Ah, the Nuge. The NUGE, man! He so crazy. Crazy fer sher, and a crazy tone combo. The guy’s old-school woody rig was a hollow-body, feedin’-back mother f***er plugged into 180-watt Fender amps designed to be clean as your a** the day you were born you bark-at-the-moon insane tone-crazy mother f***ers! Okay, enough of the […]
Did Edward Van Halen have his MXR phaser and flanger modded to boost or not? The initial interviews are inconclusive. Exhibit A, from this recent post: I use a phase shifter, a Phase 90 – MXR, I think. It doesn’t really phase – it just kind of gives you treble boost, which I like. Cuts […]
And Sorta Audley Freed Too Doyle, WTF man? I and the many other fans of your tuneage don’t get it. We do get that you’re successful and maybe even happy as a sideman to Clapton, your new beau Sheryl Crow, Roger Waters and whoever else I’m forgetting. You co-write, produce, play, and sing – and […]
Here’s the last of the interesting stuff from the newly published transcript of the entire 1978 interview of Edward Van Halen that Jas Obrecht did for Guitar Player mag. Wish there was a lot more! Guitar Stuff The Shark/Destroyer Jas: Does it have a standard neck? EVH: Yeah. It’s completely stock, really, except for the […]
Here we go, more from the newly published transcript of the entire 1978 interview of Edward Van Halen that Jas Obrecht did for Guitar Player mag. Cool stuff. Effects Jas: What about effects? EVH: I use two Echoplexes. I use a flanger just for little subtle touches. I don’t use it for any intros or […]
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 […]
You have to fight for wood. Don’t think you can name one example of woody tone that came effortlessly for a player. (Anyone? Maybe a Dumble user?) Along those lines, here are a couple quotes that’ll at least make you think, maybe also get you to turn down the Master Vol, play a little louder […]
I have an early ’80s MXR 6-band EQ (pictured). Can’t remember exactly why I bought it (new), but had to be because of Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads, my two guit-wielding idols at the time. Even though Ed used the 6-band and Randy used the 10-band, Randy may have been more of an influence […]
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 […]
Here’s the rest of Steve Morse’s 1978 gear, from an excellent interview with Jas Obrecht. It’s a much longer interview than what you’ve seen here, worth a full read. Btw, the interview was not for Guitar World per the pic at left. Just used that cover shot because it’s a great close-up of Steve’s original […]
In a 1978 interview for Guitar Player magazine, this guitar-slinger said the following: > He created his own guitar by mixing and matching parts from Fender instruments. > Part of the creation was chiseling out a spot so he could put a humbucker in the guitar. > The pickups were directly mounted to the wood.
“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.
These days everyone uses or knows someone who uses a boost pedal. But back in the day, it wasn’t nearly as common. Of course there were the Dallas Rangemaster and Horny (oops, yes I typed it that way: Hornby) Skewes Treble Booster, and a few lesser-known boxes (e.g., the Colorsound). But they didn’t seem to […]
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 […]
