svl

Too funny, Serial. I replaced the middle knob with a black to match the theme!

Jay, you can try to hide from the truth, but "godlike" is more than just a KMFDM song. It's you in a nutshell. We all know that Jay is also the most down-to-earth, humble guy ever, so it's no surprise he plays down the complements. None-the-less, he is THE most incredible builder/technician/luthier/tinkerer around, BAR NONE, and his work isn't just purty to look at, it's also the cat's PJs when it comes to playability. To answer the questions, indeed, those are my beloved Kahlers holding down the trem fort- the checkerboard one is sporting the new Teflon glass rollers, and though I haven't had a chance to ride 'em in the full-on rodeo yet, they do seem to make a difference in sustain and clarity. The sunburst Sunburst will be getting them as well, I'm pretty damn sure. The sunburst Sunburst also has the heavier springs onboard- I'm givin' 'em a shot at Jay's suggestion as I have always used the standard springs in my Kahlers. The checkerboard is my trusty #1 formerly black 1982 Sunburst, whose new finish just has me blown away. We decided to do this as a "vintage" finish that left the mojo of the last 30 years intact, and man was that a great move (again, Jay's conception). You can still see the checking, the dings are still there, the "white" aspects of the checkerboard are properly aged to match the binding and PUPs yellowing and it totally looks like it was done this way at the factory in '82. So SHHHHH- don't rat out our little secret and let's see if Uncle Dick makes a nasty call to Jol after he sees it! The sunburst Sunburst is a beautifully topped and finished 1980 bound and crowned, which I grabbed for a ridiculously low price late last year. It had a very ugly neck break close to the heal, and evidently (according to the cat I got it from) wasn't played much after the break (which happened long long long ago). Makes sense to me, as the guitar was in amazing shape except for the break repair- it was sold to me as "playable" but incredibly ugly (it was also ridiculously bumpy and annoying to play around). No finesse was used in the repair and it looked and felt like ass, but the worst part was the thing was completely unstable and warbled like a guitar snob whining about me slapping a Kahler on it. Our "guitar lord and savior" stabilized the neck break, making it a MONSTER to play- I knew the tone was fantastic, but the rods he inserted (insert your own dirty joke here) not only killed the warble but also increased the sustain tenfold. And as you can see, I also had Jay rout it for a Kahler (the '82 was Kahlered when I bought it, which is WHY I bought it). I've already laughed my ass off at the people bitching on the "Expert" board about me "ruining a vintage guitar with a hunk of shit", but figured a response here could be fun. I use Kahlers because I LOVE them- I'm not a Floyd cat, but I am a trem cat (it's part and parcel of my playing style), and I've used Kahlers on almost all my guitars since the '80s. I'm not a guy to "ruin a vintage instrument", but I am a guy who will adapt a tool to fit my needs. The neck break on the '80 Sunburst made it the perfect candidate to become my back-up #2 main axe as it would never have the collectibility or value an "intact" guitar would have, but would always remain a "player" guitar for anyone lucky enough to have it (which is me, and will someday be either my son, daughter or both). I would never do a major renovation on a guitar with the collectible aspect attached to it (my '82 Namm show Hamer Phantom Doubleneck is safe, as are all my other unbroken, near mint toys), but I am a guy who's playing for the ducats, and I need guitars that fit me, are ones I love to play and do what I need them to do. In my case it's original Dimarzio, setneck mahogany pre-1984 Hamers, Sunbursts and Specials in particular. What really pushed me to send this to Jay and get 'er done was the "accident' that happened to me three songs in at the debut Off Broadway USA concert last month. I had just finished a song, thought something sounded off on the '82 (again, my #1) and went to do a quick tune check and realized my D saddle was off. This was a no break, two hour straight concert setting, so I couldn't call timeout and pull out the tools. Had to switch to my '81 Vector (Kahlerless, for those keeping score) for the rest of the show, and even though it is an amazing guitar which I deeply love, it screwed me for various parts of the concert (ever try to play a V behind your head, or even with your teeth? It's a bitch in any event, and sometimes impossible. And doing a guitar battle with a god like John Ivan without my trusty trem is liking taking a plastic butter knife to a gunfight- I'm not a slouch, but with a guy at that incredible level of skill I need every advantage I can get). So, long story longer I decided to keep that sitch from ever happening again and give myself a duplicate back-up to solve the prob. Again, many many many many many many many thanks to the master, who is often imitated but NEVER duplicated, the God, the undefeated and undisputed champion of the guitar world, the one AND ONLY Jay Kolanda. Love ya, bro, you are the best! Edited to answer the question- 1/2 inch checkerboard squares.

Why? Stay tuned to find out...

It's hard to stand behind your word when you have a dog in a horse....

They know not to use them. That's right- only MEN can handle the mighty Kahler.

It looks good on you, though... Classic!

From the Off Broadway USA 35th anniversary debut a couple weeks ago- Checkerboard Doc Marten boots? Check. Checkerboard tie? Check. Checkerboard cabs, mic stand and straps? Check. Bad ass '81 bound body Vector? Check. Old geezer sportin' 'em all? Check. Nope, you are NEVER too old to rock the V, or anything else...

Wow. I can't tell what's geekier: a) that you would come up with that; or b ) that I know what you're talking about. Excelsior! Great to know there's another "true believer" on the forum.

A Hamer No-Prize (comic nerd reference)!

tommy, eff'ed it up 'cause I had 'em both open but fixed immediately. You were too quick into the thread! FYI- This and "Tattoo" are featured on CSI tonight....

