HAT aA tal BS OF THE GUITAR LEGENDS How to Sound Like Your, EVOL COMPLETE TONE COS TUDE Lay UT HUTTT Tt , 73 A ad ae ay. LA Cee iain) aNContents Foreword by Stove Vel ¥ Introduction ¥ Photo Credits Mi Acknowledgments Wf Angus Young of AC/DC 1 Erie Clapton 4 Thin Lizzy 9 Dave Matthews 13 Allan Holdsworth 16 Erie Johnson 19 Steve Morse 22 Early Rockers: Sootty Moore, Carl Perkins, Danny Cedrone 25 James Hetfield & Kirk Hammett of Metallica 28 Carlos Santans 24 Eddie Van Halen 39 Danny Gatton 43 Jimi Hendrix 46 Steve Vai 50 Aeresmith’s Joe Perry & Brad Whitford 54 Yogwia Melmstoon £9 ‘Steve Howe of Yes 63 Jee Satiani 67 Cave Grohl of Feo Fighters: 70 Billy Gibbons of 22 Top 73 Randy Rhoads 77 Dimebag Darrell of Pantera #7 Brian May of Queen a Murky & Head of Korn a9 Tony lommi of Black Sabbath 92 Zakk Wylde 95 KK. Downing & Glenn Tipton of Judas Priest 89 ‘Tom Delonge of Blink-182 104 Daron Malakian of System of « Down 106 Mike Einziger of Incubus 108 CO Notes 112Foreword by Steve Vai “The guitaris such a dynamic and expressive instrument. You can play it incredibly tender- ly and softly, oF you can be brutal with it. You can get a tone out of an instrument just by touching it, and the way you touch it determines your tone, In addition, there are so many ‘ways you can vary the sound, ike cranking up your amp ot playing through an effect. One of the big misconceptions among guitar players is that tone isa reflection of the amplifier and the guitar you use. Actually, tone comes from your head and your fingers. Til give you an example: I had been recording a guitar part in my studio, playing my gut tar through my amp, miked the way I like it, and it sounded like me. Then Béward Van Halen came by, and when he picked up my gultar and started to play, it was hen, Even though it was my rig, Uneard his famous “brown tone.” It dawned on me that his sound had nothing to do with his amps of his guitars. You can buy the same kind of amp and guitar that he plays, but it’s not going to matter. His sound is all in his fingers—and it’s like that with every guitar player. I's the way you approach the notes, and that's a product of what you hea’ in your head. Ifyou're able to identify the kind of sound you're imagining, you'll be able to craft your tone with the ‘equipment that's available to you. Different amps and guitars have cifferent tonal colors, and the only way to really understand them is to try out everything you can, of listen to other players onstage or on record when you know what gear they're using. Remember that if you're trying to emu- late a particular sound, you need to work within certain parameters. If you'te playing a Gretsch hollowbody that has a Bigsby vibrato bar, you won't get a tone like Hendsiy’s in his version of “Star Spangled Banner.” You've got to be realistic, and you have to know your instruments’ cheracterstics. If you're plugging a Strat into alittle Fender amp with ‘out a distortion pedal, you've got to approach what you're hearing in your head within those paramere, Just remember that no piece of gear sounds better than another—it’s simply a matter of what you're locking for (especially these days, when any tone can be musically valid), Beyond that, the way you interpret sounds isa reflection of your own talent, insight, and ability, What makes you unique asa player is the way you identity the sounds in your head and then make them real. Every note ever played on a guitar throughout history is like a snowflake: No two are the seme, and that’s one of the beauties of the instrument. This book is a good place to start your journey to finding your own special tone, — Steve Vai Grammy-winning guitar virtuoso Steve Vai fist gained attention for his work in Frank Zappa's band. A pioneer in the use of 7-string guitar in rock, Val lias reconled a number of influential solo albuens, including Flex-Able, Passion and Warfare, Alien Love Secrets, and The Elusive Light and Sound, Vol. 1, a collection of his music for film, television, and theater, In 1995 Gultar Player named Vai to its Gallery of the Greats. Foreword by Steve Vai