Michael Schenker turned 60 in January. Is that a big deal? It’s a round number that implies old-ish age, but it sure hasn’t slowed his fingers down any. Check this video from May 1 of this year. He solos for 10+ minutes — not alone, but with the drummer and bass player. YOU WILL NOT […]
Got it in my head to figure out which Van Halen song tones – not album tones – I liked the most. Started with Fair Warning, whose balls I just can’t get enough of…which doesn’t sound so good but you get what I mean. Listen to it cranked in my car because that’s the only […]
Why have I crawled out from under my rock to post on what still is a pretty highly-trafficked blog? (Cool!) Stumbled across a review of the George Lynch-designed, Seymour Duncan-produced Super V pickup on YouTube – and it’s frickin’ great! No secret that most guitar-stuff reviews on YT suck. Some of that’s because the reviewer […]
Last year at some point I fell in love with the DiMarzio “made-for-the-Ernie Ball/Music Man-EVH-model guitar” hummers. Don’t know if they have an exact name, and they’re not sold to anyone except EB/MM. I have ’em in an old ash Axis Sport – killer guitar. Those pickups: Each string stands out, stands up and sounds […]
Shazam! You hear/see this yet? Hipped to this by my friend the Buzzard. It’s good! And who knew Ritchie Kotzen – or anyone – could sound like Chris Cornell?? Here’s a bit about what Blabbermouth has to say about the band, project, whatever you call it: > THE WINERY DOGS, the new project featuring Mike […]
Aerosmith, Skynyrd, ‘the guy with the Afro’ Not a whole lot to post here except to WATCH THESE. F-ing incredible. Seriously. Vintage Aerosmith, Lynyrd Skynyrd and “the guy with the Afro” – Jimi. Got hipped to these vids by emails and forums (thanks much guys), just incredible. About “the guy with the Afro.” I was […]
Not sure whether classic-type rock is dead or what, but doesn’t seem to be much of it lately. Maybe laptops and Pro Tools killed the ability to record great woody tones – with frickin’ air around it, not every nano-slot of the sound spectrum filled up! – but I don’t think that’s it. So when […]
LOVE the first four Van Halen albums. Always have, always will. Love the rest too, including the Van Hagar years (oops, forgot about VH III…), but those first four vinyl donuts are to me and many others just the nads. The nadliest of nads. They’re a band kicking the world’s butt in every way, and […]
Recently I was ruined yet again by a good amp. This time a bud’s Bogner Shiva, EL34 version. Let’s call him Sean – because that’s his name…. He’d been talking about how awesome it was for a while, and even though I know he has good ears, wasn’t too motivated to go try it. I’d […]
Got sucked into an interwebz rabbit hole the other day. Had it in my head – arguing in my head – about whether I needed another amp, and as a concession to the “no you don’t” side was looking at cheap amps. One such amp is the ’80s Marshall 5010 Master Lead solid state combo. […]
…the new Gravity Storm pickups designed for Steve Vai, and a bit o’ other stuff. Why other stuff? Because the second-best thing to playing guitar is talking guitar. Thanks much to Steve Blucher – DiMarzio’s pickup guru, in case you didn’t know – and DiMarzio for setting this up. So much for the preamble: WoodyTone: […]
Earlier this year I got an awakening, in the form of checking out the YMI5150 Model-A axe. Lots to love there, but the awakening was the DiMarzio Super Distortion. Really a re-awakening because I’d used DiMarzios (Super Distortions and Dual Sounds) for years back in the day. Bang! Was a shot to the ears. Fell […]
[Part 1 of this post is here.] Have to borrow a line from Homer Simpson: Ahhhhhhhhh, gear. Anyhow, some tunes – like “The Needle and the Spoon” and “Simple Man” – sound like period-correct gear and tones, whereas tunes like “Saturday Night Special” sound a lot more modern. I wanted to know – we all […]
First of all, gotta say it takes large cojones to cover a band of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s stature beyond just one tune. It may even take huger ones to get a PR firm to broadcast that to the world. In other words, here in Wood-land, you better nail it or do something truly interesting with it, […]
What a freakin’ great band King’s X is. Just amazing. Often said one of the best bands never to “make it,” which I guess means get too rich for your own good, battle alcoholism, and at least once get divorced and/or issue an album of complete shite. Okay, not in every case, but you get […]
Fair Warning Tone Ain’t All the Same
Got it in my head to figure out which Van Halen song tones – not album tones – I liked the most. Started with Fair Warning, whose balls I just can’t get enough of…which doesn’t sound so good but you get what I mean. Listen to it cranked in my car because that’s the only […]
Pondering VH’s Fair Warning Tone
LOVE the first four Van Halen albums. Always have, always will. Love the rest too, including the Van Hagar years (oops, forgot about VH III…), but those first four vinyl donuts are to me and many others just the nads. The nadliest of nads. They’re a band kicking the world’s butt in every way, and […]
Recently I was ruined yet again by a good amp. This time a bud’s Bogner Shiva, EL34 version. Let’s call him Sean – because that’s his name…. He’d been talking about how awesome it was for a while, and even though I know he has good ears, wasn’t too motivated to go try it. I’d […]
The Gene-EVH-Ace-Joe Perry Connection
Have you picked up “Guitar World Presents 40 Years of Van Halen” yet? Zactly – I didn’t even know it existed until I saw it in a bookstore (remember those? lol). Anyhow, I’m always amazed at how I think I’ve memorized every word ever written about Ed and his gear and then I read something […]
More On the YMI5150 Model-A Guitar
Few weeks ago I posted a brief “review” (outdated word) of Kevin Holbrook’s YMI5150 Model-A guitar. As a brief reminder, what got my attention were the following things: > A good wood combo: swamp ash, maple/rosewood. > An interesting and unique combo of components resulting in a Strat-shaped and -scaled guitar with an ABR bridge […]
Did You Read the Esquire EVH Piece Yet?
We’re going to have to wait yet another week for the interview with Kevin Holbrook of YMI5150 guitars because we have yet another newsworthy event. This time it’s the recent Esquire interview with Edward Van Halen. Now before you EVH fans get to getting your hopes up, let’s bear in mind the same ol’s: 1. […]
Show ‘Review’: Van Halen at the Garden
Took my 10-year-old son to see Van Halen at Madison Square Garden in New York City on March 1. I think he was more excited to see them than I was – not that I wasn’t, but this was the mighty Van Halen whose tunes the both of us have copped, jammed to and listened […]
