Riff Tone

(Oh) Pretty Woman

Van Halen

Guitarrock1980s

Original Gear

GuitarFrankenstrat (custom-built Strat-style, maple neck, single humbucker, Floyd Rose tremolo)

AmpMarshall Super Lead 1959 100-watt (modded, variac, EL34s, no master volume)

PickupsSeymour Duncan Custom PAF-style humbucker (bridge position, wax-potted, high output)

Amp Settings

gain7.5

bass5.5

mid7

treble7

reverb0.5

presence6

Effects & Signal Chain

chorusMXR Chorus pedal (likely MXR Analog Chorus or similar)

Notes

Studio recording, 1981-1982 for 'Diver Down' album. No pedal distortion; amp driven hard with variac. Effects added via pedals, not amp. No evidence of live rig or later chorus pedals used on original studio recording.

Tone Character(10)

British crunchaggressive bridge pickup attacktight palm mutingmodulation shimmer (chorus effect)punchy midrangearticulate pick attackslightly compressedharmonic overtonesclassic 'brown sound'clear note separation

Difficulty

The riff requires tight palm muting, precise timing with the chorus effect, and aggressive picking for the signature Van Halen attack, making it moderately challenging for intermediate players.

Sources

Eddie Van Halen's Guitar Gear, Frankenstrat & Pedalboard Eddie Van Halen's guitar gear: get the tone of the hard-rock icon EVH Debuts New 5150 Chorus Pedal - Guitar World Eddie Van Halen on how he used his MXR Phase 90 & Flanger pedals

Create an account to adapt this tone to your gear

Create Free Account