Take this, add this, then this, and you get this . . .

[toomanycats]

First ingredient: Superstrat. In this case an EVH 5150 Standard.

Second ingredient: Marshall amp. In this case a DSL5.

Third ingredient: A guy who cut his teeth on 80s rock and metal.

And you get this:




I know I try to present myself as a blues guy, and sure, I've done the deep dive and intensely studied a lot of those players; but if you put this type of guitar in my hands and run me through a high gain Marshall, I will go feral and revert back to my hard rock and metal roots.

I've already got a singer for the song who came up with lyrics (and the title), I just need to track his vocals.

Guitar was plugged straight into the amp, with no pedals. The amp was run through an extension cab loaded with a Celestion Vintage 30 and micd with a Shure 57. I added some reverb in Logic along with some phaser on the main lead guitar solo. Otherwise, this is the raw sound of the EVH 5150 Standard run through the "baby" Marshall. The settings in the amp photo are exactly what I used.

[thepezident]

I was seriously waiting for the Ozzy vocals to come in

[toomanycats]

I was seriously waiting for the Ozzy vocals to come in

Ha ha! The singer I have for this tune is an Ozzy fanatic. He's definitely going to bring the Jake E Lee era vocal delivery.

[Milkman]

That was GREAT! Right up my alley! Can’t wait to hear the vocals! Is this the singer you worked with previously for live shows (and posted clips)?

[toomanycats]

That was GREAT! Right up my alley! Can’t wait to hear the vocals! Is this the singer you worked with previously for live shows (and posted clips)?

That's the guy. I have a duo gig with him tomorrow night and the full band has a show on the 25th of this month.

[Rollin Hand]

I can picture 15-year-old me buying this album. Nice.

[Razzle]

Randy's spirit entered your body and guided those fingers!!!

[AnotherJim]

That was kick a$$!

[tonebender]

Awesome!

[PsychoCid]

Now that's some food for the soul right there. I need that tonight. Thanks brother.

[toomanycats]

Randy's spirit entered your body and guided those fingers!!!

Thanks man, that's a great compliment.
Hopefully Randy's tone doesn't enter my amp. Ha ha.
Honestly, I don't think Randy's recorded tone was as awful as some people make it out to be. Put is this way . . . I can't imagine those early Ozzy solo records without that particular guitar sound.

[Chocol8]

I can picture 15-year-old me buying this album. Nice.

Ha would have been a bit younger for me! I had to hard quit 80’s metal when VH and DLR split and Van Hagar made me vomit, but before that I was a big fan.

[PsychoCid]

Randy's spirit entered your body and guided those fingers!!!

Thanks man, that's a great compliment.
Hopefully Randy's tone doesn't enter my amp. Ha ha.
Honestly, I don't think Randy's recorded tone was as awful as some people make it out to be. Put is this way . . . I can't imagine those early Ozzy solo records without that particular guitar sound.

Not that I've touched my pedal board in years, but it's set up to do exactly three things

1. Eddie
2. Randy
3. Slash

It's accurate right down to Randy's practice amp. In fact it has not one but two Zeus 8401's.

The second amp either allows you to split dirty and clean tones, or kick out the bass and drums from the Digitech Trio+

Only problem is I could never use the bass...because it's in E and I only play in Eb.

[jhull54]

Ahhh!

Definitely early 80's/Blizzard feel. Maybe crossed with a Mick Mars riff. Sounded great!

[tlarson58]

Aggressive, tight and fantastic tone!

[toomanycats]

Aggressive, tight and fantastic tone!

Thanks. I can't say enough positive things about the EVH Wolfgang humbuckers. While this track highlights the bridge pickup using high gain and with the guitar's volume knob wide open, they clean up exceptionally well when rolled back. They're hot A2s, but don't sound anything like other similar pups, like the Duncan JB2 or Custom Custom for instance. They're a very musical, jangly pickup with strong output and a lot of body, and they remain incredibly articulate under all levels of gain. I really do wonder how they'd sound in a Les Paul.

[redman]

Great tune and very well played @toomanycats your melody lines lay in the groove very well and great tone out of the little Marshall. Good job dude!! I've got a 5HT Blackstar that sounds okay I just hate the design. I want to try a Marshall and a Vox as well as some others I've been looking for a Mesa Boogie Studio 22+ I had one for years wish I never sold it. There's 3 listed on Reverb but all three are local pickup only.

[PsychoCid]

Aggressive, tight and fantastic tone!

Thanks. I can't say enough positive things about the EVH Wolfgang humbuckers. While this track highlights the bridge pickup using high gain and with the guitar's volume knob wide open, they clean up exceptionally well when rolled back. They're hot A2s, but don't sound anything like other similar pups, like the Duncan JB2 or Custom Custom for instance. They're a very musical, jangly pickup with strong output and a lot of body, and they remain incredibly articulate under all levels of gain. I really do wonder how they'd sound in a Les Paul.

