Curt Mitchell is the man. No one comes close to Curt when mimicking famous guitarists. Not to mention he's a better player than most of the guitarists he's mimicking. True master of the instrument.
Curt Mitchell's insights into electric guitar playing are phenomenal. He shows how the various guitar tones are achieved and the techniques. He's also done some great video instructional work on Stevie Ray Vaughn.
@@jamesfeldman4234 So what's he doing these days? You'd expect someone with that kind of ability to almost be a household name, at least in households of guitar players, yet the name doesn't ring a bell. He looks super familiar though, but it's possible I've seen another of his videos. Has he been in some movies?
Check out Jacob Deraps on YT, he's been playing EVH stuff note for note since he was like 15. Nothing against Curt, I have a bunch of his videos. Also, Al Estrada (who does the demos for Jalen P/U's) is a great EVH emulator. Check them out!
Still spread a lot of BS, though. 5:16 (paraphrasing) "He used a Variac to crank the voltage up to 140 or 150. He had it modified so that the tubes would melt, because the fuse wouldn't blow" We all knew about LOWERING the voltage with a Variac way before this video was made. And as for the the 2nd part of his statement - I'll just say, HUH?
@@deHelli lol that is a different Curtis Mitchell, I looked him up as well and thought it was him at first but then realized totally different musician with the same name except that guy is a different age looks different and lived in someones basement in Kansas.
This VHS and Curt's VH Method Part II, really gave me an edge over other players around town back in the mid 90's. Sounds cheesey but it's true. To this day I can bring nuances into my lines that turn a lot of heads, and they are all things Iearned in these two tapes. I seriously owe Curt Mitchell everything for making this
_Elephant shrews are not, in fact, shrews._ _Recent evidence suggests that they are more_ _closely related to a group of African mammals_ _that includes elephants, sea cows, and aardvarks._
Same here....those first videos, bought out of the back of guitar magazine served to be a game changer for me. I only wish we knew where Curt is today!
I bought Curt Mitchell video tapes in the 1990s when I had my Squier strat brand new and a small Marshall. I learned my favorite rock riffs watching Curt with the little cheapo tab booklet. So great. I am still having fun and I have seven electric guitars now. Thanks Curt. You were a pioneer like Eddie too.
It's so funny that you mention that: I had this VHS when it first came out, and for some reason it always stuck in my head how he is just quickly pattering away, and the only time he changes his smoothly-flowing chatter is when he notes that, "...blah blah blah blah blah it is RIP-PING LOUD, blah blah blah blah....". =) I loved his videos. Thanks Curt wherever you are now!
actually if you think about it that's most likely the reason all of these older musicians including Gen Xer's are so good at their instrument...NO INTERNET, NO SMARTPHONE, NO SOCIAL MEDIA, NO DISTRACTIONS! ONLY FOCUS. I've learned how to play by watching youtube vids dont get me wrong but when it comes to being an extremely talented musician, they best of them had NO DISTRACTIONS they just had VHS tapes and magazines and sat there all dat until one day...
@Jennifer Maple It just takes longer. Also when you bought the guitar tab (mostly written by wolf Marshall) the tab was not always inaccurate (wrong neck positioning, etc) but it generally was a labour of love and very exiting when you nailed it.
Grew up with star licks, hot licks, all the guitar mags. Even better now with the internet. However, the excitement of going out and buying these videos,unwrapping and putting it into the VCR was a thrill that you don't get from clicking on a lesson.
I'll take the liberty to name this guy the Original Professor Shred. His is equal parts talented, articulate and lucid. This video is, without a doubt, a masterclass. Bravo!
Anybody else thinking of making an Eddie tutorial can just pack it up and go home now. Nothing will ever beat this. The in-depth study combined with the skills to absolutely nail EVH makes this one of the best videos ever posted on TH-cam. Beware, though - the info on the Variac is wrong - and dangerous. Eddie LIED for a long time about RAISING the voltage, when he actually LOWERED it. When he made the claim to Guitar Player magazine in April 1980, it included an Editors note that warned how dangerous that would be to do - basically a "Don't Try This At Home"..... TL;DR - Curt was working with the info available at the time - Eddie lied, Curt is not responsible.
I remember reading that exact article, I was in high school at the time. Since I only had a Peavey Deuce amp (built-in phase shifter), and I used a Boss Distortion (DS-3 I think? it was orange) I got a somewhat close to EVH sound, though the Black Widow speakers didn't really have that signature Marshall Celestion 30 watt speaker tone in retrospect. I wasn't brave enough to try out the Variac when I finally got a Marshall Plexi - but instinctively I had planned to go low voltage rather than high, and a good friend said that higher voltage would ruin my amp. He created a homemade mod on the back of my Plexi that got a nice tone & much closer to EVH than the Peavey. EVH later released his Signature amps through Peavey...
Tecnically he wasn't lying, he said he would set the voltage to 140, but if the amps he was using were british the regular voltage would be 220, so he was starving the tubes... a bit naughty of him not to mention that... i bet a lot of ppl fried their u.s spec. amps back then
This is a great video for sure, and he does an amazing job playing the riffs/emulating Eddie. However, I would have enjoyed a BIT more discussion about the examples. Many of them he didn't even mention anything ... just "Here's example 6 .... Here's example 7 ..." Would have been nice to hear something like .. "He's using the B blues scale here" or "He's tapping harmonics on these E, B, and A chord shapes here," etc.
I used to drink with this guy at the 714 club in Reno Nevada in the late 80's and early 90's. He made a video series called "In The Style Of...." and was (is) an amazing guitar player. He could pull off ANYBODY'S style AND he had a voice of his own AND was fantastic
just stumbled on this... Curt Mitchell, I must say you have made the most intelligent study of a guitar style that I have ever seen. I could not have dreamed of a better presentation. I'm simply blown away - thank you so very much!!!!
Haven't watched this video in 25 years and it's amazing how it's all come back to me and I remember it so vividly. Curt is an amazing guitar teacher, speaker and player all wrapped up into one.
