Eddie Van Halen's Guitar Tech Tom Weber Restrings and Sets Up an EVH Frankenstein "Frankie" Guitar
Вставка
- Опубліковано 3 сер 2021
- Tom Weber stopped by Five Star Guitars to demonstrate the tools, techniques, and philosophies of setting up guitars for the world's biggest guitar heroes. Eddie Van Halen, C.C. DeVille, and many other six string stars have relied on Tom's expertise, consistency, and efficiency to get their instruments performance-ready while out on tour.
In this video, Tom restrings a limited edition custom shop Frankie. Throughout the process, Tom shares his time-saving techniques and go-to tools for getting the job done quickly. He patiently explains his approach to matching an instrument's setup to the player, providing reliable intonation and playability, and goes through each part of the process in-depth.
As Tom skillfully works through the setup, he shares his thoughts on component upgrades, tuner peg-head wrapping strategies, and even goes so far as to explain why gravity is an important consideration when tuning guitars for his artists!
Shot from multiple angles and close-up views, this tutorial is sure to inspire you to take your setup skills to the next level.
A huge thank you to Tom Weber for his time and expertise, Taft Stricklin for setting up logistics and connecting all of us together, and George Ross for equipment and setup.
A special thank you to the Five Star Guitars crew for endless hard work, creativity, and dedication.
Check out the String Stretcha used in the video:
For a limited time, buy one String Stretcha and get one 50% off
www.fivestarguitars.com/disco...
Find Five Star Guitars online at:
www.fivestarguitars.com
and social handles: @fivestarguitars
I gotta express my gratitude to this man for teaching me a few valuable tuning tips in 43 minutes that I have never known in my 4 decades of guitar playing! I am definitely adding these to my skill set!
So realize this. EVH fired about a half dozen guitar techs quickly in the reunion days. This is the guy that stepped in and stuck around for almost a decade until the end. Dude is a gem. No ego just guitar
Learned the gravity fact from Jeff Healy’s tech. This guy is the best tech. Wish he’d stick around Cincy long enough for him to work on my stuff.
JH is another guitarist that was taken from us way too fucking soon. I loved his playing - and what I call his "litre of bourbon and 2 packs of cigs" singing. I loved his voice.
I’ve always thought of EVH’s Strat as proof that a talented player can put together what he can get their hands on and sound great on it. I would bet Eddie didn’t put over $150-$200 into his original and probably not that much. He used what he had and what was easily obtainable before the day’s of the internet. I know once he could he had a tech working on it but the first albums were recorded on what he, as a young guy who wasn’t a trained luthier, could put together. It’s a good thing to remember when you’re pining over that custom shop guitar you think will make you a better player, a great player will sound great on any decent, playable instrument.
True with any talented pro! You can pull any racket off the wall at Kmart, and a great tennis pro will beat you with it every time. Regardless of what you choose to use!
Most amateurs obsess over the gear, when time and money would be better spent on lessons and time on practicing!😀
I read that Eddie drove from Pasadena out to Azuza California, to Boogie Bodies and actually got a body that was a "2nd" for 50 bucks that was mahogany. He did not know what it meant ! Eddie thought it meant something like '2nd best body ever made' for that month...Boogie Bodies was started by Lynn Ellsworth and Wayne Charvel back in 1976. Lynn said this: "My next door neighbor was Jim Warmoth, a retired watch maker and steel worker. I sold him an interest in Boogie Bodies for $5,000 and like an idiot I gave him additional stock so that he and I both owned 50% of the company." His son, Ken Warmoth and Jim were secretly making equipment to produce the bodies and necks .. LOL .... Warmoth is still around today and have licensed Fender style necks.
BTW: I saw that original Strat in Guitar Center's front window on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood around 25 years ago. It looked like it had seen better days but it is a piece of EVH history... One day I was buying strings and some kid smashed the glass and ran down the street with several Famous Artist Rare Guitars ~ with GC Staff in hot pursuit! The kid threw the guitars, including Ed's Strat, in the gutter and ran off. GC Staff retrieved the guitars. After that cage like bars were put up to close off the entrance at closing time. LOL ! To me those are the glory days of Hollywood.
From an interview I believe the price was $50 for the body and $80 for the neck. The neck was a factory second because of a blemish, a knot Then the pickup from a Gibson 335 and a first year run Floyd Rose and there you go. If it was $300 I would be surprised. And look what he accomplished with it. I own a $6000 PRS Ten Top and haven't done Jack Shit with it.
@@valuedhumanoid6574 No, at first it didn't have a Floyd (when it was black and white) but a Fender Stratocaster tremolo. Also, the black and yellow guitar was Ed's first guitar with an early Floyd (without fine tuners). It was a later Floyd model that was put into the Frankenstein guitar (when it was red/black/white).
