Category: Telecaster
A semi-recent thread on the metroamp.com board was started about a geetar-slinger named Ollie Halsall. Huh? That was my reaction too, since like you I’m pretty sure I know about every famous to semi-famous guitar player worth knowing about. Obviously not true. Ollie was almost in the Stones, inspired jealousy in Alvin Lee, and was […]
At this point it seems like Jimmy Page is the keeper of the Led Zep flame – doesn’t it? Plant isn’t interested, JPJ is awesome but ain’t the point man, so we have Jimmy. And how much of the Zep sound is Jimmy? He obviously wrote the riffs and a bunch of the tunes, but […]
In a 1978 interview for Guitar Player magazine, this guitar-slinger said the following: > He created his own guitar by mixing and matching parts from Fender instruments. > Part of the creation was chiseling out a spot so he could put a humbucker in the guitar. > The pickups were directly mounted to the wood.
My buddies convinced me to go see The Smithereens Sunday night, a free outdoor show at “Maplewoodstock” in Maplewood, NJ. I’ve never been a Smithereens fan, and never not been a Smithereens fan, if you know what I mean. Knew a couple songs from the radio back in the day when rock was on and […]
In the early ’70s, the Eagles were heading down a country path. That was all well and good, but they wanted to rock.
I’ve had these three old Guitar Player magazine interviews kicking around on my desktop for a while now, decided to wind them up into one post. Interesting stuff, here are the most interesting tone-related excerpts:
… 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.
All Fender Except the Joe Walsh Rig I recently subscribed to Guitar Player’s GP2 on-line mag (subscribe here – it’s free) because this time I saw Pete Townshend on the cover. Had to read it, and glad I did. Following are some cool tone-making and tone-recording excerpts from the interview.
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 […]
Part 2 of 2; Plus George’s Vintage Parts Guitars If you read part 1 of the Lynch Mob’s Smoke and Mirrors review, you know I’m digging the album. (I’m also really digging Lynch’s Souls of We disc – more on that in a future post.) But what’s odd about it, from a Lynch standpoint, is […]
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 […]
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.
Solid-State Amp; Heartbreaker Guitar Audio Below! Jimmy Page: Les Paul and Marshall plexi. Live, yes – mostly. Studio, no. And for Heartbreaker? Heck no, apparently.
The folks at PremierGuitar.com recently had a good interview with Alex Lifeson, who after using Les Pauls back in the early days of Rush (Alex is a huge Jimmy Page fan), went to Gibson ES-355s, then did the super strat thing for a while, then played PRSs and now is sporting a sweet-looking Les Paul […]
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 […]