This just made my night. Was looking at roller coaster videos (headed to 6 flags sat) and I spotted my friend and guitar teacher of 2 years....Curt Mitchell. Yes, he is for hire for private lessons. I had one about 4 hours ago, we were working on "Tush"... I've had more than a "few ear fulls" and private "Eddie" examples tossed at me along with many other guitar masters....Billy Gibbons ranks pretty high... Curt plays in a few local bands around the area pretty regularly. He is a kind, funny, easy going rock freak...and my good friend. After my divorce 3 years ago and at age 51 I decided to finally learn how to play guitar. I just happened on Curt as our local go to teacher....pretty cool eh? Look him up if you want lessons....he's available. But, don't go looking to discuss all things Eddie....you wont get far. Check out Bangalore Choir for Curt's one recording deal I'm aware of. Hi Curt...if you read this ...well I couldn't help myself.... :-) Rock on and be kind.....
Phenomenal that this guy did this in the 90's. VERY difficult in an era when slowing things down meant putting up with the lo-fi, low tech gear available at the time. Amaziing tutor, amazing ears amazing fortitude to learn all that from the record
Curt is such a monster player. I wish I could get private lessons from him. So much knowledge! He deserves much more adulation then he gets. Rock on bro 🤘
I had some of his tapes in the mid early/mid 90s..Dude is dry and straight to the point, then moves on. Exceptional player and teacher indeed, rock on!
These are the best guitar tutorials of old, I still have all of these on vhs, I need to transfer to digital at some point, curt is incredible..his tutorials cover all of the vital stuff..gear, dialing in sounds, etc..
A lot of guys make videos where they say his is how you sound like Hendrix, or this is how you sound like Zakk Wylde, or whomever, yet they take a giant shit on themselves and sound nothing like the guys they are trying to emulate. But this dude IS EDDIE VAN HALEN! Goddamn dude, phenomenal job! You're a master!
"People were laughing at him because he's got this duck-taped pedalboard on the floor, it looked like junk. Then, of course, he plugged in and it was over".
@J. Milton Jeffreys good post I don't even like van halen that much but these guys worked hard and maybe got a little lucky cause hard work and talent are just the start of having a career like Van Halen has. btw the only guitarist playing hard rock/metal I can think of that's had platinum albums in 3+ decades I guess is Tony Iommi (70s, 80s (Dio albums), only just barely in 90s with "Reunion", "13" sold well but it's almost impossible to sell an album platinum in this day of everyone just stealing music, I just checked billboard's platinum albums list and only 10 "rock" albums have gone platinum since 2010!)
Something that called my attention is that all of the deep knowledge Curt displays of EVH's style and techniques is really an amazing work of research, experimentation and intuition because at that time there was no Wikipedia, TH-cam or IG, FB, TT etc. so most of what he is teaching he had to deduct from reading articles and by his privileged ear, profound analysis, knowledge of the guitar and understanding of EHV unique feel. Kudos to Curt and thanks to Todd for the upload.
After watching some of these '80s and '90s instructional videos, I've come to two conclusions: 1. Top-tier guitarists in the '80s and '90s generally had far better vibrato than today's counterparts. 2. An SM57 to tape makes for a much more pleasing distorted guitar tone compared to today's digital recordings. The way it compresses and rolls off certain frequencies gives it a distinct sound.
D Rutt 1969 I had an 8 track half " R2R back in the 80's and it's one of those "I wish I'd never sold" stories. Taped a lot of cool stuff with bands I was in back then & I'm now a "Once I buy it I don't sell it" collector types. I've got so much stuff now
interesting comment about the vibrato...i don't get too excited about a lot of newer metal guys, largely because of vibrato and tone. I just assumed it was a 'new thing' that guys do that kids react to, and its just not for me. Or maybe i'm just hearing the wrong people
chris sisson i hate to rag on players but alot of guys took their vibrato cues off ritchie blackmore , and tony iommi, shrill fast vibrato.. kirk hammet is a prime example of that .. evh , george lynch , warren dmt , all have great soulful vibratos despite what u think of their material . Vibrato is something that just comes thru your fingers from your ear / heart and shouldnt sound forced . Gary moore had a fast vibrato but sounded organic ..
Its amazing a guy could play like this ...and i never heard of this guy til now...crazy....you would think he would have been a big star himself or been in a big band at some point..... crazy stuff... this guy is remarkable.
that bit at 12:45 with the delay... such a simple trick that sounds pretty cool. I always assumed (probably like a lot of people) that was a whammy bar. Respect to this dude (or whoever showed him) for realising that this was done with a delay pedal! he does it perfect here!
I certainly hope this man made a nice huge chunk of cash. Hes such a great teacher. Have been watching his videos since stumbling upon the VHS vids in the 90's as a kid. He is so damn good, deserves so much more recognition. Curt if you see this. You're the man!!!
I had this tape in high school and had only been playing for about 2 years. I had a Peavey Predator, stripped the paint, painted it red with white and black stripes, threw a Dimarzio Super Distortion in and learned as much as I could from this tape. It was freaking eye opening. Thanks for putting this up and thank you Curt Mitchell!
I took my 17 year old son to see Van Halen at Oak Mountain Amphitheater. In Birmingham, Alabama a couple years ago. It was right after the Kimmel show ordeal. I felt sure thier would be scalpers having to dump thier tickets so we waited until Kenny Wayne Shepherd started. A man in his 60s Came up to me and said did I want some lower level seats? I told him I probably couldn’t afford them. He said I paid $350 for them but I will let them go for $60 apiece. I couldn’t get my money out of my wallet fast enough. We got to our seats and we were absolutely directly in the third row DIRECTLY in front of Eddie Van Halen. We had seen Motley Crue on their farewell tour a couple of months before. We were in the nosebleed seats and couldn’t see shit.That was his first show ever. for his second show he gets to sit 10 feet in front of Eddie Van Halen, his idol! He plays guitar and I had bought him a yellow, black, white striped series Guitar less than 6 months prior. I started teaching him when he was 10 and all he wanted to learn was Van Halen Songs. He can play about 20 VH songs more for note. He watched his hands all night. He changed the way he played VH songs to how EVH played them. I just got him a 5150 III head and he is using his Marshall 4x12 cabinet. There is no way for me to explain the pride i feel that with no pressure at all. He embraced music I Love, and To already know he will be able to enjoy playing Guitar the rest of his life. It’s a feeling that only a musician truly understands.
