Schenker's place in the guitar god hierarchy

[thegame]

Fun "fact" or myth. Schenker said that the 2205 was designed with his tastes in mind and maybe "consultation". He wanted an amp with that built in cocked wah sound and he has mentioned that in more recent interviews that he stopped using the wah because the 2205 and 10's gave him that. In a way it was a good switch because the cocked wah actually knocks some gain off the amp to my ears and now his tone still cuts but is thicker and gainier. It has aged well because of that.

10's as in 10 gauge strings?

 

[mentoneman]

Yeah I’ve always been horrible at improvising. Most classical musicians seem to be that way. I’m though just as bad at sight reading haha. I had this friend in college that was a very bad player in terms of technique and feel yet somehow was able to improvise amazingly well and seemingly effortlessly. Seems within music there are lots of skill that are independent: technical ability to actually play, improvise, compose, read music. I think a lot of these so called “guitar heroes” were really just ok to decent players, but were very creative composers and improvisers and that’s clearly a more valuable skill to most. We don’t really hear about the players that only have chops

i never understood how the classical guys generally struggled with improvisation. like many professional actors i’ve met give them a script and they nail a performance pretending to be someone else with conviction but take the paper away and they become intellectual and charismatic midgets.
now on a sophistication and evolutionary scale i’d place a classically trained sight reading guitarist somewhere in the 20th century whilst i fall somewhere amongst the rung of moddern gibbons extracting termites out of a hole with a stick for food.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

8

10's as in 10 gauge strings?

No , I meant 2205 and 2210's. I was just being lazy. I think he has always been a 9 gauge string guy.

 

[mentoneman]

The Thing about Yngwie is, hes not just Classical, he rips at blues, plays the correct guitar for it, and openly pays homage to Hendrix. His vibrato and the way he finishes motifs is unmistakeably dramatic and him. EVH for tone, but I guess I wasnt there the first time around, and I get the riffs and all, but the playing never directly impacted.

I was around for Becker and Shawn Lane, and I echo what Pat said, these dudes are just on a different place, especially Shawn Lane (RIP) who was basically and alien being.

BTW, Gary Moore for the win....

forgot to mention becker. that guy had a bright future and a wonderful personality on guitar and in person. he brought the yngwie classical legato and sweep thing together with the gilbert picking and added his own sense of humor twist and american gunslinging. he also has really good vibrato which is often overlooked.

watching him in person unintentionally lap marty technically and tonefully over and over again at a clinic and cacophany gig, then drooling at the potential with roth. then attending his benefit concert shortly thereafter when he could not walk unassisted was heartbreaking.

 

[Techdeth]

Fun "fact" or myth. Schenker said that the 2205 was designed with his tastes in mind and maybe "consultation". He wanted an amp with that built in cocked wah sound and he has mentioned that in more recent interviews that he stopped using the wah because the 2205 and 10's gave him that. In a way it was a good switch because the cocked wah actually knocks some gain off the amp to my ears and now his tone still cuts but is thicker and gainier. It has aged well because of that.

I remember when he said this in Guitar World

 

[Greazygeo]

I would add though, maybe most importantly, NO ONE played guitar like Ed did, in 1978. The speed, accuracy, feel and timing were above anything up to that point, and it just wasn't close. At least in the hard rock scene. Notice how I'm not even mentioning the hammer ons/Dive bombs. It was Incendiary.
Hendrix, same thing when he burst on the scene. His was more heavy blues/rock. Different styles but both knocked the guitar world on their asses.

Virgin Killers had come out in 76. Heard VH1 when it came out and thought it was cool, but heard Virgin Killers pretty soon after. I would say Uli played pretty ripping on it.

 

[braintheory]

i never understood how the classical guys generally struggled with improvisation. like many professional actors i’ve met give them a script and they nail a performance pretending to be someone else with conviction but take the paper away and they become intellectual and charismatic midgets.
now on a sophistication and evolutionary scale i’d place a classically trained sight reading guitarist somewhere in the 20th century whilst i fall somewhere amongst the rung of moddern gibbons extracting termites out of a hole with a stick for food.

