Eddie's main amp used on all the records is a Marshall 100-watt Super Lead "Plexi" head. It's either a '68 or a '69 and Eds had it since he was 14. It runs on standard Sylvania EL34 valves (tubes) and hasn't, contrary to popular belief, undergone any weird modifications just replacement of parts due to general wear and tear. In Van Halen's early years Ed's now classic tone was a partly due to his 1960's Marshall. Ed used a Variac to lower the voltage according to the sound he wanted to hear.

For the recording of F.U.C.K. album, Ed mainly used a 1989 Soldano SLO-100 head but also started using prototype Peavey amps which have become his signature Peavey 5150 amps.

Regarding the Soldano SLO-100, when Ed's Marshall started to fail him in the early 1990's, he made the switch.

Nowadays, Ed's guitars are strung with Peavey extra-light strings, gauges .009 to .042 Ed sets his action as low as possible for the easiest playability with the least amount of resistance. His personal setup recipe is as follows, "...I lower the strings to the point of buzz and then back it off just a hair. Why make it hard?"

Ed uses a non-floating Floyd Rose tremolo system which preserves the bridge to guitar-body contact giving a more stop tail piece level of sustain and tone. "I don't know anybody that uses the damn tone control on a guitar, at least I don't. For me, it's all the way up, period."

"I like thin frets, that way it's more precise, the bigger, the fatter the fret is the worse the intonation is.", he also adds.

Here go some of Edward's setups throughout history. First of all, we have to present Edward's original 70's setup:

• MXR Phase 90;
• MXR Flanger;
• Six-Band Graphic Eq;
• Maestro Echoplex;
• Univox EC-80 Echo;
• Roland DC30 chorus.

The 90's setup:

• Eventide H3000 Intelligent Harmoniser;
• 2x Roland SDE 3000 Stereo Delays;
• Lexicon PCM 70 Stereo Reverb;
• MXR Phase 90;
• BOSS SD1 Super Overdrive;
• Dunlop Cry Baby Wah-Wah;
• Boss OC2 Octave Divider;
• TC Electronics 2290 delay;
• AMS reverbs;

The live setup chain:

• Guitar (Ernie Ball MusicMan/Peavey Wolfgang);
• Sony wireless system with 2 outputs;
• Output 1 goes to a Peavey 5150 amp (8 ohms) into two 2x12" cabinets, as dry monitoring for Alex;
• Output 2 feeds a Bob Bradshaw switching system comprising one Peavey 5150 amp (16 ohms), into a Palmer mono speaker simulator (input load is 8 ohms, thus making amp work hard!);
• The simulator's output 1 (line level) goes to the Bradshaw input, where effects are added and the signal comes out in stereo to an HH V800 power amp. This feeds two 4x12" cabinets (wet signal). A line output from the V800 is sent to a further V800, powering two 4x12" cabs for Eddie;
• The simulator's output 2 (speaker level) goes to a single 4x12" cabinet (dry signal). All cabinets are loaded with 75w speakers, but the 'wet cabs' contain higher efficiency coil form for a cleaner sound.

The 2004 setup:

1. Rack:
   • Furman Power Conditioner;
   • MXR Custom Smart Gate Pro;
   • Roland SDE 3000 Delays (two units);
   • Lexicon PCM-70 delay;
   • Line 6 Echo Pro;
   • H&H V800 Mosfet Power amps;
   • (spare version of all above in rack as well)
2. Pedal board:
   • MXR Phase 90;
   • Dunlop CryBaby Wah;
   • Peavey Delta Stomp;
   • Demeter Tremulator;
   • MXR Flanger;
   • Amp switching & on/off switches.
3. Amps:
   • Peavey 5150 II (four units);
   • 5150 4x12" cabs (twelve units).