Category: Gibson
…in PremierGuitar.com Articles Lots has been written about KISS’s Sonic Boom album, but all of the interviews thus far have left info gaps. PremierGuitar.com recently posted a couple of new interviews – a little late to the party, but the info is good. A few gear details are still missing, but not many! One PG […]
Plus Roger’s First Impression of EVH Here’s the second part of my 3-part interview with founding Heart member Roger Fisher – who unfortunately for all of us hasn’t gotten his due over the years. Although there’s no doubt, you can tell he’s a guitarist merely by the fact that he can recall his gear details […]
Yesterday my son wanted to bang on the drums at Sam Ash and Guitar Center, which are across the street from one another here in northern New Jersey. So I sort of shrugged at my wife like, ‘Hey – I’m doing it for him,’ then ran for the car and took off! (On the way […]
New ‘Signature’ Pickup… You may be aware that Gibson recently announced two new signature Angus Young Gibson SGs. One is a custom shop model – the Angus Young SG Standard – and the other is a Gibson production model that has the same name minus the Standard. We can learn about what kind of tone […]
There’s more woody tone in Gov’t Mule’s new By a Thread CD than in just about any album I can think of off the top of my head since the ’70s (maybe Derek Trucks’ latest?). Many other albums have great tones, but it’s pretty rare that everything sounds this woody in a vintage rock way. […]
Foreigner is a funny band. One of their songs will cause you to change the station, another will cause you to crank it up – because Mick Jones can throw out cool riffs. I’ve always been curious about the specifics of Mick’s early Foreigner gear, but there isn’t much info on the web about it. […]
If you’re a diehard Slash fan, you might know this already, but it was news to me – interesting news. Lately, Slash has been spotted playing only a Les Paul (no surprise), but one that is not one of his many signature Les Pauls (a surprise). Naturally lots of people have been curious about the […]
Everybody – every famous guit-slinger – loves Mountain’s “Mississippi Queen.” The meanness of the riff (literally too mean for daytime radio at that time – it was played only on night radio), the hugeness of the tone and the vocals…. If I can sound like a talking head for a sec, the tune is an […]
Full Track by Track Review After numerous listens to the Sonic Boom CD, that’s where I come out: good album, great single – and bear in mind that I’m a huge, long-time KISS fan. Don’t misread that. This is the best KISS record since 1979’s Dynasty (obviously I’m not a fan of the ’80s KISS […]
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, […]
If you follow all things Seymour Duncan, you will have seen a couple weeks ago that the company announced that Seymour himself has been working on Angus Young’s guitars. Here’s what was said: “We’ve been working behind the scenes with Angus Young for the past year. His tech, Takumi Suetsugu, contacted Seymour Duncan about dialing […]
ZZen and the Kung Fu Masters of Rock Dang! I was lucky enough to catch that little ol’ band from Texas at New York City’s Beacon Theatre a couple weeks ago, and wow, what a show. The guys were just…cool, and the sound – I hope the sound guy got a case of beer that […]
And Why Hatchet’s First Album Sounded Like Skynyrd I still love Molly Hatchet’s tune “Flirtin’ With Disaster”…and I know I’m not alone! A great song, fast tempo, some great guitar-playing, multiple leads – separated by the southern lead singer whistle which means “c’mon and play something” – harmony leads, it’s all there. Tone of the […]
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 […]
Yeah! (Anomaly Streaming Link Below…) Wooo-hooooooooo!! I got an advance copy of Ace Frehley’s new Anomaly CD, his first new music in 20 years, and…well, before I tell you about it, I gotta be honest: I had huge hopes and a little fear sliding it into the CD player.
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 […]
