http://www.guitars101.com/vb/showthread.php?t=25404

" Lonnie was gracious enough to grant me this interview right after he came
off tour, so I personally want to thank him for that. I'm far from a
journalist guys, but hopefully everybody will dig this one.


1. So how long have you been involved with guitars Lonnie?

My first experience learning to play was about 29 years ago. Approx. 4
years later I started to take it somewhat seriously. From day one I was
taking them apart and trying to figure out how they worked. I eventually
started to take apart amps and pedals, then switchers and midi pedals etc.
Hasn't ended and still rip things apart!! I have found a way to keep it a
hobby when at home for enjoyment and learning. Studied some electronics
over the years as well. Alot of this development was long before all the
info on the internet etc. It was a 'figure it out on your own' situation
and I loved every minute of it.

2. Of all the gear you've had over the years, what would be your most
prized piece of equipment?

1967 Marshall plexi 50w head and a 1966 Marshall 4x12 with green back 20's
(not25's). Killer amp. Also a pair of Lexicon PCM 42 delay's.

3. Describe a typical day on tour: pre show, during the show, and post
show.

This is going to be a long answer, hope no one minds.. There is no typical
day but I'll try to present it that way. Its also slightly different for
each band. Generally I get up at 7:30am ish. If we have driven overnight
to the next gig my first mission is get off the bus and find a shower in
the arena. Very important start! Generally I don't have to start working
until approx. 11am however. The extra couple hours I create for myself
here gives me time to contact suppliers for parts etc. when needed, so
thats the time where I catch up on e-mails and phone calls. On the VH tour
our stage manager knew I was in the building early everyday and we used
that to our advantage by directing the band gear from the tractor trailer
to the necessary location. That allowed it to be in place for the other
backline guys when they arrived. Its all about teamwork. There are a
couple other things I did at this point that were specific to Ed's setup
because it was specific to the stage layout. This doesn't apply to every
tour. For example: running his loom under the stage while the carps are
building set stuff on top of the stage. Next up is guiding the band gear
onto the stage and getting it into position with the local hands. This is
where things move at a faster pace with wiring the rig etc. Your trying to
get it done efficiently/quickly yet properly to get to the maintenance
aspect as soon as you can. Next you generally try to get the guitars
restrung, batteries changed, necessary cleaning etc. as soon as you can.
Now it starts to get interesting because its different every day. The
maintenance can entail anything and generally you never really know what
will come up. It can be anything from intonating a guitar to changing a
speaker to changing damaged guitar parts to fixing a broken cable, or re-
setting up the gain structure of a section of the rig, or re-programming
some patches that the player mentioned were not quite right the night
before, or replacing a broken switch or led on the pedal board. Sometimes
it can get more specific like replacing a relay in a switcher, or a dc to
dc converter in a patchbox etc. This kind of stuff depends on the techs
level of knowledge or experience. Some send it out to be repaired. Like I
said, its different everyday. Next up is playing the rig for a bit and
dialing the amps a little so it sounds right in the room and try to keep
it in the ballpark of what the player is looking for. At this point we do
line check which is basically the audio guys making sure they are
receiving everything at front-of-house. Sometimes if something is not
sounding right to them we work together to figure it out. Once this is out
of the way you get back to your maintenance program. Hopefully you have
time to hit catering for a quick lunch about now. Sometimes, depending on
the gig of course, I get into modding some of the gear and that can be
alot of fun. It really depends on the player and your time schedule. This
is not a required part of being a guitar tech but I really enjoy working
with the player in this way. Its great when you can make something sound
alot better and of course its all about getting the player in a zone that
he likes. With Ed we didn't get into that too much because he pretty much
wants his gear the way it is as long as its consistent. I had some fun
doing a few mods for one of our opening acts (Jonas). Their guitar player
(Cory) and I were chatting one day and that lead to modding his old
Marshall and Tube Screamer for him. He was really happy with the results
and that was a fun way to get some of that creative side out. Generally
its getting close to sound-check at this point so you spend the last bit
of time making sure the guitars are tuned and all the small details are in
place to make the player feel comfortable. Sound-check is different for
every band. Some don't do it at all, some keep it short and some are as
long as a show. Alot of it is the band working with the monitor people to
make sure everything sounds right on stage. This is also the time when the
player will point out if they want something adjusted a little differently
and this can be anything from the guitar to a processor to an amp. Again,
you never really know. Once sound-check is over you try to bang off as
much of the changes that came up in sound-check as you can. Dinner!!!!!!
Another important part of the day and a little bit of time to get away
from the job hopefully. Then I head back to my tech world and finish up
last minute things. Usually I have about an hour or a half hour here plus
the time during the opening act. Changeover is next and its very fast
paced. This entails placing pedal-boards and connecting them, putting down
set-lists etc. and testing all gear again. Hopefully no problems come up
here because if it does you have a VERY short time to deal with it. This
is where the pressure starts and you have to know how to deal with
whatever comes up very quickly. Most times its cool but every once in a
while you get a curve ball. Its VERY important to get it solved quick so
the player doesn't have to be involved in anyway. Its important to keep
their mindset as positive as possible. Showtime!!! In short we tune
guitars and hand them to the player when needed and solve any problems
that might come up. On some gigs its more involved. For example: I might
do all the patch changes so the player can concentrate on playing. Depends
on the tour. Ed does his own switching. Its important to stay focused
because you never know what will happen during the show. It can be as
simple as a broken string to an amp go down. The idea of course is to work
hard during the day so nothing will happen during the show but anything
can come at anytime. How do you predict a fan landing on a pedal board and
messing things up? You can't and it doesn't happen often but I have dealt
with it!!! If you have a rig with alot going on (ie: several amps.
hundreds of feet of cabling, many pedals etc. and your signal goes out it
can be anywhere. You really have to know what your doing to take that on
and come up smiling. Showtime is when you (and the player) really find out
what your about. Its a fix it right now kind of situation but its VERY
important to keep calm while dealing with it. If your freaking out its
hard to give the player a sense of confidence. Ed throws some curveballs
at you during some shows as well. For example: there were several times
when his amp was not quite reacting the way he wanted. Generally that
comes down to tube gain structure. I changed alot of tubes DURING the
show. The first time he asked this of me I was thinking "umm right now
Ed"? So I swap them out and pull out my meter and start biasing the amp.
Ed says "what are ya doin' ?". "Biasing your amp Ed". He responds with
"Just crank it man!" This is pretty unusual but it keeps you on your toes
and it kept it interesting. I had alot of tubes on hand and was ready for
it after that! Shows over!! This is the fastest pace of the day. The idea
is to work with local hands and get all the gear you are responsible for
packed as fast as you possibly can but in a way that is safe to the people
around you and not damage the gear. Alot of this stuff is very heavy and
people can get hurt. The reason why we have to move so fast here really
comes down to "time is money". Next up is getting the band gear to the
trucks and making sure it goes in in the right order. Backline (band gear)
are first in the trucks. If we take too long we hold every dept. up. The
longer we take the longer everyone takes and that translates into local
labour costs. The pace is crazy but it can be fun. Everyday on VH the drum
tech and I had a fun challenge going on to see who could pack up faster.
It kept it fun and gave us something to rib each other about. At this
point we are basically done. Next I find a quick shower and get on-line to
pick up e-mails. Maybe I'm receiving a package of parts tomorrow and I
need to know what to expect. Its also a good time to e-mail my sister and
tell her I miss her. Now I head back to the bus and try to relax a bit.
Sometimes hard to do with the quick pace of the show and loadout. Next is
sleep!!!! Then its 7:30am and I wakeup in another city and do it all over
again!! For those who like to count: By the time I get back to the bus at
night its usually 12:30am ish. Thats a long day!!!!

