Poor Eddie

**WhoHalen** · 04.10.02, 08:41 AM

You know, it sucks that rolsguitars is being shut down, because that was that guys livelihood. Just something fun to do on the side, ya know. But how can we sit here and bash Eddie for simply protecting something that he made up? Call him greedy, call him petty and lame, but who wouldn't do the same thing in his shoes?!. The guy has given us his life's work. His music. So what if he's got a new lawyer and is making the proper legal decisions now. This stuff is his. All of it. The name, the stripes, the music and everything else that goes with it. It fails to register with me how we should get so upset by this. It's almost like people make Eddie the default scapegoat in everything this band is, or is not for that matter, doing right now. Sure, he's made some poor decisions, but fact is, none of us really know what the reasoning was or what events influenced those decisions. Fact is this: Ed isn't blameless for the current state of this band, but I guarantee you he isn't entirely to blame. Hasn't he earned a break? Shouldn't he be able to make the music that he wants to make, not what we want him to make? Should't he be able to protect what's his? Heck, why don't we start blaming Ed for putting the hole in the o-zone layer? What about the Titanic sinking? Damn Eddie. I can't do Calculus, that's gotta be Eddie's fault. Lighten up on the guy people!

**VH5150** · 04.10.02, 08:44 AM

OK, I HAVE BEEN OUT OF THE LOOP FOR AWHILE, WHATS UP WITH ROLSGUITARS GOING OUT OF BUSINESS? DID HE GET SUED BY EDDIE?

**Canyon Carver** · 04.10.02, 08:50 AM

Eddie has the right to protect his property. No contest.
The problem is that this is probably the worst time for him to go after a handful of fans who are promoting the Van Halen image more than they are actually profiting from it.
If Ed has any intention to continue with his band sometime this century, shutting down Rols and other small operations is bad PR. Rols has a pretty loud voice here on the boards, and his word means a lot more to most of us here than that of Ed or Brad (who we never hear from anyway).
If Ed is simply gathering his assets to make sure he retires well, that's another story...

**z28girl** · 04.10.02, 10:19 AM

No one is going to really know about this and even if the whole world did, if Van Halen put something new out, it would all be forgotten. Edward has never appeared to really give a shit what anyone was thinking about him. He wants the respect that he deserves for the music he's created, but unless you know him personally, why or how could he possibly hope to please everyone?

I find that imitation is the greatest form of flattery, but if Ed doesn't like it, he certainly has every right to protect his identity and creation.