angelspade
Well-known member
Not a bad sound on that recording...with the obvious exception of the lead tone.
R
retrorack
Active member
The Mark III does have a unique mid-range voice when compared to other modern amps. But I’d say it’s as much effects and mixing as anything else that pegs 80s albums in the 80s.
anomaly
Well-known member
Ya, I suppose that has a lot to do with it too. When I hear a Mark IV though, I hear the 90's, that's what it reminds me of, and that's definitely more my cup of tea. With each Mark series amp from the II to the IV you can hear the gain structure getting more and more refined, I think they really got it right with the IV. That's not to say the IIC+ ain't an awesome amp, cause it is but that too reminds me of the 80's with it's tone.
Diary of a Axeman
Banned
Well-known member
I seen them open for Quiet Riot, when I was on Leave , in the Summer of 1984.
They blew Quiet Riot off the stage that night.
David Covetdale was such a jerk towards John Sykes and fired him doing his power play.
Years later, I listened to Slip Of The Tongue and as much as I love Steve Vai .... I have to be honest, but Steve Vai didn't have the rhythmic fire like John Sykes had and to me, it was lack luster in comparison to the 1987 White Snake album.
John Sykes 1987 White Snake tones can be had, if you use a nice fat Octo Chorus with fat bass and huge mids .... plus a mean amp tone.
I bet if you experiment, you'll get his tone , spot on .
mentoneman
Well-known member
big sykes fan since tygers
loved ‘snakes 1987 tone. my brother zach nailed it with a rhoads jackson, stereo mark IIIs spx90 symphonic and 2290 dly
coverdale dumping sykes and choosing vai ruined whitesnake. saw that tour and it blew.
sykes took lizzy up 3 notches but thought blue murder was odd. the other hard rock tone i was into back then was this:
loved ‘snakes 1987 tone. my brother zach nailed it with a rhoads jackson, stereo mark IIIs spx90 symphonic and 2290 dly
coverdale dumping sykes and choosing vai ruined whitesnake. saw that tour and it blew.
sykes took lizzy up 3 notches but thought blue murder was odd. the other hard rock tone i was into back then was this:
jabps
Well-known member
I gotta say, saw that tour twice and IMO, the show's I saw I wouldn't say either blew the other off the stage. Quiet Riot put on a good show, they were a very entertaining band with great players and I liked Carlos alot back then. WS with Sykes, Powell and Lord sounded incredible. All in all it was a great show for both bands the back to back nights I saw them.
I always consider myself lucky that I got to see Sykes with WS. Dude looked like a Rock God on stage, I'm sure one more reason Coverdale let him go lol.
S
Strandberg Junkie
Banned
member
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jabps
Well-known member
I loved alot of tones back in the day, for example a great Strat into a Marshall tone is on Gary Moore's Corridors of Power, love that. Loved Ratt's first and second album, those tones are quintessential 80's. Tesla put down some good stuff. Loved John Norum's tones on his first few solo albums.
However Lynch's tone on Under/Key and Back/Attack was pretty much my benchmark back then. Back to Sykes though, so identifiable when you hear that massive spread of Still of the Night intro, that makes your ears perk up.
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Diary of a Axeman
Banned
Well-known member
Carlos Cavaso is one hell of guitar player, I also seen Quiet Riot at the US Festival, near San Bernardino in 1983 .
Carlos is one smoking guitarist , very very criminally over looked .
As for John Sykes , David Coverdale was not only jealous of Sykes's great playing, Sykes's vocal abilities surpassed Coverdales, and John Sykes's creativity and his influential respect won over the rest of the band .... so David fired Murry and Powel and Lord left, because of David Coverdales domineering ways.
If that band line up would have held, White Snake could have become much bigger than any band on the Earth .
Diary of a Axeman
Banned
Well-known member
I use a Digitech 2112 SGS, I created some cool Lynch's Tooth N Nail, Under Lock and Key and Back For The Attack amp tones.
Classic JCM 800/ 1980's goodness.
Gary Moore's tones on his early to late 1980's were huge .
He was on a huge roll in the 1980's and I loved his dive into the Blues in the 1990's.
Randy Rhoads's live tone was huge, Max Norman barely got a small grip on getting Randy mixed properly on Diary Of An Madman.
Diary of a Axeman
Banned
Well-known member
Sadly, Pete Best was a better drummer than Ringo .Sykes got Pete Best-ed.
jabps
Well-known member
Now I love Sykes but I can't agree with that lol.
He's got a serviceable and somewhat unique sounding voice but really IMO, that's what was missing with Blue Murder. Don't get me wrong, I'm fine with his voice on those tunes and the follow up album but with someone like Coverdale or even Gillen ( a few demo's out there) would have put those songs on another level. Heck some of them could/should have been future WS songs. But yeah, no doubt it was all about control with Coverdale.
And yes, Max absolutely didn't capture what Randy's tone could have been, closer on DOAM. Still the playing on those tunes are so incredible I don't even pay attention to it and honestly back when they first came out, tones weren't nearly as analyzed and scrutinized as they would become in the coming years. Hell, we were just happy our faces were getting ripped off by the songs.
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S
Strandberg Junkie
Banned
member
Gonna have to part ways with ya on this one too.
Slide it In >> Whitesnake
(SOTN is the best song off both albums though)
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Devin
Well-known member
I've taken this tone to the bushes many a time
Devin
Well-known member
I guess I am the only one here who also thinks Slip of the Tongue is fucking awesome though lol
S
Strandberg Junkie
Banned
member
I remember at the time it was kinda like - who's Vai subbing for now?
Zappa > fills in for Yngwie w/Alcatrazz > fills in for EVH w/Roth > fills in for the 2 guys who were filling in for Sykes....
Almost couldn't be bothered by then.
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jabps
Well-known member
When I hear it now, same as back when it first came out the first thing that goes through my head is - "what could have been".
The Vandenberg style of his first three solo albums - what would and could he have done with the songs he wrote for Slip? 'Cause damn, some of those solo's on his first three solo albums are some of my favorites of all time. His sense of melody and composition, throw in his staccato and "almost" neo classical, definitely Euro leaning style is on par with Rhoads. Then I take the fanboy hat off and realize, he just didn't fit with the '87 band. That style does not fit the high charged blues based rock of WS.
I read all these interview with Adrian and he's blues this, blues that and I'm like dude, you're playing on those first three albums is about as far from blues as you can get. Then toss in that the guy really did hurt his hand, something for years I tried to deny, something I thought Coverdale just used as an excuse to hire the biggest name hired gun hand in Vai. But the fact is, Adrians playing has never sounded the same as it did on those solo albums. Not even in the same ball park. Not on Manic Eden, not on those weird WS tours with DeMartini, not on Moonkings and not on the new Vandenberg stuff. He struggles to play cleanly and the speed is all but gone.
That said, even if he hadn't hurt his wrist, would that style have worked for an entire album of Slip...I don't think so. Actually Vivians style would have worked without a doubt as his base as is Sykes, is basically Gary Moore. Maybe Adrian and Viv sharing the guitar duties would have helped, certainly wouldn't have hurt.
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4406cuda
Well-known member
John Norum would of been a better fit for WS than Adrian Vandenberg.
splitendz
Active member
...never considered this but.. I like it !
jabps
Well-known member
Yep, hell he'd been a better fit than Aldrich, or anyone in his current lineup. Well to clarify, the John Norum of old would have been.