YNGWIE MALMSTEEN

[Steve Mavronis]

Keep the faith Dave.

My feeling is Yngwie's next album is gonna be very great when the time comes. I always look forward to hearing what he'll compose next on guitar to surprise me. I haven't heard anything at all if there will be any personnel changes. I kinda miss Doogie in a way. I like his Eclipse/Fire & Ice all Swedish lineup too. I need a fix soon. I'm also behind ordering myself his new Raw Live DVD when I get a chance!

Steve

[stef]

thanks for those clips y308!
Jeff Scott Soto is one of my favorite singers!!
the best yjm's singer without a doubt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sT4aetvztDw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU37aI30k1Q" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Yngve]

whats news been a long time here! what do you think of Malmsteens new album?

[yngwie308]

Yngwie on the Jimmy Fallon show Feb 3rd and cover story im new Guitar Player magazine
http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com ... 1/1283990/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
yngwie308

[chrisom]

by Tonemaster » Wed Jan 30, 2008 4:42 pm

His ablity to navigate the fretboard is not a tpoic for contention. The guy has chops up the wazoo, but it gets tiring.

There's alot I like about Yngwie as a guitar player, but I agree with Tonemaster. My paramedic buddy (not a guitar player) saw him open for AC/DC many years ago, and his take on it was:

"I went to see the AC/DC concert and they had some guy named Yngwie J. Malmsteen opening up. He came out on stage, and all he did was play "Eruption" for 45 minutes straight!!"...

[RisingForce]

@ yngwie308

Hi, I just found your post from " » Wed Jan 02, 2008 12:29 am " regarding the secret to Yngwie's Alcatrazz tone ...

Firstly, I have always been a great fan of Yngwie and especially of his early work from around 1978-1985. His guitar tone from the early days is indeed "like a laser beam in how it cuts thru the mix...yet is warm and musical and with great sustain" This if of course the reason why so many players have tried to find the secret to his incredible tone.

I live in Sweden and I have thus read many articles in papers and watched several radio and video interviews, vhs videos etc featuring 16-19 year old Yngwie (nickname "Dyngve"). There is actually a lot of interesting information in this material regarding his guitars, pickups, amps and effects from the "pre-USA" time when he was still living in Stockholm...
The most interesting stuff from 1978-1981 was recorded by a band named "Powerhouse", featuring Marcel Jacob on bass guitar. Yngwie recently released a new version of the these recordings on the "Genesis" album. Some of the tracks on the Rising Force album are also said to be recorded in the same era in Stockholm. Yngwie's guitar rig did not really change after that until he moved to LA and after recording the Steeler album, when he started working with DiMarzio on the HS3-pickup...

The secret to Yngwie's s amazing guitar tone from the ~1978-1983 is therefore (according to the various sources mentioned above):

* Guitars: Only 1-2 Fender stratocaster's were used (vintage olympic white "the duck"+maybe 1-2 other guitars 1967-1972)
* Modifications: All guitars were scalloped by Yngwie, standard nut (not brass), disconnected tone controls
* Pickups: DiMarzio FS-1's in neck and bridge position (higher output, warmer and more bass). Yngwie did not use HS-3 pickups until around 1983. Early recordings were made using DiMarzio FS-1s or Fender stock pickups...
In some early videos you can see that his pickups have two wires (like FS-1) instead of four (HS-3). Maybe, the pickups in the famous "duck" guitar are still FS-1's?

* Overdrive pedal: DOD250 (gray only) with gain on max and level on nine o'clock
* Amplifier: Marshall MKII 50W, 1972 (according to Yngwie this was because there were really cheap at the time and he wanted as many full stack's as possible on stage, simply because it looked cool).
* Cabinets: Marshall 4x12 with Celestion 75W (not 30W's, they are too muddy according to several interviews with Yngwie).
* Effects: Roland DC-10 echo, BOSS OC-2, VOX flanger and a vintage Dunlop Cry Baby. However, the most important effect is (besides the DOD250) the Roland Boss Chorus Ensemble CE-1. This pedal was used on several of the early recordings including the Steeler and Alcatrazz albums "No parole from rock'n roll", "Live Sentence" and "Metallic Live 84" video. The interesting thing about the CE-1 is that it was not designed for guitar (impedance etc) so it adds some extra overdrive and boosts the signal even further, especially in a live configuration. This is also the reason why the retrosonic pedal is not as "good" in re-creating the Yngwie guitar tone...

Cheers
RisingForce

[RisingForce]

Hi Yngwie308,

Regarding Yngwie's pre-1985 guitar tone (from 1978-Alcatrazz live ~1983) you are right that the Boss Roland Chorus Ensemble CE-1 played a vital role. The CE-1 was not originally designed for guitar and it therefore boosts the guitar signal a bit like a pre-amp in addition to the shimmering chorus effect. This is not the case with the retrosonic re-issue pedal...

However, you missed the most important thing... Yngwie did NOT use DiMarzio HS-3 pickups until end of 1983. All recordings from 1978-1983 were made using DiMarzio FS-1 pickups (Higher output, true single coil, yet warmer and more bassy than HS-3 pickups). Yngwie also used Fender stock pickups on some early demos from Stockholm, Sweden...
In addition, he did not use Celestion Greenbacks on e.g. powehouse demos from 1981 but 75W Celestions.

/RisingForce

[T.L.]

