Randy Rhoads Tribute tone VS VH

[dirtycooter]

Ongoing tone quest here. Been onto this before but not as convinced as I am now.

I remember goin back and forth with Mark [Rockstah RIP] on this.


Every time I listen to Tribute of the live R.R. recordings it really really strikes me as something very EVH but more metal sounding due to what is played. There is less sag and sharper more metal style attack. Variac'd for evh?? But the two are so similar its weird.


RR tribute just flat f'n fries with crazy all out gain and balls and everything in between. If there was ever a closer tone to EVH I could think of none that would come so close. Not to mention the caliber of both men playing.

Randy did use a Dimarzio SD. EQ. Marshalls of similar era. But Altec Lansing Speakers. Randy even used a MXR D+. But how much and where?? Both men were actually closer to a ZONE I think then we realize tonally.

What do you hear similar and what do you hear that's different? I am really interested in this. Randy did some great shit live. It really is simply amazing. Is this the tone stealer Ed mentioned???
Focus on the overtones in the distortion and voracity of the tone. Eruption'esque??

[fhn_lopes]

I'm with ya on this one... Allways thought of Randy's tone like a metal version of Eddie's brown sound... very brown ish, with a good string separation and sag... even with all that gain and compression, the tone was still organic... Of course, different stuff in the pedal board like the dist+, 10 band MXR and the altec speakers, wich I think is the major difference.

The SD plays a important role here, as well as the marshall head, even with the one wire mod (and we have heard lots of good EVH clips from forum mates with this mod on the amp)... Although I'm convinced that he played some PAF pickups as well as the SD, same as VH did... I hear som of his Vs with a much more PAF sound other than a SD...

If I was to compare tones, I'd say EVH gets closer to RAndy in I'm the One... That sizzle and gain... I like both players and tones, Randy was a superb guitar player and musician as a whole... things were too easy for him, effortless....

[motrock]

You know what... more and more I am starting to think about switching to Dimarzio in my Les Paul copy. The tone that Paul Gilbert is getting and of course Randy Rhoads.... just spectacular!

[popskull]

Yep both guys had great live sounds and I seen both live--but I will say Randy to me had a better live sound than Ed and I do luv me some EVH--sonically they are somewhat similar but Randys was more biting maybe due to using the wah alot and he had the dist + on all of the time as he has stated..

[T.J.Fuller]

I never understood the tribute tone,

If you guy's ever heard the king biscuit flower hour show from 1981 St. Denis Theatre, Montreal
THAT is the Randy Rhoads Live tone!

And here is a link to that show -- http://grooveshark.com/#!/album/Live+At ... th/6558439

click on "I don't know" ---- that is the opening song of set

I saw the Ozzy Tour and RR 2 months before the crash .... so sad

no one was in the ball park of Eddie and Randy during that early 80's time period

both had amazing tone live --- both were outstanding showmen live

the similarities in tone were ...these dudes both had IT !

[dirtycooter]

What I find so similar between the two is
vocal like inflections of overtones
sizzle and gain
Ferocity in which they fed themselves off of the tone

Its as if both were riding a wave of such similar inspiration.

I listen to the solo for Children of the Grave-its plotted out. More orchestrated. Planned.
But.... listen to that howl and moan

Its expression of the utmost. A translation of pure energy wih out doubt.

This IS the guy that stole Ed's tone. Period. No question. Both were tearin up LA. Bootin asses all over.
If Randy woulda lived on where would Ed be? What woulda transpired?
We missed out due to a trajedy. I think Eds self concious admitted worrying about following Angus on monsters of rock says alot of his own inner self esteem and value here. An ego he felt maybe ashamed to exploit. Thats pretty humble of Ed if you think about it.

[Rich_D]

Man what a coincidence, I've been going back and studying Randy's stuff for the past month or so.

I hear a little more grit in Randy's low-end which I've always assumed was the distortion pedal. Wow does it sing up high on the Tribute though. I don't know if it's the verb on the recording or what but it sort of reminds me of LWAN in how big and vocal the solo tones are. For me Tribute's tone doesn't have the twangy treble of VH1's solo tone. It's a little hard to compare because the material is so different.

