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Gallery: Van Halen Live Gear 2012

Inside Eddie and Wolfgang''s rigs.

Chip Ellis Franken-Bass
Echoing the look of Eddie's Frankenstein axe circa 1979, this Chip Ellis-built bass features a rosewood fretboard and Fender N3 pickups.

When PG caught up with Van Halen before their April 27, 2012, performance at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, the only thing more thrilling than getting a guided tour of Eddie’s and Wolfgang’s rigs from their techs, Craig DeFalco and Jim Survis, was getting to sit through soundcheck and hear Ed, Wolf, and Alex pound out flawless versions of classics such as “Unchained” and “Runnin’ with the Devil.” Sadly, we can’t share the unreal listening experience with you—but we can share our great shots of their gear. Enjoy!

Keep the giveaways rolling! Enter Stompboxtober Day 22 for your chance to win a pedal from Walrus Audio!

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Your 100 Guitarists hosts are too young to have experienced SRV live. We’ve spent decades with the records, live bootlegs, and videos, but we’ll never know quite how it felt to be in the room with SRV’s guitar sound.

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A Telefunken ELA M 251E large-diaphragm condenser mic, seen in its natural habitat.

By now, we’re all familiar with the many options out there for amp modeling. Mic modelers are another reliable asset to digital recording tech, and can rapidly grow your inventory with just a few clicks.

As guitarists, we’re very aware of amp-modeling and profiling technologies, such as the Line 6 Helix, Fractal Axe-Fx, Neural DSP Quad Cortex, and Kemper Profiler. While our bases are covered for these (with modelers available for every “holy grail” amp under the sun), we are still missing another vital area of the recording process—microphones—for the acoustic instruments and vocals we might want to capture.

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With simple controls, models from the award-winning HX family, and the option for battery power, this compact unit is designed to be perfect for Metal guitarists seeking versatile tone options.

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