(If this belongs in general discussion, I'm sure it'll be moved accordingly.)

I'd figure since some of this site's best entries are on heavy metal music, there may be a decent amount of guitar players around these parts. It's always great to hear stuff from other people who play at any level, the way I see it, so I'm interested to see what other people play, instrument-wise and music-wise, and how those two relate.

I started playing guitar at in 2012 at the age of 16, the summer before my senior year of high school (I think). I got real into the 80's around this time; I dressed like Sonny Crockett and listened to whatever New Wave I'd discover on Sirius XM. I'm not sure when, but at some point in this journey I discovered Eddie Van Halen. It was a fuckin' epiphany, man. As cliche as it is to say, it was like an alien came down from parts unknown. The first Van Halen record is still one of my favorites, and I proudly own VHII and Fair Warning on vinyl. "I'm the One" was my personal favorite. The rhythm on that main riff still blows my mind to this day. Shortly after that, I bought my first guitar: a Vintage White 1989 Squier Stratocaster from Japan.


It's the one on the right, next to my friend's mistreated six-stringers.

At that time, I was still just scratching the surface on hard rock and heavy metal. That guitar was where I learned your basics. Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2, Money for Nothing, Detroit Rock City, all that guff. I sounded atrocious, but I was pretty green and I never stopped seeing progress from day to day. Not to mention, it was sexy as hell. That is, until I sanded the bastard down and turned it into a crap version of Eddie's guitar from Van Halen I. Like most 17 year olds, I got frustrated halfway through and quit like a little bitch. I sold it later that year.


The face of disappointment.

By the time I moved to California, I was in deep. Judas Priest's "Screaming for Vengeance", Metallica's first three albums (semi-regretfully), Iron Maiden's "Powerslave", Ted Nugent's self-titled album, and Ozzy Osbourne's first two albums (Randy Rhoads, what a god) were the center of my focus. As such, I had to buy something with a little more bite. After trolling craigslist a while, I settled upon an Epiphone SG standard for $100. I'd played an Epiphone before, but it was one of those god-awful Special IIs, so I figured I'd give them another chance. This proved to be one of the best decisions I ever made, because that SG is, to this day, one of the best guitars I've ever played. The slim profile fit me like a glove, and the bridge gave me a nice solid place to rest my hand and develop my right hand technique. The bridge pickup gave me such an incredible rhythm sound which, combined with the outstanding palm muting allowed to me by the Tune-O-Matic bridge, hit the light in my head that said "holy shit, I can make some good-sounding stuff, and I've only been playing a year and a half!". The rhythm pickup also led to innovation, because its sound gave me the inspiration to start learning solos. I still have hearing damage in my right ear from putting it right up to the stereo trying to figure out what the hell Glenn Tipton was doing on the title track from Screaming for Vengeance.


I'm pretty sure "Stranglehold" has been played more times on this fucker than on Ted Nugent's Byrdland.

That SG's where I learned fucking everything. 90% of all the scales, chords, theory, and 80's metal songs I know were learned on that bastard. I still have it, and I still use it about a third of the time when I reach for an axe. Some upgrades have been made to it, namely the chrome truss rod cover and the black metal tulip machine heads. The pickguard is also an aftermarket part; it was originally black. As you can see, it doesn't quite fit the guitar. That's because it is made for a '61 Gibson SG reissue, which has a slightly different body shape. It's actually not held in place by any screws, I just jammed it between the pickups. Works like a charm.

Naturally, as the months went on and I could play faster and faster, I started listening to faster shit. Actually, this was probably only about 5 months ago, really. This is when I started getting into 80's shred pop. You know, Racer X, Dokken, Ratt, all that. I'm aware that it's cheesy cock-rock, but I defy you to attack the playing of Paul Gilbert, George Lynch, or Warren DeMartini. Absolutely terrifying. The second Racer X record, Second Heat, really opened my eyes to what you could do on guitar with enough practice. Hell, Paul Gilbert was only 18 or 19 when the first record (Street Lethal) hit the shelves, so my ambitions were higher than ever.

So, of course, I needed a guitar to match.

