Little Guitars


"Little Guitars" is a song performed by Van Halen. It was included on their album Diver Down.
The song is notable for its intro, an acoustic flamenco-style solo by Eddie Van Halen. This was accomplished by using his right hand to pick a single-note trill on the high E string. He then used his left hand to play the melody on the low E, A, and D strings using hammer-ons and pull-offs.
In addition to the intro, the song is also notable for the mini-Les Paul guitar that Edward used for the main track. This is the only Van Halen recording that the guitar was used for. The mini-Les Paul was made by Nashville luthier David Petschulat, and was pitched and sold to Eddie during a tour stop in Nashville, Tennessee. Eddie purchased a second mini-LP guitar that was then built to slightly different specs; the first being a honey-sunburst with mini-humbuckers, and the second being dark wine-red with a thicker body and full-size humbuckers.
Chuck Klosterman of Vulture.com ranked it the 18th-best Van Halen song, writing "Nothing is heavy, everything is edifying — a comprehensive success."