Warren DeMartini experts in here. . .

[Jeff Hilligan]

Looks like he was using his SLO's the other night at the Canyon Club - Band sounds killer, especially with Juan back

Killer tone and I would do things no man would want to do to have that guitar!

 

[fek]

You could be right, but I could swear it was that riff... Thought I read it in an interview... I'll see if I still have that magazine article.

IIRC, he used the Champ for solos on "Out of the Cellar". His rhythm tones "Invasion" were done with his somewhat-famous plexi I believe.

The one Lynch tried to steal!? lol

I thought he did actually steal it? I kinda remember the story but only pieces. Didn't he try to grab it when leaving Warren's house or something like that? You would think he would notice something like that missing from the house.

He did snag a head but it was the wrong one.

 

[mentoneman]

loved his tone and vibrato, and i still play his little pinky slide lick from "you're in trouble" to this day

 

[rupe]

You could be right, but I could swear it was that riff... Thought I read it in an interview... I'll see if I still have that magazine article.

IIRC, he used the Champ for solos on "Out of the Cellar". His rhythm tones "Invasion" were done with his somewhat-famous plexi I believe.

The one Lynch tried to steal!? lol

That's the one Lynch tried to borrow it on numerous occasions but Warren wouldn't let him. Later on when he was at Warren's for a birthday party, he split with what he thought was "the" amp but it was the wrong one.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Shows what a RATT Lynch was.. then again, Warren did steal some of Lynch's legato and vibrato techniques so it all evens out! (I like Warren better for the record- way better live player)

 

[rupe]

Shows what a RATT Lynch was.. then again, Warren did steal some of Lynch's legato and vibrato techniques so it all evens out! (I like Warren better for the record- way better live player)

It wasn't a malicious theft...more like a bit of a prank among friends. As for Warren being the better live player, I don't know about all that. Warren may have been a bit more consistent but when George was on, he was untouchable.

 

[jape23]

I know Warren typically uses SLOs, but how does he typically use them? Is he on the lead channel all the time, and rolls back for cleaner parts? Does he use any kind of lead boost? Does he use the rhythm channel for his non-lead parts? Is he running a W/D rig?

To me, it sounds like he's on the Lead channel 90% of the time.

Like someone else mentioned earlier, it's the OD channel on the SLO for almost everything, except for the intro to Back for More and maybe a few other little parts here and there. Warren hasn't used a VH4 for a Ratt gig in a long time, maybe 2008 or so. He has recently used the Diezel playing with Uli Roth and when he did That Metal Show, but for Ratt gigs, he's been back to the SLO for a while now.

No wet/dry rig either. You might see two cabs. mic'd up, but that's to get a blend of V30s and greenbacks. I don't think Warren has run a stereo rig since his time in Whitesnake.

 

[Chubtone]

when George was on, he was untouchable.

Big +1

 

[PBGas]

I am hoping they extend their tour up to Canada. I'd really like to see them, especially in the current form.

 

[killertone]

So I read through this thread and have come to the realization that no one really knows what he used on anything! Conjecture just like all the Eddie stuff.

His tone is always killer though no doubt about it.

 

[SLOgriff]

Warren usually has "two" SLO's live and his solo's seemed to be boosted, so I would assume he's switching between the two heads. Warren is way behind on technology so I really doubt he uses a "head switcher" of any kind....probably an A/B box.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

What is he using to boost or tighten those slo's is the kazillion dollar question???

 

[IndyWS6]

Looks like he was using his SLO's the other night at the Canyon Club - Band sounds killer, especially with Juan back

Killer tone and I would do things no man would want to do to have that guitar!

You're talking about great tone in general, right? Because that recording is just north of worthless from a sound quality perspective. I'm sure it sounded great in the room (no reason to think otherwise...) and I'm not trying to pick a fight. Just curious

 

[jape23]

Warren usually has "two" SLO's live and his solo's seemed to be boosted, so I would assume he's switching between the two heads. Warren is way behind on technology so I really doubt he uses a "head switcher" of any kind....probably an A/B box.

No switching between heads. An extra SLO is usually on hand as a back up. Boosted solos are done by the sound engineer. The only things on Warren's board right now are two MXR carbon copies in the loop, a tuner, and a pedal to switch channels on the SLO. It's a pretty basic set up, and it works for him, but I'm kind of looking forward to the day Warren goes back to his Lexicons.

 

[War in D]

Yup Little Guitars has it right on. He requests JCM 900's for back line... I have been lucky enough to tech for him a few times over the past few years. He even used my amp for 3 shows at one point. Very basic set up and I have NEVER seen him switch channels or use a boost for solo's. My favorite thing ever was a few years back... he asked me to grab him a guitar to warm up on... gave him the black James Dean Charvel and I took his snakeskin out to check front of house tone in front of a couple of thousand people. Damn that guitar plays incredible!

 

[reverymike]

War In D, so is he always on the Overdrive channel then?

 

[Badronald]

I'm not sure why the curiosity.

To play rock n roll all a good player needs is a great guitar, great amp and maybe a delay if he wants one. Tuner.

 

[Badronald]

Looks like he was using his SLO's the other night at the Canyon Club - Band sounds killer, especially with Juan back

Killer tone and I would do things no man would want to do to have that guitar!

You're talking about great tone in general, right? Because that recording is just north of worthless from a sound quality perspective. I'm sure it sounded great in the room (no reason to think otherwise...) and I'm not trying to pick a fight. Just curious

The vid is crap but I can tell the guitar is on fire. Bright and ballsy.

 

[rupe]

I'm not sure why the curiosity.

To play rock n roll all a good player needs is a great guitar, great amp and maybe a delay if he wants one. Tuner.

And that's really the crux of it all right there. There are a near infinite number of ways to get to "great tone"...obsessing over the minutia is such a gross waste of time. When Warren plays through a Marshall, Soldano, or Diezel it all still sounds immediately recognizable as Warren. If players put half as much time into working on technique as they do replicating a signal chain we'd have many more players worth listening to (from both a musical and opinion perspective).

 

[War in D]

Sorry I meant I have never seen him switch channels for leads... he does go to clean for the intro to Back for More. Once and a while he will just roll his guitar volume back. The only other thing I will mention is if he is using a 900 he will occasionally add a TS9 or an MXR GT OD to juice it a bit. It normally stays on all night. One summer he just had me take a 900, set it on a 4X12 road case, gaff tape a tuner, Boss DD5 delay and a TS9 to the top of a head behind our wall of 4X12 boxes.