Tag: featured

Show ‘Review’: Van Halen at the Garden

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 […]

March 8, 2012 | By | 1 Reply More
Jet’s ‘Cold Hard B*tch’ Gear

Jet’s ‘Cold Hard B*tch’ Gear

Heard a tune on the radio the other day, my ears picked up right away. Only when it got to the chorus did I realize I’d heard it before – guess I dismissed it at the time. “It” is the tune “Cold Hard B*tch” by the Australian band Jet. I’m sure you’ve heard it before, […]

March 1, 2012 | By | Reply More
Thoughts On Van Halen’s New One

Thoughts On Van Halen’s New One

Been listening to Van Halen’s A Different Kind of Truth over and over and over for a while now. Couple reasons: 1. It’s great, and I’m a teenager again (minus a bunch o’ hair), running up to my room to put 1984 on the turntable. 2. Sometime after X listens (X = 1,000? 10,000?) things […]

February 23, 2012 | By | 8 Replies More
New VH Kicks A** Big-Time!

New VH Kicks A** Big-Time!

So everyone’s asking me, “Where the F is your review of the new Van Halen?” And I’m like, “I’m workin’ on it, man!” One reason it took a little bit is I wanted to catch up with Pete Thorn to get his comments on the tracks. If you haven’t heard of him, Pete is an […]

February 10, 2012 | By | 9 Replies More
Mick Ralphs’ Hoople and Bad Co Gear

Mick Ralphs’ Hoople and Bad Co Gear

Does it get any better than Bad Company for classic rockage? I’ll answer that for you: No! For years I’ve held onto an old Guitar Player with Mick Ralphs on the cover, and of course now I can’t find it…but I did find the interview online. In it Mick goes into some pretty decent gear […]

February 2, 2012 | By | 2 Replies More
Why Don’t We All Know Ollie Halsall?

Why Don’t We All Know Ollie Halsall?

A semi-recent thread on the metroamp.com board was started about a geetar-slinger named Ollie Halsall. Huh? That was my reaction too, since like you I’m pretty sure I know about every famous to semi-famous guitar player worth knowing about. Obviously not true. Ollie was almost in the Stones, inspired jealousy in Alvin Lee, and was […]

January 19, 2012 | By | 2 Replies More
Here’s the New VH Single/Vid: 50w?

Here’s the New VH Single/Vid: 50w?

Update from a reader (thanks!): Tattoo is is based on an old song, “Down in Flames” – check it below. “Tattoo.” Is it me or have we never heard a Van Halen tune like this before? If Ed used his “grail” Marshall Super Lead on this album, don’t think we’re hearing it on this tune! […]

January 10, 2012 | By | 3 Replies More
Breaking Down the VH NYC Debut

Breaking Down the VH NYC Debut

She’s the Woman! Cafe Wha – yeah man! Couldn’t wrangle my son and I an invite, so instead awaited the sure-to-follow YouTube vids. Fingers were crossed that the band would play some new tunes, though had to admit that didn’t make much sense since they hadn’t even released a tune yet. Anyhow, here’s what we […]

January 9, 2012 | By | Reply More
Bonamassa Hears Clapton in EVH: You?

Bonamassa Hears Clapton in EVH: You?

Lots of well-known axe-slingers are quoted in Neil Zlozower’s new (and awesome) Eddie Van Halen book. One is the current white bluesman extraordinaire, Joe “gingers o’ fire” Bonamassa. What he says is interesting, and not sure I can hear what he’s hearing. Bear in mind a couple things: 1. EVH has said many times that […]

December 22, 2011 | By | 14 Replies More
Have You Gone Extra Slinky Yet?

Have You Gone Extra Slinky Yet?

When I recently got an email from a WoodyTone reader – let’s call him Mike because…that’s his real name – I was stoked because I like light strings. I played 10s for years, then went to 9s after getting back into the whole EVH tone quest. With 9s I noticed that the notes “opened up,” […]

December 14, 2011 | By | 14 Replies More
2 Minutes To Powerslave Tone

2 Minutes To Powerslave Tone

Okay, not really two minutes, but I’m diggin’ “2 Minutes To Midnight” these days, so…. What gear did Iron Maiden’s Dave Murray and Adrian Smith use on Powerslave? Hold on – I guess the first question is, Is their tone woody? IMO no, but it’s the distinctive what I’d call “saturated” metal tone these guys […]

December 8, 2011 | By | 3 Replies More
EVH Fans, Get This Book Now!

EVH Fans, Get This Book Now!

If I ever had a doubt I’m a huge Edward Van Halen fan (never had any doubt, but…), any such insane thought was erased when I finished reading Neil Zlozower’s new Eddie Van Halen book. Yep, reading. Actually got a little emotional at the end of it (*sniff*), reading Nuno Bettencourt’s story about a recent […]

November 30, 2011 | By | 5 Replies More
Remember the ADA? Nuno, Vito, Skid Row

Remember the ADA? Nuno, Vito, Skid Row

Been perusing a loooong thread on gearslutz.com about the recording of various Extreme albums – because I was going to do a post on the most recent Extreme album and Nuno’s gear. But retrenching a bit because of this quote in that thread from producer Michael Wagener: Funny enough, the setup we used on Vito […]

November 23, 2011 | By | 11 Replies More
What the Fuzz Did BFG Use?

What the Fuzz Did BFG Use?

I’ve been obsessin’ over the 1980 Rockpalast footage of that little ol’ band from Texas. The boys were a lot more fiery back then, and the Rev. Willy G sounds AWESOME. yeah, some of it’s the style, the hands, all that, but some of it fo sho is that Lester paul through…what? First give this […]

November 16, 2011 | By | 20 Replies More
Gilmour’s The Wall Gear!

Gilmour’s The Wall Gear!

There’s this issue of the old, defunct but often awesome Guitar Shop mag I have that runs down Dave Gilmour’s live gear from every period of Pink Floyd. Crazy! Actually too much stuff to put in here, but I had to get something in so here we are. The thing that kick-started this post is […]

November 8, 2011 | By | 2 Replies More