EVH had so much magic in his hands. Even so, chasing down his unique gear and setups is always fun and worthwhile. Happy to see you enjoying the tone chasing Dr. Burry. 🤘🤘🤘
Hi Joe! thank you for posting here. I really appreciate that. You would know better than anyone else ever, I would say. And you just reminded me I need a Gold Boy.
Eddie and his brother were classically trained musicians. Reading this article reminds me of the gearheads in auto shop during high school, pre-fuel injection days, who were always tinkering with their engines to squeeze more performance out of their cars through trial and error. More speed off the line, or more top end, or better handling, they basically would take the shell of a car and plug in the parts they thought would yield the best results. Thanks for the interesting read Dr. Burry!
I have no idea about guitars nor was I even born when any of the artists played, but I can appreciate the music of that time — but specifically, the detailed breakdown and assembly of an instrument, all by hand, trial and error
Very impressive and very demanding. But very spiritual as well as once can disassemble and reassemble something masterfully
Most underrated Van Halen song... Aftershock from the last record with Sammy (Balance). Eddie was healthy and sober during that period ... Sammy had him into fitness. Great sound... he's playing the EBMM.
You can "hear a lifted shift in the mids"?!?!?! <mouth agape>
I can barely distinguish octaves. But I also scare small children with my singing so at least I'm consistent.
Interestingly, I was also the one (in the 80s) that could hear the monitor that had been left on when closing the computer lab and I often recognize people by their voice before their looks. <shrug>
I was thrown off by an Eddie interview where he said he never used any distortion or effects. “All you need is a really good amp.” Not a single word by tinkering with pickups. That left me a bit confused. This makes more sense.
I saw him live at an outdoor theater in The Woodlands, where the acoustics for loud music was awesome. Probably around 1995 or 96. Saw Boston there as well about the time. Architectural acoustics is a big deal for me. I hunt out the best venues for sound. Eddie was awesome.
I designed my own home recording studio. Worked out awesome acoustically. But large spaces are a different animal due to the bouncing of sound off distant objects where echo comes into play.
In grad school acoustics in the 80’s we used to draw line diagrams from a sound source, like light reflection, off the stage walls, to see if the reflections had any concentrations in the seats. Sound dispersal is very important. Those decorative baroque theaters often do a nice job of equal spreading of various wave sizes of the decor in equalized directions. Concentrated frequency is death. Voice theaters need more echo. Orchestra less. Each music type and instrument type needs its own theater. They don’t mix.
Bad acoustics in modern space is painful and irritating. Your only hope in many big venues is to get tickets very close to the stage. Open air arenas have a better chance because the sound can’t bounce back, it escapes out the missing wall in the back. But some outdoor arenas stupidly have concrete walls in front, which can create a harsh sound. All your architecture behind the speakers is part of the speaker.
If you see lots of odd shapes in a modern theater, they are trying to disperse a variety of wave lengths as much as possible, hopefully avoiding concentrations. You can literally map it out with line reflections.
But material densities also play a role on critical frequencies. Carnegie hall is made of wood, great for wood pianos. If you haven’t heard Moonlight Sonata in Carnegie Hall you haven’t lived. Doesn’t matter where you sit in that theater.
But to answer your question, it's trial and error. Hard to know what works until you hear it. So when you are in the right theater for the right sound, you will know. Theaters with problems have to experiment to solve. There are principles, but fine tuning can be rerquired until things are right. I went to Woodlands about a year ago to hear David Mattews. I was very dissapointed in the sound. It was harsh. Too loud. I don't know if the theater changed, or if DM had a bad sound engineer, or it was my aging ears. But I was not happy. I have since bought some quality acoustic type earplugs for the future, in case I need to lower the volume to something reasonable.
This is so cool! Two of my two favorite rabbit hole subjects, guitar pickups and stock markets! I have lost count of how many times I have been asked to duplicate this specific EVH pickup. I can't wait to experiment with your data. This is why all the info here is so great. You can tell it is soaked in the love of discovery wrapped in creativity. Thanks for sharing Mike!
Thanks for sharing this Dr. Burry. I love rock music, but had no idea the detail that the masters of their craft put into their equipment. It should surprise me as a golfer hearing stories of the tweaks touring pros put into modifying their equipment. And this level of detail is consistent with the level of detail you put into analyzing the IV15 investments that we get to see in your Trading Posts. Appreciate this Dr. Burry on a number of levels, but have new found respect to the guitar Rock Gods!
Cool rabbit hole. I’d say EVH hands and the Marshall Plexi starved by a Variac was the secret sauce and probably outweighed the pick ups for helping create the brown sound
Beyond my technical knowledge but what a great article. Most of my musical listening experiences were late 60s and 70s. (As you know I am a Who/Moon fan. Thank you for sharing and posting this and all the work you do.
EVH had so much magic in his hands. Even so, chasing down his unique gear and setups is always fun and worthwhile. Happy to see you enjoying the tone chasing Dr. Burry. 🤘🤘🤘
Hi Joe! thank you for posting here. I really appreciate that. You would know better than anyone else ever, I would say. And you just reminded me I need a Gold Boy.
Hey, Satch!
This was the last person I’d expect to comment on this post. So cool!
Joe Satriani posting here. How cool.
The best substack in the world - stocks and heavy metal! Appreciate you being you, always.
