“I think Eddie got rubbed up the wrong way because we had another superstar guitar player in our lineup”: Eddie Van Halen apparently left Peavey because it signed a second standout shredder – Joe Satriani

Eddie Van Halen of Van Halen performs on stage on the 17th April 1998, at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia.

Peavey CEO Courtland Gray has shed new light on Eddie Van Halen’s split from the company in the early 2000s, and suggested the recruitment of a second superstar shredder prompted the Eruption virtuoso to up sticks and leave.

In 2004, Van Halen and Peavey brought an end to their partnership, which – following its onset in the mid 1990s – had produced both the now-iconic Wolfgang electric guitar and a series of 5150 guitar amps.