Riff Tone

Good Enough

Van Halen

Guitarrock1980s

Original Gear

GuitarErnie Ball Music Man EVH Signature (likely 1985-86 model, as used on 5150/5150-era recordings)

AmpPeavey 5150 head (early prototype, studio version, 1985-86)

PickupsDiMarzio custom-wound humbuckers (Music Man stock, high output, ceramic magnet)

Amp Settings

gain7.5

bass6

mid6.5

treble7

reverb1.5

presence6.5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1985-86, for the album '5150'. Eddie Van Halen used his signature Ernie Ball Music Man guitar and the then-new Peavey 5150 amp. No evidence of live rig or alternate guitars for this section.

Tone Character(10)

tight palm-muted chugsaggressive and saturatedbright and articulatepunchy low endcutting upper midspercussive attackclear note separationharmonic overtonessaturated crunchclassic '5150' era Van Halen rhythm tone

Difficulty

The riff requires advanced right-hand technique, tight palm muting, and fast, accurate picking at a high tempo, making it challenging for most players.

Sources

Eddie Van Halen's guitar gear: get the tone of the hard-rock icon Eddie Van Halen's Guitar Gear, Frankenstrat & Pedalboard Copping the “Brown Sound” of Eddie Van Halen | Reverb News

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