Category: Strat
Part 1 Does this sound like a recipe for good rock tone (or even a usable tone) to you: > Mismatched pickups, at least one of which was installed wrong > Boss pedals (plural) – modified and stock – to accentuate mids > Marshall JMP head modded for less gain in the preamp stage and […]
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 […]
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?
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).
Cool riff, cool tune, cool lead and a WET tone. That’s what I hear and have always heard in the Judas Priest tune “Another Thing Comin’,” off 1982’s Screaming for Vengeance. While I of course know it’s a two-guitar band, I always think of the chords/riff and Glenn Tipton’s solo on this tune, hence the […]
I have a few buds who still laugh at me for digging Journey. I think it’s the Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain-driven “Don’t Stop Believin’” stuff that gets them laughing because after the chuckle they’re always like, “Neal Schon, great player.” “F-in A right!” as they say, or used to, in Patterson, N.J. Neal is a […]
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 […]
‘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 […]
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 […]
You might. It would probably be a mid-70s Fender Stratocaster, which Lowell (of Little Feat) was favoring at the time, but could be something else. Why am I asking? Here’s why, from the August 1976 issue of Guitar Player magazine: GP: How many guitars have you had? Lowell: I’ve had 50, 20 of which I […]
Howard Leese’s Gear Too; Replace Ace? To me, the Heart tune “Barracuda” is one of those perfect songs. Everything’s great: guitar, drums (watch it on YouTube) and the singing, which is just amazing. We’ve all heard the song hundreds of times, but there’s precious little about the gear Roger Fisher and fellow guitarist Howard Leese […]
Most people swore Jimmy Page only used a Les Paul, but we now know about the Fender Telecasters. Jimi Hendrix apparently used a Tele on the Purple Haze solo. Virtually everyone thinks Steve Gaines used a Strat on Skynyrd’s “I Know a Little,” but it turns out it might have been a Les Paul. Point […]
How To Play ‘I Know a Little;’ Played on a Les Paul? Thirty-two years ago today, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s plane went down and we lost one of the greatest guitar players ever to walk out on a stage: 28-year-old Steve Gaines. Steve was an absolute monster. Couple quotes to that effect (if you read nothing else, […]
Wanted a Trumpet, Drums; Settled for Guitar Fender.com recently published a short-ish interview with Ritchie Blackmore that had a couple of interesting tidbits in it, below. For the full interview, which discusses his current work with Blackmore’s Night, click here. Fender: Is it true that when your father bought you your first guitar at age […]
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 […]
