Category: Marshall
Wooooooo-hooooooooo! Stoked! The earliest interview we have of Edward Van Halen is the one Jas Obrecht did that ran in the July (and then November) 1978 issue of Guitar Player magazine. But we weren’t reading everything Jas had on tape because just like with any print interview, what’s published is cropped way down. At the […]
Even if you’re not a KISS fan or hate KISS or Gene Simmons or whatever, give this tune another listen – the original studio version, not the redo. Make it a loud listen. Why: > This whole album (Rock and Roll Over) has woody guitars all over it – because it was produced by Eddie […]
Been a loooooong time since I’d heard the Alice in Chains tune “Down In a Hole” until it hit the car radio the other day. First thing that hit me: What a unique use of a standard bottom-of-neck chord progression. And the tune sounded so dang good! Of course guit-slinger Jerry Cantrell has an uber-distorted […]
“Big Foot” is the new Chickenfoot tune being release to radio (what’s that? lol) today, and…I like it! The #1 reason: MARSHALL. You can hear a big difference, an evolution from Joe Satriani’s big round solo-artist tone to a more rock tone – harsher (in a good way), less bassy/muddy (in a band setting), more […]
Fascinating stuff. Ran across it when fact-checking the previous post. Enjoy.
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 […]
If you haven’t heard or seen it yet, Premier Guitar recently put up a 17.5-minute Billy Gibbons rig rundown via Billy’s tech, Elwood Francis. This is a seminal event because Billy has kept his rig deets pretty tight…but honestly, there’s not much new stuff in it. Really wish PG had read the most popular WoodyTone […]
Nice weather here in Jersey, finally, feels like Friday, like I should be typing this with a beer next to me. It’s all putting me in the mood for Van Halen’s sunny SoCal music. So while I let ‘er rip on the stereo computer, here’s some fun EVH stuff for ya. And of course, while fun, […]
Vivian Campbell cracks me up. In just about every interview about Def Leppard he says that being in the band has hurt his guitar playing but has helped his singing. A little cringe-inducing, eh? But honest, always honest. I like that. [Remember the Guitar World interview where he slagged the heck out of Gibson? In […]
Variac (!), Kept it Simple Do you remember reading Eddie Van Halen’s comments about Randy Rhoads “ripping him off?” I believe those comments were made and published after Randy’s death – though after listening to the transcript of that tape (on the web somewhere) it sounds like Ed didn’t know his comments would be used […]
Not Peavey Maces! Peave Mace, Peavey Mace, all we’ve heard for years is that the Lynyrd Skynyrd guys used Peavey Mace amps. Somewhat true. They did, but not all the time – and apparently not on the recording of ‘Sweet Home Alabama.’ Stumbled onto an interview with one of the engineers of that tune (off […]
Is a Strat a rock instrument? Seriously. I’m talking about a Strat with a single-coil pickup at the bridge. If so, can you name five rock Strat players in 10 seconds? How about five rock Strat players whose tones you’d want to cop? I can only name two. I’m not dissing Tommy Bolin or anyone […]
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 […]
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 […]