There's also the After Hours show from 1981 which has about as pure a classic metal tone as I can imagine. Tribute is what I think of as the reference classic metal tone.

Talking about Randy the player, he's such a flip side to Eddie. Even though you can track a lot of Ed's licks to Clapton and classic blues licks, it's part of Ed's personality and playing to be as weird as possible, to let it hang loose and get crazy and play something literally no one else has ever played. So many of Randy's licks are extremely conventional, just played out to the galactic end of the skill tree and injected with god-tier timing and dynamics.

[Rich_D]

And here is a link to that show -- http://grooveshark.com/#!/album/Live+At ... th/6558439

Thanks

[fivecoyote]

If you talk to folks who were around the Pasadena/LA scene at the time, there seems to be no doubt that Randy and Ed knew of each other and saw each other play at least a few times. Anyone in high school around then when rock was big could tell you that everyone knew who the fastest/best local/regional guit-slingers were at the time and they knew about each other and saw each other play. Just part of it.

Respectfully disagree about Randy's playing being conventional. It might sound that way now because he was knocked off more than Ed because Ed's stuff was more out of the rock box -- would argue Ed came from an unconventional musical background while Randy's was more conventional -- but it's kinda sawing sawdust because they were/are both so awesome.

And yes they did share tone/gain/clarity similarities. I think they were both after what everyone else was after -- sustain -- and the 80s were the last wave before the modded amps that started getting down the road of buzziness at the expense of clarity. My .02!

Great topic tx!

[plexified]

You guys are all over it that's one of the greatest guitar tones in the world ever check the solo for Ironman on the king biscuit flower hour ! Just amazing . now one of the additional commonalities is that Randys using Altec Lansing speakers and Eddie had the JBL's that were were miked . big coincidence ? Their is no coincidence that the Altecs were modeled after the JBL's ! more bulletproof but they are a fabulous speaker , make that an unreal speaker . for me that tune believer just tears the house down then of course Mr. Crowley . where do you go from there. Sorry so choppy. I phone and tech disasters lately . plexidust everyone. , David- good to finally pass security clearance

[plexified]

Latex Lansing H1777 damn tech misery between wi do and Siri . So sorry. =>.

So to edit this too , gawd awful struggle ,I think I got it....

Altec Lansing H1777 straight cones - 8 k peak and just amazing . They have to be pushed very hard like the JBL to break up , probably why Ed used two in a cab at a time to really get them to scream and cry . Could be some of the mixed blend of the high end too used on vh1 organically.

plus we forget Eds favorite axe was a 55 junior . He he , so soon we forget.

BTW Woody tone Rocks 5 Coyo ! Just killin it bro . Helped me with metro withdrawals

Thx for the warm welcome , back to interesting threads hugh.?!

[fivecoyote]

plexified is back! Sweet!

[EJSLPlexi]

about the dimarzio DSD, that album also has a duncan distortion loaded guitar on it(jackson RR signature V)
and gibson T tops(cream les paul)
his polka dot sandoval V was the only dimarzio loaded guitar and he only used it for a few tracks on tribute

[hammered]

about the dimarzio DSD, that album also has a duncan distortion loaded guitar on it(jackson RR signature V)
and gibson T tops(cream les paul)
his polka dot sandoval V was the only dimarzio loaded guitar and he only used it for a few tracks on tribute

Going by vids and the one time I saw RR , live the white Jackson was used for Over The Mountain and Beleiver(the 2 tunes tuned 1/2 step down) the polka dot V was used for Mr Crowley and Suicide Solution w/guitar solo not sure what else it was used on. The white Les Paul with Gibson pickups was used on the majority like Revleation , Steal Away , the Sabbath tunes

[hammered]

no one was in the ball park of Eddie and Randy during that early 80's time period

Michael Schenker and Gary Moore just off the top of my head