as I can possibly get.

 

[mooncobra]

i am 39, and was 11 when 1984 came out and i loved it. listen to girl gone bad, so good!!! evh and page are my two favorite guitarists. i don't chase eddie's tone, but i love that good ferocious marshall growl!!! it is inconceivable that anyone likes hagar era van halen better than roth. personally i cant stand hagar, the damn red rocker!!! i mean, come on, the dude actually calls himself the red rocker and endorses crate amps!!!

 

[EyesOfTheSouth]

I was into Randy Rhodes and Glen Tipton from the 1980s and then Slash and Izzy from the late 1980's and 1990's

Glen Tipton Him and Michael Schenker are my biggest influences.

 

[Aristocat]

EVH was a big influence for me early on but I've always dug Holmes/Lynch/Bettencourt way more from a technical standpoint and tonal point. VH1 is fizzy as hell.

 

[rp108]

Could you elaborate? I checked out your band, after the Shadows Fall post. I dig your style and singer, I don't hear any VH influence.

I am interested and I am under 40.

Thanks for checking us out! Glad you are digging it. As far as influences, I am influenced by a bunch of players, particularly players from the 80s when I started and I draw from them but at then end of the day I want to sound like me.

 

[C1-ocaster]

About Van Halen, or what amp he used. Serious question, I'm 36 and I can't understand the fascination with EVH or his tone. None of my guitar player friends my age cite Van Halen as an influence. Malmsteen, Freidman, Rhoads, and Dimebag are common influences among my guitar player friends, but EVH is rarely mentioned. Not disrespected, but more in the Hendrix/Page camp. Just didn't resonate with the guys my age. It's strange, growing up the first time I heard the "Ain't Talking About Love" riff was when 2 Live Crew sampled it(didn't listen to rap, just happened that way). Seems like EVH was a big deal for guys born in the late 50's and 60's, but faded after that. I've heard the isolated VH tracks and guys mimicking his tone, I don't care for the tone. I'm not saying it's bad or you shouldn't like it, my question is it an age/generational thing?

We all have different tastes and like what we like, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Some people love Led Zeppelin, some hate them.
Some think 80's heavy pop pseudo metal was the pinnacle of music and great guitar player, other's are happy it ended with a big whammy dive bomb.

What music you like, and the musicians who play that music will be the influences that contribute to your own music and song writing.
And hopefully you will not become a repeat of those influences, but you will take them and create something new and fresh.

Much of what you listen to and what will be your influences will be dependent on your age.
The Who, Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and that era were influenced by music that barely sounded like what they created.
Their influences are barely known by musicians born after 1980.
Much of that is because, you know, we get into music when we are young and we tend to like what's current during those years.
And there is some overlap.

Van Halen released their first album in 1978. That's 35 years ago. You were like 4 years old when that album came out.
By the time you were really getting into music rap and hip hop were starting their climb into the mainstream.
I was 13 when that album came out and it was quite revolutionary guitar playing to many ears, and to a lot of young guitar players we like, "WTF is that, and how do you play it?!" So as we tried to learn and emulate that playing we also tried to get the tone as well. There were other great players before EVH who dabbled with some of the techniques EVH used, but no one at that time had put many of them into one style like EVH did. He wasn't the first to do tapping, but he elevated it, and we were intrigued, and it burned into our brains.

Why do guitarists still talk about EVH's playing and tone?
Just asking that question 35 years later speaks to how influential it was.
If it didn't have that much of an impact, people wouldn't be talking about it still, and you wouldn't need to ask the question.

I stopped listening and liking VH after Dave left. The music went into a different direction as EVH went into a different direction, one I couldn't follow anymore.

I don't know if any of that answers any of your questions.
But I thought I'd give it a shot.

 

[dooredge]

1984 is my favorite VH record. I don't care how he got his tone or what it's like today. I enjoyed listening to his music and that's all that ever really mattered to me.

 

[Gearhog]

You need to have been at the right age and listening to music that was out at the time (1978 ish) when that first VH album hit to really get it I think...there was nothing quite like it and it literally shook the rock world. There was no one doing anything like it or sounding like that at the time and for some it really sticks with you.

This. I've never forgotten the first time I heard, "You really got me", on the radio. That tone, it was just smoking, nothing else like it before. Not even close. Plus his playing. He sounded like Blackmore on 130 RPM. For you guys under 40, that's a reference to a record player. 52 years old.

 

[rp108]

You need to have been at the right age and listening to music that was out at the time (1978 ish) when that first VH album hit to really get it I think...there was nothing quite like it and it literally shook the rock world. There was no one doing anything like it or sounding like that at the time and for some it really sticks with you.

This. I've never forgotten the first time I heard, "You really got me", on the radio. That tone, it was just smoking, nothing else like it before. Not even close. Plus his playing. He sounded like Blackmore on 130 RPM. For you guys under 40, that's a reference to a record player. 52 years old.

Had a huge vinyl collection when I was a kid and I am under 40.

I think Flotsam and Jetsam "No Place For Disgrace" was my first record.

 

[C1-ocaster]

I don't understand the chasing. I was influenced by EVH when I first started playing guitar but definitely not now - not by a long shot. Becker, Friedman, Loomis, Atilla, Gus G, Dime, Gilbert, Broderick, Impellitteri, but definitely not EVH.

I never understood chasing someone else's tone anyway. I thought the idea was to chase or find your own voice and run with it. Even if someone hit the EVH tone they would not know what to do with it simply because they would continue to tweak or change it based on their own psychological sickness or listening to someone else's

I agree, chasing someone's, any other guitar players tone, is not original to me.
That's something young players do as they are still finding their way and hopefully developing their own playing and sound.

For me, even though I really dug what EVH was doing, I didn't want to play like him.
The thing I most liked about his playing was his rhythm and the 'swing' he added.
Billy Gibbons style was something I learned more from, and incorporated some things into my playing, even though I was a bigger hard rock and metal fan. And I love jazz saxophone and trumpet and listen for solo ideas from those and other solo instruments incorporating ideas into guitar, much more so than jazz guitar players, oddly enough.

The players you mentioned are really after EVH, and I'm sure some of them would include EVH as some influence at some point, or least someone they respect as a player.

More than anything, as your describe, EVH's style is much more than his tone. It was his playing and musical ideas he brought to guitar playing. Trying to get his tone or any other respected players tone isn't going to make you sound like them.
It doesn't matter what gear I play through, I still hear me playing, and I'm sure that goes for mostly all of us.
It's like buying a certain brand of clothes thinking you'll now look like some model or hollywood superstar.
Or buying a certain sports car and thinking your driving skills will improve.
You could play through Friedman's rig or Gilbert's, but what and how you play will still sound like you albeit with a different tone.

To those who "chase"...STOP IT!

 

[C1-ocaster]

DBL post.
Sorry.

 

[C1-ocaster]

Well shit, I was only 4 years old when the first VH album came out! I can remember my dad listening to "Dance The Night Away" and some other tunes off of VH II when I was just a little guy. I probably started listening to VH myself when I was 8 or 9, when the Diver Down album came out. I was seriously into the 1984 album when it came out, and I was only 10!

That being said, Ed was never really a huge influence on my guitar playing, nor do I chase his tone. I do recognize the importance he played in rock music and how groundbreaking his tone was at the time. There really is no denying that he had phenomenal tone on those early albums. I guess the guys that didn't think so at the time were more into....

Good points.

I've chasing that hairdo with the "wings". Luckily it still eludes me.