“You know how he got it? First of all, it’s in his hands. He could play anything and it would sound like Eddie Van Halen. But where most people missed the mark is they forget that his cab that they recorded all those early records at Sunset Sound was loaded with JBL’s on the top, it’s Celestions on the bottom.”

Bonamassa also pointed out that mic placement in the studio also played a major role in the “brown sound.”

“They would mic one of each and they would blend the JBL and they would blend the Celestion. The JBL gave it the teeth and the Celestion gave it the warmth, and they would blend it. That’s how we did it.”

And lastly, where Van Halen recorded their early albums also factored into how EVH’s guitar was captured on tape.

“Plus big old Sunset Sound plate reverb. That was a that was a big factor. But he could play anything and sound like him. Clapton can play anything and sound like him.”