Warren DiMartini vs George Lynch

[Badronald]

It's a toss up for me. Both are great!

Love both the players as much as I hate their singers in Ratt and Dokken.

 

[Digital Jams]

I feel that we will never really know what Warren might have turned into as a player. On the first album and the tour he was just TEARING it up. He was ridiculous as a player at that time. Tons of speed, fire and slippery flash.

Check out the lead and the trading off leads in this:

And the solo in this:

During the time of the first tour, Warren did an interview in Guitar For The Practicing Musician. It was his first interview in any guitar magazine and it was a big deal to him. One of the questions asked of him was the most offensive, ridiculous, calling him out question I have ever seen in a guitar magazine interview. The interviewer ( I think it was John Stix ), said something very similar to this:

"You sound too much like Edward Van Halen. Is there anything you can do to work towards having your own sound"? I remember reading that after I had bought "Out of the Cellar" and after I had seen this Ratt concert on Rock Palace that I linked to above and after I had seen Ratt live. Yes, there are some "vibe" similarities with EVH, but I have to tell you that I think what Warren was doing here was like the next generation player who grew up with an EVH influence and was going quite far beyond it lead-wise. I got so pissed that John Stix asked him that because I was AFRAID that it might cause him to focus on other things in his playing when I wanted him to keep going in this direction and just become SICK on guitar.

So I watched Warren's style "evolve" over time and I saw him pictured with vintage strats in interviews and getting bluesier and talking about Joe Perry and Keith Richards. His playing did change a ton too. I LIKED that bluesy swing sort of vibe he started doing. It was bitchin' and there were very few players playing stuff like that. It was kick ass. But, he almost completely did away with the young, ripping, bad ass, fire-filled Warren we see in these videos.

Why couldn't he continue to develop the fire-breathing monster we see in these videos and INCORPORATE the swingy blues licks lines with it? That would have made him completely the MAN in the 80's in my opinion. And he overused that swingy blues thing too.

For me, I can't choose between these two. Lynch was definitely more of an influence on me but I always held out hope that Warren would incorporate the two different "Warrens" and take over the guitar world.

John Stix may not have had anything to do with it, but I always felt that question was so off base to a young, up and coming guitar player and he really wasn't that guilty of being an EVH clone. Yeah, he had very cool, custom Charvels and long black hair but....... who didn't? Strangely, no one ever asked Vito Bratta that question about sounding too much like Van Halen.

Great point of view Curt

 

[Greazygeo]

I learned probably every note off all the records up thru Back For the Attack. After that point there wasn't anything of much real interest for me. Tooth and Nail is his bets tones for me....always thought he was interesting.

Can't say I found anything of interest in Warren's playing.....and I really don't care much for Ratt in general.

 

[Gainzilla]

I feel that we will never really know what Warren might have turned into as a player. On the first album and the tour he was just TEARING it up. He was ridiculous as a player at that time. Tons of speed, fire and slippery flash.

This is a great point Curt...

Warren did an interview in Guitar For The Practicing Musician. It was his first interview in any guitar magazine and it was a big deal to him. One of the questions asked of him was the most offensive, ridiculous, calling him out question I have ever seen in a guitar magazine interview. The interviewer ( I think it was John Stix ), said something very similar to this:

"You sound too much like Edward Van Halen. Is there anything you can do to work towards having your own sound"? I remember reading that after I had bought "Out of the Cellar" and after I had seen this Ratt concert on Rock Palace that I linked to above and after I had seen Ratt live. Yes, there are some "vibe" similarities with EVH, but I have to tell you that I think what Warren was doing here was like the next generation player who grew up with an EVH influence and was going quite far beyond it lead-wise.

Bro, I read the same article and was so incensed by it that I got out my pen and paper and wrote a scathing letter to GFTPM in care of Stix. I told the guy that I didnt even play guitar but as a huge fan of both players, his statement was completely without merit and suggested getting his hearing checked post haste. I gave him the example of people calling Robin Trower a Jimi rip off and told him that if he couldnt hear that Warren clearly had his own voice despite wearing his EVH influences on his sleeve, The problem was not Warrens and that the guitar community would benefit greatly if he moved to an area of journalism outside of music..

Much to my chagrin, my letter never got posted and I never recieved a response. I have to admit that considering the type of person that I was back then, I exercised remarkable restraint by not going down to the office and throwing him a beating for being so galactically stupid...

 

[Chubtone]

Great point of view Curt

Thanks Scotty. This is what I do..... I pontificate about the good old days. THIS STUFF WAS IMPORTANT MAN! I kind of wish I would have focused on school a little more instead of plotting ways to get revenge on John Stix and trying to find strat head Charvels in pawn shops.

Did you hear Warrens effects in those videos? That is the definition of Lexicon "tone" to me. It is just raging! Some might say too much, but it was the 80's, there was no such thing as too much anything.