That’s awesome. I hope I can encourage my own kids in the same way some day. Not quite big enough to wrap their hands around the guitar neck yet though. Lol.
I still have the old VHS instructional videos. Curt Mitchell is an awesome guitar player and instructor. He teaches not only the notes and techniques of iconic guitarists, but he also gives insights into expressing the feeling of the particular styles he's illustrating. I've learned a lot from his Van Halen and Stevie Ray Vaughn videos in particular.
This guy is fabulous, especially for the era that he was able to identify how Ed created the sounds. Any one of these techniques would be a contribution. To guitar, but the fact that Ed came up with so many illustrates why he is the most innovative person ever to play guitar. Any one who disagrees I'd like to know who has done more.
Jimmy Page is not as fast as EVH but then he used alternate picking exclusively instead of directional or economy picking - Page didn't innovate as many specific unique techniques as EVH but I consider Page to be a superior guitarist overall to EVH. They're both equally terrible live when on chemicals. When at his best, Page is absolutely breathtaking in ways different than EVH ever chooses - th-cam.com/video/UqqKKa9AJK4/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/4m2FhRv8xF0/w-d-xo.html if EVH were able to pull it off he certainly never chose to that I've ever heard
I’m 35 now but I remember being 12 years old and watching curt mitchell and all these videos when I was learning how to play. I have a ton of his VHSs. Good memories.
All you guys who have a youtube page with EVH scales, how to sound like EVH, gear, solos, etc should thank Curt Mitchell. Notice the date of this video......1995, 26 years ago!! Before alot of you were born. Curt figured this stuff out ON HIS OWN 26 years ago! I had to order this VHS tape through the mail and had it delivered to my house, the old fashioned way, ha.
Bought Curt’s instructional videos way back when. VHS. They’re around here somewhere. Learned so much about all the different styles out there. He could play anything.
Ah man, life you to be so much simpler, our youth are missing out on so much. This is the sort of thing TH-cam should be. Kudos to this guy to even be able to slow this stuff down. Eddie is one of a kind
The accuracy is amazing given when this was published (1994). I never realized until I saw this video that the phase shifter Atomic Punk effect used a a fast slap-back echo to create the rhythm pattern!!
Granted, Eddie was saying things to throw people off. The amp wasn't modded, he did that to give Jose business. The variac turned the voltage down to 90. "Turning the voltage up would blow the filter caps." - Mike Soldano. Early in his career, Eddie would turn his back to the audience when finger tapping so you couldn't see what he was doing.
Paul Williams Curt is a beast and it's my belief that he has perfect pitch. He's been playing since he was 5 and worked out all the difficult songs note for note from vinyl for the 1st set of "In the Style of " lessons in the 80's. So many really excellent guitar players are never heard.
ImmodderNation Apparently Clapton did the same, though earlier of course, as he got sick of the other London players checking out what he was doing, only to have them do the same lines,riffs etc the following week.
@Vinnie Provolone No one chooses to have a Line 6. I started with one and now I have a 1969 Supro Statesman 70w stereo (???) head unit and stereo cab in my bedroom. With two house mates that don't play. I can't say that I had my thumb any further up my ass then than I do now, but I'll always feel a tingle DEEP in my plums when someone can emulate Eddie like that. Cheers
I was looking for something like this for over a decade, I can't believe I would find everything on a '95 vhs from an incredibly talented guy. The detailed sound analysis and most importantly the EVH riffs. Simply magnificent
Stumbled upon this. Stayed glued for the full 49:15. Absolutely love it. It's a definite keeper! Top encouragement I got from it is this - enjoy playing, enjoy experimenting, growing and above all else continue play what sounds good to you!
back then there was more mystical aspect to learning and playing guitar.... if there wasn't a tab book or a good video you had to figure it out on your own😆
@@rvm8315 And the tab books were terribly inaccurate back then. You still had to search out a gunslinger guitar player to teach you and/or figure alot of it out on your own. Yeah those tab books were awful back in the day.
I just so happen to stumble upon this video by Curt Mitchell. I grew up watching the Metallica version video that he did and that's where I got my style from. Watching Curt Mitchell when I was 10 11 years old, on a vhs rewinding the tape so many times that the tape got distorted. This guy is always been awesome thanks Curt.
I gotta say , here is a prime example of a true dedicated misician ! Hell of a job breaking it down and making Eddie's insane playing and technique more understandable in all the killer chaos that is Eddie Van Halen . The world was a better place the minute he picked up a Guitar . Appreciate the video , your time and knowledge as well , Peace
Curt Mitchell Is still doing his thing. Besides some session work and other projects he is lead guitar for a Pink Floyd Tribute Band called "The Floyd" which I believe is out of Nevada.
...aaaaaaaaand my brain exploded...! This is like drinking from a fire hose of AWESOME. Simply amazing. Curt is incredible and very appreciative of Eddie's genius... and gave me a whole new appreciation for Eddie's innovations. Freaking crazy that Curt was able to grasp (and play!) so many of Eddie's licks- I can't even fathom how Eddie came up with each one in the FIRST place. Thanks Todd and Curt... and ED :)
This dude is all over the place. It's like he's thinking way way ahead of what he's showing you, talks about it for a second then says well... we'll get back to that and never does. Reminds me of when every one was on coke in the 80s
13:00 that that isn't a trem dive, and instead reaching down and turning a knob down on an effect pedal blew my mind. That's why he's EVH though, because how many people would think to do something like that?
