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 thrill me somehow, someway (tone, note choice, whatever) and he didn’t. Not that he was bad. Can’t happen. But where’s the fire?

More on that in a future episode (maybe), but it motivated me to go back and try to dig up what Clapton was using and thinking back when he had that fire. I found two interviews, one from June 1967 and one conducted in May 1976, both in old Guitar Player magazines. So here’s the juice:

1967 Interview

Some funny stuff in this interview, like the first line in the article: “Cream is just that—three jazz veterans skimmed off the top of British rock.” Yeah…. The article also says Clapton and Jack Bruce are both guitarists! But hey, it was 1967 and what did anyone know about guitarists back then.

Anyhow, as you can tell this interview was done when Clapton was in Cream, the most recently album being Disraeli Gears. The article says, “The group recorded Disraeli Gears in four days as sort of an ‘impromptu thing.’ Eric calls the album ‘kind of a cross between what we are like in the studio and what we’re like on stage.’

> The article says Clapton was using a “double cutaway Gibson” at the time, and which he also used with Mayall. I assume this is the ES-335?

> When recording they [Eric and Jack] use only one amplifier apiece, a Marshall. But on stage they build a different sound, using two separate 100-watt amps, each amp running through two large cabinets and each cabinet holding four 12-inch speakers. They don’t rely on feedback for intensity. Eric is opposed to feedback because he admits he has never been able to really control it.

> “Our music cannot be categorized because a lot of the material we play is not blues, it’s another thing completely, probably brand new. Our sound is like an old blues sound, but heavily amplified. The sound I’ve always wanted and like is the sound that all those people used on the very early records of Muddy Waters, you get it? It’s that sound, only much louder. I think a lot of people are getting hung-up about getting mechanical sound. They’re trying to invent ways of doing it to hide the fact they can’t do it with their fingers.”

> “I was nineteen when I left the Yardbirds. I intended to give up then. But John Mayall offered me a job and I took it because I needed the bread, and I needed some kind of identity too because I was very down.”

> Eric had started playing the guitar at 16, a Kay electric with an old Vox amp his parents had bought for him.

May 1976

Here's Clapton's and George Terry's rigs just after they finished 'Cocaine'...the song! (georgeterry.com photo, click to see bigger)

At the time of this interview, Clapton was doing the final overdubs for his No Reason to Cry album. We’ll transition with a quote bout Cream, from the 1976 interview:

GP: Did it get tiring playing in bands, like Cream, where you had to solo constantly?

EC: Absolutely, it really did. Sometimes you just end up playing every lick you know before the end of the set, and then you’re f*cked, you know, because you’re just repeating yourself over and over again. I’ve really become more devoted to the song itself and the presentation of the actual music. I think jamming, unless it’s got a goal at the end of it, is pretty much a waste of time. It’s just like exercising or something. If you’re jamming, and something comes out of it and you make something that you can stand hearing again and has a form and turns people on, okay.

By this time he was playing Strats. The article had nothing about anything Eric particularly liked about Strats except they’re good “basic stage guitars.” Some good detail on amps though:

EC: Music Man is my favorite now [HD 130 Reverb] because they have dual volume controls. You can use them in the studio at low volume and still get a fair amount of distortion, just as if it were a really big amp. I also like their sound. They are just like Fenders – in fact, I think Leo had a big part in designing them.

(GP editor’s note: Actually, Tom Walker who worked for the Fender company from 1948 until 1969, was Music Man’s main designer, although many of the ideas were passed on from Leo Fender during their association in Fender’s pre-CBS days.)

GP: Were the amps you used previously more suited to your sound at that time?

EC: They [Music Mans] could have been used with cream. You can get exactly the same sound as you would with a Marshall, but then you can take it down to the same sound as a Champ. It’s really got a wide range.

(GP editor’s note: Roadie Willie Spears reports that Eric’s amps are beefed up, with the bias up all the way, by Walker at Music Man. This HD 130 Reverb has special open-back cabinets, as opposed to the folded horn type, with JBL 120 speakers. Eric also uses Leslie cabinet, with JBL components [and a custom foot switch]. The guitar can go either straight through the amp, through both the amp and the Leslie (fast or slow), or through just the Leslie at either fast or slow speeds – as on “Badge.” The only other effects pedal Clapton uses is a Cry Baby wah-wah.)

Info on strings and playing slide:

GP: Instead of bar chords, you seem to play down at the nut a lot.

EC: Those were the chords I learned. I also think when you’re using light strings, you tend to become a bit insecure about going up the neck too far with big, full chords. Because what will sound right at the bottom of the neck with light strings, by the time you’ve taken out 12 frets, could be out of tune.

EC on playing slide guitar: I approach it more like George Harrison. Duane [Allman] would play strictly blues lines. They were always innovative, but they were always in the blues vein. I’m somewhere in between him and George [Terry, at the time in Eric's band] who invents melodic lines often on the scales.

GP: What do you use for a slide?

EC: A glass tube about the width of the neck of the guitar, so I can get all the strings covered. It’s a thick one [an Isis medium].