4. With all the buzz surrounding the big Van Halen tour this year, how has
life on the road with one of rock's most legendary acts been?

To be honest it has been a heck of alot of work. I don't view any artist
for who they are in terms of fame etc. There is no doubt that Ed is an
icon but I don't see how anyone in my position could view a player/band in
that way and be good at at. I'm here to do a job and have to take it very
seriously and responsibly. Ed and I got along very well and that is
important. I had fun and met some great people along the way but like I
said, it was alot of work.

5. Regarding Ed's use of the chord instead of the wireless, is there
really a purpose for this? And would you see him switching back to the
wireless unit anytime soon? From a fan's perspective, most of us want him
to ditch it so he can stop trippin over the darn thing!

The bottom line is wireless units change your tone and dynamic range. Ed
has used them for years and I think he finally got tired of the loss of
immediacy from using a wireless. People use wireless for freedom of
movement and thats it. If your #1 concern is tone wireless is not the way
to go. I have had alot of experience with everything from inexpensive
units up to $13-14,000 units. Nothing beats a good cable. One of the keys
to making a cable work sonically for Ed is the Axess-Electronics BS-2
buffer. We run about 75 feet of cable under the stage from his pedal-board
to his head and that's alot of signal loss. Using a buffer to couple a
high impedance source with a low impedance load is essential in a case
like this but not all buffers are the same. The Axess BS-2 is a fantastic
sounding device. If it didn't sound great we never would have gotten it
passed Ed's ears. He's very particular about how his rig feels and sounds.
I don't see him returning to a wireless but ultimately that is not for me
to say. The way his rig feels (dynamic range, pick attack etc.) are
priorities to him. That essentially disappears or greatly decreases with
wireless. I don't think he trips over it too much. It does get hung up
from time to time but the trade-off is worth it. Its important for him to
enjoy his experience on stage and that translates to fan enjoyment IMO.
Using a cable does contribute to this factor. He feels more "connected" to
his rig with a cable.