I had all of Curts VHS tapes,these were so amazing to watch back in the day because there was no internet. He was doing shit I've never seen before,really helped my playing. It was also funny to see how much coke he'd done before each video,lol.
Holy shit, that was one of the first things I sorta noticed (4-5 minutes in...), and I'm biting my tongue, because of the respect I had for this guy (and especially in such a public fashion on YT)... Glad someone did it FOR me !!! Lolz.... But I luv his playing-accuracy, touch, & tone !!! (The only other guy who comes CLOSE to Curt, is Jacob Deraps, in the EVH department !!💯)
Man, I've learned some Yngwie and Paul Gilbert licks, but I don't feel like I can call myself a guitar player, until I learn these Van Halen riffs!! Thanks for sharing!!!
What's most impressive, is that this is a semi amateur video (production and scripting) and you can tell this guy really knows his stuff! Remember this is pre-internet!!
Oh my goodness, I remember having this on VHS and it brings back memories, thanks for posting. Curt Mitchell is a god and I still can't figure why he never made it huge.... such a monster player.
There are a lot of instructional videos with only a handful that are good at understanding the mind of a player. Curt puts you in the mind of the ‘tone chaser’ and shows you how get there. If this is not in your core saved vids you’re missing out.
Curt Mitchell is the man. No one comes close to Curt when mimicking famous guitarists. Not to mention he's a better player than most of the guitarists he's mimicking. True master of the instrument.
I have his video on Boston. He absolutely nails Tom Sholz's tone and riffs. Curt's pretty much a rock guitar scientist.
Curt Mitchell's insights into electric guitar playing are phenomenal. He shows how the various guitar tones are achieved and the techniques. He's also done some great video instructional work on Stevie Ray Vaughn.
@@jamesfeldman4234 So what's he doing these days? You'd expect someone with that kind of ability to almost be a household name, at least in households of guitar players, yet the name doesn't ring a bell. He looks super familiar though, but it's possible I've seen another of his videos. Has he been in some movies?
Wolf Marshall was pretty good. He used to transcribe songs for Guitar for the Practicing Musician magazine in the 80's
Check out Jacob Deraps on YT, he's been playing EVH stuff note for note since he was like 15. Nothing against Curt, I have a bunch of his videos. Also, Al Estrada (who does the demos for Jalen P/U's) is a great EVH emulator. Check them out!
Curt Mitchell playing Eddie riffs accurately way before TH-cam.
Hell yes back in my day your MVP VHS came with a small tab book and you had to pause and rewind constantly. Kids ta day my oh my
god, i remember when 1995 was new.
Who knew you didn’t need the world wide internets to learn shit?! 🤔
@@commentfreely5443 i hear ya...good times!
Still spread a lot of BS, though.
5:16 (paraphrasing) "He used a Variac to crank the voltage up to 140 or 150. He had it modified so that the tubes would melt, because the fuse wouldn't blow"
We all knew about LOWERING the voltage with a Variac way before this video was made.
And as for the the 2nd part of his statement - I'll just say, HUH?
Curt is my guitar instructor at Play Your Own Music in Carson City.
A Rock Legend.
Is he still alive in 2020?
@@tanner3285 Yes. And giving guitar lessons via Zoom.
@@fredmertz1914 No way!!! Do you got a link? Website?
@@fredmertz1914 I keep clicking on contact. Nothing comes up.
@@tanner3285 why would he not still be alive? This was recorded mid 90s and he looks about 30
Had this video decades before the advent of TH-cam. Thank you Curt.
Decades?!? Let's see, this came out in the early 90s and youtube launched in 2005. Hardly decades in between dude.
Why isn't this man a guitar superstar, he's terrific!
@@deHelli lol that is a different Curtis Mitchell, I looked him up as well and thought it was him at first but then realized totally different musician with the same name except that guy is a different age looks different and lived in someones basement in Kansas.
@@peterhaag9344 okay gut zu wissen.
This man IS a guitar superstar!!! . . . to a lot of folks that started playing in the 90s!
This is Chuck Norris of guitar!!
1,000,000 bedside guitarists in Asia can do this stuff too. If you can't write good music and lyrics you'll go nowhere ;) Eddie mastered all 3 :)
@@MM-tt3np - i don't think that EVH wrote many lyrics, but he obviously wrote those great songs
This VHS and Curt's VH Method Part II, really gave me an edge over other players around town back in the mid 90's. Sounds cheesey but it's true. To this day I can bring nuances into my lines that turn a lot of heads, and they are all things Iearned in these two tapes. I seriously owe Curt Mitchell everything for making this
_Elephant shrews are not, in fact, shrews._
_Recent evidence suggests that they are more_
_closely related to a group of African mammals_
_that includes elephants, sea cows, and aardvarks._
Me too homie. He provided a great start down a long road.
Same here....those first videos, bought out of the back of guitar magazine served to be a game changer for me. I only wish we knew where Curt is today!
We’re also proud of you
Curt surfaces periodically! th-cam.com/video/qGWmIedCrAo/w-d-xo.htmlsi=r6RF4P_59vt_CFAe @@StacyJamesGuitar
I bought Curt Mitchell video tapes in the 1990s when I had my Squier strat brand new and a small Marshall. I learned my favorite rock riffs watching Curt with the little cheapo tab booklet. So great. I am still having fun and I have seven electric guitars now. Thanks Curt. You were a pioneer like Eddie too.
My favorite quote from this video is “ripping loud” -P
FStoppers... R u the photography channel?? If so. I love it.
Same here lol. It's stuck with me since I first heard Curt say it.
..'cause he's a maniac' is a close second
Fitting how he let one rip at 6:57
It's so funny that you mention that: I had this VHS when it first came out, and for some reason it always stuck in my head how he is just quickly pattering away, and the only time he changes his smoothly-flowing chatter is when he notes that, "...blah blah blah blah blah it is RIP-PING LOUD, blah blah blah blah....". =) I loved his videos. Thanks Curt wherever you are now!
