The Guitar Player interview mentioned in Tuesday’s post had more info, beyond just Cream. Here are the tonealicious highlights of that, starting with a Les Paul and Marshall rocked on a Beatles tune: GP: By the way, was that you playing the lead guitar part on “As My Guitar Weeps†on the Beatles album? There […]
Once in a while Guitar Player sends out these “flashback” emails of old interviews. One semi-recent one was Eric Clapton in June 1970, daddy-o. Although that was post-Cream – or “the Cream,” as it was called back then – he talked about his gear in Cream. Here are the juicy deets plus some notes: GP: […]
Strings, Picks, Slides, RVZ Part 1 was all about guitars, amps and effects (none!) used by the ’98 Skynyrd guitar trio of Gary Rossington, Rickey Medlocke and Hughie Thomasson. Here are some more details, plus some reflections about the great Ronnie Van Zant.
Part 1 I love Lynyrd Skynyrd. One of the greatest bands ever IMO. I never got a chance to see the original band live, but was days away from going to a Rossington-Collins Band show
If you were around when Stevie Ray Vaughan was king of the guitar scene, you witnessed guit-heads going nuts about two things: old Strats and heavy gauge strings. Not at all strange for people to want to copy that era’s guitar hero, and to Stevie’s credit both of those things are still important to the […]
As everyone knows, to some extent “tone” is ultimately in the hands and heart. But your favorite guitar hero through a POS amp is going to sound like – someone with that guy’s chops through a POS amp. Won’t be the same as through the pro’s chosen rig, no way.
…A Little What exactly was the body wood of Edward Van Halen’s Frankie guitar? That’s one of life’s unanswered questions. It’s literally possible no one knows anymore, and the forensics of guitar wood aren’t exactly a scientific discipline. But we just got one more little piece of this ongoing puzzle.
How sweet is it to put in a disc you haven’t heard for a while and have this great music pour out at you? Maybe your iPod pulls up a random “haven’t heard that in a while” tune, which is cool, but it’s not the same as having an entire album of slammin’ tuneage banging […]
Dime! Never was a huge fan of Pantera, but loved Dimebag Darrell’s playing (“Cowboys From Hell” is the meanest blues scale riff ever), his interaction with his bro/drummer Vinnie Paul and though I never got to meet the guy by all accounts he was a sweetheart. He was also born the same year as me, […]
You’ve probably read or heard that even if you like distortion, it’s best to play with as little as possible – a la the Young bros, EVH, Yngwie and many others who like warm tone. That said, it can be very tough to do that, for the following reasons: > Playing with a lot of […]
And The Beatles As we learned earlier this week, the slammin’, woody heart of Peter Frampton’s current live rig is a ’70s 100w Marshall head modified by José Arredondo. Yes, the same José who modified Eddie Van Halen’s “grail” head and who knows what else. That makes at least three famous players – EVH, Frampton […]
… and don’t we love it! Finally getting to some long-delayed reading and was checking out the June 2010 issue of Guitar World with Keith Richards on the cover. In little letters on the right it says “Plus Peter Frampton,” and that’s where I turned first. Glad I did, good interview.
Here’s part 2 of a look back at when Gary Moore first got back into the blues and, in some ways, Les Pauls. Excerpts are from an October 1990 Guitar Player interview, and all quotes are Gary’s. Before getting into the gear and gear approach he took on Still Got the Blues, here’s a bit […]
Part 1 Revisited an October 1990 Guitar Player interview of Gary Moore recently, an issue with Michael Hedges on the cover (love Hedges, RIP). Everyone takes Gary’s Les Paul and blues for granted now, so it was interesting to read again what a risk it was for him to drop hard rock for the blues, […]
I dig this version of The Who tune. It’s another simple Scorpions tune, somehow executed with AC/DC-like perfection. And when I heard it recently, I dug the crunchy guitar tone. Only question is, What the heck was it?
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 […]