6. There are alot of rumors surrounding Ed and this band, so could you
please shine some light on how these guys are, not only as musicians, but
just as people in general.

There are alot of rumors flying around and there is obviously some history
but I can only comment on how they interacted with me. At the end of the
day they are people and all people have good and bad moments. There is no
way you could spend that much time around someone and not see most sides
of the picture but I'm not going to go into their personal lives too much
because that is no ones business. I enjoyed my interactions with each
member. Ed is an interesting person. During the solo sections he would
hang in my tech world alot and we had some great conversations. He's a
smart guy and we have some common interests that have nothing to do with
music. Ed is a person with a big heart. Believe it or not out of any
player I have worked with he is the most thankful appreciative guy. He
constantly thanks you for all your hard work and lets you know that your
doing a great job. That means alot. He also lets you know if things are
not right but thats cool because its important to know that. Mike is one
of the nicest guys is the business. Had the pleasure of hanging out with
him a couple times away from the gig and he is just a great person. Always
enjoying himself. I had the least interaction with Sammy because he didn't
do sound-checks. He would stop by my tech world from time to time during
the show for a brief chat or we would pass in the hallways and he always
had a big smile. He's a cool guy and seems to like to keep it fun. Alex is
interesting as well. He is really into things. He's involved in all the
production aspects and wants everything to be right. He is focused and I
respect that alot. The Reverend is a cool guy and I enjoyed being around
him as well. He would joke with me from time to time saying "are you still
here"? It was in fun of course, he knew my gig was alot of work.

7. Of all the guitars Ed uses during the course of a show (Wolfgang's, the
5150 Frankenstrat, or the new EVH Charvel's) which does you prefer and
why?

The guitars were fine, the problem was Floyd Rose tremolos. They are
simply too soft. I'm not speaking for Ed here, you have to ask him for his
opinion. As a tech I have a right to my own opinion when I'm responsible
for it. When they first arrived on the market they were machined brass and
they were a serious piece of machinery, but for a long time they have been
made of some sort of softer molded metal. They are too soft for the abuse
Ed puts them through. They also sounded alot better when made of brass. Ed
is VERY rough on them, its a big part of his style. Ed requires all the
bolts to be locked down as hard as possible because if its not it will
move. He really gives them a workout, never seen anything like it. I was
replacing so many Floyd parts you wouldn't believe it. Saddles, string
blocks, you name it. Pretty much a nut every 2 or 3 shows, sometimes
daily. We would crush them or strip them out. The tolerances are not tight
enough either. Many of the nuts were slightly different heights. That can
be a pain when forced to change them that often. The design of a Floyd is
great, just wish they were a bit tougher. It works well for most players
but Ed is not most players. If I had to pick one guitar however it would
be the 5150 Frankenstrat. It sounds great but its just really cool. Alot
of history. Also has an original old Floyd on it.

8. Describe the first time you went on stage as Edward Van Halen's tech
and how it felt holding Ed's guitar?

OMG it was crazy. It was in Atlantic City NJ. VH have a custom stage so
its the same layout in an arena. When we did amphitheaters we couldn't use
that stage but the riggers and carps etc. went to great lengths to keep it
consistent for the band and their techs. My first show was neither
situation and the only time this came up on the tour. Couldn't have made
it tougher if it were planned! It was an outdoor gig in a parking lot with
a rented stage. It threw everything way behind. Generally we get the band
gear to the stage at about 11:30ish am and sound-check was at 4:30ish.
This day we didn't get the stage until 3:30pm!!! I had no idea what cases
were what. Everyone knew I was the new guy and were very welcoming but you
could tell many of them knew I was screwed that day. It started to get so
late that several of them started to joke with me about it. In a situation
like that you really are screwed but I work very well under pressure and
don't feel nervous no matter what situation I'm placed in. I had so little
time to pull everything off that I had no time to think about it. You go
into this mode and just do it. To be honest I have alot of experience as a
touring tech and that helps prepare you for something like this. Its also
not the first time I've been faced with this type of situation. I also
have alot ofknowledge in guitar rig building, amp modding/repair etc. etc.
and that gives you alot to draw on. Another factor here is that I do my
homework. Dave Friedman (of Rack Systems, builder of Ed's rig) is a good
friend of mine. I went over every inch of Ed's rig on paper for signal
flow and the best way to tackle gain structure, how its powered and
grounded etc. Its not so much self confidence as much as actualizing your
abilities. Another very fortunate thing was Mike Keegan, Ed's former tech.
He was very kind to drop by and help me out a bit pointing out what was in
what case etc. and how he sets things up. He really is a wonderful person
and I'm not just saying that because of this situation. He is just a
really good guy. Thank you Mike. Everything ended up happening on schedule
and went off flawlessly. I really didn't have time to think "hey, this is
EVH's guitar"!!! Actually that never really hit me the whole tour. Maybe
in time.