I agree it's very good at what it does.

At the same time it's a completely different animal, sounding nothing like Frankenstein or 5150.

[Rollin Hand]

Well, pretty much all of the EVH guitars these days are VERY bright.

I experimented with titanium string lock blocks on my Striped Series, and that kept the brightness but added low end. Unfortunately, they were cheapies off AliExpress so they made the guitar impossible to keep in tune.

@PsychoCid, have you tried the Schaller Lockmeister? They advertise their bridges as having a better baseplate.

[PsychoCid]

Well, pretty much all of the EVH guitars these days are VERY bright.

I experimented with titanium string lock blocks on my Striped Series, and that kept the brightness but added low end. Unfortunately, they were cheapies off AliExpress so they made the guitar impossible to keep in tune.

@PsychoCid, have you tried the Schaller Lockmeister? They advertise their bridges as having a better baseplate.

Yeah I imagine they had to get brighter to comp for changes in Eddie's hearing with age, heh.

I haven't seen a Lockmeister. But generally I stick with 1980s Schaller manufactured Floyd Roses.

EXCEPT I have a couple of custom made Floyd's. The actual prototype whale tail bridge on the 5150, I have two. Three if you count the cheap pot metal Fernandes version.

---

The bridge on my #1 here is a regular 1985 Schaller Floyd...but with four of the prototype Fernandes saddles. The other two broke already, junk pot metal. But you can see how different they are.

The backplate of the real whale tail is MUCH thinner, too. If I put the real whale tail on my #1, it would sink the strings right onto the frets.

[PsychoCid]

I don't mean to hijack Cats' thread so if this is too much I'll break off into a separate post. But I was hoping we were all enjoying the EVH gear conversation.

Here's the actual prototype FRT5 that's on the 5150, which I have two.

1. You can see the grooves for the string coming out of the saddle are Oval not Square

2. The lock blocks themselves are T shaped, not Square. They don't fall out like modern Floyds.

3. The sustain block is BIG and STEEL

Believe it or not, these were actually manufactured in California by..... Kahler!

Now compare that to the German made production Schallers which landed on the 1983 Kramer's...

Here you can see how the back plate got super thick, and the sustain block got really thin (and now it's coated brass, not steel)

[doc-knapp]

Oooooooh, that was good!

[toomanycats]

Here's the lyrics. I'll upload the completed track once I record the vocals.

WICKED HEART

Alright now
Now Listen

VERSE 1:
Your voice echoes in silence
Your soul is dark as the night
You've got me trapped like a demon
And I'm still searching for light

PRE-CHORUS:
I've lived through torment
And I have learned your lies
I see you're dangerous
And I must run and hide

Hide, hide
Must run and hide

CHORUS:
I've got a one way ticket on your railroad straight to hell
You filled me up with sorrow and I'm goin off the rails
Why did you play your games with me and rip my soul apart
A evil little widow with a Stone cold wicked heart

VERSE 2:
You stole my innocence baby
Your words they cut like a knife
How could I ever forgive you
For robbing me of my foolish pride

PRE-CHORUS:
I've always heard
That you should run away from danger
But your body
It has me flyin high

High, flying high
Againnnn

SOLO

Alright now
You better listen

VERSE 3:
Finally, I've fled from your darkness
You won't rule over my soul
It's time that I live my own life
And star in my own leading role

PRE-CHORUS
It has been written
A new chapter of my life
You won't be the one
Who does the last rewrite

No you won't
Do The last rewrite

CHORUS:
I had a one way ticket on your railroad straight to hell
You filled me up with sorrow and I went off the rails
Why did you play your games with me and rip my soul apart
A evil little widow with a stone cold wicked heart


And this is the guy who wrote those lyrics and will sing them:

[nomadh]

Wow. I was beginning to think I'd imagined that this is how you used to sound when I first got to agf. You still got it.

[toomanycats]

Wow. I was beginning to think I'd imagined that this is how you used to sound when I first got to agf. You still got it.

I still keep up my shred style chops because I often have to play in that style with the different acts I perform with, and just because I enjoy playing that way occasionally. Towards that end I'll frequently devote time to running scales using both legato and alternate picking, mostly using three notes per string, sometimes with wide intervals. Also things like symmetrical scales. That kind of playing is like athletics in the sense that you lose your top level of performance if you stop training (practicing).

I don't do much sweep picking in my playing, though I know how to do it. Same goes for tapping, which I did to excess in my first few years of playing (as many did in the 80s), though it now makes me feel like a dork.

Recently I've been learning some Pantera solos, as studying particular solos is an entirely different thing than just practicing techniques. The solo to "Walk" is a masterpiece. It's so metal but with these bluesy licks and Texas swing going on at the same time. There's lots to learn from Dimebag.

But my favorite style now is tastefully and sparingly mixing in the aforementioned shred techniques with bluesy, jazzy type chromaticism. Basically what Gary Moore was doing.