To think he learnt this the hard way without the aid of the internet back in the day
Charlie G.....I was thinking the same thing. Unreal!
Exactly, where is Curt now? He was great
actually if you think about it that's most likely the reason all of these older musicians including Gen Xer's are so good at their instrument...NO INTERNET, NO SMARTPHONE, NO SOCIAL MEDIA, NO DISTRACTIONS! ONLY FOCUS. I've learned how to play by watching youtube vids dont get me wrong but when it comes to being an extremely talented musician, they best of them had NO DISTRACTIONS they just had VHS tapes and magazines and sat there all dat until one day...
We used to put Eddie on tape (Teac 3340S) and slow it way down to distinguish notes
@Jennifer Maple It just takes longer. Also when you bought the guitar tab (mostly written by wolf Marshall) the tab was not always inaccurate (wrong neck positioning, etc) but it generally was a labour of love and very exiting when you nailed it.
When you break Ed’s playing down like this, you can truly realize the genius that is EVH!!!!
Curt Mitchell and Doug Marks were the only videos us back in the 80's and 90's had to learn these were the original guitar geeks.
Cmon lets not forget Wolf Marshall!!!!
Andy Aledort and Kenn Chipkin did quite a bit of transcribing back then too.
Doug and Curt were huge in my development as a guitarist.
There were TONS of Hot Licks and Star Licks tapes, too!
Grew up with star licks, hot licks, all the guitar mags. Even better now with the internet. However, the excitement of going out and buying these videos,unwrapping and putting it into the VCR was a thrill that you don't get from clicking on a lesson.
I'll take the liberty to name this guy the Original Professor Shred. His is equal parts talented, articulate and lucid. This video is, without a doubt, a masterclass. Bravo!
Anybody else thinking of making an Eddie tutorial can just pack it up and go home now. Nothing will ever beat this. The in-depth study combined with the skills to absolutely nail EVH makes this one of the best videos ever posted on TH-cam.
Beware, though - the info on the Variac is wrong - and dangerous. Eddie LIED for a long time about RAISING the voltage, when he actually LOWERED it. When he made the claim to Guitar Player magazine in April 1980, it included an Editors note that warned how dangerous that would be to do - basically a "Don't Try This At Home"..... TL;DR - Curt was working with the info available at the time - Eddie lied, Curt is not responsible.
And keep it from eating through tubes with the higher plate voltages
I remember reading that exact article, I was in high school at the time. Since I only had a Peavey Deuce amp (built-in phase shifter), and I used a Boss Distortion (DS-3 I think? it was orange) I got a somewhat close to EVH sound, though the Black Widow speakers didn't really have that signature Marshall Celestion 30 watt speaker tone in retrospect.
I wasn't brave enough to try out the Variac when I finally got a Marshall Plexi - but instinctively I had planned to go low voltage rather than high, and a good friend said that higher voltage would ruin my amp.
He created a homemade mod on the back of my Plexi that got a nice tone & much closer to EVH than the Peavey.
EVH later released his Signature amps through Peavey...
Tecnically he wasn't lying, he said he would set the voltage to 140, but if the amps he was using were british the regular voltage would be 220, so he was starving the tubes... a bit naughty of him not to mention that... i bet a lot of ppl fried their u.s spec. amps back then
This is a great video for sure, and he does an amazing job playing the riffs/emulating Eddie. However, I would have enjoyed a BIT more discussion about the examples. Many of them he didn't even mention anything ... just "Here's example 6 .... Here's example 7 ..." Would have been nice to hear something like .. "He's using the B blues scale here" or "He's tapping harmonics on these E, B, and A chord shapes here," etc.
I used to drink with this guy at the 714 club in Reno Nevada in the late 80's and early 90's. He made a video series called "In The Style Of...." and was (is) an amazing guitar player. He could pull off ANYBODY'S style AND he had a voice of his own AND was fantastic
is this guy still alive?
Yeah. Check out his page: www.curt-mitchell.com/
his band Bangalore Choir still plays every once in a while, I understand.
It was called the 715 club ;-)
Jeff Montgomery Guitar/Bass Lessons pretty sure it was 714... same as the imprint code on a quaalude. But if you say it was 715, great.
lol
just stumbled on this... Curt Mitchell, I must say you have made the most intelligent study of a guitar style that I have ever seen. I could not have dreamed of a better presentation. I'm simply blown away - thank you so very much!!!!
Haven't watched this video in 25 years and it's amazing how it's all come back to me and I remember it so vividly. Curt is an amazing guitar teacher, speaker and player all wrapped up into one.
Gonna be watching and learning from this over and over for a while. R.I.P. Eddie Van Halen 🤘
This just made my night. Was looking at roller coaster videos (headed to 6 flags sat) and I spotted my friend and guitar teacher of 2 years....Curt Mitchell. Yes, he is for hire for private lessons. I had one about 4 hours ago, we were working on "Tush"... I've had more than a "few ear fulls" and private "Eddie" examples tossed at me along with many other guitar masters....Billy Gibbons ranks pretty high... Curt plays in a few local bands around the area pretty regularly. He is a kind, funny, easy going rock freak...and my good friend. After my divorce 3 years ago and at age 51 I decided to finally learn how to play guitar. I just happened on Curt as our local go to teacher....pretty cool eh? Look him up if you want lessons....he's available. But, don't go looking to discuss all things Eddie....you wont get far. Check out Bangalore Choir for Curt's one recording deal I'm aware of. Hi Curt...if you read this ...well I couldn't help myself.... :-) Rock on and be kind.....
curt taught me SO much growing up, this video, the skynyrd method, the metallica method. bro these tapes take me BACK
Love this dude's enthusiasm for Ed. He definitely knows his shit.
I had a vhs tape of him when I was a kid.
This guy, in his own way, is a very good teacher.
Phenomenal that this guy did this in the 90's. VERY difficult in an era when slowing things down meant putting up with the lo-fi, low tech gear available at the time. Amaziing tutor, amazing ears amazing fortitude to learn all that from the record
You can tell not only is Curt a huge fan, but, he has a ton of respect for King Edward…I love it!!!