After some seriously careful deliberation (10 minutes on the internet), I decided what I needed was something with a floating tremolo and a paint job that stands out above the rest. Lo and behold, craigslist came through for me once again. That evening, I drove (without a license. Rock and roll, eh?) to the In-N-Out Burger in Milpitas, California and bought my very own Fluorescent Pink Ibanez 25th Anniversary RG series for $375. This thing was my wet dream. Pristine condition, and the guy had thrown in some Seymour Duncans (Pearly Gates in the bridge & neck, Duckbucker in the middle) and rewired it for coil tapping. One of these things at Guitar Center would run you about $450, and that's totally stock. The listing was originally for $325, but the guy stirred my sympathies by saying he really needed the money. I later found out how much of a sap I was when this fucker pulled up in an Audi that couldn't have been more than a couple of years old. Whatever.


Dimebag of coke not included.

This guitar's my most recent purchase, and I've had a lot of fun with it. The SG is where I built the skeleton of my playing, and this fucker is helping me put some meat on the bones. First of all, the Edge II tremolo (basically a floating Floyd Rose) lets me dive and squeal like there's no tomorrow, which is a must, as I am a sucker for all that 80's metal cheese. More importantly, the neck is nice and wide. The SG's nice and comfortable, but it's a little bit of a pain in the ass to do wide stretches because the neck is thick as hell. The Ibanez's neck facilitates all the shreddy stuff I'm trying to get into. The only thing about this guitar that's a pain in the ass is the tremolo system. If you bend one string, the rest will go out of tune because the bridge is being pulled up. This makes blues-rocky stuff a real bitch. It also takes no less than 20 minutes to change the strings, which you also need an Allen wrench to do.

Anyway, that's my guitar story. If anyone around here plays guitar, I'd love to see what you're into, hardware and playing-wise. If not, well, at least I got to occupy myself reliving my guitar career instead of watching Psychology lectures. Cheers.

I don't go live yet. There's so many D-listers out there who are happy to sling their shit in your face that I want to make sure I'm putting out something good before I get up on a stage. My friend who works at the radio station on campus sometimes has me solo over his backing tracks so he can use them in ads, and for that I run it through whatever GarageBand preset sounds good (we have some real nice studios in the library). At home, I just run it through Amplitube. The tone I use is a knockoff of the Soldano that Eddie was using in the F.U.C.K. era. Either that or Amplitube's version of the Peavey 5150.

Pedals, I use a rack-mounted delay for Lynch-y stuff, and a pretty standard array of effects on the pedalboard. Flanger, MXR Phase 90 knockoff, Chorus, the usual. If you need to experiment with different effects and amps, Amplitube is pretty sufficient. Not outstanding, but sufficient.

As for 80's metal, I think there's a self-awareness you have to have when you're watching a guy burn on a neon pink guitar wearing electric blue leggings and hair down to his shoulders. I even had that phase once, I had a hairdo that embodied Jackie Chan circa Drunken Master and wore this zebra print bandana around my neck. I still have that shit, ha. Looking forward to seeing what you're playing.

Count_Akula wrote:

I am not a good guitarist. You can hear all my music here: http://akiragonzales.bandcamp.com That being said--I have owned many amazing git-fiddles. A Fender Jaguar, A Steve Vai Ibanez, A sick classical-spanish-acoustic, etc.. I will post pics of whatever I can find.

I took a look at "Without You" off Fujifilm. Not bad, reminds me of something you might hear on Little Steven's Underground Garage on XM. I'm eager to see your guitars though.

@om*d, that's a real bummer to hear. I'd be devastated. That SG, did you find it was neck-heavy? I've been told they re-balanced them in recent years, but I've never played on a pre-2010s Gibson SG. I actually considered the ESP KH-2 back when I was really into early Metallica, but knowing me I'd have sold it by now. I dunno why I wrote off Ibanez for so long. Maybe because I'd only played on the cheap ones. When I repaired guitars back in California, Ibanez were the most common. The punk movement is in full thrust out there, and folks want something that's affordable but still sleek and a well-known brand.

Also, I found a photo of my old Kramer Aerostar ZX10 (first or second generation, I forget which). I put a Seymour Duncan Distortion in the bridge, but that couldn't save it from sounding like complete dog shit. However, I learned tapping on this guy and for that it deserves an honorable mention. When the time came, I didn't bring it to North Carolina with me. It's still sitting in two pieces at my friend's house back west.