GP: Do you have any special guitar setup for slide?

EC: Yes, a Gibson ES-335. But it hasn’t got a high nut – I just raise it at the bridge. I don’t play down at the bottom much. I usually keep it up near the top frets. I use the same strings as I do normally on the other guitars, Ernie Ball Super Slinky [9, 11, 16, 24, 32, 42, same as now].

He said he plays slide in open G tuning, which he prefers because “you get more of a country sound. It’s more melodic.”

‘County Jail Blues’ off No Reason to Cry

Notable

> George Terry on first playing with Clapton: “When we first started jamming, all I wanted to do was help. My primary thing back then was to help him get back into playing guitar because he been slacking off for while and was out of the scene. We’d jam for two or three hours on one set of chord changes – just incredible guitar playing.”

> George wrote “Mainline Florida” (off 461 Ocean Boulevard), and made a mutt guitar using a Strat body and Tele neck, with a Tele bridge pickup right next a Strat single-coil in the bridge, a Strat pickup in the middle and a humbucker by the neck. What did he call his homemade guitar? “Frankie,” short for Frankenstein – sound familiar?

> At the time, George also used Music Man amps along with a Vox wah-wah and Ernie Ball Regular Slinkys (10s).

> He’s a funny guy too: “That’s when you know you’ve made it – when you hear your song on Muzak. It’s always melodies that people pick up, never any off-the-wall R&B thing.”

P.S.

Doing a “keep the lights on and do more cool sh*t” fund drive, will post about it soon. If you dig and look forward to WoodyTone, and find the info fun and valuable, please frickin’ donate! Options for a one-time $20 or $5/mo below. Gracias amigos! Vamonos!

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Pete Townshend could never be accused of understating things. In some ways he always seems like the classic artist, in the “here’s the way I see it and F you if you don’t like it” sense. In a new-ish and excellent PremierGuitar.com interview, Pete is all that and says some stuff I’ve never read before, maybe you’ll be in the same boat.

Here are some choice quotes – all are Pete’s. If you’re a Townshend fan, the article is worth a full read.

On His Playing

> “The Who worked fairly solidly from 1963 through to 1982, when I felt I had had enough. Over the entirety of those years, I had regarded my stage guitars as tools rather than instruments. I never tried to play eloquently, I didn’t practice much and I didn’t work very hard on my sound.”

> “I would never have been a Who fan.”

> “I’ve never gotten a rush or thrill from performing. I’m good at it, and I find it easy and natural.”

On Hendrix and His Style

> “When Jimi was in London, it just so happened I was using a Strat, and he modeled his entire amplifier rig, apart from a couple of special fuzz boxes, according to my advice. So for a while our sound was similar. But no one could approach what he did with that rig, and I decided to concentrate much more on chordal work, trying to give a beat backbone to Moon’s flailing and undisciplined drumming.”

On Amps

> “It’s interesting to think that the Marshall sound I helped Jim and his guys develop was built around the very low output and thin, surfy sound of the Rick [Rickenbacker].”

> “…let [Jim Marshall] sue me, but I know that the first Marshall amp was almost a dead copy of the Fender Bassman head with some minor changes to boost the level – minor changes that I insisted be major. The [Fender] Vibro-King sounds more like an early Marshall amp than a new Marshall amp. They’re great amps, but they require quite a bit of maintenance, tube biasing, etc. I mix 10″ and 12″ speakers in two cabs.”

> “‘60s amplifiers…look so beautiful. Marshalls look like something from The Munsters. That’s why I put the Union Jack Flag on the speakers. Before I had a Marshall, I had a Bassman and a Fender Pro split-wired. That is the sound I loved. Using two amps was my first trick. Getting Jim Marshall to make them louder was my second.”

PG noted that Pete has four Fender Vibro-Kings each with a 2×12 extension cab. Pete usually uses one Vibro-King and cab with the volume set on 3-3.5. At times he adds the second with the other two spares.

On Guitars

Pete says he still loves SGs.

> “My present guitar tech, Alan Rogan, came to me sometime in the very early ‘70s I think, and after a while I developed the Les Paul Special [Deluxe?] with a middle humbucker set for feedback. Those guitars were heavy. Gibson did a signature Pete Townshend model Les Paul, which works well though it’s still a heavy guitar. The middle pickup is meant to be set close to the strings to allow instant feedback. It is on a separate on-off switch to allow machine-gun staccato effects. The other two small humbuckers are wired in the conventional Gibson manner but with a phase switch. In the studio I could get almost any sound I wanted with that guitar.”

> “From 1971, everything changed. Alan Rogan helped me track down a lot of cool guitars. Joe Walsh gave me a Gretsch and a Fender Bassman combo with an Edwards pedal, to get the Neil Young sound. He also gave me a Flying V that I am sad to say I sold to help buy my first big boat – he’s never quite forgiven me.”