 

[Chubtone]

Bro, I read the same article and was so incensed by it that I got out my pen and paper and wrote a scathing letter to GFTPM in care of Stix. I told the guy that I didnt even play guitar but as a huge fan of both players, his statement was completely without merit and suggested getting his hearing checked post haste. I gave him the example of people calling Robin Trower a Jimi rip off and told him that if he couldnt hear that Warren clearly had his own voice despite wearing his EVH influences on his sleeve, The problem was not Warrens and that the guitar community would benefit greatly if he moved to an area of journalism outside of music..

Much to my chagrin, my letter never got posted and I never recieved a response. I have to admit that considering the type of person that I was back then, I exercised remarkable restraint by not going down to the office and throwing him a beating for being so galactically stupid...

So I wasn't the only one then? Seriously, I was so pissed I still remember it 28 years later

I was blown away the guy couldn't hear the very discernible difference between the two. Maybe my mom couldn't have heard the difference, but a writer for a guitar magazine? I thought it was mind boggling.

The only other time I got as pissed in a guitar mag interview was one with Kim Thayil. In the same magazine, he quoted lead guitar soloing as being something primitive that a caveman in a loin cloth would do. Then later he again complained about lead guitar playing as being frilly and effeminate. Well, which one is it douchebag? And him making fun of lead guitar soloing would be like me making fun of slam dunking or piloting a fighter jet. Yeah, normally I don't diss things I can't do very well or not at all.

Yeah, I said that.

 

[SLOgriff]

Warren is a "within the box" player with a more pentatonic & bluesy technique. Lynch has evolved into more exotic scales and out of the box solo's & licks....

I started out worshipping Ratt back in 1984...but was more drawn to Dokken and Lynch from 1986 and on, basically nothing but Lynch for years after that. I learned a lot more from Lynch songs than Warren's.

...plus Lynch is still going, happy, and trying new things, where Warren seems not so happy and doing the same ole, same ole....

 

[Chubtone]

...plus Lynch is still going, happy, and trying new things, where Warren seems not so happy and doing the same ole, same ole....

In 2010, Warren recorded an album with better guitar playing and tones on it than anything George has done in 18 years. And he consistently rips live where Lynch is so hit and miss I have no desire to see him again for fear of ruining the great memories of his guitar playing.

 

[Gainzilla]

So I wasn't the only one then? Seriously, I was so pissed I still remember it 28 years later

I was blown away the guy couldn't hear the very discernible difference between the two. Maybe my mom couldn't have heard the difference, but a writer for a guitar magazine? I thought it was mind boggling.

Yeah man back then, Guitar music CONSUMED me . Like I said, I didnt even own a guitar but there wasnt a guitar magazine that I didnt have a subscription to. I would read those things from cover to cover and then do it all over again. All I could think was " Who the hell does this guy think he is?" and " What the hell did he base that comment off of?"

The only other time I got as pissed in a guitar mag interview was one with Kim Thayil. In the same magazine, he quoted lead guitar soloing as being something primitive that a caveman in a loin cloth would do. Then later he again complained about lead guitar playing as being frilly and effeminate. Well, which one is it douchebag? And him making fun of lead guitar soloing would be like me making fun of slam dunking or piloting a fighter jet. Yeah, normally I don't diss things I can't do very well or not at all.

Yeah, I said that.

LOL, I would read things like that and think " enjoy your 15 minutes, 10 of them are up!!!"

 

[SLOgriff]

...plus Lynch is still going, happy, and trying new things, where Warren seems not so happy and doing the same ole, same ole....

In 2010, Warren recorded an album with better guitar playing and tones on it than anything George has done in 18 years. And he consistently rips live where Lynch is so hit and miss I have no desire to see him again for fear of ruining the great memories of his guitar playing.

Nah uhh, dude...! You're wrong, so there!!! Look at the pole numbers at the top...Lynch is winning!!

 

[Bronco]

I feel that we will never really know what Warren might have turned into as a player. On the first album and the tour he was just TEARING it up. He was ridiculous as a player at that time. Tons of speed, fire and slippery flash.

Check out the lead and the trading off leads in this:

And the solo in this:

During the time of the first tour, Warren did an interview in Guitar For The Practicing Musician. It was his first interview in any guitar magazine and it was a big deal to him. One of the questions asked of him was the most offensive, ridiculous, calling him out question I have ever seen in a guitar magazine interview. The interviewer ( I think it was John Stix ), said something very similar to this:

"You sound too much like Edward Van Halen. Is there anything you can do to work towards having your own sound"? I remember reading that after I had bought "Out of the Cellar" and after I had seen this Ratt concert on Rock Palace that I linked to above and after I had seen Ratt live. Yes, there are some "vibe" similarities with EVH, but I have to tell you that I think what Warren was doing here was like the next generation player who grew up with an EVH influence and was going quite far beyond it lead-wise. I got so pissed that John Stix asked him that because I was AFRAID that it might cause him to focus on other things in his playing when I wanted him to keep going in this direction and just become SICK on guitar.

