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Ed in Guitar World (part 2)

Ed in Guitar World (part 2)

Here’s more on the pickups in the new EVH Wolfgang guitar from the Ed interview in the latest issue of Guitar Player — which by the way was published with four different covers — plus some non-pickup nuggets about the new Wolfgang. > Part of this interesting quote was omitted unintentionally by GW in a […]

December 16, 2008 | By | Reply More
Ed in Guitar World (part 1)

Ed in Guitar World (part 1)

Every new Edward Van Halen interview is cause for comment. Lately most of the Ed interviews revolve around product launches, which is the case for the February (yes, February) 2009 issue of Guitar World, “on news stands now!” Anyhow, it’s always cause for comment because Ed is Ed, and because of his well-known penchant for […]

December 15, 2008 | By | Reply More
Morse’s Tone Thoughts

Morse’s Tone Thoughts

I hadn’t been to Steve Morse’s website in a while so I surfed it for a bit and ended up on deeppurple.com, where I found the following that Steve wrote about tone. 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, […]

December 10, 2008 | By | Reply More
Gettin’ Betta

Gettin’ Betta

Hear a Pat Travers tune on the internet radio recently, one I hadn’t hear in a long while: Gettin’ Betta. Awesome tune (YouTube links to it below). Reminds me a lot of Extreme, so Nuno Bettencourt obviously borrowed liberally from Pat. Back in the day Pat used a Gibson Melody Maker with full-size Gibson humbuckers. […]

December 8, 2008 | By | Reply More
Bon Scott: The Early Days

Bon Scott: The Early Days

Maybe if you’re a big-time AC/DC fan you know how Bon Scott hooked up with the Young boys — or, rather, how he almost didn’t. If you don’t, there’s an interesting article in an Adelaide, Australia newspaper written about Bon’s pursuit of fame and fortune in rock and roll. What makes it interesting is it’s […]

December 5, 2008 | By | Reply More
Sarzo’s Idea Cool, But…

Sarzo’s Idea Cool, But…

Recently Rudy Sarzo, bassist of ’80s Quiet Riot and Ozzy/Randy Rhoads fame, announced a new contest. In it, participants can write a song on their own, with Rudy then picking a winner and doing the bass lines, or write a song using pre-recorded Rudy bass lines. It’s a cool idea, with prizes from Jackson, Ampeg, […]

December 3, 2008 | By | Reply More
Blues Led Zep

Blues Led Zep

I was wandering through Wal-Mart’s music section the other day, trying to politely refused my son’s repeated requests for a Def Leppard DVD, and found a couple of Zep tribute discs. The first one I listed to was “Contemporary Blues Interpret Led Zeppelin,” put out this year. It’s cool. Some of it is about what […]

December 1, 2008 | By | Reply More
‘Chickenfoot’ Update

‘Chickenfoot’ Update

Back in early October, Billboard.com published an update on the Satriani-Hagar-Anthony-Chad Smith (Red Hot Chilis) “supergroup” that at least for now is titled Chickenfoot. Since I missed it then, hear are some highlights of that article now (all quotes are from Satch):

November 24, 2008 | By | Reply More
New Queen + Paul Rodgers

New Queen + Paul Rodgers

Well, I don’t love “The Cosmos Rocks.” I wanted to be hit over the head by Brian May’s royal chords and sweet lines (WoodyTone being a given), interesting song structures and chord patterns, and Paul Rodgers’ soulful vocals over the whole amazing thing. But except in a couple of cases, I didn’t get what I […]

November 21, 2008 | By | Reply More
Let It Come Out

Let It Come Out

Carlos Santana is a very cool guitar player. He has his own style, he’s an innovator, I dig some of his music, not all of it, because what he does isn’t necessarily my personal thing. But I find his spiritual searching, his articulation of it and his conclusions — which often relate to guitar-playing and […]

November 19, 2008 | By | Reply More
Audley Freed! (part 2)

Audley Freed! (part 2)

I went surfing and found some info on Audley that WoodyToners will enjoy. The excerpts were taken from two articles: here and here. The articles are a bit old, so some of the info might be dated. If you know where to find more or more-current Audley info or interviews, please let me know. Influences […]

November 17, 2008 | By | 2 Replies More
No New VH for a While?

No New VH for a While?

Although the music machine named Edward Van Halen is never not creating more and more music (put it out! sell it online!), it does appear that the much-hoped-for new VH album with DLR won’t be happening anytime soon — and I feel obligated to say given the in/out nature of the band, “if it happens […]

November 14, 2008 | By | Reply More
Audley Freed! (part 1)

Audley Freed! (part 1)

A buddy of mine passed me a disc the other day to check out, by this band called Cry of Love. A ’90s release. Took exactly one listen to reach this conclusion: frickin’ great. Great tunes, great singing (Kelly Holland sounds a little like Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes, but better), simply and “rawly” […]

November 13, 2008 | By | Reply More
The Brazilian Kid

The Brazilian Kid

Judging by the number of views on this vid, looks like I’m tardy to this party. This kid can play! And…is that WoodyTone I’m hearing? I hear the Strat, the phaser sounds luscious in spots, the flanger big and bold. I mean — we’re all listening to compressed video audio through some form of computer […]

November 11, 2008 | By | Reply More
Billy Squier’s WoodyTone

Billy Squier’s WoodyTone

In case you need a reminder, dust off your Don’t Say No album or CD, or click here to go to last.fm and give those tunes a listen. THAT, my friends, is WoodyTone. Dang. You can clearly hear the vintage gear and analog recording equipment, even on laptop speakers. (This is making me wonder whether […]

November 5, 2008 | By | 1 Reply More