ROCK-tober check-in, #EVHRIP, and 5150 Tribute!
Hello friends and fans.. Tom Blair checking in.. It’s ROCK-tober.. so many great events are coming (finally got them all posted recently). Also.. I wanted to take a moment to talk about Eddie Van Halen’s influence on me over the years #EVHRIP and show some love for the 5150!
Greetings to all! Tom here.. Checking in with my friends and fans!
LK3 jamming at Canton Icehouse on Oct 3rd, 2020!
Hello Everyone!
So.. ROCK-tober is here.. 2020 flying by (as it should.. HA) and we are well on our way into the final push to finish out this weird year on a high note. I have used the last 48 hours to update all the events confirmed on my calendar.. which btw… Thanks for putting up with the repeated notifications and FB posts.. I do wish there was a way that I could mass produce some of the calendar dates and let them all post at once without bombarding your feeds with every single announcement.
Don’t get me wrong, I want you to see them, but sometimes (and here recently) I’ve gotten way behind on reporting my calendar of events. And in order to fix that I have to create several events in a row, and as far as I know, FB now doesn’t allow a batch upload, it just decides to post EVERY event as I get it posted on my Page’s Feed. Anyways.. Thanks and hopefully you’ll find an event that you’ll want to check out and I’ll see you there!
So go to the HOME page and scroll to the bottom and click through my calendar.. or Click on EVENTS and check out all the great places I’ll be either performing solo, or duo, or with the full band! Thanks!
RIP Eddie Van Halen
- from a Wikipedia entry:
“Edward Lodewijk van Halen (Dutch: [ˈɛdʋart ˈloːdəˌʋɛi̯k fɑn ˈɦaːlə(n)], /væn ˈheɪlɛn/ van HAY-len; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was a Dutch-American musician, songwriter, producer, and inventor. He was the main songwriter and lead guitarist of the American rock band Van Halen, which he co-founded in 1972 with his brother, drummer Alex Van Halen, bassist Mark Stone, and singer David Lee Roth. He was well known for popularizing the tapping guitar solo technique, allowing rapid arpeggios to be played with two hands on the fretboard.”
So, this week we lost one of the most influential guitarists of all time, Eddie Van Halen. I found out the news late in the afternoon on Tuesday October 6th (while working on my events). EVH was 65, and died of complications of throat cancer. Damn, what a blow to the music world. He was one of the most amazing guitar players, but his influence on the rock and metal world is MONUMENTAL!
After scrolling through countless FB and Instagram tributes, I started to take stock of how my much my musical journey has been influenced by him. Those of you that know me, know that I’m definitely not a shredder guitar player.. I can get my way around a fret board, but actually, Eddie Van Halen was not a huge influence on my guitar playing as much as he was on my guitar tone!
The Peavey 5150
In 1992, Peavey Electronics, Eddie Van Halen, and Peavey engineers designed a special guitar amplifier called the 5150. This amp was originally created as a signature model for Eddie.
Pic: BlasphemyMadeFlesh (discovered in google image search)
- from another Wiki entry on how 5150 related to Van Halen:
“5150 (pronounced "fifty-one-fifty") is the seventh studio album by American hard rock band Van Halen. It was released on March 24, 1986 by Warner Bros. Records and was the first of four albums to be recorded with lead singer Sammy Hagar, who replaced David Lee Roth. The album was named after Eddie Van Halen's home studio, 5150, in turn named after a California law enforcement term for a mentally disturbed person (a reference to Section 5150 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code). The 5150 name has been used several times by Van Halen. The album hit number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, surpassing the band's previous album, 1984, which had peaked at number 2 behind Michael Jackson's Thriller album, on which Eddie Van Halen made a guest appearance.”
This amp and several succeeded versions of it, the 5150 II, the 6505 (name change after the endorsement deal with Peavey ended), and in our current day, the now Fender owned 5150 III version, was and is well known for its high gain overdrive channel.
