RR and EVH

Paul Wolfe · Post by **Paul Wolfe** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 7:32 pm

So, we all know Randy Had his name engraved on the pickgaurd of his Les Paul, right?

Look at this picture of Ed with his Les Paul...

There is another copy of this pic here.

Never saw anyone but Randy do that before.

NoQuattro · Post by **NoQuattro** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 10:13 pm

Interesting. You didn't really see Ed didn't playing that guitar too much. But that's pretty funny how the pickguard engraving is identical.

JAY · Post by **JAY** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 2:18 am

There was an interview with this pic-and i love Ed but he was drunk off his ass and was perceived as very disrespectful -at the time Ed took alot of flack for his behavior.i'll see if I can find the interview and post it.

tedeeoo · Post by **tedeeoo** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 2:32 am

I have this show on videotape somewhere (was it Les' birthday?) and yes, Ed was very drunk. The highlight of this show for me was David Gilmour, he absolutely killed, for that matter so did Brian Setzer and Stanley Jordan. At least this pic looks like it was from that show (can't remember what year), B.B. King, Waylon Jennings and Steve Miller were also on this show. And as I remember it Les was just ripping!!

edvice · Post by **edvice** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 4:18 am

Not to go off topic but this is interesting...I don't know if you guys know this, Ed was a heavy drinker but what really F'd him up was meth. I was told this by a source about as solid as they come one of Ed's and my good friends. Too bad it's a horrific drug as you know.

As for the pick guard that's very interesing picture thanks for sharing.

RR-ElectricAngel · Post by **RR-ElectricAngel** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 5:33 am

Eddie has always been the sort of "easy going" rocker. I never thought of him as the ideal person to follow. He has astonishing talent. A super-juggernaut in my book but he sometimes loses that humility from time to time. I remember two interviews concerning Randy. In one interview he was genuinely pissed that Randy died. However, in the same breath he said Randy did a lot of copying of "his" technique. I know I may go to Rock n' Roll hell for saying this but Eddie didn't invent the tapping technique. He simply revolutionized it. He put it into our living rooms with Eruption. I have to admit I was probably a Eddie Van Halen fan first before Randy emerged. Over the years my view changed like the wind. When Tribute came out Randy was the right choice for me. He was humble, dedicated and a teacher. He was (and still is) the total package. The fact that Eddie has engraved his pickguard just tells me that all great players "learn" from other great players. Copying is sometimes the best form of flattery. It just means "Hey, your idea is cool man."

Post by **Stiltzkin** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 9:20 am

reminds me of a picture i saw of Eds guitarcollection once ...

however ... if I were to get a LesPaul ... it would have to be a goldtop

tedeeoo · Post by **tedeeoo** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 4:56 pm

One thing you have to give Ed is that rock guitar was forever changed with his coming, maybe moreso him than anyone else with the possible exception of Jimi Hendrix.

Paul Wolfe · Post by **Paul Wolfe** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 5:44 pm

My take on the 'Randy learned everything from me' comment is that Randy said, more than one, that a LOT of his students wanted to learn Eruption. That song, by everyone's definition, revolutionized rock guitar. Ed didn't 'invent' all the techniques, but he did them in a way never heard before. Randy may have been at the same place talent-wise, but even he said he stole Ed's stuff for his spotlight solo. So I figure that he learned a lot from teaching Eruption that he may not have played otherwise. He then took that stuff and morphed it through his own vision of the guitar.

I posted the picture because it's the only time I've seen a Les Paul engraved like that other than by a Randy fanatic... I'm thinking that, maybe, Ed picked up on a thing or two from Randy.

In the new Guitar World, it's going to be interesting because both Ed and Iommi have ties to Randy Rhoads. A lot of people have asked Iommi about Randy because RR technically replaced Iommi in Ozzy's musical life. A lot of people have asked Ed about Randy because of the L.A connection. Ed was a big Sabbath fan, so I'm sure he checked out Ozzy's first solo stuff... I'd love to see at least one question on that subject in the interview.

tedeeoo · Post by **tedeeoo** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 7:24 pm

To me comparing Eddie and Randy is kind of like comparing apples to oranges, yes they grew up playing the same places so it stands to reason that they learned from each other. But, as they each developed their own styles, they sounded less and less alike. My take on Ed is that he's always been somewhat insecure, I know when he was with Peavey that his contract stipulated Peavey could not endorse other hard rock players. And I can't ever remember Van Halen taking out an opening band, with the exception of some of the festival type shows, that had a really smoking guitar player. One thing you need to remember about that engraved Les Paul is that Eddie and Les seemed to be ( at the least Les was very fond of Eddie) fairly close, and if Les wanted Ed to have a Paul with his name on it I think he more than had the clout at Gibson to get it done, lol!!! I also remember an older pic of Eddie where he did have a Goldtop with just the humbucker in it.

Paul Wolfe · Post by **Paul Wolfe** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 7:39 pm

Ed also had a white Custom like Randy's at one point...

I agree, they are totally different as players, but it stands to reason that Randy picked up on some things by teaching Eruption. Can't you see him saying, "That's kind of cool, I could use that... now what if i did it like this?"

Yeah Les did seem fond of Ed, I just don't think I've ever seen a Les Paul engraved like that 'cept for Randy's... of course Randy had to get the idea from somewhere, too, right?

tedeeoo · Post by **tedeeoo** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 9:17 pm

I think they definately used some of each others ideas, like I said they grew up and played in the same places, to me I just never really heard anything in Randy's playing that sounded like Eddie and vice-versa. Randy used some tapping and harmonics, but he used them in a completely different way than Eddie did (like what you said). Not saying he didn't have Eddie's influence, just that he was a smart enough player to find his own way to use it. To me it's kind of like comparing Sabbath and Zeppelin, metal guitar players changed after Randy came along (Sabbath) and hard rock players changed after Ed (LZ), both groups were heavy, but they laid blueprints for heavy rock music to go in 2 different directions (I hope that makes sense). As for the engraved LP, I am almost sure that pic of Ed and Les is from that b-day party that I mentioned which was well after Randy had passed. Could be that Ed remembered it from Randy's LP, I'd like to think maybe it was Ed's silent tribute to Randy, probably wasn't but I like the sound of it so I think I'll go with it, lol!!!!

oth · Post by **oth** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 10:38 pm

EVH may have influenced RR but RR did not influence evh one bit...VH was already big time in late 77 and QR was playing bad cheeze pop songs.
EVH has been his own island his whole career.
That engraved lp was a gift from gibson.They engraved it not evh.

tedeeoo · Post by **tedeeoo** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 11:26 pm

[quote="oth"]
EVH has been his own island his whole career.

That statement makes sense in so many ways.

Tito · Post by **Tito** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 11:35 pm

even though i dont like evh"s attitude,i have to agree with oth and tedeeoo...

Ultimate Rhoads

RR and EVH

RR and EVH

E V H