Mel Galley of Whitesnake fame died on the 1st. He died of cancer, knew he was going out soon, and handled it like we all probably wish we would in the same circumstances: fearlessly and at peace. He was 60 years old, and in my opinion is responsible for one of the woodiest and well-recorded […]
I’m talking about the pre-Faithfully, pre-uber-ballad Journey, which toed the line between old-school rock, blues and just a little pop. To this day, Departure is one of my favorite albums — uh, CDs. The guitar work is great (Neal Schon, of course), the keyboards are great (Gregg Rolie — great), the vocal melodies are great, […]
Here he is, the master of tone who articulated it so well: “They go to 11.” Learn from Nigel’s tone lab. Look at all the movies they made sequels (and multiple sequels) to. Doesn’t Tap deserve another? Don’t we deserve another? Funny Stuff
Does Boston’s Tom Scholz have WoodyTone? Remember, we’re not talking about the songs here. We’re talking about his Les Paul >> NASA effects rack >> Marshall tone — though Marshalls are only used in the studio. Otherwise it’s all Rockman stuff. Anyhow, it’s the NASA part that might drop him out of the WoodyTone pantheon. […]
Not much, it turns out. You can usually count on PremierGuitar.com to find some cool stuff. Recently they posted four vids of Seymour Duncan talking about various things. Going from top to bottom, the first one is interesting if you want to know about how Seymour got into winding pickups. The second one doesn’t have […]
I’ve started looking into Tommy Bolin. I’ve heard the name for years, but never looked into him. Still haven’t much, but when researching Bolin on YouTube, I found out that he must have replaced Joe Walsh in the James Gang, and my reaction was: Wait a minute. Joe Walsh? James Gang? There HAD to be […]
I’ve been asked a few times whether I’ve heard the new Whitesnake CD, with Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach on the strings. Yes, it’s in my car. Or was. I have it here in my office (along with a Tascam CD-GT1, a mostly-Warmoth Strat and, for no good reason, two flangers). Anyhow, here’s my review […]
You might be way ahead of me here, but I gotta say it: The new King’s X album is out! One of the world’s best bands. Can’t wait to see them again. If you didn’t know, they’re opening (I believe) for a reunited Extreme this year. Hear clips from the new disc by going to […]
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell, well, well. According to this article, brought to my attention courtesy of premierguitar.com, it looks like the boys from STP were preparing to pull the drug-addled road out from under Slash and the boys in Velvet Revolver. Maybe it’s not worded right, maybe I’m reading it wrong, but if it’s what it looks like, […]
If you missed the issue of Guitar player with Slash on the cover, you missed an interview with Joe Satriani about his new CD — which I will get into later. It’s a decent interview, but the one thing that jumped out at me in screamin’ freakin’ neon is that Satch is jamming with Sammy […]
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 […]
