Riff Tone

Unchained

Van Halen

Guitarrock1980s

Original Gear

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

AmpMarshall Super Lead 1959 100-watt (run through a Variac, voltage lowered to ~90V, with dummy load and re-amped to cab)

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

Amp Settings

gain7.5

bass6

mid7

treble7

reverb0.5

presence6.5

Effects & Signal Chain

flangerMXR MXR M-117 Flanger

Notes

Studio recording, 1981. Guitar tuned to Drop C# (C# G# C# F# A# D#). No evidence of other guitars or amps used for the riff. Effects are from pedals, not amp. No evidence of effects loop in studio.

Tone Character(10)

tight palm-muted chugsaggressive midrange biteswirling flanger sweeppercussive and articulate attackharmonic overtonesdynamic response to pickingclassic British crunchhigh-output humbucker claritymodulation swirl on riff accentsslightly compressed, saturated crunch

Difficulty

The riff requires advanced palm muting, precise timing to match the flanger sweep, and dynamic picking, making it challenging for most guitarists.

Sources

Eddie Van Halen's Guitar Gear, Frankenstrat & Pedalboard | Equipboard Eddie Van Halen on how he used his MXR Phase 90 & Flanger pedals | Guitar World Eddie Van Halen's guitar gear: get the tone of the hard-rock icon | Guitar World Hear Eddie Van Halen's Isolated Guitar from 'Mean Street' and 'Unchained' | Guitar World

This tone has been researched 34 times by the community

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