Paul Gilbert plays VH his way

[mentoneman]

I met him at a clinic he did in Fla, super nice, humble guy. Seems like it was mid to late 80’s. He floored everyone who attended

one of the best players of that LA metal shred era. think i saw Racer X live 7 or 8 times and it never got old. those harmony solos were mind-blowing and i’ve never heard any band since has surpass what they were doing in that regard.

went to a clinic in socal around that time. got him to sign my handout “aloha”
his string skipping runs were crazy and i remember he did this thing where he played every F note sequentially up and down the length of the fretboard really fast and smooth and it sounded like a crazy special effect!

 

[Chubtone]

one of the best players of that LA metal shred era. think i saw Racer X live 7 or 8 times and it never got old. those harmony solos were mind-blowing and i’ve never heard any band since has surpass what they were doing in that regard.

went to a clinic in socal around that time. got him to sign my handout “aloha”
his string skipping runs were crazy and i remember he did this thing where he played every F note sequentially up and down the length of the fretboard really fast and smooth and it sounded like a crazy special effect!

I also saw them in LA in the clubs over and over and over again. All 5 guys in that band were monsters. I also went to a few clinics Paul did at Guitar Center like 3 nights in a row at 3 different Guitar Centers.

Then there was the time a friend who was attending GIT brought the other guitarist in my band and I into the school and into what I think they called an "open counseling" session with Paul Gilbert. There were like 8-10 students sitting in this small room with Paul while he just shredded away and the students could ask him basically anything. Then there were these 2 interlopers sitting quietly in the back. Paul kept kind of looking at us like "I don't recognize these students at all". lol

To me, Paul in that era was the height of technique and there was never any reason to go beyond that level of technique, just to try and reach that and try and get to be more and more musical.... I never reached that level, but then again, who did?

 

[SaberRed]

To me, Paul in that era was the height of technique and there was never any reason to go beyond that level of technique, just to try and reach that and try and get to be more and more musical.... I never reached that level, but then again, who did?

Yes i agree. Honestly, I don't think any guitar player has ever surpassed Paul Gilbert from that era. Sure we've had different approaches to technical playing since, but in my opinion, this was the peak. It had attitude; it had aggression; it had taste; and it had some humour.

 

[Eazy-ESP]

Yes i agree. Honestly, I don't think any guitar player has ever surpassed Paul Gilbert from that era. Sure we've had different approaches to technical playing since, but in my opinion, this was the peak. It had attitude; it had aggression; it had taste; and it had some humour.

And he actually cared about tone. So many of the technical players sound so processed and fake. He actually like tubes and tone.

People always rate his 80s stuff as peak. For me it was the 2000s run of Get Out Of My Yard, Silence Followed By A Deafening Roar and Fuzz Universe. Just killer songs, tones and skills.

 

[Racerxrated]

That was the 80s. Just go watch the mid 80s basketball games

Yep! Embarrassing but true. Somewhere I have a band 'promo' pic where I wore Zubaz. Remember those?
Ugh.

 

[alund]

Yep! Embarrassing but true. Somewhere I have a band 'promo' pic where I wore Zubaz. Remember those?
Ugh.

Of course. Like leisure wear. You would work out in them. Go to a club with them.. go to Kmart in them. You would have to wear a shredded muscle tank as well. Which meant you had to work out and look the part. Those pants were the part.

 

[LP Freak]

Yep! Embarrassing but true. Somewhere I have a band 'promo' pic where I wore Zubaz. Remember those?
Ugh.

I could’ve swore you were wearing those at that last ampfest we had

 

[Racerxrated]

I could’ve swore you were wearing those at that last ampfest we had

Damn, I was hoping no-one would notice!