> “When I found the Eric Clapton Strat, I got the best of two worlds: a clean Fender sound when I wanted it, and with the built-in power booster the ability to make the sound dirty for slab-drive chord work. I have often tried SGs again, and I still love them and use them for recording, but I love the Strat-style whammy bar.”

> “…Before I set eyes on a Rickenbacker— still a beautiful sight, I think—I had wanted a Fender Strat. I still believe it to be the most beautifully designed guitar of the modern era.”

> “What is useful to me onstage is that I get a sizzling string sound from the piezo, to give color and detail to the sustain sound I use these days for solos. One of my techniques is banging the bridge and back pickup with the palm and wrist, and I do this quickly to create a kind of thunderous explosive sound – like a heavy machine gun. The piezo plays a big part in this sound because it relays the sound of the body of the guitar being thumped.”

PG noted that the Clapton Stratocaster is modified by Gordon Wells of Knight Guitars with a Fishman Acoustic bridge pickup and an EMG preamp. Half the signal goes to a Demeter DI box to allow blending of electric and acoustic sounds.

On Effects

> “I have a T-Rex delay I use for color, a [old] Boss OD-1 for sustain and distortion, and a Demeter compressor. They are in a box [pedalboard] built by Pete Cornish.”

Notable

> He uses Ernie Ball 11-52s for his electrics and D’Addario EXP 19s (12-56) for his acoustics. His picks are any-brand heavies.

Joe playing his signature Les Paul in candy apple blue (source: mylespaul.com).

Part 1 of this interview was about the music Joe Bonamassa has been recording lately. In part 2 below, it’s all about tone and gear (yeah!). Joe has a great ear for tone (for woody tone), so it’s always interesting to see what he has to say.

WoodyTone: There’s Black Rock, Black Country and now I’m seeing you with what looks like a black Les Paul – what’s going on there?

Joe: It’s coincidental. I’m actually in a really good mood. The Black Rock studio album came about because of the name of the studio [Black Rock] where we recorded it. Black Country totally was not my idea, but it’s a good idea if we can use it. So coincidentally there’s a lot of black things going around my name but it’s not like that. And the Les Paul is actually blue.

What color blue is that?

Candy apple blue. They [Gibson] made four candy-apple-blue Bonamassas [his signature model Les Paul]. They sold four, and I got the fifth one – I said, ‘Hey, can I get one,’ and they said okay. So instead of gold it’s painted candy apple blue. It photographs black, but if you get right up on it it’s blue.

I know you prefer 100-watters. It’s obviously not because of the volume difference [negligible] vs. 50s, so what is it?

It’s the clean headroom with 100 watts that you don’t get with 50s. You back off the volume and the guitar comes clean. I very rarely do anything with the guitar with both the volume and tone [knobs] on 10. You can get lots of tones [by using those knobs]. Paul Kossoff [of Free] used to use a Les Paul and a couple of Super Lead 100s, and if you watch footage of him his [guitar] volume and tone are very rarely on 10.

If the guitar is up to 10, and if you have a tone control and don’t use it, you’re missing out on many different variations of sound. So the way I use the [100-watt heads] is a very organic way of doing it [getting more sounds out of his rig].

I admire your ear for tone and have heard you talk about just about every piece of gear in the signal chain except for one: pickups. Why is that?

A close-up of the candy apple blue LP (click to see it bigger – source: BostonGuitar @ mylespaul.com).

I’m not a tweaker. When I find a guitar that I like, unless the guitar physically breaks I will never take the pickups out and put others in for the sake of finding the magic – the reason being you chase your tail with much of this stuff. I like the Burstbuckers that come with [some, including his] Les Pauls. Lollar makes some good [pickups], WCR makes some good ones, Duncan makes some good ones. If they happen to be in a guitar I like, that’s what they’re going to be.

I get guys all the time – sometimes they want to bring their own soldering gun [to change out his pickups]. I’m like, ‘You’re not going to get near my guitar with a soldering gun.’

So I don’t have many pickups or opinions on pickups. I have five guitars with original PAFs and a reissue [Les Paul] with them but I didn’t put those in there. [Someone] just happened to put those on there. [I look at] a guitar as a whole.

That’s my 2-cent opinion on pickups.

I don’t think you’ve talked much about strings either.

I use Ernie Balls, 11-52 nickel Power Slinkys. I love their strings. They never break…[though] in the course of a tour…strings get changed whether they need to or not. I love the Ernie Balls because they intonate well and have a very good top-end in the sense that it’s rolled off a bit – very organic and warm.

Some [string brands] come out of the package dead, some feel like they’re hurting your hand. I love Ernie Balls – and Music Man guitars as well. I’m really a fan of all their stuff.

Were the Music Mans used on Black Rock?

They were. We used the Steve Morse and the 25th Anniversary. I don’t remember which songs – I think the 25th was on Bird on a Wire.

