Michael Schenker

[Tone Slinger]

Thanks man. I see the closest he is coming to Charlotte N.C is New Jersey . There are two guy's that I want to see before I die or they die, and that is Michael Schenker and Uli Roth. I have never seen either of them live. Both have had the BIGGEST influence on my soloing style than anyone else (throw in Hendrix and EVH as close seconds).

[Tone Slinger]

I wish that Michael could have stuck it out with the Scorps on that 'LOVEDRIVE' tour. I guess he and Rudolph would have struggled over who was the LEADER as far as the songwriting went eventually.

I wonder if there is any bootlegs of that time (spring '79) when Schenker was performing with the Scorpions. I heard he played only on the German and French gigs, and that Jabs had to fill in a bit due to Schenkers inconsistant state, I guess having questionable work ethic/desire, along with drug and alcohol problems.

[rustyrat]

George Lynch and Schenker double bill in Binghamton NY Aug 2nd. Just and FYI for any upstate NY folks. I'll be there. Small club too.
RR

[Tone Slinger]

Should be great show. I've seen George several times, he alway's comes to play. Michael, from my researching, sometimes seems 'not there', giving him a sort of unpredictable performance. Schenker, when 'on', is extremely good. I've got loads of boots and vids, but here again, never seen the man 'LIVE' .

[bdc]

I just got my tickets yeaterday for Aug 11 studio 7 in Seattle....I've never seen Schenker live, hope he's into it and has a good night.....I feel for the man a little, doing cross country ball buster club tours as he is. I hope the money is good for him.....I'm very excited about the show......

I wish that Michael could have stuck it out with the Scorps on that 'LOVEDRIVE' tour. I guess he and Rudolph would have struggled over who was the LEADER as far as the songwriting went eventually.

I wonder if there is any bootlegs of that time (spring '79) when Schenker was performing with the Scorpions. I heard he played only on the German and French gigs, and that Jabs had to fill in a bit due to Schenkers inconsistant state, I guess having questionable work ethic/desire, along with drug and alcohol problems.

There is one boot that I know of and own....Not very good quality....PM me for B&P

[lidesnowi]

Great tunes and solos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n_J8Oj7 ... re=related" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jxQCqIGyWg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXzToaxy ... re=related" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXzToaxy ... re=related" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

His greatest album IMHO

AWESOME STUFF

[Mats A]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qP_OqOJ ... re=related" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks like he`s got a wah wah but he doesn´t seem to use it.

[motorhead_6]

So many guys just pump the thing like they're churning butter or something.

I totally agree with that. I can't stand when anybody just taps their foot in time with the music on a wha wha pedal. Clapton immediately comes to mind.

I agree that Schenker is awesome too.

[Mats A]

I´m just a bit surprised that he had one on stage already in 1975. From what i´ve heard he didn´t seem to start using it until after the Lights Out album.

[Tone Slinger]

Schenker used a wha on the Scorpions 'Lonesome Crow' album ('71,'72 ?) He also used it on EVERY UFO album, though not very much until 'Lights Out'.

He used it once on Phenomonen, once or twice on Force It ('cocked' on the solo in 'Love Lost Love') he used it once on 'No Heavy Petting' (again, cocked on 'Reasons Love'). On Lights Out, he used a pignose amp. He had the wha on at least half of the solo's. On Obsession, he went back to the 50 watt Marshall, and only used the wha in maybe 3 spots, like the intro melody to 'I aint No Baby', along with the 'Looking Out For #1(reprise)' and the solo in 'Born To Lose'.

MSG ('80-'83) saw Michael, imo, getting his worst tones. It was very nasal, and lost a bit of high end crunch. He really did, at that point, use a wha on almost every song.

I started liking Michaels tone again by the late 80's/early 90's. It sounded like he went back to the greenback speakers, and was using a new Marshall (for that period to now, it is a 50 watt channel switching 800 seies Marshall).

[Mats A]

Thanks Tone Slinger. I got some songs with UFO both on video and on an official Dvd that is live from the Roundhouse i think in 1975. And there Michael has no wah wah on the stage. In MSG 80-83 didn´t he mostly have the wah wah on for solos then not for rythm?

[Tone Slinger]

Michael never really used the wha wha for rhythm. He may have had it in a set/cocked position for the riffs in the studio version of 'This Kid's' off of the ' Force It ' album.

All of the interviews from '80 to '84 really mislead and confused many 'young' players, like myself at the time. All of the articles on Michael basically said he got that great 'midrange' by setting a wha half open. In UFO (arguably his best work) he didnt really use a wha much. That great midrange came from basically a flying V into a late 60's/early 70's Marshall 50 watt head into 25 watt celestion greenback loaded cabinets.


Michael gravitates towards midrange frequincies when he play's. It is very easy to hear when he used the wha, which wasnt very much until the second MSG album.

[Mats A]

Thanks Tone Slinger!
Yeah it often sounds quite bad when he plays with the wah wah on. Hard to find the right spot tried it myself. Specially the chord he used to play with the wah wah on in the beginning of his little guitar solo he did in the end of Doctor Doctor in early 80´s with MSG.Rread some newer interview where he said he now didn´t like the tone he got back then.

Do you know anything about Brian Robertson he is often said to have played with his wah wah cocked. And then he must have had it like that when playing rythm. Because he doesn´t touch it except for when doing a wah wah solo. But I doubt he did that. He always hit the right spot directly after a wah wah break and that seems impossible to me. And when trying it it doesn´t sound very good playing chords with a wah wah on, or?

[Tone Slinger]

I think Brian Roberstson only used the wha for solo's. His sound, to me, was that of a standard Marshall Super Lead that was turned up quite loud. Basically the same as Schenker (and 90 % of other '70's Rock guitarist.

I think Schenker, as well as other's (like Eddie Van Halen) got such great sounds, in part, because of thier actual playing skill/style. Schenker just really felt the 'TONE' in his hands and body as he was playing. Some lesser guitarists arent as much aware of the tone and timbre of whats going on.

Still, having a cranked up 50 or 100 watt 4 hole Marshall blasting into a couple of 4/12's with the celestion greenbacks, that is also a very important part.

[Mats A]

I totally agree wiyh you on this. And in those days there was much more difference between Marshall amps due to bigger tolerances in components. He also used some tape delays for signal boost and I guess they colour the tone also.
Modern high gain amps seem to kill some of the tones you get with different playing styles. People tend to sound much more the same. And modern amps also sound more the same.