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Wayniac3
Well-known member
You were in the Hartford/Springfield area? Some great players & great shows back in the day!
JerEvil
Well-known member
Yeah Springfield/West Springfield mostly.
My old band used to played The Infinity in Chicopee, Bridges Cafe in CT, Katina’s, etc.
Was an awesome time to come up in music. I started gigging clubs when I was 16/17… I guess I presented older! lol.
We definitely had killer bands. Run21 with Doug Blair (WASP), Spoiled Rotten with Anthony Bambino, Vice of course with Rob Rock and Chris Impelliteri.
shredhead7
Active member
Vinnie Moore's 1st record was recorded around this time. He said that he used Tony's Peavy (with a HM pedal) and a Rockman. I'm not sure how much of each was used, but I'm sure that this was the same setup, along with Tony's debut.
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Wayniac3
Well-known member
I think the same Peavey Butcher amp was on the majority of the Shrapnel stuff. Not Vicious Rumors, Racer X, or Cacophony though AFAIK.
shredhead7
Active member
I love that early shrapnel sound. I love how low fi it is, the guitar is front and center. It's just pure metal. They all sound exactly the same, but it brings me to a place when music was new (to me) and every record was one step further into pushing the guitar forward. If I had the skills to reproduce that sound, I would release my stuff that way today...just complete opposite of everyone using the same plugs and ezdrummer.
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Wayniac3
Well-known member
I get it - instantly transports you back to that time., Pretty cool.
But imagine if they redid Racer X releases with the guitar tone & mix of The Scream. It would kill!
Fusionbear
Well-known member
I replaced Paul Gilbert when he left Black Sheep to form Racer X. Saw a lot of shows locally. Those dudes were amazing, but their tone was not the best IMO. I wish they could redo the Racer X albums. I would love it if they could replicate John Sykes tones. That would be epic...
Also, the vocals on those Racer X albums were always so buried...
I was using a Mark III Coli stack and a wet Carvin stack next to it in those days: 1985-1986.... I worked hard to get killer tone back then. I was shooting for Brad Gilis's Tone when he subbed for Randy in Ozzy.
Fusionbear
Well-known member
Black Sheep about 1986?
I'm wearing the Souxsie shirt
Drums: Todd DeVito
Bass and Vocals: Willie Basse
Guitars and backing Vocals: me...
I became aware of Tony MacAlpine about 1987 and instantly became a huge fan. He is my favorite musician to this day. Love his musicianship and compositions! I recently found out he lives about 20 minutes from me and am going to attempt to befriend... Maybe a pinch of salt of his gifts will rub off on me before I push daisies...
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mentoneman
Well-known member
i liked Vinnie’s tones and they kinda sounded better than the typical Shrapnel fodder.
for production sound i think Racer X Second Heat was the best of the Shrappy bunch.
Always loved when they played this one live:
Eazy-ESP
Well-known member
Edge of Insanity and Maximum Security Sound cool. They definitely have a nostalgia to the sound too. But I can get lost in those albums. Love them.
Racer X I love, but the recordings really ruin it for me. For such clear and tight guitarists, the recordings get lost and muddy. Feel like it’s hard to hear.
Eazy-ESP
Well-known member
I actually like the bright guitar tone. It’s the recordings that I don’t like.
Eazy-ESP
Well-known member
Why don’t you get some lessons with him? I’ve had many over the year with him on Skype/Zoom.
A player of your high skill level would love it. He’s a really cool guy.
He will 100% push you towards classical though lol. Make no mistake, he plays metal/rock tones, but he is all about the classical. Actually one of the things I’m most grateful to him for is turning me onto composers I was too immature to have listened to before.
Fusionbear
Well-known member
Yep, this is the plan...
JerEvil
Well-known member
For some reason I can only listen to the Extreme Volumes albums. The studio albums always fall flat for me for just listening.
shredhead7
Active member
I love the Racer X records, but I'm the opposite. While objectively, the 2nd is recorded better, I love the first for it's rawness. Paul is absolutely raging on it and it's just grittier. Having said that, the Vernon Solos is the 2nd Heat sound. It's amazing how clearly you can hear the Lee Jackson mods when it's just the guitar.
shredhead7
Active member
Paul is too low in the mix on V1, but V2 is great. I always wished Varney would have remixed 1 to match 2. They both were my reason for buying an MP1. Now though, I find them a little thin sounding (the MP1 is thin!) and I prefer the studio records.
