And finally, here are the final highlights from the April 1980 Guitar Player cover interview of Edward Van Halen. Is [having a lot of Marshall heads live] to refine the sound? It’s to make a good tone even louder. Some people get a sound like an amplified AM radio. I like it to be like […]
Here’s part 2 of highlights from the legendary April 1980 Guitar Player cover interview of Edward Van Halen. Do you do anything special to your pickups? I usually use old Gibson PAFs, and I always pot them. I submerge the whole thing in paraffin wax, and this cuts out the high obnoxious feedback. It’s kind […]
Edward Van Halen’s tone has been dissected, obsessed over and pursued to the ends of the tonal universe maybe more than any other single guitarist’s. That’s no surprise because the man is the Beethoven (gifted substance-abusing composer of the popular music of the time), Paganini (virtuoso) and [some other classical reference having to do with […]
Free’s Paul Kossoff did NOT play Orange amps – except for the below performance on Germany’s Beat Club TV show because apparently every act on the show had to play through the Oranges. Verdict: The amps (Koss) sounded FREEkin’ great. If you want to know how great, get the new Free Forever DVD – recently […]
I didn’t know much (anything) about the band Cactus until a few years ago. Somehow I tripped across the fact that the Van Halen brothers loved this band, so naturally I had to check Cactus out. Bought the Cactus Anthology CD – great. Someone billed Cactus as the “American Led Zeppelin,” which looking back is […]
Having Less Older Gear = Better Tone? We live in an era of guitar gear nirvana. We can literally get any piece of gear at any price point, today, overnight, whenever. If you buy from one of the big boxes, you can even get something, try it out and return it! Cool…but has all of […]
England’s excellent Guitarist magazine recently had a decent interview with Foreigner’s Mick Jones. It’s always great to read an interview with one of the “older” players, even if there isn’t a whole lot of gear detail – which unfortunately was the case with this interview. But there were a few details, some of which confirm […]
Part 2: Gibson V > Tube Screamer > Soldano, Blackstar Part 1 of this WoodyTone interview with former Quiet Riot and current Ratt guitarist Carlos Cavazo was about Carlos joining the band and writing the new album. Here in part 2 it’s all about the gear details – interesting because Carlos’ Ratt tone is quite […]
Part 1: Joining Ratt, Writing, Sharing Leads Carlos Cavazo will probably always be known best as the axeman for Quiet Riot. He was tapped by QR singer Kevin DuBrow to replace the immortal Randy Rhoads in the band, and as far as many knew (thanks to MTV) was “the” guit-slinger in the band. If longevity […]
What a Compressor Can Do for You by John Drenning Now we move on to how a compressor can help your playing and tone. First, let’s say you want the advantages of playing with gain, but you need a clean tone. We all know playing with distortion is “easier” because distortion compresses your signal – […]
Compressors 101 by John Drenning A particular tone obsession of mine started with David Gilmour. In fact, I’m pretty certain that at least 80% of tonal tail-chasing among Men Of A Certain Age involves British rock bands of ’65-’75, a period more or less bracketing the Blues Breakers’ Beano album on one end, and “Dark […]
I don’t know if everyone but me has seen this movie, but if not (and even if so) the clips are worth a look. Very cool to see Jimmy Page play, and they show some of his gear (but apparently not on purpose!).
Okay folks, looking for some input about what you’d like to see more of on WoodyTone, but first would like to say thanks for reading. Your eyeballs have helped WoodyTone to become exactly what I hoped it would be: a well-read (and hopefully well-written) site for classic rock and blues-rock artists, gear and tones. WoodyTone […]
‘Cocaine’ Rig Photo! I’ve been sort of back-of-the-mind obsessed with (really more like “puzzled by”) Eric Clapton for a bit now. Ever since I saw him play on Joe Bonamassa’s Albert Hall DVD. I mean, there’s ERIC CLAPTON! – the fact that he’s Eric Clapton is cool on its own, but I wanted him to […]
It’s Friday! Do you have guitar-squeezin’ in your weekend? Is it part of the plan? It should be if not, even if you have to…squeeze it in. (I wish I could find an amp that I could crank through headphones late at night that would sound like roasting EL84s or EL34s.) Anyhow, to get your […]
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 […]