9. How has your playing changed (or improved) by working with Edward?

This is a very good and unexpected question. Ed has a very unusual right
hand technique and that is part of what makes him unique. I'm well aware
that the majority of a persons sound is in their hands. I think seeing
that uniqueness in Ed helped me reaffirm my own uniqueness. We all have
it.

10. How many guitars does Ed bring on tour?

We had 6 for some of it (5 wolfgangs) and the 5150 Frankenstrat. The
Frankenstrat needed some MAJOR repair and was giving us tuning problems so
he sent it home at end of 3rd leg. I simply didn't have the time to tackle
the problems with this guitar and it has alot of history so I didn't want
to mess with it. That guitar sounds great!!! We had a new Charvel sent to
us for every show, sometimes 2 or 3. Basically Ed likes to play one guitar
for the entire show. He appears to connect with the vibe of one guitar and
likes to stick with that. For the 3rd leg it wasthe Tobacco Wolfgang and
the 4th leg was the Green Wolfgang.

11. How did you land the gig in the first place?

I have been doing this for many years now having toured with artists like
KidRock, The Offspring, Tori Amos, Shakira, A Perfect Circle, and many
Canadian bands (I live in Toronto) such as Our Lady Peace, I Mother Earth,
Nelly Furtado, Finger 11, Big Wreck/ Ian Thornley etc. as well as some
rehearsals/one-offs with Marylin Manson and Mary J Blige . Throughout
these experiences you develop many relationships. One of them is Dave
Friedman of Rack Systems in North Hollywood. Dave has become a very good
friend and has helped me out alot. (I owe you another sushi dinner
Dave!!). He built Ed's current guitar rig and happens to be friends with
Ed's friend/personal assistant Matt. It all came together from that.

12. What are the best and worst parts of your job?

The worst part of it would be being away from home and from the people you
most care about. The long days and fast pace are a bit much from time to
time but you do get used to it. The best things are many. I really enjoy
the interaction of working with all theother crew people. Some of them are
characters!! . We really are a team and each dept. relies on the other so
you really feel like your part of something. There are many great people
on these crews and it can be fun. I also have a very independent side and
one aspect that appeals to me is that I don't have someone breathing down
my neck all the time telling me what to do. The person hiring you knows
that you know what to do and when and generally leaves you to it. I enjoy
the pressure during the show. You are in a position that when something
does go wrong you have to deal with it right NOW. Many jobs are not like
that as often as this and I like that for some reason. Seeing so much of
the world is also a wonderful part of it. I think the most important thing
I have learnt from that is that we really are all the same. All of our
political/religious etc. differences are bulls**t.

13. What is the craziest backstage story that you are allowed to tell us?

Ha! You really should ask Kevin, Michael Anthony's tech. He has been with
VH for over 24 years and has seen it all. He has great stories..

14. There are rumors flying around about Ed's antics during the song Right
Now at the final show on 11/19/04. Would you be able to tell us as to why
Ed smashed his green Wolfgang? Some say that it was just a goof, others
say it symbolizes the end of Ed and Peavey's relationship, and of course
the rumors of Ed's supposed alcohol abuse. Would you be able to shine some
light on what exactly happened at that last gig?

I'm not interested in commenting on this with the exception of stating
that it had nothing to do with anything gear related. He wasn't frustrated
because something wasn't working properly.

15. You've been on the road with these guys for a while now. What's your
favorite song to hear night in and out, or are you so focused on Ed and
being ready for any possible problems, that you really don't have time to
get into the show?

To be honest I'm as focused as I can be on Ed. I grew up on VH so I enjoy
the music but thats not what I'm there for. If I had to pick one song it
would probably be Unchained. Who can resist that riff, esp. when he kicks
in the flanger and of course the vocal melody/lyrics.

16. Lastly, once simple question that I just feel the need to ask. Sam or
Dave? (Answer at your own risk!)

Thats not fair!!! Its hard for me to just look at the music aspect of it.
At the end of the day these guys are people and that is a factor as well.
I haven't worked with Dave so I have no basis for comment on a human
level. Sammy has a really positive vibe and enjoys himself and that's
important to the mind set of the tour from an internal perspective. Sammy
has alot of fun on stage and the audience obviously picks up on that. In
terms of the music....I grew up on early VH and loved Dave's character and
lyrics. He was bigger than life and he was about as good as it will ever
be as a front-man for a rock band in his day. He was up there with Freddy
Mercury and Bono IMO and had the audience in the palm of their hand as it
were. Sammy's stuff is really melodic/fun and it took VH to new heights in
terms of fan base. I don't think I can choose between the two. I see
positives in both and enjoy both. Thanks for reading everyone! "

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