Knyte wrote:

I know some of you guys are accomplished metal players, what do you think of my selections, and any recommendations? I want to try to keep the price of the Guitar around $300 - $500. It's for fun and recording, not for a 60 date North American tour. (If I had over $1k to spend on the Guitar, then I would be getting a Gibson Explorer, but I don't.)

I worked on some guy's Jackson RR3 and it was pretty great. I wasn't into real shreddy stuff at this phase, but it was real easy to play. Pull-offs came through nice and clear. I was putting it through my crap Line 6 Spider, so I can't attest to the tone of the stock pickups, but it was pretty comparable to the pickups on my SG, just a little less hot. Worst case, you could probably raise them up and get a decent metal sound until you can shell out the money for new pickups. If you're into symphonic metal, maybe check out one of those Schecters where the strings go through the body, but I've never picked up one of those.

I wouldn't write off that Strat, though. Let's not forget that Yngwie recorded "Rising Force" on one! Absolutely killer sound on that A maj run after the break in "Evil Eye".

Calling all blues players, where did you guys get your start? I really shit the bed by focusing all my time on shred/heavy metal BEFORE learning to play slow. Who did you guys listen to for inspiration? The only blues guy I listen to is Gary Moore, but I pretty much only listen to Corridors of Power and Victims of the Future, which are heavy metal. I was into guys like Jeff Beck and Ron Wood's work with the Faces for a short while, but it didn't hold my interest long enough.

All I can muster up is some real lousy pentatonic licks and I have absolutely 0 ability to play "in the pocket", as they say. The only pentatonic licks I learned early on were too fast. I've tried soloing over backing tracks, but it stops being interesting around 30 seconds in and the rhythmic content is mediocre at the very best.

If anyone's about to mention Clapton/Hendrix/Greeny or any of those guys, any particular songs or albums I should look into? Jazz ideas are also welcome, but I think it'd be easier to go from blues to jazz than vice versa,

Ross Rifle wrote:

Look up Buddy Guy. He started out playing with Muddy Waters and went on to inspire Hendrix, Clapton, Richards, and countless others. His stuff from the 80s on worked loud, high-gain, fast licks into a blues frame. I saw him live a few years back and though he was in his 70s, he fucking tore it up.

I checked out Buddy. Absolutely loved him, a lot of attitude. I'd heard him in a limited capacity before. I really do need to go back and look at Keith Richards' stuff. I saw the Stones back in '06 and they still bring it pretty well. You'd swear to God that Mick Jagger has the skeleton of an 18 year old man.

JRA wrote:

thenose_knows wrote: Ross Rifle wrote: Look up Buddy Guy. He started out playing with Muddy Waters and went on to inspire Hendrix, Clapton, Richards, and countless others. His stuff from the 80s on worked loud, high-gain, fast licks into a blues frame. I saw him live a few years back and though he was in his 70s, he fucking tore it up. I checked out Buddy. Absolutely loved him, a lot of attitude. I'd heard him in a limited capacity before. I really do need to go back and look at Keith Richards' stuff. I saw the Stones back in '06 and they still bring it pretty well. You'd swear to God that Mick Jagger has the skeleton of an 18 year old man. I just noticed your name is thenose_knows. Is that a reference to the Red Fox bit "You Gotta Wash Your Ass"?

Ha, it isn't. It's in reference to this song, which starts off funky and then goes into a really great shred segment around 1:50:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTjgiN56w7I

Amazing talent for a bunch of high schoolers in the 80's. I used to live about 2 minutes away from Doug Steele's old house in San Jose, and about 8 minutes from Silver Creek High School where Sinister Sam started. We lived off the same street. I love that guy, I learned a lot from him and he saved me from having awful whitey rhythm when playing. Also, whenever I was stuck on a Van Halen tune, I'd consult his channel. Paul Gilbert's Intense Rock got me on the right path, and ol' Uncle Doug made sure I stayed on it.