Notable

> Here’s what Ernie Ball says about the Power Slinkys. Note that the standard string gauge is lighter than what Joe uses. “…a perfect match for those who like chunky rhythms for rock and roll or blues. Power Slinkys have long been favored by Slash, Metallica and Kenny Wayne Shepherd due to the thicker gauge combination providing a slightly more powerful tone. These strings are precision-manufactured to the highest standards and most-exacting specifications to ensure consistency, optimum performance and long life. Power Slinky wound strings are made from nickel plated steel wire wrapped around a hex shaped steel core wire. The plain strings are made of specially tempered tin-plated high-carbon steel, producing a well balanced tone for your guitar. Gauges .011 .014 .018p .028 .038 .048.”

- End of part 2 (of 2) -

Here's the real deal, the EVH Wolfgang.

This cool post was submitted by WoodyTone reader and avid EVH tone-chaser Trev Morson. More about him and his band is at wolfscrossing.net.

How many of you want to own a new EVH Wolfgang but can’t afford the $3K asking price?

I saw a guitar in Guitar Center a few weeks ago that in looks, and for all intent and purposes, was an EVH Wolfgang – but the asking price brand new was only $540. It was the Music Man Sterling AX40. These are low-priced guitars made in Indonesia, and I knew instantly that it had potential.

By default, the Sterling AX40 does have some issues, but to be fair, you would expect that for such a low asking price. But still….

The Issues

You may remember the debacle with Fender Stratocasters made in Japan in the early ’80s: Fender’s concern was that they were actually manufactured with a higher quality in Japan than they were in USA at the time. (I happen to know because I own a 1983 ‘62 Strat reissue made in Japan.) You’ll find a somewhat similar situation with the Sterling AX40 in that the basswood body [it only has a maple veneer top] and maple neck are very well made in Indonesia. But there are some issues:

> The wiring is sub-standard and should be replaced. When I got mine, I found the toggle switch loose, and upon tightening it, it snapped off the neck pickup wire from the switch pot.

> The frets are medium-jumbo, but are not sanded very well. The high E can get stuck under the frets at the side of the neck.

> The Floyd Rose licensed trem is not set up correctly (even though these are quality-checked in the U.S.). The strings by default are tuned concert pitched with Ernie Ball 10-gauge strings, and I was not convinced the intonation was set exactly as it should.

It does not by default have a D-Tuna installed on the low E, but I have heard that for gigging musicians, the D-Tuna may not be a good idea: I heard that once these are installed, you can no longer fine-tune the low E string on the Floyd Rose.

One other thing I noticed is that the default pickups are not only screwed directly to the body, but are glued as well. By default they are hot and kind of okay, but a replacement bridge pickup is a good idea. However, replacing the pickups is tricky: I found that the routing was not as deep as it should be for a replacement.

The Potential

Don’t let all of the negatives put you off, though. Again, the asking price is $540, so you would expect some issues. The key is recognizing this guitar’s potential.  I have noticed that many reviews on the web are given by bedroom guitarists, and I find myself always asking the same question: Is the gear being reviewed ‘gig tested?’

I decided to upgrade my Sterling AX40 so I can use it with my band for gigs. Having the $3K Fender EVH Wolfgang in mind, I made the following upgrades and I was astonished on how much money I saved.

Custom work I had done:

> Completely rewired.

> New pickup toggle switch.

> New pickup selector, added tone pot.

> New linear 500K volume pot.

> Replaced volume knob with MXR volume knob, added MXR tone knob.

> Installed Seymour Duncan SH12 Screamin’ Demon bridge pickup, pole pieces adjusted.

> OEM neck pickup and pole pieces adjusted.

> All frets filed and sanded, top and sides.

> Floyd Rose trem-stopper installed, another spring added, Floyd set flat and level.

> Floyd Rose sustain block installed.

> EVH Wolfgang decals applied (original 5150 decal coming soon).

> Intonation set for Elixir NanoWeb 9- to 42-gauge strings tuned to Eb.

> Swapped out strap nuts for EVH loop types.

> String/fret, nut and bridge oil applied.

The Result

The cost of the new AX40 was $540. The cost for upgrades was $250. Total = $790, still a bargain at today’s prices, and it plays, sounds and feels like a real $3,000 new EVH Wolfgang. Total Savings = a whopping $2,200.

Note the ENORMOUS cost-savings. I just knew this guitar had a lot of potential.

On the left is the Music Man Sterling AX40 when I got it new. On the right is the same guitar after I customized it – it is now my EVH custom.

Warren and his python friend.

Here’s part 2 of the post on Warren DeMartini’s gear – plus intel on how to make your own snakeskin-covered guitar and how he looks at guitar solos. All of this info is from the 1987 Guitar Player interview and the warrendemartini.net site referenced in part 1.

All quotes are Warren’s unless otherwise noted.

Picks and Strings

It didn’t look like it, but it sounds like Warren hit the strings very hard. Bear in mind that Edward Van Halen has two of the strongest hands in the business, and used 8s or 9s and a Fender medium pick.

“My strings are Ernie Balls, 10 to 46. I actually like 11s, but I can’t keep getting calluses on my fingers. The metal [stainless steel] pick wears out strings pretty fast, especially the D. Last year I liked using the same guitar so much that during one song, I would switch guitars so that my technician could change my D, A and low E strings, stretch them out, and give me the guitar back.