So I watched Warren's style "evolve" over time and I saw him pictured with vintage strats in interviews and getting bluesier and talking about Joe Perry and Keith Richards. His playing did change a ton too. I LIKED that bluesy swing sort of vibe he started doing. It was bitchin' and there were very few players playing stuff like that. It was kick ass. But, he almost completely did away with the young, ripping, bad ass, fire-filled Warren we see in these videos.

Why couldn't he continue to develop the fire-breathing monster we see in these videos and INCORPORATE the swingy blues licks lines with it? That would have made him completely the MAN in the 80's in my opinion. And he overused that swingy blues thing too.

For me, I can't choose between these two. Lynch was definitely more of an influence on me but I always held out hope that Warren would incorporate the two different "Warrens" and take over the guitar world.

John Stix may not have had anything to do with it, but I always felt that question was so off base to a young, up and coming guitar player and he really wasn't that guilty of being an EVH clone. Yeah, he had very cool, custom Charvels and long black hair but....... who didn't? Strangely, no one ever asked Vito Bratta that question about sounding too much like Van Halen.

Great point of view Curt

Yeah great post! I actually remember that interview with John Stix too and thinking the same thing. Still, WarN D's my guy though!

 

[khawk]

My vote goes to Lynch. Funny topic as my buddy I grew up with and I debate this still today! I still remember where I was when I first heard the "Without Warning/Tooth & Nail" combo to start the Tooth & Nail LP. Blown away then and haven't looked back since.

Demartini is frigging awesome though!

 

[mixohoytian]

Warren....his vibe transcends Ratt
I too wish he had done more...
Lynch, great solos, but after a while, just don't listen to him anymore, he didn't do THAT much more, come on, everything he did always sounded like Dokken to me, it's not like he ventured off ala ULI ROTH

Warren will always be fun and youthful sounding...its that swagger

 

[Mailman1971]

Lynch for me....but I really dig Warren on a different level for sure.
When Invasion came out....wow. .... Ground breaker.

 

[Digital Jams]

Yeah I noticed the sauce Curt and agree, back then that was the stuff and even today at least for me I also agree about seeing George today, I would rather leave him and Dokken opening for Priest supporting Lock and Key as my final memory of him live. George blows a string at the end of his solo for Just got Lucky and so Don and Jeff continue with the final verse and you see george catching his new guitar and nails this nasty chord followed by this sick fill without losing a beat in tempo before the strap is on his shoulder.

The last Ratt album, as much as it has some re-hashed songs re-named has some solid playing and tone. Warren still can bring it and would rather chance to see him than George today. Even with Pierce.

This 91 performance of Lynch is great imo, after about 20 seconds into the solo he really starts to rip it up with all of the lynchisms working. Maximum sauce

 

[Heritage Softail]

Warren with the tie going to the blues man chops. There are so many sides of guitar to sample and plug into our style.

Both obviously shaped so many players that came after them. Lynch just ground out the savage tone for years..

 

[nevusofota]

Man, just can't choose. As soon as I give myself reasons to go in one direction I think of an equal reason to go with the other.

On the remarks about Warren being limited by Ratt, this may be true, but we may never have heard of Warren if it wasn't for Ratt. There are many great players that are never discovered because they aren't part of a great band that clicks on all cylinders, and therefore never become known. So yes, maybe Ratt limited Warren's playing but this thread probably wouldn't exist if it wasn't for Ratt.

 

[gtr31]

Warren. Listening to Lynch is like listening to a guy trying to cram a million disjointed licks into a solo.

but for the most parts he gets away with it in his prime ,now not so much .

the thing awesome about Lynch is he did veer off in these strange note choices but, by the time you said "what the hell is this" he was back into this huge melodic vocal like piece.

like tooth and nail he does all the weird tapping then goes to that main almost singable pieces

that was the cool thing of Lynch the outside the box ,almost middle eastern pieces always came back to a big melody and hook with huge bends singing sustain and wicked vibrato.

He has his own style and has influenced more hard rock players than warren I would say

 

[verderacer]

Warren was cool and had some very cool chops but as stated before, he stayed in the box and if you know his music you its him but to me he sounds like lots of others. George is not afraid to take it anywhere, inside and outside and then back inside, and is unique and easily identifiable to me.

 

[Michi]

Almost went with Warren, because listening to him (in his "prime" mind you) doesn't make me want to sell all my gear, but decided to go with George in the end.

Lynch still makes me want to pick up the guitar and jam away as much as Warren does, but I like what George did back in the day just a tad more than Warren. Plus I like George's tone then better.