2020 is a terrible year, after all the lives we’ve lost for Covid-19 we also lost one of the best guitarists of all time, Eddie Van Halen, that died at the age of 65 victim of throat cancer. He inspired millions of musicians around the world and will stay forever in our hearts. The sad news was in the social networks by his son Wolfgang
Wolfgang said about Eddie Van Halen (His father) death:
“I can’t believe I’m having to write this, but my father, Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, has lost his long and arduous battle with cancer this morning. He was the best father I could ever ask for. Every moment I’ve shared with him on and off stage was a gift.”
“My heart is broken and I don’t think I’ll ever fully recover from this loss. I love you so much, Pop.”
Eddie Van Halen technique
Early in his career, Eddie played the drums and the keyboard and Alex played the guitar and studied the keyboard. Over time Alex got better than Eddie on drums, and Eddie started to train the guitar, overcoming him.
Eddie is one of the most acclaimed guitarists in history. Receiving several honors and mentions from the most varied magazines specializing in the subject. He also ranks 8th on the list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time by Rolling Stone magazine and 7th on the Gibson list of the 50 best guitarists of all time.
Back in 1979, after the release of Van Halen‘s second album, the guitarist talked about the first guitar he ever had in an interview with Steven Rosen.
When asked if he recalled the first guitar he ever had, Eddie Van Halen said:
“Oh, yeah, hah hah hah. A Sears Teisco Del Rey. A three-pickup job. I thought the more pickups it had, the better guitar it was. The more switches and everything. Nowadays I’ve got kind of a home-made copy of a Strat with just one pickup and one volume knob on it. Really simple.”
“It looks like a Strat but, there’s a place in San Dimas, California called Charvel Guitars and they custom make ’em. Mine wasn’t really custom made, it was like a junk neck and a hacked-up body that was just laying around. I wanted to experiment building my own guitar so I could get the sound I wanted.”