Eddie was an idiot
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Adwex
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Because it's pointless.
If the strings come off my guitar or bass the only thing that's getting put back on there is a full set of brand new strings.
chuckharmonjr
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No hell no...he was boiling strings to get his finger funk off and not buy new ones cause he was broke
chuckharmonjr
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Damned skippy AV. Hell I cut the old ones loose with a pair of lesbian pliers one at a time
Moose Coghill
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Regardless of the cool tunes and playing style (which he did not invent, only capitalized upon - see Allan Holdsworth, whom he credited in an early interview), anyone who has followed Eddie over the years has seen his true colors; and should take any tech tips he has handed out with a grain of salt.
But in all fairness, he came from an era when musicians and techs in general were not generous with their 'secrets' like they are today. Guitarists in particular tried to hide their best riffs and electronic tricks. Discovering the marketing potential for such 'secrets', and of course the Internet is what brought much of what we discuss freely into the light. Good thing too!
But in all fairness, he came from an era when musicians and techs in general were not generous with their 'secrets' like they are today. Guitarists in particular tried to hide their best riffs and electronic tricks. Discovering the marketing potential for such 'secrets', and of course the Internet is what brought much of what we discuss freely into the light. Good thing too!
Wiseblood
Well-Known Member
In his book (not sure the title, I'd have to check, but I picked it up once inside a book store) anyway, he said he changed his strings every day! This would indicate (to me anyway) that he was after a brighter/crisper sound from his strings, .08-.042's I think, and apparently there's a "top secret" way he winds them too, he specifically wouldn't elaborate - again who knows whats true and what's BS. Even at this point he's made it and shouldn't be worried about people taking his ideas or anything and set the fuckin record straight. Like fuck if people always hoarded info we wouldn't have all kinds of technology that we have today (that Mr Eddie probably enjoys himself) so fuckin share the wealth is what I say.
SoloDallas
Well-Known Member
Not you (the idiot).
I boil the bass strings as well. Sounds almost like new, it brings back the brightness in them, and they last longer.
On giutar strings you risk breaking them (at least the 1st couple strings)
On giutar strings you risk breaking them (at least the 1st couple strings)
Someone told me you have to boil them in vinegar... (?)
I am a bit older than most here, and I remember (and probably still have) the articles referenced here about EVH.
Many have answered correctly and a few are slightly off base, so I'm hoping to share what I've learned.
IMO, YMMV:
Wax potting has been covered well so I won't address it.
Boiling strings will remove the gunk/dirt from in between the windings. This will make the strings sound brighter. Unfortunately, the effect is very short-lived. Also, boiling the strings does not take away the wear/indents caused by the frets so intonation may be wacked when the strings are re-installed. Also, metal has "memory" and some of the bends will make the string weaker and possibly break sooner.
A Variac can be used to lower the voltage from the wall into the amp, essentially "starving" the tubes. This will allow you to crank the volume higher on the amp with less output into the speakers. I have been doing this for 30+ years now with several amps with no ill effect. Essentially you get power tube "crunch" at a lower volume. There is a limit to the effectiveness of this. I am not an electronics expert but the amp repair tech at the music store I worked at in 1978 taught me this.
If you use the Variac to boost the amp above wall voltage, you will fry your head sooner rather than later. According to EVH in an early interview, he boosted his amps with a Variac to get them to run hotter and get his special distortion. I saw many amps brought in for repair when this interview came out due to blown transformers (primarily) from trying to copy EVH and boost the voltage into their amp. EVH later admitted he just said that to f--- with people trying to "cop his thing".
"Vintage" (older) amps and their components were designed to "see" approximately 110v (which was the US standard for many years) not the modern day 115v+. A Variac can maintain the life expectancy of components that were not designed to run higher than 110v by reducing the wall voltage going into an amp.
EVH has shown his insecurities in recent years as his addictions have gotten out of hand. Unfortunately some of the misinformation he stated early in his career continues to get repeated.
There are many more things he said that were lies that weren't mentioned in this thread so I won't add to the length of this post by introducing them.
I hope this helps. Sorry for the length! As mentioned above, IMO, YMMV.
Many have answered correctly and a few are slightly off base, so I'm hoping to share what I've learned.
IMO, YMMV:
Wax potting has been covered well so I won't address it.
Boiling strings will remove the gunk/dirt from in between the windings. This will make the strings sound brighter. Unfortunately, the effect is very short-lived. Also, boiling the strings does not take away the wear/indents caused by the frets so intonation may be wacked when the strings are re-installed. Also, metal has "memory" and some of the bends will make the string weaker and possibly break sooner.
A Variac can be used to lower the voltage from the wall into the amp, essentially "starving" the tubes. This will allow you to crank the volume higher on the amp with less output into the speakers. I have been doing this for 30+ years now with several amps with no ill effect. Essentially you get power tube "crunch" at a lower volume. There is a limit to the effectiveness of this. I am not an electronics expert but the amp repair tech at the music store I worked at in 1978 taught me this.
If you use the Variac to boost the amp above wall voltage, you will fry your head sooner rather than later. According to EVH in an early interview, he boosted his amps with a Variac to get them to run hotter and get his special distortion. I saw many amps brought in for repair when this interview came out due to blown transformers (primarily) from trying to copy EVH and boost the voltage into their amp. EVH later admitted he just said that to f--- with people trying to "cop his thing".
"Vintage" (older) amps and their components were designed to "see" approximately 110v (which was the US standard for many years) not the modern day 115v+. A Variac can maintain the life expectancy of components that were not designed to run higher than 110v by reducing the wall voltage going into an amp.
EVH has shown his insecurities in recent years as his addictions have gotten out of hand. Unfortunately some of the misinformation he stated early in his career continues to get repeated.
There are many more things he said that were lies that weren't mentioned in this thread so I won't add to the length of this post by introducing them.
I hope this helps. Sorry for the length! As mentioned above, IMO, YMMV.
TwinACStacks
Well-Known Member
*sniff-sniff* I'm a little more highbrow than that.
May I suggest an Aged Rosemary Balsamic Vinegar?
TWIN
*sniff-sniff* I'm a little more highbrow than that.
May I suggest an Aged Rosemary Balsamic Vinegar?
Of course
bluesymetal
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I love EVH, he might be my favorite player and biggest influence, however he is off his rocker man. Sammy Hagar in his new book states Eddie said he operated on himself for his tongue cancer or something along those lines and some other crazy lies...
he also credited Page for the tapping he mutated.
Nu_Majorguy
New Member
Am I misunderstanding you, but you believe EVH did wax potting first? Not that wax potting was done as a standard thing back in the 40's & 50's?
I know that Bass players used to boil their strings to bring back the snap & pop to the strings, but doing it on a plain string is kind of dumb.
5er driver
Active Member
Many years ago I boiled the bronze wound strings of a twelve string set once just to see what the rumor was about. They brightened up tonally but figured buying new strings is the way to go.
I also remember him saying ,DiMarzio pickups were"too distorted" and Bigsbies were the worse vibrato system
He didn't say which model DiMarzios . But I would like to thank him,as guys were rippin the DiMarzio PAFs (really the only game in town in those days) outa their guitars and sellin 'em to me for next to nothin,same with the bigsbies...Thanks EVH for everything ....My SG sounds incredible
He didn't say which model DiMarzios . But I would like to thank him,as guys were rippin the DiMarzio PAFs (really the only game in town in those days) outa their guitars and sellin 'em to me for next to nothin,same with the bigsbies...Thanks EVH for everything ....My SG sounds incredible
