Jason Becker's gear on A Little Ain't Enough?

Devin

Devin

Well-known member
Anyone have the inside scoop on what Jason used to record his guitar parts on A Little Ain't Enough? I love the fuck out of his tone on there; It's Showtime and Drop in the Bucket rock so damn hard :inlove: :worship:
 
I agree with the praise for that tone. To me it was very reminiscent of Vai’s tone. When I listen to Vai’s leads, I hear lots of compression, but even on the bridge pickup there is this smooth, ‘glassy’ quality - no ‘grit’ or ‘distortion’ to my ears. Whammy licks have that elastic ‘rubber band’ quality to them. By contrast, I hear lots of what I call grit and distortion on Randy Rhoads’ guitar sound. Not good or bad / better or worse ... just different. Vai and Becker have that sooper smooth glassy liquid-like lead tone.
 
All the mags I read at the time had Vai using modded marshals for his 2 outings with Roth - where that really signature ‘Vai’ tone came from. And then that cool YouTube bit with Pete Thorn(!) This was before the Carvin Legacy. But he also got that same stretchy, greasy, glassy tone with his Carvin X-100Bs. Makes me wonder if that quality I hear had more to do with the pickups maybe??? Jason definitely copped the coolest parts of that tone while still stamping his own signature all over ‘Little Ain’t Enough’.

.
 
Who produced it again? Was it Bob Rock? I believe the story there is that it is actually a stock JCM800 (combo version I think) with an older JB they had in an Les Paul. I think that was supposed to be the bulk of the rythm tone. I too always found that hard to believe because I don't hear that gain from my cranked 800 and a JB.., not to mention a Les Paul but that is what I remember reading. There had to be a pedal out front. But I'm with you. I frigging love the tone and playing on that album. Very surprised Roth was not playing any of those tunes on his solo opening slot. I mean Showtime? That's a mic drop right there if you have someone that can play that lead.
 
Not much help but dug this up.. (an 800 for sure was one of these amps)

For the David Lee Roth album A Little Ain't Enough, Becker used "eight different Marshall amps." He also used the SX300H head at some point during that era.

During the sessions for A Little Ain't Enough, Becker used various Carvin, Ibanez, ESP and Valley Arts guitars, as well as a Les Paul on some tracks and a Gibson acoustic for select things.

That's all they put really. Not very specific but I know I read that about Bob Rock's LP with an JB in it.
 
Devin said:
Nice! I guess a lot of the magic is due to the outboard processing/production
Click to expand...

Most of the time that's the case. I mean listen to all the early VH albums. We can more or less guess that the gear was roughly the same. But every time they go in, mic placement might change, changes on the board , EQ decisions etc...might have a greater impact than people think. I also hate to say it but the old "hands" argument that people hate. It is Jason's attack and timing that are also big factors so he likely would have sounded similar through whatever gear was on hand as long as the guy behind the board was competent and the mix was good.
 
Tape always seems to be the elephant in the room. I know it is a pain for them to work with and tape physically falls apart after 20 years and needs baking, but it sounds really good. I guess this is why there is so much debate on analog summing.
 
I always assumed a Marshall. That was kinda the thing back then. I will say that Jason was on fire on that album. It’s a shame that he contracted ALS. I think he could have been with Roth for several albums.
 
Man, I remember when that came out and was blown away. I had heard him in Cacophany but this was different. He crushed that album with his playing and tone.
A Little Aint Enough and It’s Showtime are outstanding.
 
SFW said:
I always assumed a Marshall. That was kinda the thing back then. I will say that Jason was on fire on that album. It’s a shame that he contracted ALS. I think he could have been with Roth for several albums.
Click to expand...

For me the early 90s was when everyone recorded their one album with a Soldano, but I suppose a Marshall always is the thing in a way :thumbsup:
 
victim5150 said:
Man, I remember when that came out and was blown away. I had heard him in Cacophany but this was different. He crushed that album with his playing and tone.
A Little Aint Enough and It’s Showtime are outstanding.
Click to expand...
Yeah, Cacophony is fun and all but the production was terrible and you can tell neither of those guys had direction from anyone. They just rolled the tape and pushed the pedal to the floor. Phenomenal talents and young hungry players. A lil ain't enough shows a maturing of that sound. What Jason could do with some direction and within the context of a band and boy did he deliver. To me, I have always heard the strong Vai influence in his rythm playing, he almost takes it further. I really love the rythm playing on a Lil' Ain't Enough. fantastic chops that suit the music and of course It's Showtime is just out of this world. A little nod to EVH on that one as well in the lead and the overall vibe of it all. What a player. Technically as close to flawless as you can get.
 
Jason is amazing!

Has anyone seen any pictures or video of the early ALAE tour when Desi Rexx was still in the band?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top