I really don't get it either, but for whatever reason it's just rare in my experience to find classical musicians that are even above mediocre at improvising. I think it might be that we're so picky about the meaning of each note that we just have trouble accepting that when we improve a lot of it won't be great (even among the best improv players) and that's a tough pill to swallow. It's just a very different skill than the mechanics of just playing. It amazed me to watch my friend who was such a bad player technically somehow come to life when he improvised. I think I remember reading an interview where even Randy Rhoads admitted he was never that good at improvising. Also, most classical guitarists (myself included) are actually quite bad at sight reading. The Jazz players tend to smoke classical players there and they also smoke us obviously at improv lol

 

[Jdub]

For melodic leads, pick attack and vibrato, Michael is second to none in my opinion. I think his lead playing is vastly better than EVH, but I love Eddie's rhythm playing and swing. Schenker and Ulrich Roth were the best of the best from the 70's IMO. Roth was so far ahead of his time and so inventive. Michael has the lyrical leads and phrasing like no-one before or since. No disrespect to EVH, but like Malmsteen, they both blew their wad on their first few records. They were mind-blowing and explosive, but neither got any better than their first few albums.. I think Randy would have had had the most to offer over time, but sadly we never got to hear it.

 

[mentoneman]

For melodic leads, pick attack and vibrato, Michael is second to none in my opinion. I think his lead playing is vastly better than EVH, but I love Eddie's rhythm playing and swing. Schenker and Ulrich Roth were the best of the best from the 70's IMO. Roth was so far ahead of his time and so inventive. Michael had the lyrical leads like no-one before or since. No disrespect to EVH, but like Malmsteen, they both blew their wad on their first few records. They were mind-blowing and explosive, but neither got any better than their first few albums.. I think Randy would have had had the most to offer over time, but sadly we never got to hear it.

wassap braddahman
waves have been firing this year—check out this board i got in january-aipabolt!!

 

[Jdub]

For melodic leads, pick attack and vibrato, Michael is second to none in my opinion. I think his lead playing is vastly better than EVH, but I love Eddie's rhythm playing and swing. Schenker and Ulrich Roth were the best of the best from the 70's. Roth was so far ahead of his time and so inventive. Michael had there lyrical leads like no-one before or since. No disrespect to EVH, but like Malmsteen, they both blew their wad on their first few records.

wassap braddahman
waves have been firing this year—check out this board i got in january-aipabolt!!

Hey Pat!! Great to hear from you. I hope all is well. looking good Mr.! Nice board!! Gotta love an Aipa. Are you on Oahu? Stoked you are getting great waves. I have been out of the water for about a year due to some health issues. Hope to get back at it, but I moved back to Oregon to take care of my health and this place is a wave desert and ironically it's is packed to boot. Throw in some freezing water and this is absolutely no place to be a surfer. Lol.

 

[Jack Luminous]

forgot to mention becker. that guy had a bright future and a wonderful personality on guitar and in person. he brought the yngwie classical legato and sweep thing together with the gilbert picking and added his own sense of humor twist and american gunslinging. he also has really good vibrato which is often overlooked.

watching him in person unintentionally lap marty technically and tonefully over and over again at a clinic and cacophany gig, then drooling at the potential with roth. then attending his benefit concert shortly thereafter when he could not walk unassisted was heartbreaking.

I know it's blasphemous but I still prefer Friedman's soloing. Don't know why.

 

[SpiderWars]

I was a UFO fan but right before 1978 (i.e. VH1) I was always wanting someone to take it to the next level regarding more aggressive distortion and to just let loose...grip it and rip it. Eddie did all that to a degree that it was a "wow" moment when you first heard it. If you weren't there, and hear VH1 now while also hearing all the music it influenced...it might not seem so different. It sounded VERY new, fresh, exciting at the time. That's why it has had such an impact.

I love Jimi and Machine Gun is one of my favorites of all time...gaffs and all. The wrong notes sound right to me now.

