Originally Posted by: Neal Walter
Eddie Van Halen used a gold top Les Paul on a lot of the first Van Halen album even though you usually see him playing his custom strat.

Do you have a source for that? :confused:

We recently had a thread about this business of EVHs guitars.

Everything I've read quotes EVH (and others) as using the Shark for some of the non-vibrato tracks and tunes (i.e. RWTD, YRGM, etc.).

You can clearly hear the difference in tone from those tracks and tunes on which he obviously used the B & W Frankenstrat (i.e. Eruption, I'm The One, etc.).

Further, the old promo vids from VH1 show him playing the Shark for RWTD and YRGM.

I've read a couple of things from EVH and others that he did use a Les Paul on later albums for small overdubs. But I have never heard he used a LP on the first few albums at all.

I know he used a LP live on the first few tours. I've seen pix and vids. And heard a couple of bootlegs in which I assume must be using it. Doesn't sound like the B&W Frank. And in older interviews he mentions occassionlly using his LP later in a concert set because, "By the end of the show my strats were all out of tune!".