Anyone looking to get into shred, Doug Steele is the man. I know that was a lot of detail just to say "no", but I gotta plug Doug. He rocks. Also, Intense Rock will get your alternate picking up to scratch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGjUHaGUBPI

I previously posted about buying a Kramer 84, but I found this on the local listings and had to buy it. It's a replica of Eddie's Bumblebee from the inside cover of Van Halen II, the one Dimebag Darrell is buried with. Original Floyd Rose w/ D-Tuna, EVH series pickup, the works. This thing really sings, too. It's easily the best guitar I've ever heard through my rig. The harmonics (tapped & picked) ring out like nothing I've ever heard before. The fretboard is also scalloped, which worried me until I played it. This thing kills.

While I love PG and Lynch, Ed is my main man. Eddie fuckin' rules. His rhythm is the best in the business, his leads are mind-boggling, and his tone cuts like a knife. I'm working on the Ice Cream Man solo now. I can do it at like 80% speed, but that opening lick (the 12-16-19 stretch) is a real bastard. Not even the stretch at this point, just the picking at the speed Ed does it on the record. Maybe I'll put up a vid if I ever get it down.

Other favorite Ed-driven songs: Fools, Take Your Whiskey Home, Hang 'em High, Hear About It Later.

Ross Rifle wrote:

My all-time favorite Eddie riff is Unchained, because the tone is just perfect, and these is no better example of how a Flanger should be used. Other favorites (in terms of Eddie's work) are Little Dreamer, Spanish Fly, Somebody Get Me A doctor, Fools, Take Your Whiskey Home, Loss of Control, Hear About It Later, Mean Street, So This Is Love?, that god damned solo in Push Comes To Shove, Hang Em High, The Full Bug, Little Guitars, and As Is. There's a few Sammy-era gems too, like Summer Nights, Judgement Day and Big Fat Money. Dave makes Eddie play his best though!

Push Comes to Shove has a great groove. Reminds me of the club days when VH would do "Get Down Tonight" by K.C. and the Sunshine Band. Guys like Ted Nugent like to talk the big shit about being black guitar players, but Ed is the ultimate in rhythmic guitar playing. If you want to check whether someone's got white-boy rhythm on guitar, ask them to try the riff from "I'm the One". HA! Outta Love Again is also a real boogie-woogie kind of track. Other than the ones I put up, Romeo Delight was always a favorite. That clean break where he's fingerpicking those D chords sounds incredible. I always loved when Ed rolled down the volume knob. I guess Panama would be the most popular example, but I always think Romeo. Or the volume swells on You're No Good, Cathedral, and Somebody Get Me a Doctor.

From Van Hagar, I'm a fan of Summer Nights. It was one of my favorite Halen jams when I first discovered them, because of that Live Without a Net concert in 86. That Steinberger Transtrem blew my fuckin' mind.

This turned into a total Eddie Van Halen jerk-fest but I can't emphasize how great he is enough. To me, no one even comes close, and no one has since blown my mind in the same way. Except Dimebag Darrell. He was like Ed's evil cousin. The shit he could do with just the blues/minor scales, holy shit. Domination, The Art of Shredding, and Primal Concrete Sledge off of their 5th album blew my mind when I first heard them.

Out of curiosity, do you know if Dave is playing the rhythm acoustic on Could This Be Magic? I know he played that open E stuff on Ice Cream Man, but info on the deep tracks of Women and Children First is scarce.

VH is coming to town in September, and you bet your ass I'm prepared to drop $250 for some 5th row seats!!!

My friend has that bass!

Honestly, if I ever needed a practice amp, I'd get that Peavy Vipyr thing. I stole my friend's once before I discovered Amplitube. Absolutely none of the settings blew me away by sounding good, but by sounding decent. It has a Peavey 6505 setting that does the trick pretty well. If only I hadn't been using such a piece of shit guitar (an extremely mistreated Epi Les Paul Standard, also my friend's).

What's the Floyd Rose like on your BC Rich? Is it an original or a Special? Floating or normal (dive only)? The one on my Bumblebee is an Original, but the collar assembly is already a little loose. I'll have to tighten it next time the strings are off. Besides that, I have no issues. Extremely smooth and returns to perfect tuning every time. I might try a Kahler next time, just to see what it's like.

That's a very kickass haul, man. I hope you post some stuff up here, I'd love to see how your setup sounds. I've also never heard a distortion pedal in action before, since I've never used one and no one else I know is into metal stuff. I'm eager to see how it goes.