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Re: I just don't understand all the EVH tone fascination
I was building quite a few amps, so I bought the 'Beano' album and the first VH album as references. I built an amp that did the Beano tone perfectly, but realised that that was about all it could do, and would really only be an ideal amp if you were going out to play those exact songs ... it wasn't at all versatile for anything else.
The VH album is fun and packed with exciting guitar playing, but the tone didn't do much for me. Strats with humbuckers, to me, are neither here nor there, and the new territory they claim is not a sonic area i find very useful or interesting.
The entire 1980s was a kinda low point in guitar sound (largely DiMarzios in basswood), and EVH stood above most of it due to making his playing interesting and exciting to everybody, not just anal guitar players. After the void left once Jimi had gone to the sky, i remember the first time i heard VH and it was fantastic, but for me, it was mostly about the great playing and the attitude behind it. It was, and is, obvious to me that he was far bigger than the gear he used.
The fact that he has been such a big influence is a double-edged sword; it's great that aspiring kids were able to be influenced by someone who could obviously play and bring the fun, but it also became very tedious having to hear every bar band with an EVH wannabe. My thoughts are that many of those people missed the critical point .... being themselves.
After all, even if someone mastered the playing and the tone ... so what ? They would have spent much of their life becoming a clone while the original is still out there. How many gigs are there for an EVH (or any other) clone when the punters can listen to the originals ?
As seems to happen so often, too many people miss the obvious ... their heroes are expressing themselves. I never understand why that doesn't inspire more people to be themselves, i.e. take the attitudes of their heroes on board more than the gear and intricate details of ther techniques. Someone with something to say, being themself, is going to be far more moving and impressive than someone trying to be somebody else.
I was building quite a few amps, so I bought the 'Beano' album and the first VH album as references. I built an amp that did the Beano tone perfectly, but realised that that was about all it could do, and would really only be an ideal amp if you were going out to play those exact songs ... it wasn't at all versatile for anything else.
The VH album is fun and packed with exciting guitar playing, but the tone didn't do much for me. Strats with humbuckers, to me, are neither here nor there, and the new territory they claim is not a sonic area i find very useful or interesting.
The entire 1980s was a kinda low point in guitar sound (largely DiMarzios in basswood), and EVH stood above most of it due to making his playing interesting and exciting to everybody, not just anal guitar players. After the void left once Jimi had gone to the sky, i remember the first time i heard VH and it was fantastic, but for me, it was mostly about the great playing and the attitude behind it. It was, and is, obvious to me that he was far bigger than the gear he used.
The fact that he has been such a big influence is a double-edged sword; it's great that aspiring kids were able to be influenced by someone who could obviously play and bring the fun, but it also became very tedious having to hear every bar band with an EVH wannabe. My thoughts are that many of those people missed the critical point .... being themselves.
After all, even if someone mastered the playing and the tone ... so what ? They would have spent much of their life becoming a clone while the original is still out there. How many gigs are there for an EVH (or any other) clone when the punters can listen to the originals ?
As seems to happen so often, too many people miss the obvious ... their heroes are expressing themselves. I never understand why that doesn't inspire more people to be themselves, i.e. take the attitudes of their heroes on board more than the gear and intricate details of ther techniques. Someone with something to say, being themself, is going to be far more moving and impressive than someone trying to be somebody else.
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