@@Stefan-Van-der-Pulst Right you are!
Tom is the man! I've known him many years...he's worked for the best because he is one of the best
My local Sam Ash had one of the original Custom Shop runs of the FrankenStrat in a glass case with a spotlight and it sat on a rotating base. It was like walking into a guitarist Mecca. When I saw it and the $25,000 price tag, I felt like Wayne and Garth in Wayne's World. I stood there in silence looking at this wonderful site, my girlfriend was frowning and scoffed when she saw the price tag. "who would pay that much for a piece of junk like this?" she mumbled. "well, I would sell you to own this if that answers your question dear". It was a religious experience. And it's not the actual guitar that makes it such an icon. It's who played it and what he accomplished with that beat up old factory second with rough hand cuts and semi truck reflectors glued on the back. This was the soundtrack of my youth. It was what made me pick up the guitar. When we would figure out one of Eddie's licks, we would all get together to show off what we had accomplished. And that drove all of us. It was Eddie leading the way. Sure, other influential musicians would come along, but Eddie was always the Gold Standard. Still is.
I would have taken advantage of the salesman who was dumb enough to talk to a significant other like that. "give me the best deal possible or it's your friggn job" type of thing. In today's WOKE world you may have had some leverage here ;)
Your comment just gave me chills, Thankyou 😂
Hi
It's a guitar I would pass on buying at a garage sale,
Watching a master at work is somehow theraputic. One of the often missed tricks is that thing of having the retainer bar behind the nut low enough to make sure the string doesn't get pulled sharp when you clamp the locking nut.
Send my thanks to Tom Weber, this video was a treasure trove of tricks and tips I haven’t discovered yet. Definitely for the more advanced user but great concepts for new techs too
Was really hoping to see Tom's saddle intonation and bridge height adjustments.
Also I believe it was you that put a 9 volt battery under the floyd to stop it from moving when removing the strings.
@@chipperg25 a rolled up sock or polish cloth works really well. Wedges the Rose without any potential scratching.
@@chipperg25 it was Steve Vai's guitar tech that used the 9v battery trick....an older guy with an accent. He also talked about coming up with a hinged trem cavity cover on Vai's JEMs.
@@pcollenyt3683 Thomas Nordegg is his name
@@pcollenyt3683 everybody has an accent...
What an opportunity to be there for this event & to meet the great Tom Weber!!!! Thanks you Taft & Geoff
This is such an incredible video, thank you for sharing your tips!
Tom should have his
Own series !!! What a treasure !!!
Thank you !!
Thank you for the information and the tools!
Tom, love your attention to detail, the physics, and geometry of a proper set-up and tuning... Learned quite a bit! Thank you!!
Awesome Video glad to see Tom is sharing his EVH guitar setups
Great video! Been playing forever and can always learn something new about re-stringing and relief set up! Thanks so much.
Great tutorial video, Tom. Thank you!
Tom Weber should have a series! Amazing!! 🤘
Agree
100%!!! His knowledge and overall personality just really shine on this video, keeping you interested...even through the stuff you may already know. That way you're sure not to miss any tips you may have not known before. Great video!!!
Wow, loosened the locking bridge without loosening the nut... makes sense since he is holding down the trem. Very good info!
Great job with this video of a master. The production is first-rate. Nicely done.
That was so informative Tom thanks so much !!!
Superb, got a lot of great tips and I'd never heard not seen those string stretchas. Will be seeking them out. Many thanks.
I found your demonstration fascinating. Thanks so much for your explanation...
Lots of excellent information in this video. I learned some things today!
Very nice information, Thanks Tom and Five Star. I would love to see more videos by professionals in the industry. The tips are so valuable.
This was beyond awesome 🤘🤘🤘!! Learned so much!!! Thank you!!!🙏🙏🙏
This was not a setup guide, it was basically Tom changing strings.
Setting up a guitar would be, bridge height, Truss rod adjustment if needed, then intonating each string.
I like that the necks suppose to be precisely cut for the frets, but they never are perfect.
No he talked extensively about neck relief which is addressing the truss rod and then he talked extensively about intonation while doing so to the guitar. We watch the same video?
@@dahliafiend Maybe not... lol
@@dahliafiend He talked about it, but he didn't show you how to set the relief, or how to intonate a floyd.
He did give some good tips, but never this is how it's done.
Excellent Tutorial. Thank you!!
Precision is Everything! Excellent Video Thanks
A master at work. Thank you for making this video. Really informative and down to earth.
Absolutely fine presentation, must watch for techs, play'yaz two!
Wow, that's a ton of good info on proper tuning! Thanks!!!
excellent help...hope more watch....I learned something today!
Never knew about the gravity issue.... fascinating. Great video. 👍
Tom, massive thank you. I have seen countless video/read many mags specifically on EVH's famous guitar. You sure nailed the specs and detail.
