Category: Strat
A couple of decent Ace interviews were published recently – decent because there’s some gear info in them, some good stuff, but both come up a little short on details (when I interview Ace I’ll rectify that!). Anyhow, here are the most interesting bits from modernguitars.com and iheartguitarblog.com. Anything in quotes is Ace speaking. Gear […]
If you don’t know who Ty Tabor is, or haven’t heard King’s X’s music, please do your ears a favor and buy every King’s X CD right now. Seriously. At the risk of sounding like an uber-fan, King’s X is one of the best American rock bands ever. And although it seems like there’s some […]
Re-Bias While Playing, Blood on His Guitars… Performing Musician recently posted an interview with Michael Kaye, who is Pete Townshend’s amp/electonics tech and is a guitar tech for other bands (Springsteen, Bon Jovi, others): Alan Rogan has been Pete’s guitar tech since 1977. “Alan takes care of Pete’s guitars — the tuning, the guitar changes, […]
It’s tough to pin down the Aerosmith guys as far as what guitars were used when because they definitely didn’t stick with any one instrument too long, even during any given concert. But amp-wise, after Toys they switched over to the new-at-the-time Music Man amps which had 6L6 power tubes (like Fenders) but solid-state preamps.
With Aerosmith touring and all the pre-tour talk about playing the Toys in the Attic album live, I wanted to try to nail down what gear Joe Perry and Brad Whitford were using on Toys. Well, good luck: This one has been tough to track down.
The September 2009 issue of Vintage Guitars magazine has Mick Mars of Motley Crue on the cover. My first thought was: Another guy who makes a lot of dough and buys a bunch of vintage stuff. But after reading the interview, I was surprised to find out that Mick actually uses this stuff, in the […]
Vid: ‘The Spirit of Radio Lesson’ from Alex Even though I played in bands that copped multiple tunes off Rush’s Moving Pictures album, my favorite Rush album is Permanent Waves. The band was just on fire for that recording. Lots of energy, great parts, great arrangements that are complex yet understandable. Did I say great?
Good Show…but Sorta Strange I remember when the Kenny Wayne Shepherd buzz first started, this kid who idolized SRV and apparently wanted to sound just like him too. Even his name was similar (Kenny Wayne – Stevie Ray). Then we lost SRV (we still miss you down here, man!), and we, or at least I, […]
Strat + Modded 200-Watt Marshall + Boost = Wood Before he got on his Medieval music trip, Ritchie Blackmore’s tone was all wood. I heard a Rainbow tune the other day on Internet radio, and I just sat there wondering how the heck he could get that fat tone out of a Strat’s bridge pickup. […]
Wow. I caught Jeff Beck at the Scranton, Pa. Cultural Center last night on the first night of what looks like a short U.S. tour, and it was incredible. Just absolutely mind-blowing.
The first time I heard Robin Trower, I had the same thought everyone probably did: That guy sounds like Hendrix. Actually, it may have been: That guy ripped off Hendrix! But man, Robin did it well because his tunes sounded so goooooooooood. If you don’t have Bridge of Sighs on CD, you must…go…get…it. Right now! […]
Doyle Bramhall II is one of the best blues guitarists walking around planet Earth. He can play old-school blues and newer-school stuff a la SRV, but to my ears he also does the amazing, which is take this loose, cool, Strat-inflected, semi-psychedelic style and inject it with an original blues-rock, vocal-delivery thing, much like — […]
Of course he can! But apparently there’s some doubt out there, as if all the stuff Yngwie Malmsteen does is “flash” or whatever. I’ve heard him get made fun of in some guitar and metalhead circles, and I have to wonder why. Yeah, he has been conceited over the years, but that seems to have […]
Like all good tone-chasers, Gary Moore has been all over the map, albeit a fairly narrow map. I won’t pretend to know a lot about Gary Moore — he’s from one of those islands over yonder, right? — but I do know WoodyTone when my ears hear it. And killer playing. Today I was listening […]
I’m talking about the pre-Faithfully, pre-uber-ballad Journey, which toed the line between old-school rock, blues and just a little pop. To this day, Departure is one of my favorite albums — uh, CDs. The guitar work is great (Neal Schon, of course), the keyboards are great (Gregg Rolie — great), the vocal melodies are great, […]
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 […]
