“Ed Van Halen was a lot more than his tapping solo. Unfortunately, all the other players in LA thought it was all tapping and dive bombs, and they became cartoon versions of Eddie”: Pat Travers recalls how EVH gave rise to caricature impersonators

Pat Travers and Eddie Van Halen playing guitar in the 1980s.

Eddie Van Halen ushered in an electric guitar revolution through his innovative and trailblazing playing style – but there was a lot more to his approach than just tapping acrobatics and dive-bombing fretboard theatrics.

While this is an observation that is widely held by EVH fans of today, Pat Travers – the rock guitar virtuoso who was around when Van Halen was at the peak of his powers in the 1980s – has discussed how this was often overlooked by Eddie’s peers.