Okay, if you can bitch about this one I just can'ts helps ya!

I think everyone that bags on Wolfie because of the way he looks should post up a pic of themselves. Gotta be some real lookers in the bunch...

My main desire is to have my '80 color Special back that was "lost" in Canada in '81. That's what led me to this forum in the first place.

+1 with the addition of I wish I had the bank account of Bank Teller EVH.

It's "tramp stamp tat"...

And what's that again? That it's the music "business", and money will be made regardless of the smug anti-fanboys critiques and protests. People can like it or not, but that (monetary success) is the ultimate goal that professionals in any industry strive for. Without it, ain't much gonna happen. It's all good, people. If ya dig what they're laying down, awesome. If ya don't that's groovy, too. Me, I'm just glad to get a chance to enjoy Dave & Ed together again, young, old, innovative or otherwise inclined.

Just remember that while "people everywhere" are indeed talking about and spending money on Van Halen, only we music nerds give a rat's ass about their new material. All the edgy, middle-aged, casual-fan suburbanites at the concerts will be taking leaks, buying beers and posting to Facebook about how awesome they are when "Tattoo" or "Bullethead" creep into the set. Oh, that's a given. Still doesn't change the outcome of the game...

I discuss NFL football too, but they'll never get another dime from me And yet somehow the NFL soldiers on...

You all know what the best part of all this conjecture, praise and criticism is? It's got people everywhere talking about VH again in a very big way (hell, look at this thread alone- five pages long already!), and buying the single and the tour tickets. All the AMEX only presale VIP big money ($995, $595 & $395) packages for Chicago sold out in the first couple of hours, which is more than likely true for the other markets as well. And you can bet the new album will do big numbers as well, both out of fan love and just plain old curiosity. Some of ya may hate it, some of ya may "meh" it and some of ya are truly diggin' it (like I am), but it all adds up to the same outcome for the band. Mo' fame, mo' money and hopefully for us diehards mo' VH albums to come. To paraphrase the wise one, "Life IS good- long live the Mighty Van Halen!"

Only four hours? "Luxury!" (Python meaning) For the upcoming Product Of Hate opus, we shot three days (two six hour and one 14 hour). Now granted, this is a "short film" which consists of two music pieces, wrap-arounds, special FX and such. Basically we shot 26 hours for a 12 minute video, five cameras. And then there was the months of post, CGI and editing, but that's another story. Agreed, "Tattoo" vid is completely on purpose and an artistic statement. From what I read, they spent an entire day shooting the vid at the Roxy.

Yah. The old Down in Flames was darker, heavier, and... better.To my knowledge, the only recording of Down in Flames is on the bootleg from the famous Sunday afternoon gig opening for Sabbath in Nashville. http://www.vhboots.c...vember1978.html Me thinks that since the new album has three tracks essentially written before they were signed speaks to what Sammy has said about EVH -- lotsa riffs in the can, but no songs. Either that, or it's a conscious decision to try to get some of their old vibe back, which would be nice. It'll be interesting to hear what they do to Bullethead, which used to be just two minutes long. Bottom line, if these tracks were that good to begin with, they would've been on the first album, or at least recycled (like Voodoo Queen & Where Were You Last Night) long before thirty years had passed. Like I said before, I'm A-OK with releasing old songs, if only they'd chosen the best ones! "She's the Woman", IMHO, wasn't one of them. I have a version of "DIF" from a New Years Eve show in '77. Great tune, definitely darker than "Tattoo". VH has said that they wanted to get back to the beginning and the original vibe, hence the reworking of old material, which is what the hardcore old school VH fan wants (I'm one of 'em). As to how good the tracks were to begin with, that's a personal opinion thing. I think there was a lot of the material on the old demos that was better than what they picked for the first three albums, but hey, I ain't the guy making the decisions. I love "She's The Woman", so there's that difference of opinion thing rearin' it's ugly head. As to Sammy- again an opinion thing- fuck him and his ballyhoo. Like any argument, there are three sides to this one and no matter the brothers dickheadedness he's just as guilty of being a dickhead. The bottom line is VH has a new album coming that's gonna please a lot of people (including me) and make dough, a money making massive tour (got my advance VIP tix this morning, and those suckers sold out fast here in Chicago and the aftermarket tix are going for big bucks) and the guys seem a lot happier and healthier than they have in a long time. Which IMO merits a big "Good for them!" cheer, I wish 'em all the best and will support all their endeavors in 2012 and beyond.

This one is not one of the early songs revisited, but She's The Woman is. It's the 2nd track on the new album and was played at the Cafe Wha show. Also, the track listing includes a song called Bullethead and that was the title of a real scorcher from back in the old days. I liked that old stuff and of course it's possible that other old riffs and songs have been resurrected and retitled. Like I said, the Tattoo single does nothing for me but I'll definitely be getting the album. It actually is a older song revisited. Musically it was originally "Down In Flames", with new lyrics. "Bullethead" is also the old "Bullethead". It took a couple listens, but I dig it. Dave sounds great, like the lyrics ("mousewife to momshell" is going into rotation in convos for sure) and as a whole it has a good bit of the "vibe". Still more psyched for "She's The Woman" and "Bullethead", but it was a good start. Getting my tix for both shows in just under a half hour.

Someone should be taking side bets...

Holy shit, man. I didn't think you could blow me away anymore than you already have, and yet there you have it. Just stunning work. Stunning.