R.I.P. Eddie Van Halen

Smok'in guitar. Another great, gone. RIP
 
Yeah, us guitarist here know how heavily he impacted the style of playing for decades since. Never was a huge Van Halen fan, but I know where to take my hat off in respect. He had some serious health issues the last 20 years...rough ending. Interesting that he related it to holding brass picks in his lips always touching that part of his tounge...makes you wonder. Thank God I always used plastic picks.
 
Hmm, the connection to brass/copper/zinc guitar picks is probably hard to understand for someone without a background in science or medicine. I wouldn't expect that out of a Los Angeles entertainer. None of those metals would present such a hazard, and if they did, we'd have stopped wearing jewelry, wristwatches, and belt buckles a long time ago. Eddie was a smoker for at least a couple of decades. The pictures were all in those shiny music fan magazines in the '80s.
 
I take it with a grain of salt, but he says he had clear lungs after admitting a life of heavy smoking & taking drugs. Tonge cancer started the ball rolling on his health decline, an area of direct contact with his tongue for decades. There probably is a difference between skin contact and tongue...just as there are differences between skin contact and lungs. Again, his theory, not mine.
 
I never saw Van Halen. Stood in front of a record store in a bad part of town waiting for it to open and scored awesome tickets. Nobody else was there. :congratulate: Ended up selling them for a big profit and still regret that.

I used that trick for many years to score great seats.
 
There's an article on PM online that goes with the pic, about Ed and his guitar tinkering
I'll post a link if I can find it again
-M
www.popularmechanics.com

How the Late Rock God Eddie Van Halen Hacked His Guitar

The legend, who passed away today, didn't just transform the guitar forever—he even patented his game-changing innovations. Here's how he redefined rock and roll, in his own words.
www.popularmechanics.com www.popularmechanics.com
 
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