Awesome stuff, thanks Tom!
Tom, I've been playing since the 80's and learned a lot here. Thank you!!;-)
My grandma built her own guitar in school when she was a kid. Just an acoustic but still…what an awesome concept
Thanks Tom!
It has been interesting and informative. I will have to search around for the string stretchers, I have never seen those before and they would definitely save some wear and tear on my hands.
Please have an excellent and awesome day! ☀️
Hope you are well Tom! Thanks for the lessons!
Thank you Mr. Tom Weber for your time and expertise! I enjoyed this video and advice!
Tom thanks for your time and hard work over the years. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🍸
The relief and vindication of being shown how one of the worlds finest techs sets up and you have the same techniques I will be getting myself some string stretchers for sure and save my fingers 😀
Thank you so much for this content Mark from Mr G guitars and banjo 🙂
A lot of great tips, thanks.
Loved the video! Thanks Tom!!
I’ve been playing for a number of years (decades) and I came away with a couple of new things I hadn’t previously known. Cool deal to still pickup new things. Thanks for the tips!!
good tips, some I already learned the hard way, like the gravity tuning. Thanks!
Amazing..learned some great tricks from this video.I been doing this for awhile (Jackson guitar factory in the 80s)and learned something new,.Love the gravity trick!
Tks Tom. Great knowledge sharing
Thanks for all of your insight tom!
Its hard to believe that experienced techs would be surprised by the gravity thing. That was one of the first things I ever noticed changing strings when I started nearly 20 years ago. And I am not a professional haha
I am getting a couple of string stretchas, great tool I've never seen before.
Awesome video! Thanks for this
Very nice presentation...thanks!
Finally showing using the index finger to push the string down as the winder tunes up to pitch. Soo many vids on YT do NOT show this vital step. A+ all the way Tom!
I have the newer MIM Frankie and this excellent video answered a lot of little “how should I…?” questions I’ve had. I’m ordering 2 string stretchas from you guys right now.
The gravity thing just totally blew my mind!
Great video and truly appreciated , Thank you @ FiveStarGuitars and Tom Weber
Great video. Thank you!
Thank you sir !!! Great !!! Appreciate your knowledge and I am sorry for your lost of a friend. This is great !!!
Great video! The Bill Edwards locking nut is the best. His design alleviates this "twisting action of the FR nut
Really appreciate this. I'm comfortable with a standard Fender or Tune-a-matic setup, but I'm not very experienced with the Floyd Rose. I built up a close replica of Ed's 5150 Kramer a while back, it's my only guitar with a locking nut. This taught me more than a few things about how to handle an FR setup.
Wow! Thank you for this sir.
Master class instruction here! I love tips and tricks like this.
Good evening Tom.
I heard of you from a fellow guitarist in Tennessee that I tech guitars for here in Phoenix.
After I heard a description of you and saw a video of you I remember you striking Ed's pedalboard at the end of the VH show in Phoenix, AZ Sept. 2015.
I've had the privilege on studying tone and tech-ing guitars for my friends and I thought I knew a lot but with this video I've definitely increased much more from this video tonight.
I started taking lessons 1979 in 5th grade because I was told by Mom, then I heard Van Halen (One) in 8th grade 1983 and then decided for myself to learn on my own without being told.
In 1988 when I started to play electric and started my Eddie Van Halen Discipleship, I had to learn all I could from guitar magazine interviews, guitar maintenance books, and
guitar repair shops on how to work on guitars. Even with all the articles I read with Eddie, looking back now and even back then he seemed very secretive on a bunch of
guitar tone/tech-ing uses that took me 30+ years of playing/learning and tech-ing, etc.to know what I learned over the last 20 years online.
Thank God for the internet.
I'm genuinely grateful for your willingness to share this tremendously valuable info to the world...!!!
Sincerely,
John W
johnWphx
We should talk. I was Ed’s bus driver on the Reunion Tour with Dave. They each had their own bus for the first part of the tour then went on to a jet for the rest of the tour. He gave me a set of his GTR pick ups when they were trying to get a buzz out of his rig from one of his racks falling off the loading dock at the previous show. If memory serves me right they flew the guy in from Sweden that helped design his rig. I will try to reach you.
My first guitar w/ a Floyd rose was my Kramer Focus 6000 that I bought in ‘86. I’ve had several guitars since w/ a Floyd Rose. Today I restrung my axe in a brand new way. Pretty cool!!
Thank you very much! I learned a lot. Take care and good luck!
