He wasn't an influence on me, but I think he's one of the great rock guitarists of all time. That being said, I find it sad that his influence led to some pretty horrible music, with guitarists shredding as fast as they can, without the heart and soul of Eddie Van Halen. I have bootlegs of Eddie playing at Hollywood High - he wasn't even tapping back then. He didn't need to because his tone and phrasing were awesome. His tapping technique which came later was just icing on the cake. Too bad that can't be said for the thousands of guys who copied his tapping technique, but have no clue when it comes to phrasing and tone.
Of course there are exceptions, but in my opinion, no one has done the shred thing with more feeling, mature rhythmic phrasing and tone than Eddie.
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