Inventor: Edward L. Van Halen
Patent number: D388117
Filing date: Jul 30, 1985
Issue date: Apr 14, 1987

1985 was a transitional year for Van Halen, having scored a number 1 hit with Jump in both America and England, the band was riding the crest of a commercial wave. But while MTV was blasting out their videos the band was crumbling from the inside… Fun lovin’ party animal and super positive singer Diamond Dave was replaced by Sammy Hagar, Dave would later quip “the difference between Sammy and I is Sammy throws a party, I am the party”…

…and while this storm was raging guitarist Eddie Van Halen still had time to tinker away in his garage and invent a musical instrument support. Eddie had popularized the tapping technique that spawned a million shredders during the decade, and with his flip-down guitar support the technique would have been made all the easier… …but while the image looks rockin’, who could have pulled this off in reality and still looked cool? Remember 80’s shredders had a lot to worry about… …spandex pants, big hair and pouty faces!