Over an eight-year spell, Eddie Van Halen was Peavey’s poster boy, working closely with the U.S. gear maker to create the now-iconic 5150 amplifier and Wolfgang electric guitars. That ended abruptly in late 2004, and CEO Courtland Gray believes its signing of Joe Satriani is to blame for the breakdown in their relationship.
Talk at the time was of an amicable split, with the gear-obsessed virtuoso instead forging a new partnership with Fender, leading to the EVH brand that continues his legacy today.
Taking his amp and guitar trademarks with him, the EVH Wolfgang soon entered production, and several models followed since, including the Frankenstein. Many believed that Van Halen’s motivations centered on forming his namesake brand, but in a new interview with Guitar World, Gray says he believes other factors were at play.
“The best we can figure is that we joined up with Joe Satriani and made a signature amp with him called the JSX,” he suggests. “I think Eddie got rubbed up the wrong way because we had another superstar guitar player in our lineup, and he always figured he was the artist for Peavey. So he decided to leave.”
The timeline certainly matches up: Satriani’s signature three-channel, 120-watt amp head launching earlier that year.
However, while it was all smiles in public, the relationship grew frosty behind the scenes. Gray says that while Van Halen kept the 5150 name, “it was part of the agreement that we wouldn’t make the guitar if he didn’t make the amp”.
Tensions continued to grow when the guitarist seemed to go against the agreement.
“Shortly thereafter, we were at a trade show and heard this amp that sounded just like a 5150,” Gray recalls. “And sure enough, he’d come out with his own version. I think he even used our engineer to develop the new one.”
So Peavey, Gray says, hit back: “That was in 2005, around our 40th anniversary. Having been founded in 1965, we decided to call our amp the 6505.”
It's even gone on to release new iterations of the Wolfgang, or at least its essence, with the “streamlined hard-changing beast,” HP2 Poplar Burl RM landing in 2023.
Just five years later, Satriani turned to Marshall amps for his tour dates with the supergroup Chickenfoot, which also featured Sammy Hagar, Chad Smith and Michael Anthony. This reportedly led to another severed relationship.
Interestingly, when Hagar tapped up Satriani for his Van Halen–celebrating Best of All Worlds shows last year, the guitarist turned to 3rd Power Amps to re-create his favorite Van Halen tone, rather than returning to Peavey or Marshall.
Yet Gray doesn’t seem to hold grudges today. Asked about the legacy of the Peavey/Eddie Van Halen relationship, he says he’s grateful for the learnings it provided, and the status elevation it offered the brand.
“Eddie spent a lot of time over here in Meridian, checking the tones and tweaking everything bit by bit to make a great product,” he reflects. “I guess it must have been a big shock when little Peavey in Mississippi got the biggest guitar hero out there working on a signature product.”
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