“I would probably use 9s if they would last longer, but they’re gone in two or three songs, especially if I happen to be a little bit uptight. If I used a plastic pick, I would wear the pick away, but the steel pick doesn’t wear away at all.”

Picking Technique

“I keep my hands stiff, yet there is still a slight movement in my thumb and finger. I started keeping my wrist stiff when we began playing live more. Being tense in the beginning, I just kept playing that way to try to make sure I was doing everything correctly.

“I play a little bit in front of the pickup and the pick is angled down toward the bridge or the edge of the pickup ring. In other words, if the pointed part of the pick was staring straight down at the floor, you would twist it a little bit to the right – about a third of a turn – so that the left edge of the pick is almost going exactly like where your thumb is. I use the edge – the side of the pick – a lot [as does George Lynch]. That way, there’s more pick touching the string and it’s warmer.
“If I’m going down the neck, I tend to pick less. For some reason, I don’t need to hit as many notes as I do when I’m going up. But it’s always that 2 to 3 ratio: it’s two picks, and then you hammer the last note. You can get incredible speed on that kind of thing. As I’m getting towards the end of the figure, I occasionally pick all three.”

Constructing Solos

“Nothing disappoints me more than going to see a show or listening to a record by a skillful player who is just giving a barrage of information. It’s like laying down a large bet on a full house right off. There’s no working up to it or setting the mood.

“I’ve always swayed more to people who don’t present everything to you at once. The main theme of their style isn’t always real present and upfront, like it is with people who just try to play fast. Holding back requires a little more thought, really.

“Take Stevie Ray Vaughan: he’s got a real find technique, and he can play really fast and accurate, but he just gets into whatever song he’s playing. He works his notes around the groove, and his guitar statements come and go in climaxes inside the song. I really like that. Johnny Winter and Eddie [Van Halen] are like that too.”

Building Snakeskin Guitars

“I’ve learned quite a few things about trying to apply something over a guitar…. My first mistake was trying to do it to a primed body. That, along with the skin, gave it a very bassy, mushy sound. It wasn’t until I started putting the skins just straight to the unfinished wood that I could get any kind of sound out of them. There’s no finish over the skins because I want them to look like they were played on.”

Warrendemartini.net reports that “the snakeskin was stuck on to the under-coated body using water-based glue. It was applied wet. It shrinks when it dries, and it gave a characteristic sound. It’s the same technique used to apply skin to the Japanese traditional Taiko drum. Somehow this made the guitar sound really good….”

Roger with his mic'd cab and a few fans! (RogerFisher.com photo)

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 from three decades ago!

WoodyTone: How about your tone – were you happy with it at the time or were you still going through gear trying to get it to match what you heard in your head?

Roger: That’s such a tough thing for guitarists. I think we’re pretty much all alike. Most of us are always chasing after that – better tone. I invested lot of money into rack systems, different amps, guitars, effects until at some point back in the ’90s I just decided use off-the-shelf Strats and just basic effects – so I can concentrate on being a producer, engineer, guitarist, singer, head of the art department and head of marketing (laughs).

In this business it’s so difficult…because it’s necessary at times to wear a lot of hats. It does squash the art thing a little bit, which brings to mind something else important to me: I’m not interest in being a virtuoso as a guitar player or singer, but I do want to be a virtuoso as a human being. And then let that greatness come through in my guitar-playing and singing without feeling any need to prove that I’m some great player.

Greatness isn’t in the number of notes per second. The greatness is what you have cultivated your presence in life to be. If your evolution has brought you to the point where you’re an alcoholic with a drug problem who will be as dishonest as necessary to continue your indulgence, then I wouldn’t think your music has much magnetism. But then there certainly are exceptions to every situation. A great player is a great player, doesn’t matter what they’re doing.

To me personally, if I meet a guitarist held in high esteem and see just a wreck, the music doesn’t have quite the shine it had before I met him. Whereas if you meet Jeff Beck and he’s just a regular guy like he is, then his music – he’s probably my favorite electric guitarist. Every time I’ve spent time with him, it’s been like he’s an old buddy.

What was your favorite gear when you played in Heart?

A Les Paul – I think it was a ‘65 Gold Top with the standard humbuckers it came with. My favorite rig was a Hiwatt – I think 100 watts. I don’t remember what the speakers were. Maybe Fanes [Fanes were the speakers in older Hiwatt cabs].

For strings, I went back and forth between different sets, sets starting with 9s and sets starting with 10s. Brand didn’t really matter, but I think I used Ernie Balls most of the time

I was a real proponent of cleanliness in a guitar sound because the dirtier you get, the more clipped that waveform is and the less substance it has. A clean guitar sound when you hear it hits you like a piece of steel. It’s solid. A real distorted guitar sound kind of hits you like a puff of smoke. It’s pleasing in a way, but it doesn’t have solidity. So to have a guitar sound that has real solidity with just a little bit of smoke, that’s what I like about the Hiwatt.

