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We all “know” what Edward Van Halen used on the first six records, right? Frankie (mostly), a variety of bridge-position humbuckers, mostly MXR effects plus a few others here and there, his magical 100w Super Lead with Sylvania 6CA7s, 4×12 cabs with Greenbacks (mostly), a Variac. That’s the base tone for sure. But as much […]
Part 2 In effort to get to the bottom of what George Lynch used in the studio on the cut “Lesser of Two Evils,” here’s a rundown of the live gear he used on that tour (also from an older version of his site), which may give a clue about his studio setup.
Part 1 Dokken’s Dysfunctional album isn’t great. Maybe not even good. They know it, I know it, now you know it. But there are a couple good tunes on it, and one I’d call great – great hard rock. Not metal, not pop metal, but big guitars, catchy, nice hook, good chorus. George Lynch’s tone […]
It’s no secret that I like Joe Bonamassa. The guy is flying the flag – of blues, blues-rock and classic rock. Works hard too. Tours his butt off and puts out new music like bands used to do in the old days: Black Rock about a year ago, Black Country Communion (they’re touring, so get […]
Part 2, Protos and Rig Details Three prototype amps were used by Neal at HipKitty to start the R&D process for Mick’s signature head. Neal said two 50w heads were started to form the primary distortion channel and tone circuit. The third proto head was/is a 100-watter “that uses the culmination of the refined distortion/tone […]
Part 1 – Plus Iso Tracks! I love Mick Jones’ stuff. Simple riffs, great song hooks and I love the tone he has on some of the older tunes. It’s Marshall plexi, but…different. I’d always thought I heard something different there, anyway. Maybe it had to do with the odd wiring in his Les Paul. […]
And some oddballs…. As I type this, Bonham’s auction house is auctioning off a bunch of Eric Clapton-owned gear to benefit his Crossroads rehab center. Took a look at the online catalog, and here’s what caught my eye, starting with the coolest stuff:
Eric Johnson – the infamous 9v-battery-sniffer, perfectionist and tone/touch maestro – had this to say about how axe-slingers can improve their tone and feel in the recent Guitar Player mag with him on the cover: “[Gear and fine-tuning it] is essential to facilitate the intention of your playing. Second is the way that [you] pick […]
Man, new music never gets old…not the greatest choice of words but you know what I mean. Here are three that caught my ears recently, might be news to you too. Before getting into it all, just bear this in mind: None of these vids sound remotely like they should, meaning YouTube and the internet […]
(Part 2 of 2) From Tuesday’s post you see that Al Di Meola and Ace Frehley were big-time DiMarzio Super Distortion (DSD) users. Who else was in that club? Here’s a partial list, in no particular order: Tom Scholz (still uses) Paul Stanley (used Dual Sound, a coil-tapped DSD) Edward Van Halen (early, modified – […]
(Part 1) DiMarzio’s Super Distortion (DSD) pickup doesn’t get a lot of love these days. But it should because it contributed to a lot of classic rock tones, and still can – if you use it right. The DSD was intro’d in 1972, and was the first aftermarket replacement pickup. Its primary attribute was higher […]
High Voltage! by John Drenning Okay, I’ll come clean. I have a Big Stupid Pedalboard. It’s a Furman with eight power taps, four power outlets, casters and an extendable handle like the bags flight attendants use. It takes up about the same amount of floor space as a foosball table. On it are two buffered […]
by John Drenning How many of you went from being actual rocker to armchair rockers? I’m sure I’m not the only one…otherwise who’s buying all those Paul Reed Smiths?! Played my first show at 17: Hondo Strat copy, Whirlwind coiled cord, Arion Metal Master pedal, and the ultimate sacrilege, silverface Fender Twin with Celestion SideWinders. […]
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:
Wow. A man dying so young and out of the blue (no apparent sickness or substance abuse) is a body blow in the guitar community. RIP Gary! Had to do a tribute of sorts. Thought for a while about what to do, here’s the result. Hope you enjoy. (Diehard Moore fans, please contribute any gear […]