I haven't found any guitar teachers that haven't been totally blown away by Edward.
This brings back a lot of memories of working in a music store from '86 through '95. Got to love "It is RIPPING loud!"
What store u work at?
Curt is such a monster player. I wish I could get private lessons from him. So much knowledge! He deserves much more adulation then he gets. Rock on bro 🤘
You can.....see my post further down
what's his last name? Kurt...?
trey azagathooth
Curtis Mitchell
thanks!
Dominic Castri Should try him through his website & see if he does Skype lessons. A lot of teachers do these days, worth a shot.
I had some of his tapes in the mid early/mid 90s..Dude is dry and straight to the point, then moves on. Exceptional player and teacher indeed, rock on!
His nirvana video is real funny
Curt Mitchell taught SO many of us! Thank you sir.
These are the best guitar tutorials of old, I still have all of these on vhs, I need to transfer to digital at some point, curt is incredible..his tutorials cover all of the vital stuff..gear, dialing in sounds, etc..
A lot of guys make videos where they say his is how you sound like Hendrix, or this is how you sound like Zakk Wylde, or whomever, yet they take a giant shit on themselves and sound nothing like the guys they are trying to emulate. But this dude IS EDDIE VAN HALEN! Goddamn dude, phenomenal job! You're a master!
You need to check out Jacob Deraps. He's THE current incarnation of EVH.
@@elzafir Seriously, though ... why would someone want to do that? What a waste of talent. Eddie already did it. Why not do your own thing?
@@chadjohnson-authormusician8072 Why? As a tribute to a legend. And I'm sure the guy is a fan, so he's doing it for fun.
Holy hell I remember watching fragments of this tape years ago on here, maybe circa 2010-2011 but to see it here again is just pure joy
"People were laughing at him because he's got this duck-taped pedalboard on the floor, it looked like junk. Then, of course, he plugged in and it was over".
Always loved that line.
Basically Curt Mitchell made this video and it was over
@nineball26 yes, cRap is proof that the corporations can sell the retarded public anything.
nineball26 some great points! You know your stuff
@J. Milton Jeffreys good post I don't even like van halen that much but these guys worked hard and maybe got a little lucky cause hard work and talent are just the start of having a career like Van Halen has. btw the only guitarist playing hard rock/metal I can think of that's had platinum albums in 3+ decades I guess is Tony Iommi (70s, 80s (Dio albums), only just barely in 90s with "Reunion", "13" sold well but it's almost impossible to sell an album platinum in this day of everyone just stealing music, I just checked billboard's platinum albums list and only 10 "rock" albums have gone platinum since 2010!)
Something that called my attention is that all of the deep knowledge Curt displays of EVH's style and techniques is really an amazing work of research, experimentation and intuition because at that time there was no Wikipedia, TH-cam or IG, FB, TT etc. so most of what he is teaching he had to deduct from reading articles and by his privileged ear, profound analysis, knowledge of the guitar and understanding of EHV unique feel. Kudos to Curt and thanks to Todd for the upload.
After watching some of these '80s and '90s instructional videos, I've come to two conclusions:
1. Top-tier guitarists in the '80s and '90s generally had far better vibrato than today's counterparts.
2. An SM57 to tape makes for a much more pleasing distorted guitar tone compared to today's digital recordings. The way it compresses and rolls off certain frequencies gives it a distinct sound.
I had read way back that the First album was not recorded in the studio, it was recorded in Eddies barn with a 12 track tascam machine.
D Rutt 1969 I had an 8 track half " R2R back in the 80's and it's one of those "I wish I'd never sold" stories. Taped a lot of cool stuff with bands I was in back then & I'm now a "Once I buy it I don't sell it" collector types. I've got so much stuff now
interesting comment about the vibrato...i don't get too excited about a lot of newer metal guys, largely because of vibrato and tone. I just assumed it was a 'new thing' that guys do that kids react to, and its just not for me. Or maybe i'm just hearing the wrong people
For a few examples of younger guitar players with good vibrato, check out Brandon Ellis and Ritchie Faulkner.
chris sisson i hate to rag on players but alot of guys took their vibrato cues off ritchie blackmore , and tony iommi, shrill fast vibrato.. kirk hammet is a prime example of that .. evh , george lynch , warren dmt , all have great soulful vibratos despite what u think of their material . Vibrato is something that just comes thru your fingers from your ear / heart and shouldnt sound forced . Gary moore had a fast vibrato but sounded organic ..
Used to have this on DVD. “People call that tapping. It ain’t tapping”. “It’s not a bar … it’s a delay”. He knew his stuff.
hahaha
@@arthurmurfitt7698 “You have to have your phase shifter AFTER your delay pedal!”
Its amazing a guy could play like this ...and i never heard of this guy til now...crazy....you would think he would have been a big star himself or been in a big band at some point..... crazy stuff... this guy is remarkable.
Released long before TH-cam, and yet is still more accurate and informative than what you can find with a simple internet search........
This is by far the best analysis of Van Halen
that bit at 12:45 with the delay... such a simple trick that sounds pretty cool. I always assumed (probably like a lot of people) that was a whammy bar. Respect to this dude (or whoever showed him) for realising that this was done with a delay pedal! he does it perfect here!
This guys dedication is awesome. So much passion
This guy is so awesome really opens things up and is authentic replicating the greats, a real road walking loud and dirty guitar player tremendous.
I certainly hope this man made a nice huge chunk of cash. Hes such a great teacher. Have been watching his videos since stumbling upon the VHS vids in the 90's as a kid. He is so damn good, deserves so much more recognition. Curt if you see this. You're the man!!!
This is GOLD. Curt Mitchell is THE MAN. Thank you for posting. Love it!
In 95 we had to play & rewind over and over again on a vhs to see and learn from this
Yup
@Crooked Skate Supply Co with you, bro!