I think about gear and tone all the time, still. I’ve been thinking of getting a small Hiwatt rig, probably an AC30 [Vox] and probably a small Marshall and using those amps together to come up with my perfect sound.

All those older Heart tunes still hold up, and one of my favorites is Barracuda – one of the greatest rock tunes ever, in my opinion. Do you recall who came up with the riff and chord structure of that tune?

I think I came up with most of it. I definitely came up with [sings opening riff]. That came into being at soundcheck. Me and Mike [Derosier, drummer] would go down to soundchecks early so we could jam, warm up and horse around with different ideas, I was playing that lick, and my brother said, ‘That’s a good one. You should make a song out of it.’ So I kept adding to it from there.

Anytime we were working up a song, each member of the band would make a valuable addition. And some of the most quirky and valuable additions were made by Howard Leese. I think he was responsible for the really odd time signature. I can’t remember it very well. I think 19/4 is what the time works out to. You can look at it different ways.

Mike was a great drummer, which is an often-overlooked ingredient in all classic bands. Was it inspiring to work with him?

Absolutely. We searched long and hard for the musicians for Heart, and when we auditioned [Mike] in his bedroom in Edmunds, north of Seattle, he played for about a minute and I knew he was the guy.

How?

He sounded like John Bonham and we loved John Bonham!

Heart, ‘Kick It Out,’ Live, 1978, Largo, MD
> Roger is using a white Les Paul Custom in this tune.

Notable: Gear Notes

Random info from Roger’s website:

> Live he used an MXR digital delay, the Phoenix Systems flanger and a volume pedal.

> For the solo on “Sing Child” he used a Les Paul through a Fender Twin (turned way up) with a Univibe.

> The setup for Dreamboat Annie [album, 1976] was pretty simple: Les Paul through a Fender Twin Reverb, LOUD. I used a Univibe at the time as well. I think I used a distortion pedal, but I need to talk to Howard and a few others to determine which one it was as I don’t remember.”

Roger now.

> More on his current gear: “I decided to buy three new Jeff Beck Strats, simple Marshall and THD amps, a TC Electronics G System pedal board and call it good. I’m also using Taylor and McPherson acoustic guitars, and an ASR electric mandolin that was handmade for me in the ’70s. So my gear isn’t terribly exciting, but, having skipped in and out of more sit-ins and jam sessions than I can count, and having to play on as many different guitars and amps, I’ve found the most important aspect of musical expression, in my opinion, is the attitude, spirit and fingers of the player. Gear means almost nothing. Granted, if I’m playing through a system that rocks, I play better, and that is the most desirable scenario.”

Notable: Roger’s Impression of EVH

“We were introduced to Van Halen by my brother, who I think bought a cassette of their first album. He put it on in the tour bus and we were all blown away.

“The first time we met them was at the stadium in Dallas. We were playing there and Van Halen were in town. They’d just played some club or something, just after they’d released their first album. We met them and invited them to come up onstage and watch our set. We were about to go on – our road manager said at the time to go on, and we said, ‘Okay, let this band be onstage and watch us. He didn’t know who they were and said, No way.’ We said, ‘Okay, then we’re not going to play.’ Then of course he let the band come up and watch our set.”

Roger also recounted a couple of anecdotes about Ed: one was Eddie asking him how to play a fast part in an acoustic tune (also see him recount it starting at 8:14 in this YouTube video), and one was driving around with Ed in Seattle trying to find what hospital David Lee Roth was taken to after Dave had passed out on stage. They never found Dave but “had fun hanging out anyway,” he said.

- End of part 2 (of 3) -

Red bird! Note the Bogner head.

Someone got it wrong.

Either Chuck Berry misread the divine inspiration he got, or a couple of young parents in upstate New York picked the wrong name for their son.

I’m betting Chuck was mistaken because after seeing Joe Bonamassa Wednesday night at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in New Jersey, there’s no doubt in my mind that he is the guy who plays the guitar like ringing a bell. He’s the country boy who can play. It’s Joe, not Johnny.

If you want a review, here it is: It was great. Joe was great, the band was tight, the show was great.

In terms of a description, I don’t really know where to start. There were no low points in the show, so it’s not really like there was a beginning, middle and end. And clearly Joe and the band were as thrilled to be there as the audience was.

Here's the second guitar Joe pulled out.

The show was attended by people of all ages and both sexes. Everyone was having an equally good time. But for guitarists in particular, the show was beyond great. Joe’s tone was, as usual, stellar. Ditto for his technique, phrasing and overall mastery of the instrument. And he used eight different drool-worthy guitars during the show! Awesome!

I shouldn’t leave out the singing or the band: Both were very good. But Joe and his guitar-playing was the focus – for me and every other guit-slinger in the audience, anyway.

Some high points:

> White + red = cool: Joe walked out dressed in white with a red single-pickup Gibson Firebird. Sweet!

