FAN HALEN GUITARIST SHREDS WHOLE VH1 ALBUM IN 10 MINS!

---

So how did this all come about? Well, it all started when I got a rather brief message via messenger from Daniel Lang, amp builder extraordinaire, that read, "Hey would you be interested in recording at Sunset Sound where Van Halen recorded for the studio’s Van Halen month?" What? Van Halen month, are you kidding me? Record what? When? What will I play? I had all these questions running through my mind so not really knowing what it was or what I’d be getting myself into I replied cautiously... "OMG YES!"

It turns out they wanted me in the very next day and all I really knew was I would be using Daniel’s amp and performing “Eruption,” and oh yeah, they want me to “dress the part!” 

Ok, I have less than 24 hours to get ready. The first thing I need to address is, I haven’t really played through a tube amp in over two years because with all the touring we do, I went digital for convenience and consistency. Playing a tube amp compared to a digital amp has a whole different feel and response so I knew I better rehearse using a tube amp. So I set up my amp at home and decided to break out all my vintage gear including my Echoplex, ‘70s era MXR pedals, BOSS GE-10 EQ and a variac. I quickly ditched all the vintage gear because it was way too NOISY and replaced it all with their modern-counterparts, much quieter!

I proceeded to run through Eruption no less than 25 times knowing I’m going to be recording Eruption in the exact spot Eddie Van Halen recorded Eruption and this is sure to be scrutinized so I better do my best. As we all know the internet is full of EVH “experts” who have no problem offering-up their opinions from behind their computer screens based on their superior EVH guitar wizardry and know-how. I’m always the first to say, there’s only one EVH. NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE, can play like him so I’ll do what I always do, and that’s pay “tribute” to this extraordinary musician by playing my heart out to the best of my ability. So let me ask you, if you were faced with a decision to either tell Sunset Sound thank you for the offer but no thank you because of the “haters” or get the experience of a lifetime and record at the epicenter of where Van Halen history was made, what would you do? Well since you’ve seen the video you know what I chose.

I arrived the next afternoon to Sunset Sound in Hollywood on a picture perfect sunny day and was greeted by Sunset Sound representative, Drew Dempsey who quickly asked, “where’s Derek from Fan Halen?” He had only seen my videos wearing my EVH “hairpiece” (I try to never use the “w” word as it has too much negative connotations). I explained “I’m Derek, without the EVH garb.” Truth be told, I was hoping the request for me to dress up like EVH was not completely true knowing it would add to the scrutiny but I soon learned that this was an expectation that I’d need to meet.

After a brief tour of the iconic studio and an introduction to the recording engineer, George, a super cool and chill guy, we quickly entered Studio 1 and began setting up the Lang Amp. The amp was to be set up in the vocal sound booth where David Lee Roth did his vocals and I would perform in the main room. Also in the main room was the video crew setting up their video equipment and using a projector to project EVH’s infamous red, white and black stripe pattern on the studio wall. Once I got everything up and running it was quickly apparent that the Lang Amp was not giving me what I needed as far as gain and umph to perform EVH’s 1 minute 43 second masterpiece. I tried hitting the amp a little harder with an EP-PRE pedal that I brought, closer but not quite there. I’d just have to go with it and hope for the best and besides, how many Van Halen fanatics would really see this anyways, (gulp) I’m in trouble I thought.

It was time to get dressed so I asked if there was a place I could go to get into my wardrobe. They said I could use Prince’s bathroom located in Studio 3 (this is the studio Prince used to record the Purple Rain album...are you kidding me!). The bathroom was as small as a phone-booth, very fitting I suppose. In the bathroom, panic and fear started to creep into my psyche. How am I going to pull this off with an amp that is not giving me what I need. I splashed some water on my face, looked in the mirror, you know, the one Prince would look into, and told myself, I just need to suck it up and give it my best. So with an air of confidence I marched back to Studio 1 in my superhero outfit.

When I put the guitar back on I asked to try one more thing, let’s try cranking the amp to “eleven” and let the amp do the work and see what happens. Sure enough this did the trick, glorious sustain and harmonics flew effortlessly from the speakers. Saved! Well, so I thought. When I put the cans (headphones) on so I could hear the amp from inside the vocal booth, it was clipping the mics and they were breaking up something awful. According to the recording Engineer, the amp was too loud for the three mic’s in-front of the amp’s speakers causing terrible distortion (and not the good kind). We’d have to turn the amp’s volume back down in order to get a good recording. Panic and fear once again reared its head when suddenly Daniel looked at me and said, “hey I have a Lang clean-boost pedal in my car, should I go get it?” The pedal was engineered to be used with the amp so it worked perfect and sounded amazing. Let’s record!

Just before I was to begin recording Drew said, “let’s have you perform 20 to 30 seconds of each song on VHI.” wait, wait, what?" As I mentioned, I thought I would be just recording Eruption so this is what I had prepared. I certainly know all the songs on VHI but hadn't prepare what part of each song I’d perform and how I’d transition to the next song, etc.. So I did what any other Eddie-want-a-be professional would do, I just went for it! I started playing and completely on the fly chose what riffs to play and tried to figure out where I’d stop and then transition to the next song all the while I’m playing. I knew I wanted to play the chorus and most of the solos but exactly which ones would not be known to me until I had to play them.

There was one more obstacle I’d need to overcome. Because we were video taping my performance and using the projector for the EVH stripes behind me, the lights in the studio were turned off. The studio was very dark and this made it challenging for me to see the neck of my guitar, forcing me to have to rely on muscle-memory to know where to put my fingers. After a few missed notes, some of which can still be heard in the video, someone found a small flashlight in the studio and proceeded to shine it on the guitar neck giving me some relief.

After three takes it was over and you can hear me say, “I just want to make him proud,” which is all I was really thinking and caring about.

I absolutely gave it my best and felt I couldn’t have done it any better under the circumstances. Sure, ideally I would have loved to use my own equipment that I was comfortable with, perform sitting down with the lights on (and wearing my glasses) and had prepared how I would perform each song, etc. but sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

I can’t thank all the great people at Sunset Sound and Dan Lang enough for giving me this once in a lifetime opportunity. It’s an experience I will never forget and cherish for the rest of my life. Thank you! 

— Derek Fuller