In a new interview with Esquire, Eddie Van Halen opens up about the band's new album, A Different Kind of Truth, and reminisces about his long and storied career.

One of the cooler stories from the piece features Ed remembering his first encounter with Ted Nugent back in 1978.

"Ted was cool enough to give the band a sound check," he said. "He's standing off to the side and he's listening to me, and he comes up and says, 'Hey, you little shit! Where's your little magic black box?' I'm going, Who the fuck is that? And it was Ted. Hey Ted, it's nice to meet you, thanks for the sound check. And he's going, 'Let me play your guitar!' I go, 'Okay, here you go.' He starts playing my guitar and it sounds like Ted.

He started playing, and millions of teenage boys started banging their heads against the wall. Thirty-five hard years later, he's got a new album, a new tour, and his kid Wolfgang is in the band. What would you give to play Eddie's guitar backstage at the Garden?

It's all in the fingers, man. He tells a story about when the band first hit. Van Halen was opening for Ted Nugent back in 1978 at the Capital Centre. Ted was cool enough to give the band a sound check. He's standing off to the side and he's listening to me, and he comes up and says,"Hey, you little shit! Where's your little magic black box?" I'm going, Who the fuck is that? And it was Ted. Hey Ted, it's nice to meet you, thanks for the sound check. And he's going, "Let me play your guitar!" I go, "Okay, here you go." He starts playing my guitar and it sounds like Ted. He yells,"You just removed your little black box, didn't you? Where is it? What did you do?" I go, "I didn't do anything!" So I play, and it sounds like me. He says, "Here, play my guitar!" I play his big old guitar and it sounds just like me. He's going, "You little shit!" What I'm trying to say is I am the best at doing me. Nobody else can do me better than me.