> Five, then breathe: The band ripped through five tunes (set list below) – and two guitar changes (Firebird, Les Paul with Bigsby, Bonamassa signature Les Paul) – before Joe said a word to the audience. On purpose! He’s very comfortable on the mic, so he was just firing everyone up. Not that they needed it!

> All wood: The acoustic guitar intro (more like a solo) before Woke Up Dreaming stole the show for a lot of people. Extremely clean, very good and very tasteful but with a lot of speed and flash here and there. It covered the following styles: Spanish/flamenco, blues, New Age (sorta), Al Dimeola/Friday Night in San Francisco, The Who – at least that’s what my ears told me! Sick, sick dynamics in his playing.

> Fig! Anton Fig of Letterman band fame took over the drums on Lonesome Road Blues. He killed! Felt like he picked the whole band up a notch. (If you want to hear just how much a drummer, and Anton in particular, can “make” a tune or album, listen to Ace Frehley’s 1978 solo album. Anton plays on all the tracks and is amazing.)

> Loved the V: Joe apparently had a new sound system (and lights) for the gig. I was stage right, two rows back and to me it sounded like Joe’s guitar was coming out of a tunnel.  In other words, I heard it okay but the acoustics weren’t good for me where I was sitting. That said, when Joe pulled out the Flying V (korina?) for the final (pre-encore) tune of the night – Just Got Paid/Dazed and Confused – for me there was a noticeable difference in tone: It sounded even better, more raw. Of course, it’s tough to say exactly why since I’m not sure which two of the four heads Joe used. I have to find out about that guitar….

I’m sure I’m forgetting some stuff, but there you go. Here is what guys on the Bonamassa forum said was the setlist, with my notes on guitars:

• Had to Cry Today (Firebird)
• So It’s Like That (Firebird)
• Last Kiss (Les Paul/Bigsby – lemonburst?)
• So Many Roads (same Les Paul/Bigsby)
• Bridge to Better Days (signature Gold Top Les Paul)
• Sloe Gin (sig LP) – I think this is the tune where they worked in a little Deep Purple “Perfect Strangers”
• Lonesome Road Blues (cherryburst Les Paul, capo on 3rd fret)
• Happier Times (same cherryburst LP)
• Further on up the Road (Gold Top, cream pickup rings and pickguard – a GT Standard? Under the lights, the cream didn’t look as good as the black.)
• Great Flood (same)
• Woke up Dreaming (Yamaha? acoustic, capo 1st fret)
• Just got paid/Dazed and Confused (Gibson Flying V – korina?)

Encores

• Ball Peen Hammer (same acoustic)
• Mountain Time (Ernie Ball Music Man Steve Morse Y2D in the purplish color, only bridge pickup used)

Pre-Show Clinic and Bogner

Thanks to someone on thegearpage.net, I learned at the 11th hour that Joe was having a pre-show guitar clinic – free if you signed up! Joe’s PR/marketing folks were kind enough to get me on the list, and I’m stoked I heard about it! I believe he said it was the first such clinic he’d ever done, but not sure about that.

I’d say that between 60 and 100 people were there, just about all of whom are guitar players. Joe told some cool stories (a few summarized below), answered people’s questions and even let a couple guys play his signature gold top through his rig! Holy crap! I really wanted to, but all of a sudden I started getting cold feet – or hands.

Anyhow, here are some highlights from the clinic:

> Bogner: Obvious from looking at the stage was that one of Joe’s four heads was a Bogner. So it was: left stack – Carol-Ann JB-100, Van Weelden; right stack – Marshall Jubilee, Bogner Ecstasy. That meant the Category 5 JB 100 (what Joe calls “basically a Super Lead with a mid-boost on it”) was missing. Asked about the Bogner, Joe said he’s had it in his rig for about 6 months. Apparently Bogner is “making him one” (a signature head?) so he has the Ecstasy in the meantime. He said he’s probably the only person in the universe that likes the Ecstasy’s dark switch, and likes the Bogner head because it gives him a “Kossoff tone,” as in Paul Kossoff of Free. (Kossoff liked Super Bass heads, which usually have a somewhat darker tone than Super Leads.)

Here's the Music Man Steve Morse Y2D.

> How He Got Clapton: Joe recently filmed a gig (for a DVD out next month) at the Royal Albert Hall in that little country across the pond. Eric Clapton joined him onstage. How did he get Clapton there? He wrote him a letter – as in snail mail. Joe joked that he probably used 30-40% of the Amazon rainforest crafting just the right letter to Clapton, asking him to sit in on one song. He didn’t hear back for a couple of weeks and resigned himself to the fact that Clapton wouldn’t respond. “He’s not going to respond – he’s Eric Clapton!” Joe said. “The military has a saying – he’s above my pay grade.” But then Joe got an email from Eric saying he would do it and wondered about which song. Joe said this put him in a pickle because now he had to write him back! But Joe suggested Further On Up the Road, and Clapton agreed.

> All in the Hands: Joe said Clapton brought a signature model Strat and a tweed Fender Twin Reissue, which was stock – “I looked at it,” Joe said. “He had a Monster cable, plugged straight in and started playing – and it was instantly the Blues Breakers. It was inspirational So it doesn’t really matter what [equipment] you play. It’s how you actually feel it and what comes out.”

