In the 1980s, Eddie Van Halen sparked a shred revolution, and ever since, hordes of players have tried their utmost to channel his magic. Jacob Deraps is blowing everyone else out of the water.
From Saint-Georges, Quebec, just down the road from Angine de Poitrine – what is in the water over there?! – Deraps is the real deal. He’s got chops for days and with his namesake band, he’s hellbent on bringing catchy rock kicking and screaming back into the mainstream.
He’s got the Eddie factor down to such an uncanny standard that he’s become the face of the EVH brand’s latest line of Wolfgang Special guitars. It’s the ultimate recognition for a guitarist who has obsessed over Van Halen his entire life.
“Hearing that guitar sound, it was like heaven,” he told Guitar World earlier this year in a video well on its way to one million views. “It became an obsession.”
The internet has been glued to his extremely faithful take on a sound that defined a generation. One commenter on the GW video put it best, saying: “As EVH himself said, you can copy notes, but you can’t copy the spirit. This guy gets as close as I’ve ever heard anyone.”
What’s interesting, though, is that there’s a modern edge to the song he wrote, recorded, and performed for the Wolfgang Special promo video. Sure, Eddie’s flourishes are in there, especially in the dextrous two-handed tapping lick that makes a teasing, fleeting appearance, and the growl of tremolo in parts of the main, drop-tuned riff.
But it’s less of a cosplay than it is a guitarist showing what he can do in his own right, all while offering echoes of a player the guitar world still greatly misses. It’s a big moment in the spotlight, and he’s put himself, not his hero, right in it.
“I had the immense pleasure of working with my guitar hero’s company, EVH Gear, for the release of this Wolfgang Special guitar,” Deraps writes on Facebook.
“I created and recorded this track using my Wolfgang Special T.O.M. guitars, and was then flown out to California for the video shoot.
“This is an absolute honor and a dream come true for me.”
The new Wolfgang Special comes loaded with a Floyd Rose trem with Eddie’s famous D-Tuna tech. It pairs a basswood body with an arched top and a bolt-on, quartersawn, baked maple neck.
Alnico 2 humbuckers deliver plenty of grit and growl, and the guitars come in at $1,499 apiece.
Deraps more than deserves his moment.
See EVH Gear for more info on the model.
