Last week, Phil X got together with bassist Daniel Spree and drummer Kenny Aronoff for a seriously awesome cover of Van Halen’s "Unchained," which you can check out above.
Though the cover itself is great, Phil also devotes a significant amount of time in the video, following the cover, discussing the significant lengths he went to to duplicate Eddie Van Halen's killer tone on the song.
“I was trying all the different kind of Strat-type ‘Frankenstein’ whammy guitars with the maple neck," he said. “And I found that the maple neck made the high F chord a little spanky. So I tried a couple rosewood necks and the spank went away but it didn’t sound right.
“So I tried my Explorer because it’s a hunk of mahogany but it didn’t work. I tried an SG. And the Les Paul won. So I used a Custom Shop ’57 Gold Top with an Arcane PX-8 [humbucker] in the bridge. Not the guitar [Eddie] used, but it sounded closest to me.”
As for the solo, Phil used a whammy- and PX-8-equipped Luxxtone Choppa S, plus a 1976 Marshall JMP, Boss GE-10 graphic EQ, ‘70s-era MXR Flanger, an original MXR script Phase 90, a Digitech CabDryVR dual cab simulator and a whole lot more.
“You’re never, ever, ever, ever going to nail it," the Bon Jovi guitarist says of Van Halen's trademark tone. "But it’s fun getting close.”
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