“Both the 5150 and the 6505 are well known for its high gain overdrive channel, and has seen widespread use by rock, hardcore and metal guitarists. An early breakthrough was its use by Colin Richardson and Andy Sneap, two "seminal" British producers of heavy metal; especially Machine Head's Burn My Eyes (1994) helped the 5150 gain a reputation for its sound, which "defined a generation of guitar tone".[4] Other notable artists and producers to use the 5150/6505 include Jason Suecof, Matt Tuck and Dino Cazares.[4]”
The point I want to emphasize is that the 5150, although designed as Eddie’s signature amp, was versatile enough, yet simple enough, that it was a huge success for Peavey, and after hard rock and metal producers and musicians started to make use of its tone, it became one of the most influential amps on the scene as well!
Countless numbers of hard rock and metal records are recorded either directly using or at least trying to obtain that 5150 tone with other amps… or now in our current day, with the use of sampling software. The frequencies of the 5150 tone, in the most extraordinary way, can live in between other instruments and timbres, standing out where needed, but also fitting nicely into the mix of a song. It’s an amazing thing, and I personally was struck by the tone early on. I have been influenced by it for years and years on end.
I owned the original 5150 “block letter” amp, and I still have it to this day. From 2004-2009, while I performed in Colossick, my original metal project, I primarily performed using the 5150 II, a second edition that expanded the amp’s versatility yet kept that same amazing tone in play.
Look down to the left of where I’m standing.. You’ll see both my 5150 and 5150 II on stage with me in Colossick when we played Atlanta, GA on the Jagermeister MusicTour in 2008. We were the local opening act for Hatebreed and Type ‘O Negative for one date at the State Theatre in St Petersburg, FL and then the next night at Center Stage in Atlanta, GA, May 22-23, 2008.
Currently I own two 5150 III 50W amplifiers, a black model and an all white head and cab combo. The 5150 III (essentially a third edition) was designed and sold by Fender.. although the Fender name is not prominent on the amp.. it uses EVH on the front grill as its own brand. (see this to left of me in the greenish pic below)
One of the things that struck me around 6 years ago when I first played through this newer version of the amp, was the EVEN MORE VERSATILE sound that I could get, especially out of the clean (green) channel. The timing for me was perfect.. 6-7 years ago I started playing primarily in cover acts. I needed a wide spectrum of tones and versatility, and when I trusted my instinct to stay with the 5150 amp for my sound, my loyalty to the brand has benefited me in spades!
LK3+ performance at The Wing & Tap House from September 18, 2020.
Look down to the left of me to see my white 5150 III 50W head and matching 1x12 cab.
I get constant kudos from fans and patrons at all the places that I perform while using the amp. Most proclaim that my tone is top notch, but honestly, this has been a reality for most of my musical career. So I can confidently say.. this amp has helped me to DEFINE my sound, and over the years I’ve grown more and more loyal to it, even as my playing has evolved, and regardless of the twists and turns that my musical career has taken over the years.
Back to Eddie
So Eddie Van Halen, one of the greatest guitar players of all time, gets an opportunity to design a custom amp to his taste and influence.. Peavey releases this award winning product in the early 90’s right as I’m just getting my footing as a guitar player and performer, and I happen upon this jewel in the wild… One of my friend’s dad’s wanted to sell his original 5150 head, and I bought it randomly not really knowing much about it.. or the Van Halen connection.
… And here we are YEARS later.. Me now finally realizing the mammoth influence of Eddie: I’ve used his product to DEFINE my own sound and taste. I’m finally coming to the realization that although his guitar playing was inspiring, jaw-dropping, and there may never be another like him, what he ultimately was responsible for in the rock and metal world, I’ve used my whole life and benefitted from immensely.
Thank you forever, Edward Van Halen. You will be missed. RIP
Pic: google search for Eddie Van Halen and 5150
So Thank You!
Thanks for reading this far! ROCK-tober in full effect! Don’t forget to check out my EVENTS page.. Lots of great events are coming to end out the year on a bang!
The Leonard Koggins Trio band is performing all over town, so be sure to catch us and check out my guitar tone and let me know what you think!
LK3 live at Full Throttle Roadhouse from September 19th, 2020.
We have some private parties in the works and people often ask me about availability for Private Events so DON’T HESITATE: Contact me on the CONTACT page if you want to see up a solo, duo or full band event!
THANKS ALL.
- Tom Blair