But c'mon...EVH is the top influencer in rock guitar AINEC. But I'll never knock anybody for saying Jimi is their guy.

 

[LP Freak]

Love me some Schenker

 

[Markedman]

3 fingers, never the pinky for Mike. I pointed that out to a friend and he asked Mike, Mike laughed.

 

[Racerxrated]

For melodic leads, pick attack and vibrato, Michael is second to none in my opinion. I think his lead playing is vastly better than EVH, but I love Eddie's rhythm playing and swing. Schenker and Ulrich Roth were the best of the best from the 70's IMO. Roth was so far ahead of his time and so inventive. Michael has the lyrical leads and phrasing like no-one before or since. No disrespect to EVH, but like Malmsteen, they both blew their wad on their first few records. They were mind-blowing and explosive, but neither got any better than their first few albums.. I think Randy would have had had the most to offer over time, but sadly we never got to hear it.

I watched or read (can’t recall) an interview with Uli where he was asked about Michael…he basically said that Michael has an unbelievable gift for guitar that no one else has. But he also has some weird personality issues that are unfortunate.

 

[blackie13]

Love me some Schenker

I was gonna post this...
He is 67...and he just kills it...

 

[LP Freak]

I was gonna post this...
He is 67...and he just kills it...

You can definitely tell he loves his job

 

[mentoneman]

Hey Pat!! Great to hear from you. I hope all is well. looking good Mr.! Nice board!! Gotta love an Aipa. Are you on Oahu? Stoked you are getting great waves. I have been out of the water for about a year due to some health issues. Hope to get back at it, but I moved back to Oregon to take care of my health and this place is a wave desert and ironically it's is packed to boot. Throw in some freezing water and this is absolutely no place to be a surfer. Lol.

good to see you around too brotahtoes!
oh man-sucky about health dings-sorry to hear. and cold crowded surf. GONG! i had to have surfer ear surgery from decades of cold cali water but the warm salty oahu water has been great.
but yeah i’ve been back home on oahu for a while now and just loving surfing and boogie boarding every chance i get! gtr takes a backseat when you are a surfer living in the epicenter of surfing!
i’m a local/unko at 4 of the best spots around the island (except Pipe/north shore scares me) but brah the barrels i score are real fun.
here’s a couple nuggies i got on the sponge at Sandy Beach aloha!

 

[mentoneman]

I know it's blasphemous but I still prefer Friedman's soloing. Don't know why.

that’s awesome and he’s no slouch. his pursuit of classical and japanese melody is different. but for context marty used to live on oahu and he used to give lessons at a local guitar store and to a friend of mine at his house 3 blocks from where i lived. i also used to see him play at parties and clubs back then with his band Hawaii and he was an above average local player with a bit of an attitude and horrific tone. i had other player friends i loved way more. and the cacophany deal i saw was similar even though he had become a bigger shrapnel guy. but becker was peaking and sooooo good. but stoked to see marty very successful at what he did.

 

[mentoneman]

I was a UFO fan but right before 1978 (i.e. VH1) I was always wanting someone to take it to the next level regarding more aggressive distortion and to just let loose...grip it and rip it. Eddie did all that to a degree that it was a "wow" moment when you first heard it. If you weren't there, and hear VH1 now while also hearing all the music it influenced...it might not seem so different. It sounded VERY new, fresh, exciting at the time. That's why it has had such an impact.

I love Jimi and Machine Gun is one of my favorites of all time...gaffs and all. The wrong notes sound right to me now.

But c'mon...EVH is the top influencer in rock guitar AINEC. But I'll never knock anybody for saying Jimi is their guy.

the context of being there for jimi or eddie or yngwie bursting on the scene is what cannot truly be explained. i was too young to be aware of jimi’s arrival other than my sister working at a theater and sneaking me into woodstock the movie where i remember seeing hendrix fir the first time.
but i was primed for eddie and yngwie years and literally wore the grooves off the record learning thier songs/solos.