Fun article! Love the pics. I was surprised because from the Big Short movie I thought you were a drummer? Maybe both drums and guitar?
Eddie and his brother were classically trained musicians. Reading this article reminds me of the gearheads in auto shop during high school, pre-fuel injection days, who were always tinkering with their engines to squeeze more performance out of their cars through trial and error. More speed off the line, or more top end, or better handling, they basically would take the shell of a car and plug in the parts they thought would yield the best results. Thanks for the interesting read Dr. Burry!
I have no idea about guitars nor was I even born when any of the artists played, but I can appreciate the music of that time — but specifically, the detailed breakdown and assembly of an instrument, all by hand, trial and error
Very impressive and very demanding. But very spiritual as well as once can disassemble and reassemble something masterfully
I suddenly need to hear Dr Burry play Little Guitars. I think EVH's experimentation with his equipment eventually led to his best tone on Balance.
I doubt anyone else has gone that far down the EVH pick-up road! What's your favorite Van Halen song?
Little Guitars
Most underrated Van Halen song... Aftershock from the last record with Sammy (Balance). Eddie was healthy and sober during that period ... Sammy had him into fitness. Great sound... he's playing the EBMM.
Polymath Badassery Part Deaux 👏
You can "hear a lifted shift in the mids"?!?!?! <mouth agape>
I can barely distinguish octaves. But I also scare small children with my singing so at least I'm consistent.
Interestingly, I was also the one (in the 80s) that could hear the monitor that had been left on when closing the computer lab and I often recognize people by their voice before their looks. <shrug>
I was thrown off by an Eddie interview where he said he never used any distortion or effects. “All you need is a really good amp.” Not a single word by tinkering with pickups. That left me a bit confused. This makes more sense.
I saw him live at an outdoor theater in The Woodlands, where the acoustics for loud music was awesome. Probably around 1995 or 96. Saw Boston there as well about the time. Architectural acoustics is a big deal for me. I hunt out the best venues for sound. Eddie was awesome.
That is awesome, and so smart. Do you calculate the acoustic properties yourself to figure out where to go?
I designed my own home recording studio. Worked out awesome acoustically. But large spaces are a different animal due to the bouncing of sound off distant objects where echo comes into play.
In grad school acoustics in the 80’s we used to draw line diagrams from a sound source, like light reflection, off the stage walls, to see if the reflections had any concentrations in the seats. Sound dispersal is very important. Those decorative baroque theaters often do a nice job of equal spreading of various wave sizes of the decor in equalized directions. Concentrated frequency is death. Voice theaters need more echo. Orchestra less. Each music type and instrument type needs its own theater. They don’t mix.
Bad acoustics in modern space is painful and irritating. Your only hope in many big venues is to get tickets very close to the stage. Open air arenas have a better chance because the sound can’t bounce back, it escapes out the missing wall in the back. But some outdoor arenas stupidly have concrete walls in front, which can create a harsh sound. All your architecture behind the speakers is part of the speaker.
If you see lots of odd shapes in a modern theater, they are trying to disperse a variety of wave lengths as much as possible, hopefully avoiding concentrations. You can literally map it out with line reflections.
But material densities also play a role on critical frequencies. Carnegie hall is made of wood, great for wood pianos. If you haven’t heard Moonlight Sonata in Carnegie Hall you haven’t lived. Doesn’t matter where you sit in that theater.
But to answer your question, it's trial and error. Hard to know what works until you hear it. So when you are in the right theater for the right sound, you will know. Theaters with problems have to experiment to solve. There are principles, but fine tuning can be rerquired until things are right. I went to Woodlands about a year ago to hear David Mattews. I was very dissapointed in the sound. It was harsh. Too loud. I don't know if the theater changed, or if DM had a bad sound engineer, or it was my aging ears. But I was not happy. I have since bought some quality acoustic type earplugs for the future, in case I need to lower the volume to something reasonable.
Which I am a big VH fan, very cool article Dr. Burry.
This is so cool! Two of my two favorite rabbit hole subjects, guitar pickups and stock markets! I have lost count of how many times I have been asked to duplicate this specific EVH pickup. I can't wait to experiment with your data. This is why all the info here is so great. You can tell it is soaked in the love of discovery wrapped in creativity. Thanks for sharing Mike!
Thank you Jon! Your pickups are top top!!!! I appreciate you posting here.
Thanks for sharing this Dr. Burry. I love rock music, but had no idea the detail that the masters of their craft put into their equipment. It should surprise me as a golfer hearing stories of the tweaks touring pros put into modifying their equipment. And this level of detail is consistent with the level of detail you put into analyzing the IV15 investments that we get to see in your Trading Posts. Appreciate this Dr. Burry on a number of levels, but have new found respect to the guitar Rock Gods!
Eddie Van Halen and his solo Eruption. Literally Eruption. I get goosebumps every time I hear certain parts.
Have you all noticed that the song Canción del Mariachi (with Antonio Banderas) shares some similar tones with Eruption? I don't think I'm wrong.
A beautiful guitar collection, it's nice to be versatile in life and have different hobbies.
Cool rabbit hole. I’d say EVH hands and the Marshall Plexi starved by a Variac was the secret sauce and probably outweighed the pick ups for helping create the brown sound
Beyond my technical knowledge but what a great article. Most of my musical listening experiences were late 60s and 70s. (As you know I am a Who/Moon fan. Thank you for sharing and posting this and all the work you do.