> Don’t Blink: He said that Royal Albert Hall gig “basically went by in a blur. I went on complete instinct. It went well, but I was so wound up about the taping and the guests we had….” He said he’s seen the DVD and is “really proud of it. It’s the thing I’m most proud of that I’ve ever done.”

> Two Off the List: After playing with Clapton, Joe later sat in with Steve Winwood. So he said he’s now crossed two “dream” items off his list.

> Tom Dowd: He talked about recording with legendary producer Tom Dowd, and how it helped him define his style. “I would do these long outro solos, and he [Dowd] would say, These eight bars sound like Clapton, these sound like Jimi Hendrix or whoever, these sound like some ’30s trumpet player I’d never heard of…but these four bars sound like you. That helped me find my style. It was like a college education every day.”

> Like an Acoustic: Asked how he gets his articulation, Joe said that he doesn’t use a lot of overdrive [and the 100-watt heads help with headroom], mutes a lot with the heel of his hand and uses nylon saddles [I believe just on the G, B and high E strings]. “It sounds overdriven, but I like it to feel like an acoustic guitar,” he said.

> No More Fender: He was also asked why he switched to Gibsons from Fenders. He said it was due to: a bad experience with Fender; the fact that many people hear a Strat and automatically think of Stevie Ray Vaughan (”you could make a canoe with two [Strats] and row it down the Hudson River, and some people would say that the sound that makes sounds like Cold Shot,” he said); and the fact that he seems to be moving toward an overall darker sound – which might explain why the Bogner is now in his rig.

Other Notable Items

Here are a few more items from the pre-show clinic:

> He said he keeps his guitars’ tone knobs on 5 so he can go up or down with them. He also never, or rarely, opens up the guitar with volume and tone knobs on 10.

> His pedal board has changed somewhat, but I couldn’t get a good look at it and couldn’t find any photos of it.

> He uses Dunlop Jazz 3 picks, and mics his cabs with Sennheiser 421s. Re: the mics, he says he wants his sound to be good not just for him but also for listeners. He added: “Unfortunately the gear I like is never the cheapest.”

> He does not overdub solos in the studio (”I overdub rhythm parts only”) and he doesn’t play solos in the control room (”I like being in the room with the amps”).

> Joe is 33 now and has been gigging regularly for 20 years.

> All photos in this post were taken by Bill Twomey.

_____

Someday you will be a man,
And you will be the leader of a big old band.
Many people coming from miles around
To hear you play your music when the sun go down.
Maybe someday your name will be in lights
Saying Joe be good tonight.

Go, go
Go Joe go…

His playing is great. Super tasteful. Super soulful. Super tasty in a Jeff Beck sort of way. You can’t scurry up and down pentatonics and make it sound like that.

Woody tone is a given with Joe, and the song itself is just great. Simple, very simple, but good. Joe sings it in a different way – meaning a way that’s different than he’ll belt out the blues, which this tune is not. Not conventionally, anyway.

The dude is in the moment. I hope you enjoy it half as much as I am.
_____

Video Notes

> If you just want to see the leads, watch the beginning and then come in again at 7:08.

> Oh yeah: If that guitar looks like an Ernie Ball Music Man, that’s because it is. More on it here: the Music Man 25th Anniversary guitar.

> Thanks much to SwampiSi, the poster on YouTube.

Joe Bonamassa – Mountain Time
Recorded at The Sage in Northeast England, April 22, 2009.

A Deep Purple fan asked Steve which guitar properties affect “tone and sustain most, body/neck/fretboard wood-type, neck joint type, pickups, bridge/saddle design, nut, anything else?”

Steve replied, in part:

I can answer some of it. I tend to have an analytical approach to sound changes on guitars. Right off the bat, the fact that every one is different due to the density of the wood comes into play. It’s difficult to do a true A/B comparison of each change.

First for me is the pickups, then the bridge, then the density of the wood body. Neck and fretboard don’t change the sound much on a solid body electric to my ears. My old frankenstein telecaster had a tune-o-matic bridge with nylon bridge wedges instead of metal. When I changed it for a metal one, it was such a drastic tone difference that I immediately switched back.

I’ve never been able to make a scientific comparison of through-the-body neck design versus bolt on, but I have switched necks back and forth. While one neck may sound different with different frets, or even the slight differences in the height or angle of the nut affect open chords, the sound will be virtually the same. Adding a great deal more mass seems like it could affect it, of course.  Instinct tells me that the wood type of the neck would change the sound, but I have never experienced it in a true scientific, A/B test.
_____

Cool info from a master guit-player, but I am bummed that he didn’t mention what he likes about the poplar wood used for his signature series bodies.

Here’s some not-real-current info from deeppurple.com on Steve’s “current” set-up. Note that it’s form 2007, so he doesn’t yet have his signature Engl head, which you can learn a little about here at the Engl site (the site isn’t very good).