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1980 EVH Interview Highlights, Pt 3

1980 EVH Interview Highlights, Pt 3

And finally, here are the final highlights from the April 1980 Guitar Player cover interview of Edward Van Halen. Is [having a lot of Marshall heads live] to refine the sound? It’s to make a good tone even louder. Some people get a sound like an amplified AM radio. I like it to be like […]

May 17, 2010 | By | 2 Replies More
1980 EVH Interview Highlights, Pt 2

1980 EVH Interview Highlights, Pt 2

Here’s part 2 of highlights from the legendary April 1980 Guitar Player cover interview of Edward Van Halen. Do you do anything special to your pickups? I usually use old Gibson PAFs, and I always pot them. I submerge the whole thing in paraffin wax, and this cuts out the high obnoxious feedback. It’s kind […]

May 14, 2010 | By | 1 Reply More
1980 EVH Interview Highlights, Pt 1

1980 EVH Interview Highlights, Pt 1

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 […]

May 12, 2010 | By | 2 Replies More
Paul Kossoff, Fire and Water, Orange Amps

Paul Kossoff, Fire and Water, Orange Amps

Free’s Paul Kossoff did NOT play Orange amps – except for the below performance on Germany’s Beat Club TV show because apparently every act on the show had to play through the Oranges. Verdict: The amps (Koss) sounded FREEkin’ great. If you want to know how great, get the new Free Forever DVD – recently […]

May 10, 2010 | By | 1 Reply More
Cactus’ Jim McCarty: LP > Fuzz > Marshall

Cactus’ Jim McCarty: LP > Fuzz > Marshall

I didn’t know much (anything) about the band Cactus until a few years ago. Somehow I tripped across the fact that the Van Halen brothers loved this band, so naturally I had to check Cactus out. Bought the Cactus Anthology CD – great. Someone billed Cactus as the “American Led Zeppelin,” which looking back is […]

May 7, 2010 | By | Reply More
Is It Tougher To Get Good Tone Now vs. Then?

Is It Tougher To Get Good Tone Now vs. Then?

Having Less Older Gear = Better Tone? We live in an era of guitar gear nirvana. We can literally get any piece of gear at any price point, today, overnight, whenever. If you buy from one of the big boxes, you can even get something, try it out and return it! Cool…but has all of […]

May 6, 2010 | By | 6 Replies More
More on Mick Jones’ Foreigner Gear, Then and Now

More on Mick Jones’ Foreigner Gear, Then and Now

England’s excellent Guitarist magazine recently had a decent interview with Foreigner’s Mick Jones. It’s always great to read an interview with one of the “older” players, even if there isn’t a whole lot of gear detail – which unfortunately was the case with this interview. But there were a few details, some of which confirm […]

May 3, 2010 | By | Reply More
Carlos Cavazo Details His Ratt Gear

Carlos Cavazo Details His Ratt Gear

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 […]

April 30, 2010 | By | 2 Replies More
Carlos Cavazo on New Ratt and Gear

Carlos Cavazo on New Ratt and Gear

Part 1: Joining Ratt, Writing, Sharing Leads Carlos Cavazo will probably always be known best as the axeman for Quiet Riot. He was tapped by QR singer Kevin DuBrow to replace the immortal Randy Rhoads in the band, and as far as many knew (thanks to MTV) was “the” guit-slinger in the band. If longevity […]

April 29, 2010 | By | Reply More
Comp Lit, Pt. 2: Daddy Never Sleeps At Night

Comp Lit, Pt. 2: Daddy Never Sleeps At Night

What a Compressor Can Do for You by John Drenning Now we move on to how a compressor can help your playing and tone. First, let’s say you want the advantages of playing with gain, but you need a clean tone. We all know playing with distortion is “easier” because distortion compresses your signal – […]

April 27, 2010 | By | Reply More
Comp Lit, Pt. 1: Mama’s Got A Squeezebox

Comp Lit, Pt. 1: Mama’s Got A Squeezebox

Compressors 101 by John Drenning A particular tone obsession of mine started with David Gilmour. In fact, I’m pretty certain that at least 80% of tonal tail-chasing among Men Of A Certain Age involves British rock bands of ’65-’75, a period more or less bracketing the Blues Breakers’ Beano album on one end, and “Dark […]

April 26, 2010 | By | 1 Reply More
Jimmy Page’s ‘It Might Get Loud’ Gear

Jimmy Page’s ‘It Might Get Loud’ Gear

I don’t know if everyone but me has seen this movie, but if not (and even if so) the clips are worth a look. Very cool to see Jimmy Page play, and they show some of his gear (but apparently not on purpose!).

April 21, 2010 | By | 7 Replies More
Hey! Lookin’ for Some Input (and a Little Support)

Hey! Lookin’ for Some Input (and a Little Support)

Okay folks, looking for some input about what you’d like to see more of on WoodyTone, but first would like to say thanks for reading. Your eyeballs have helped WoodyTone to become exactly what I hoped it would be: a well-read (and hopefully well-written) site for classic rock and blues-rock artists, gear and tones. WoodyTone […]

April 20, 2010 | By | Reply More
Clapton Interviews and Gear, 1967 and 1976

Clapton Interviews and Gear, 1967 and 1976

‘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 […]

April 19, 2010 | By | Reply More
Mixed Bag: Bonamassa/Zep, Vai, Metheny, Gilbert

Mixed Bag: Bonamassa/Zep, Vai, Metheny, Gilbert

It’s Friday! Do you have guitar-squeezin’ in your weekend? Is it part of the plan? It should be if not, even if you have to…squeeze it in. (I wish I could find an amp that I could crank through headphones late at night that would sound like roasting EL84s or EL34s.) Anyhow, to get your […]

April 16, 2010 | By | 1 Reply More