Hi Yngwie308,

Regarding Yngwie's pre-1985 guitar tone (from 1978-Alcatrazz live ~1983) you are right that the Boss Roland Chorus Ensemble CE-1 played a vital role. The CE-1 was not originally designed for guitar and it therefore boosts the guitar signal a bit like a pre-amp in addition to the shimmering chorus effect. This is not the case with the retrosonic re-issue pedal...

However, you missed the most important thing... Yngwie did NOT use DiMarzio HS-3 pickups until end of 1983. All recordings from 1978-1983 were made using DiMarzio FS-1 pickups (Higher output, true single coil, yet warmer and more bassy than HS-3 pickups). Yngwie also used Fender stock pickups on some early demos from Stockholm, Sweden...
In addition, he did not use Celestion Greenbacks on e.g. powehouse demos from 1981 but 75W Celestions.

/RisingForce

Did the 75-watt Celestions even exist in 1981? I thought they came out much later. He probably used the G12M-70...

[RisingForce]

Did the 75-watt Celestions even exist in 1981? I thought they came out much later. He probably used the G12M-70...

T.L you are probably correct ... anyway, Yngwie's guitar tech Mike Spitzer checked some of the really old 4x12 cabinets (Yngwie's old favourites) which were supposed to have Celestion 30W elements. However, according to Mike, these cabinets were actually fitted with 70W elements and not 30W...

[Tone Slinger]

In a pretty old interview (it was during the sessions for 'Marching Out') Amp designer Paul Rivera looked over Yngwies gear that was set up during this recording session. He mentioned that the speakers were the 60 watt celestions (these were what Marshall replaced the 25 watt speakers back in '78 or '79 I believe, since Celestion discontinued them).

I dont think the 75 watters came out until around '84 or '85.

Paul Rivera also mentioned that Yngwie was favoring an old Marshall 50 watt top (We all know this) that had KT-77 output tubes in it.

I agree about the pick ups, as well as the stock nut etc on the guitars. I have some old photo's of Yngwie with Steeler (and Alcatrazz). I need to find them and take a close look at the guitar.

[whopperplate]

WoW what a tone! What is the man using here?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pc9C_D2 ... r_embedded#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;!

[Tone Slinger]

I first heard the 'strat' sound, so to speak, on the Scorpions 'In Trance' album. Ulrich Jon Roth got the 'YNGWIE' tone pretty much back in 1975. I reached back and discovered Hendrix and Blackmore later. Malmsteen I first heard in '84 or so. The harmonized solo on 'In Trance' is very very similar in tone and tonality to Malmsteens 'Black Star' main melody.

Dont get me wrong, Yngwie is his OWN man, only this type tone has been around awhile imo.

[yngwie308]

Did the 75-watt Celestions even exist in 1981? I thought they came out much later. He probably used the G12M-70...

T.L you are probably correct ... anyway, Yngwie's guitar tech Mike Spitzer checked some of the really old 4x12 cabinets (Yngwie's old favourites) which were supposed to have Celestion 30W elements. However, according to Mike, these cabinets were actually fitted with 70W elements and not 30W...

Mike Spitzer was an interim manager for Yngwie but also is a guitar player and technically orientated so he was involved heavily in that respect, he regularly posts on the 'unofficial' Yngwie forum :
http://yngwiemalmsteenforum.proboards.com/index.cgi" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?
yngwie308

[stef]

I first heard the 'strat' sound, so to speak, on the Scorpions 'In Trance' album. Ulrich Jon Roth got the 'YNGWIE' tone pretty much back in 1975. I reached back and discovered Hendrix and Blackmore later. Malmsteen I first heard in '84 or so. The harmonized solo on 'In Trance' is very very similar in tone and tonality to Malmsteens 'Black Star' main melody.

Dont get me wrong, Yngwie is his OWN man, only this type tone has been around awhile imo.

I agree! Roth was the one YJM copied -tone wise and playing wise, it wasn't Blackmore or Jimi. Just like I hear lots of Allan Holdsworth (and Blackmore) in EVH's playing, while almost nothing EC-like Both of them (yjm & evh) were telling the same BS about influences. They wisely chose the biggest names (Jimi, RB and EC) and called it a day.

If I didn't know better I could swear this is young YJM playing, or someone inspired by him...
guess who's roth in the photo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcVmXv-dD80" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Axl IMO also "stole" his entire style of singing from young Klaus Meine, and there is nothing wrong with all these influences, apart from insincerity.

[Tone Slinger]

Stef, I agree totally. Roth was 'spread' out a bit more than Malmsteen, in terms of using different scales, feel and tempo. Malmsteen shined EXTREMELY bright in a very specific 'spot', wheras Roth was a little brighter in a bigger circumference.
Malmsteen obviously started on Blackmore, then found Roth, then heard Al DeMeola and sort of condensed it all togather. Nothing against Yngwie, 'cause he is a major force in the guitar world.

Axl did listen to Meine alot.I agree, he was OBVIOUSLY influenced by Klaus Meine. Difference is that Axl isnt as melodic, and his voice isnt as strong. Meine is 64 and Axl is 50. Meine can still hand Axl Rose his Ass. Meine has more range and dynamics.

A track like 'You Give Me All I need' (off of Blackout) shows Meines ability to be subtle and melodic as well as using great range, power and melody. One of my favorite singers of all time.