Recent Posts

Why the Echoplex Boosts So Well

Why the Echoplex Boosts So Well

If you’re way into “guitara obscura” you may know the following. But for the rest of us, this might be news. Let’s start with the Echoplex itself. I’m not going to get into the electronics of the thing, but anyone who’s a fan of classic rock tone knows that the Echoplex was used as much […]

February 3, 2011 | By | 2 Replies More
More on Yngwie’s Sig Marshall

More on Yngwie’s Sig Marshall

Yngwie Malmsteen’s signature Marshall has gotten a lot of interest, seemingly more because people like the idea of a 100w Marshall plexi with attentuation (power scaling) than because it’s a signature amp. With the recent NAMM trade show now over, some more details of the amp have come out.

February 1, 2011 | By | 3 Replies More
Bonamassa With Buddas – Sick Tone!

Bonamassa With Buddas – Sick Tone!

Joe Bonamassa seems to be one of those guys with golden hands. Don’t think I’ve ever heard him with bad tone, even when he was a a flashy youngster. And as with all tone hounds, the amp – or in his case “amps,” since “there can’t only be one” – is a huge part of […]

January 27, 2011 | By | Reply More
EVH’s New Mahogany Rush: Details

EVH’s New Mahogany Rush: Details

Full Circle Maybe? Plus the 50w 5150 III – Amp Settings? Don’t know if you’ve seen the few vids from the EVH booth at the recent NAMM trade show, but if not, most interesting for me was the new EVH Wolfgang Custom – basically a Les Paul in EVH clothing. Or maybe an EVH-ized Les […]

January 25, 2011 | By | 1 Reply More
Ronnie Le Tekro’s Amps and Effects

Ronnie Le Tekro’s Amps and Effects

Mids! In part 1, we learned that Ronni Le Tekro prefers pickups with Alnico 5 magnets. Seems odd that Ronni would use A5 pickups if he loved mids so much, but he more than made up for any “lost” mids with his amp and effects setup….

January 20, 2011 | By | Reply More
Le Tekro Made Too Much Mids Sound Good

Le Tekro Made Too Much Mids Sound Good

Part 1 Does this sound like a recipe for good rock tone (or even a usable tone) to you: > Mismatched pickups, at least one of which was installed wrong > Boss pedals (plural) – modified and stock – to accentuate mids > Marshall JMP head modded for less gain in the preamp stage and […]

January 18, 2011 | By | 3 Replies More
Finally Some Info on the EVH-Favored 6CA7

Finally Some Info on the EVH-Favored 6CA7

What do you know about the 6CA7 power tube? If you’re like me, you know that Edward Van Halen favored them back in the day, and that they are similar to EL34s but different. You might also know that they never came stock in Marshall heads, that EVH favored Sylvania big bottle 6CA7s, and that […]

January 13, 2011 | By | 3 Replies More
Yngwie’s New Marshall Has…Built In Effects

Yngwie’s New Marshall Has…Built In Effects

Whether Yngwie Malmsteen’s playing is your cup ‘o tea or not, one thing can’t be argued: his tone is woody, always has been. A boosted Strat into cranked 50w metal-panel Marshall Mark II heads – schweet! So when I was tipped to the fact that Yngwie has a new signature Marshall head coming out (thanks […]

January 11, 2011 | By | 1 Reply More
Did Semi-Hollows Give Paul Gilbert Wood?

Did Semi-Hollows Give Paul Gilbert Wood?

A couple years ago, Paul Gilbert was favoring semi-hollow guitars. You could attribute that to him being an at-times weird dude, but turns out that’s not (entirely) why he made the change to those guitars, albeit since reversed. So why did he like semi-hollows? In a word, tone. That’s what Paul said in a Guitar […]

January 7, 2011 | By | 5 Replies More
Rick Nielsen, Austin City Limits, Fuchs Amps

Rick Nielsen, Austin City Limits, Fuchs Amps

Wow! Anyone here in the U.S. catch the recent airing (re-airing?) of Cheap Trick live on Austin City Limits? Couple quick observations after watching: > Cheap Trick is a ROCK BAND. Lots of big guitar tone, great classic rock/Beatles-esque tunes, good singing – a real freakin’ band! Great to see and hear they’re still doing […]

January 5, 2011 | By | 2 Replies More
Aldo Freakin’ Nova: Les Paul, Marshall

Aldo Freakin’ Nova: Les Paul, Marshall

Anyone remember that song “Fantasy”? (If not, it’s below.) I liked it, though it did remind of a Jefferson Starship tune – which will be the subject of the next post. Off and on I’ve tried to track down info on the gear Aldo used on that tune, since he apparently played all the parts […]

December 28, 2010 | By | 5 Replies More

Yngwie on His Rig, Different Marshalls

The EVH Connection (Sorta), Yngwie’s Amp Settings This Edward Van Halen quote from Tuesday’s post – “Those old Marshalls are all so different and you won’t find two that sound the same” – reminded me of another quote

December 22, 2010 | By | Reply More
EVH on Marshalls, Action, Tone, More

EVH on Marshalls, Action, Tone, More

Plus Ed’s version of the Nugent story Here are a few more excerpts from that book “Gear Secrets of the Guitar Legends,” these from the Edward Van Halen section – which is at best incomplete, at worst “wrong” in some places. “Wrong” is in quotes because for the most part no one’s really sure, so […]

December 20, 2010 | By | 1 Reply More
Jimmy Page’s Marshall Settings

Jimmy Page’s Marshall Settings

From the Horse’s Mouth! The September 1998 issue of Guitar Shop magazine (no longer in print) has a pretty good interview with Jimmy Page – a bunch of gear information, for some reason a rarity when it comes to Page interviews. I covered some of that info in a previous post, but the following info […]

December 16, 2010 | By | Reply More
Early Maiden: Murray, Smith Gear

Early Maiden: Murray, Smith Gear

What are those boxes taped to the amps? Why the F is it so tough to get definitive info on what Dave Murray and Adrian Smith used back in the early days or Iron Maiden? I have a Guitar World Guitar Legends mag dedicated to Maiden, and there isn’t a single piece of early gear […]

December 14, 2010 | By | 6 Replies More