Category: Boss/Roland
A buddy of mine recently bought the track “Say What You Will” by Fastway. I remember when the video for that tune first came out – the Internet says it was 1983. Full into my Eddie Van Halen phase, I (and many others!) thought Fastway was “behind the times, man.” The guys looked “old” or […]
Do you know who Robbie Blunt is? Sure you do. He’s the guit-slinger who played in Robert Plant’s band during the “Big Log” era – the less-mature of us never forgetting that name because in high school it meant a turd in a bowl (snicker).
The one and only Edward Van Halen was roundly criticized for his tone on the most recent VH tour. (Everyone’s a critic on the interweb!) I was at two shows on that tour, one in New Jersey (sounded bad), one in Madison Square Garden (sounded good). Neither guitar tone sounded particularly warm, but then again, […]
First of all, Steve Morse! How ’bout it! Love the guy’s playing. Sick, sick stuff, brilliant playing, seen him many a time, mostly with the Steve Morse Band. I watched a recent vid (below) of Steve’s tech, Tommy Alderson, running through Steve’s rig.
The latest of the perennial debates about Edward Van Halen’s early tone/rig, the post You Too Can Sound Like Angus and this AmpGAS! post got me thinking: Can anyone with decent chops – say, “Running With the Devil,” “You Really Got Me,” “Dance the Night Away,” maybe “Everybody Wants Some” and “Unchained” – get close […]
And the Skinny on Robby Krieger’s Rigs So there I am at New Jersey’s infamous Starland Ballroom, in scenic Sayreville NJ, on Friday night. I’m there to see the band Wiser Time, with Jimmy Somma of Sommatone amps on lead guitar. I’m there because Wiser Time is a very cool classic rock, Black Crowes-ish band, […]
More Volume, Less Volume Knob… What is Black Robot? If you guessed a Japanese comic book, you’d be…wrong. It’s an LA-based band, a new one but made up of veteran players who wanted to make classic-sounding rock. And they did, thanks in large part to producer Dave Cobb. Dave is a kung fu master of […]
Long Live Dio! \m/ \m/ As a tribute to the recent passing of Ronnie James Dio (RIP RJD), I thought it would be good to take a look back at the gear a young and fiery Vivian Campbell used on the classic early ’80s Dio albums Holy Diver and The Last in Line. Tone-wise not […]
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 […]
Advised Hendrix On His Rig? Pete Townshend could never be accused of understating things. In some ways he always seems like the classic artist, in the “here’s the way I see it and F you if you don’t like it” sense. In a new-ish and excellent PremierGuitar.com interview, Pete is all that and says some […]
As a kid in high school in the ’80s (early ’80s!), Jake E. Lee was on my list of favorite guitarists – another one of the seemingly endless supply of amazing, cool-looking axemen coming out of LA. I wondered how Ozzy found these guys: Were they lined up on street corners? Hanging out under palm […]
Have you heard about Black Country yet? This is the newly announced band with Joe Bonamassa (awesome chops and tone), Jason Bonham (awesome kabooming beats and tone), Glenn Hughes (awesome song magic) and Derek Sherinian (awesome augmentation, if you dig keys). Kevin Shirley is producing, and not only does he produce Joe but also has […]
I’ve been a Randy Rhoads fan ever since I heard the Blizzard of Ozz album. Many people can say the same thing. I’ve read all the guitar magazine interviews (Guitar Player only?) with Randy, and while I can’t quote from them verbatim, I know the gist of his gear details. It also seems to me […]
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 […]
