Being the entrepreneur that Eddie Van Halen himself is, through his EVH Gear brand with Fender, he has released a variety of products outside his own line of custom guitars and amps. This article aims to cover such products that Eddie himself has released through the EVH Gear blueprint. All products are available at www.evhgear.com

First off, let’s observe the custom pickups that are sold by EVH Gear. The first is the EVH® Frankenstein™ Humbucker Pickup. Retailing at $200 US, this is a modern day replica of the Frankenstrat humbucker pickup which is designed to the specifics of the original pickup used in the Frankenstrat by Eddie himself. Not bad considering that in most people’s budgets the Frankenstrat Replica is way out of the ordinary price range of many people’s budgets.

The EVH Gear Pickups on sale are worth the money if you cannot afford an EVH Wolfgang yourself, and you wish to buy something that can be installed into your guitar to get closer to the Van Halen sound.

Picture courtesy http://www.evhgear.com/gear/accessories/evh-frankenstein-humbucker-pickup/

There are also some other alternatives for EVH Gear pickups. There is also the same pickup presently being marketed with a Chrome Cover with a limited edition run of 200, retailing also at $200 US for those who prefer that sort of thing.

Also available in the range of custom made pickups are the EVH® Wolfgang® Bridge and Neck humbucker pickups (no single coil pickups available for purchase) for installation into any guitar. These are the primary pickups that are placed directly into the main line of EVH Wolfgang guitars. The pickups individually retail at $200 US.

For those who desire an even cheaper way to customise the sound of the electric guitar, there are also EVH® Custom Potentiometers. For those of you unaware of what these are, they are used underneath the tone and volume knobs to “shape” the sound. For $15 US per set, you can choose from 250K low friction, 500K low friction or 250K High Friction pots. Given the price of these, this is an excellent way to “hotrod” your own electric guitar, EVH style.

The EVH Gear custom potentiometers are another great option to consider from EVH Gear itself.

Picture courtesy http://www.musiciansfriend.com/potentiometers-knobs-for-fretted-instruments/evh-custom-low-friction-500k-potentiometer

One of the more interesting trends amongst guitar amplification companies in modern times is to sell so-called “Micro” amps. Many companies such as Marshall, Blackstar, Vox and Fender themselves have successfully marketed these amplifiers that are so small that they can be taken virtually anywhere with ease. So in a good effort of marketing and thought, EVH Gear made the 5150 III® Micro Stack.

Although a relatively new addition to the EVH Gear line up, the EVH version of the Micro amp is the smaller version of the larger 5150 III amp line. Retailing at $70 US, it comes with four controls: Gain; Volume; Tone and a Power switch. Listed on www.evhgear.com are the follow attributes of this particular amplifier:

• One-watt single-channel amplifier
• Single 3” speaker
• Integrated tilt-back kickstand
• 1/4” headphone jack and 9VDC adapter jack
• Dimensions: Height – 6.92”; Width – 5.35”; Depth – 2.63”

The option of purchasing an EVH Gear Micro Stack is a good idea for one who wants a cheap, affordable and portable option of the latest line of EVH Gear amplifiers.

Picture courtesy http://www.vhnd.com/2016/01/21/evh-5150-micro-stack/

If you are looking for a small and affordable way to hear the 5150 III, this amp may be your best bet.

Another interesting product for sale is the previously mentioned product on this website called the D-Tuna. Eddie Van Halen has previously used this on both the Ernie Ball Music Man and Peavey guitar line of guitars that he marketed, and is a simple and useful addition onto the Floyd Rose tremolo system. For sale for $60 US, it comes in three different colours for the guitar respectively.

Since the early days of Van Halen, Eddie himself has gone to curious methods to create guitar strings that are highly personalised and branded to his own nature of playing. From the very early days boiling a mixture of Fender electric guitar strings, to the latest EVH branded guitar strings, which are Nickel Plated Steel strings, Eddie has made a good effort into the use of guitar strings.

With the EVH® Premium Strings, retailing at $13 US a packet, one can find the modern day electric guitar strings that Eddie himself uses on his EVH Wolfgang guitars. Bear in mind that Eddie uses 9-46 string gauge on his guitars, a must to remember to get the specific feel of Eddie’s playing. Other string gauges include 9-42, 10-52 and 10-56.

Trying a set of EVH Gear strings is a good and cheap way of testing out what Eddie Van Halen himself uses currently.

Picture courtesy http://www.vanhalenstore.com/page/VH/PROD/EVHGS

For a cable to carry the signal from the guitar to the amplifier, EVH Gear do market and sell a 6” R to R cable that Eddie Van Halen uses himself in his guitars. It is a 24 gauge copper cable with double shielding for extra protection of the cable itself. Retailing at $40 US, it is an affordable way of finding a cable that could work for the guitarist.

Alternatively there are other cables from the EVH® Premium Cables line ranging from $20 US to $40 US marketed and made in a similar way to the 6” R to R cable.

For those playing gigs and live performances, there are straps available for the guitarist. The regular strap is priced at $60 US whilst the Nylon strap is priced at $35 US.

Picks, anyone? For those who enjoy collecting various plectrums and brands of plectrums, the array of plectrums available from EVH Gear should be worth considering.

Picture courtesy http://www.vanhalenstore.com/page/VH/CTGY/GG

For those who do really wish to chase bargains of the EVH Gear sort, there are Eddie Van Halen custom plectrums (aka Picks) for one to purchase. For an EVH® Premium Pick Tin, including 12 plectrums, is worth $12 US.  Alternatively there are individual plectrums to buy, starting from $6 US for a small set. These are made by Dunlop with a special grip on the plectrums, as well as coming in a variety of thicknesses for the player.

Lastly, there are two different types of gig bags available for those who are interested. Featuring waterproof padding and a black exterior and red interior, the price of a gig bag is $100 US. Also for the star shaped guitars, there is another slightly different shaped gig bag also selling for $100 US.

All in all, these are some rather interesting, relatively affordable and varied accessories to choose from if you are a Van Halen fan. Certainly worth checking out as well if you are a fan of not just Eddie Van Halen, but EVH Gear as well.

Eddie Van Halen certainly has approached the broad variety of products available under the EVH Gear name very well.

Picture courtesy http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/6605131/eddie-van-halen-synesthesia-rumors-brown-sound