I had this tape in high school and had only been playing for about 2 years. I had a Peavey Predator, stripped the paint, painted it red with white and black stripes, threw a Dimarzio Super Distortion in and learned as much as I could from this tape. It was freaking eye opening. Thanks for putting this up and thank you Curt Mitchell!
I took my 17 year old son to see Van Halen at Oak Mountain Amphitheater. In Birmingham, Alabama a couple years ago. It was right after the Kimmel show ordeal. I felt sure thier would be scalpers having to dump thier tickets so we waited until Kenny Wayne Shepherd started. A man in his 60s Came up to me and said did I want some lower level seats? I told him I probably couldn’t afford them. He said I paid $350 for them but I will let them go for $60 apiece. I couldn’t get my money out of my wallet fast enough. We got to our seats and we were absolutely directly in the third row DIRECTLY in front of Eddie Van Halen. We had seen Motley Crue on their farewell tour a couple of months before. We were in the nosebleed seats and couldn’t see shit.That was his first show ever. for his second show he gets to sit 10 feet in front of Eddie Van Halen, his idol! He plays guitar and I had bought him a yellow, black, white striped series Guitar less than 6 months prior. I started teaching him when he was 10 and all he wanted to learn was Van Halen Songs. He can play about 20 VH songs more for note. He watched his hands all night. He changed the way he played VH songs to how EVH played them. I just got him a 5150 III head and he is using his Marshall 4x12 cabinet.
There is no way for me to explain the pride i feel that with no pressure at all. He embraced music I Love, and To already know he will be able to enjoy playing Guitar the rest of his life. It’s a feeling that only a musician truly understands.
That’s awesome. I hope I can encourage my own kids in the same way some day. Not quite big enough to wrap their hands around the guitar neck yet though. Lol.
Curt Mitchell is no joke ! ......Got this dvd awhile back and still watch it to this day .
How can there be 10 thumbs down, do these people even play the guitar?
This is Curt Mitchell he's a monster player!
I still have the old VHS instructional videos. Curt Mitchell is an awesome guitar player and instructor. He teaches not only the notes and techniques of iconic guitarists, but he also gives insights into expressing the feeling of the particular styles he's illustrating. I've learned a lot from his Van Halen and Stevie Ray Vaughn videos in particular.
This guy is fabulous, especially for the era that he was able to identify how Ed created the sounds. Any one of these techniques would be a contribution. To guitar, but the fact that Ed came up with so many illustrates why he is the most innovative person ever to play guitar. Any one who disagrees I'd like to know who has done more.
Jimmy Page is not as fast as EVH but then he used alternate picking exclusively instead of directional or economy picking - Page didn't innovate as many specific unique techniques as EVH but I consider Page to be a superior guitarist overall to EVH.
They're both equally terrible live when on chemicals.
When at his best, Page is absolutely breathtaking in ways different than EVH ever chooses -
th-cam.com/video/UqqKKa9AJK4/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/4m2FhRv8xF0/w-d-xo.html
if EVH were able to pull it off he certainly never chose to that I've ever heard
I’m 35 now but I remember being 12 years old and watching curt mitchell and all these videos when I was learning how to play. I have a ton of his VHSs. Good memories.
All you guys who have a youtube page with EVH scales, how to sound like EVH, gear, solos, etc should thank Curt Mitchell. Notice the date of this video......1995, 26 years ago!! Before alot of you were born. Curt figured this stuff out ON HIS OWN 26 years ago! I had to order this VHS tape through the mail and had it delivered to my house, the old fashioned way, ha.
Bought Curt’s instructional videos way back when. VHS. They’re around here somewhere. Learned so much about all the different styles out there. He could play anything.
This guy is awesome!!!
charles mayer EDDY IS
Monk Abrahms yes Eddie is. 👍
Ah man, life you to be so much simpler, our youth are missing out on so much. This is the sort of thing TH-cam should be. Kudos to this guy to even be able to slow this stuff down. Eddie is one of a kind
The accuracy is amazing given when this was published (1994). I never realized until I saw this video that the phase shifter Atomic Punk effect used a a fast slap-back echo to create the rhythm pattern!!
Paul Williams Keep up buddy 🤘
Granted, Eddie was saying things to throw people off. The amp wasn't modded, he did that to give Jose business. The variac turned the voltage down to 90. "Turning the voltage up would blow the filter caps." - Mike Soldano.
Early in his career, Eddie would turn his back to the audience when finger tapping so you couldn't see what he was doing.
Paul Williams Curt is a beast and it's my belief that he has perfect pitch. He's been playing since he was 5 and worked out all the difficult songs note for note from vinyl for the 1st set of "In the Style of " lessons in the 80's. So many really excellent guitar players are never heard.
+ImmodderNation Correct. Eddies variac was between 80-90 volts.
ImmodderNation Apparently Clapton did the same, though earlier of course, as he got sick of the other London players checking out what he was doing, only to have them do the same lines,riffs etc the following week.
Great teacher and very versatile player. Curt Mitchell did a fantastic job in Bangalore Choir's 1st album. Killer solos and rhythms.
WHat idiot would give this a thumbs down? You have so much good info here!!!!!
The same idiots who - during the 80s - would tell me that VH wasn't that great of a player.
65 dickheads with thumbs with their ass
Well said Vinnie, couldn't agree more with you
@Vinnie Provolone No one chooses to have a Line 6. I started with one and now I have a 1969 Supro Statesman 70w stereo (???) head unit and stereo cab in my bedroom. With two house mates that don't play.
I can't say that I had my thumb any further up my ass then than I do now, but I'll always feel a tingle DEEP in my plums when someone can emulate Eddie like that.
Cheers
I Hear You.. WTF ???!!
I was looking for something like this for over a decade, I can't believe I would find everything on a '95 vhs from an incredibly talented guy. The detailed sound analysis and most importantly the EVH riffs. Simply magnificent
I used to have a VHS with this guy doing Metallica, helped me learn a lot.
Stumbled upon this. Stayed glued for the full 49:15. Absolutely love it.