I stretch my strings by grabbing it at the 12 fret, which is half of the scale length, and you will get even pressure on the string, then I pull up on the string about 1 inch from the neck, sometimes up to 2”. I pull up at different parts of the string, up and down the neck, then keep tightening the tuner up to pitch. It works really well. I go lighter on the first three strings because they could break on you, especially the high E. I’ve been doing it for years and it works really well. On Floyd Rose’s, I keep the nut blocks and screws in loosely to keep the strings in the grooves of the nut. That string Stretcha looks like a good tool to have though.
Im 65 & learned From Lays gtr repair in Akron Ohio. You sir are spot on I set up Identical to you. I did not know about the string stretcher But I just ordered one thanx to you. peace from thre Sunshine State. Chiropractic Guitar Repair.
For years, I've been stringing up my floyd guitars through the tuning peg first, so the ball end is at the tuning peg and then I cut with a little excess at the bridge and clamp it there. Any reason why this is not a good idea? It's always seemed to work pretty well for me...
Excellent! Thank you 👏
Thanks Tom, I learned a few new things today
I'd love to spend my days working in a shop with people as dedicated and skilled as this guy. I bet he makes everyone around him want to do their best. I need more of that in my life. Also, my guitar is now in tune, and most importantly, NOW I know what the intonation sled things do on my floyd rose, as in I can explain it to someone else.
Thanks! Great stuff!
Wow so much info. in one video. Learn't a lot about setting up my Kramer Floyd trem. Such a talented guy no wonder Eddie used him.
Absolutely brilliant thank you
Thank you Tom 👍
Cool, Nobody showed me how to do the over/under wrap and it just made sense to me nd I've been doing it since 86 :D Cheers! Nice episode
For years, I've been stringing my floyd guitars with the ball end through the tuning peg, then cut the string and clamp it at the bridge...
Great learning video 😃 fantastic guy !
thanks for taking the time to explain the thought process.Im mostly a self taught tech. just to take care of my own instruments.. Ive done a decent job with what I have, but never realize the Floy rose parts wear out so quickly. It explains why the titanium parts are so expensive... cause they are worth it. I have an Ibanez guitar that I just quit playing cause it wont stay in tune. I figured it was because it was a cheap one. Now I have something to look for. I did finde grooves in the locking nut blocks and I sanded them down smooth by hand with some wet dry 400 grit paper. Also I didnt know the string streatcha was to be slid the entire lenght of the string. Thanks again for the information!
I met him at a guitar show back in 2018 in Cincinnati Ohio. He was a super cool guy.
Tom is an amazing individual! I met him several years ago when he stopped by Gateway Tire in Cincinnati to have a tire repaired at the end of the day. I had no clue who he was before that we've been friends ever since ! I'll also mention Tom is no slouch when it comes to playing either .
TOM WEBER!!! Oh my gosh! You sold me my Hamer Chaparral Custom in 1987 at Rhythm City in Buckhead. So cool that I happened on this video. Great video and hope you are doing well out there. And I still have the Hamer :)
LOVE his attitude...
I do the over under string wrap on my Les Pauls. My strings never slip!🤘🏻 figured that out when I was a youngster
Great video, just bought the String Stretcha!
good video. 👍 that said, I wish he would have talked more about Eddie's set up preferences and how he set guitars up for Ed. Rock on!
That's what I thought this vid was going to be
Thought I was only going to watch 5 min before I knew it the video was over, love the knowledge I gained from it…
Thank you Tom, thank you for sharing your valuable knowledge with us, it’s even more special knowing you were Eddie’s tech!!!
THANK YOU Mr Weber for being with and helping Mr Edward VanHalen to achieve his dreams and to make our dreams a reality , your a true boss in the industry
Thanks a lot Mister Weber, this video is so helpfull, we all need some good tips and tricks to care of our instrument(s). I'm sure that Mister Eddie, from somewhere, is proud of you ! We all have in our way of playing somethg from EVH, i't really cool to have somethg from his Guitar Tech ;-) Thanks a Lot !!! and please make some other videos, for example " how to set up a Floyd rose, how to adjust the neck, intonation adjusments etc, " it's really really helpfull ...
Thank you Tom great fully helpfull!
Jeff Healy's (RIP) tech must have loved his job.
Thanks.
Great video!
Awesome Tom! I played one of those years ago and it was incredible!!!
Hey Johnny how close is the franky relic neck feels to this franky ?
I knew you'd show up here, Johnny! 😂
After watching Tom go thru this, I have a new found respect for professional guitar techs...what an eye opener!!!!
Very cool tutorial!
I ordered one of the string stretcha after i watched this video. Seems to be a really great tool for stretching strings in a comfortable and easy way.
I'm from germany and here is no store which have this tool, so a found StewMac in the US. 30 Bucks including shipping costs, but i think it's worth it.
I love this video. It has been a game changer for me. Thank you Tom!
Thank you!!
nice video! guess i,ll be bringing all my guitars to 5 star from now on since im right down the road!