Yngwie on His Rig, Different Marshalls

The EVH Connection (Sorta), Yngwie’s Amp Settings

This Edward Van Halen quote from Tuesday’s post – “Those old Marshalls are all so different and you won’t find two that sound the same” – reminded me of another quote I read in the same book, Gear Secrets of the Guitar Legends.

The other quote is from the one and only Yngwie Malmsteen, talking about the fact that many early Marshalls were different from one another – a well-known fact, but good to hear from legends like these, and besides, this is a funny story – about Yngwie and Jim Marshall getting plastered…..

Heeeeeeeere’s Yngwie:

“For amps, I use 50w Marshall Mark IIs that date from 1969 to 1973. I know a lot of guys that agree with me – like Michael Shenker and Gary Moore – they swear by the Mark IIs.

“All the Marshalls made during this period are hand-wired, and actually they’re all different. I know that because Jim Marshall and I got drunk one night and he told me that they just didn’t give a f*ck back then. When they ran out of one capacitor or transformer, they just threw in whatever was lying around.

“You know what their slogan used to be? ‘Marshall, the sound of success…no distortion.’ They didn’t intend to make this thing sound like it does. But Marshalls are still the best. Every other amp company says, ‘Ours sounds just like a Marshall,’ but to me nothing beats an old Marshall stack.”

Yngwie Rig Info

> In the same 2003 book interview, Yngwie said this about his rig: “Here in the studio, I drive the front of it with a Tube Screamer and a Boss NS2 Noise Suppressor, and I get a really warm tone.

> Live he never uses fewer than 2 heads (50-watters).

> In an old forum post, user Ray Ivers said he saw Yngwie in 1999, talked to his tech and learned the following: “He was using two large-box metal-panel 50w Marshalls, apparently running NOS Mullard EL34s. He was also using a TS-9 Tube Screamer, and of course those scalloped Strats with the DiMarzio HS-3s [tone controls disconnected, according to the book interview]. [The tech] told me the amps were completely stock. All amp controls were on 10 except the bass control, which was set at 0.”

> If you’re an amp tweaker, the above post recommends changing (if need) the Prescence control cap from .1 to .68 – “you won’t believe the ouput tube distortion….” [DO NOT try this unless you know what you’re doing!]

Yngwie’s Guitar Solo, Live, ’98

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM8QWzCGrgQ

Category: Boss/Roland, Ibanez effects, Marshall, Mullard, Yngwie Malmsteen