It's a definite keeper! Top encouragement I got from it is this - enjoy playing, enjoy experimenting, growing and above all else continue play what sounds good to you!
I remember watching this video back in the mid 90's. Great memories. Good as I remember it also.
I have the dvd bro
Guns & Accessories Me too. I wasted so much time trying to play like that and never could.
Curt learned these tunes by ear you can tell .which makes you a better musician period. Respect.
Impressive. This guy knows his stuff. It's amazing how these guys can break down Ed's playing to the most minute detail.
Good guitar teachers have to be able to do that to teach their students specific songs of all sorts that they want to learn how to play.
Thank you Curt. This is invaluable. Your playing is beautiful
Awesome playing, awesome tone. Could be nostalgia but in a sea of highly produced modern TH-cam vids, this appeals to me the most.
back then there was more mystical aspect to learning and playing guitar.... if there wasn't a tab book or a good video you had to figure it out on your own😆
@@rvm8315 And the tab books were terribly inaccurate back then. You still had to search out a gunslinger guitar player to teach you and/or figure alot of it out on your own. Yeah those tab books were awful back in the day.
Curt is a Great guitar player indeed. His videos are 2nd to none.
CURT MITCHELL ROCKS. DUDE CAN SHRED. THIS SEEMS LIKE YESTERDAY!
I seriously doubt yesterday ! He's been in prison since 2015 ! And won't be (eligible) for a parole hearing until he is 97 years old ! (FACT)
I like so many others bought Curt’s videos. Literally my first guitar teacher. Can’t believe it has been that long ago.
Dude is a great guitarist!
Learned so much from this guy back in the day
Brings back memories I bought this over 25 years ago.
I just so happen to stumble upon this video by Curt Mitchell. I grew up watching the Metallica version video that he did and that's where I got my style from. Watching Curt Mitchell when I was 10 11 years old, on a vhs rewinding the tape so many times that the tape got distorted. This guy is always been awesome thanks Curt.
I meant Curt,Curt Mitchell.
This guy is great ! He sounds exactly like VH and dig every single aspect of his style, amazing.
I had all Curt’s VHS tapes back in the day! Dude is awesome!
Good video, I like this guy.
me too. he is a great instructor
Curt Mitchell had a LOT of great instructional vids back in the day. Whatever happened to him? Where is he now?
Bo88y Beretta yeah man, me too
yeah, you can see he's true to the bone
I wonder if he's still alive
20:50 Sony 5 Disk Cd Changer. Love this guy!
I gotta say , here is a prime example of a true dedicated misician ! Hell of a job breaking it down and making Eddie's insane playing and technique more understandable in all the killer chaos that is Eddie Van Halen . The world was a better place the minute he picked up a Guitar . Appreciate the video , your time and knowledge as well , Peace
Curt Mitchell Is still doing his thing. Besides some session work and other projects he is lead guitar for a Pink Floyd Tribute Band called "The Floyd" which I believe is out of Nevada.
Never seen this. What a great video and great player. Thanks for posting it.
Curt is not only a great musician but a fantastic speaker, interesting person, and historian! Always detailed and very knowledgeable.
This guy was and is an absolute monster player. Super talented.
Excellent, thanks for Posting this!
we all need to return to the 80's EVH riffs
Curt was a inspiration to me. Had all his tape back in the day
...aaaaaaaaand my brain exploded...! This is like drinking from a fire hose of AWESOME. Simply amazing. Curt is incredible and very appreciative of Eddie's genius... and gave me a whole new appreciation for Eddie's innovations. Freaking crazy that Curt was able to grasp (and play!) so many of Eddie's licks- I can't even fathom how Eddie came up with each one in the FIRST place. Thanks Todd and Curt... and ED :)
This dude is all over the place. It's like he's thinking way way ahead of what he's showing you, talks about it for a second then says well... we'll get back to that and never does. Reminds me of when every one was on coke in the 80s
13:00 that that isn't a trem dive, and instead reaching down and turning a knob down on an effect pedal blew my mind. That's why he's EVH though, because how many people would think to do something like that?
Great friggin' lesson Curt .... you covered all bases in getting that EVH sound ... Thank You !!! & Thank you Todd for sharing this !!!
I had all of Curts VHS tapes,these were so amazing to watch back in the day because there was no internet. He was doing shit I've never seen before,really helped my playing. It was also funny to see how much coke he'd done before each video,lol.
Glad I'm not the only one that noticed/enjoyed those sniffles. Definitely a PED as far as the shreds go.
he was on tweek back in the day, clean now.
Holy shit, that was one of the first things I sorta noticed (4-5 minutes in...), and I'm biting my tongue, because of the respect I had for this guy (and especially in such a public fashion on YT)... Glad someone did it FOR me !!! Lolz....
But I luv his playing-accuracy, touch, & tone !!!
(The only other guy who comes CLOSE to Curt, is Jacob Deraps, in the EVH department !!💯)
Man, I've learned some Yngwie and Paul Gilbert licks, but I don't feel like I can call myself a guitar player, until I learn these Van Halen riffs!! Thanks for sharing!!!
What's most impressive, is that this is a semi amateur video (production and scripting) and you can tell this guy really knows his stuff! Remember this is pre-internet!!
Oh my goodness, I remember having this on VHS and it brings back memories, thanks for posting. Curt Mitchell is a god and I still can't figure why he never made it huge.... such a monster player.
Great video and playing! Thanks
Johan Segeborn Never thought finding you here! Greetings
There are a lot of instructional videos with only a handful that are good at understanding the mind of a player. Curt puts you in the mind of the ‘tone chaser’ and shows you how get there. If this is not in your core saved vids you’re missing out.
This really shows the genius of EVH.
Def leppard don't suck the singer is as good as the best pyrimaa
Pyromania start to finish fantastic naybe right up there with vh1
And ratt out of celler
still got this on vhs 😁
Really nice video. Props to Curt, seems like a good dude!
Todd is amazing. Great demo. So much info. could watch this ten times and need to watch it again.