Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Does the band really endorse Gibson guitars? I can not find anything on the Gibson website.

I heard that Ron had (?) to play a Gibson Les Paul to join Gn'R and that he insisted on a Flying V instead of a Les Paul for some songs? Is that true? Before and outside Gn'R I think he plays other brands/models usually. Do you think that is why he sounds different in Guns?

Richard uses a Tele (?) and a Danelectro (?) sometimes in Gn'R, but he did not get his own custom Les Paul before joining Guns, right? I think he also used other guitars (Gretsch?) before and outside Guns.

Both Ron and Richard never seem to use Gibson guitars much in their solo spots, do they? And Buckethead I think he mostly used his Jackson V during his solo spot. Also, I saw pics of Robin using a Fender Stratocaster (!) in the studio, but on stage with Guns he plays Les Pauls only. (If you listen to his solo in Better I think that's P-90's or even real single coils, for me he sounds pretty close there to David Gilmour on Pink Floyd's "Another Brick The Wall Pt. 2".)

I know it's probably a stupid question, but playing guitar myself, I really would like to know what each members prefered and favourite guitar is and if they officially endorse Gibson guitars. The amps and pickups would also be intresting. Very little is known about the equipment, so maybe someone can help and shed some light onto that?

http://robinfinck.com/quest/faq/gear.php

http://www.4tus.com/ (click Gear)

http://www.bumblefoot.com/gear/gear.htm


Also, Robin @ Gibson showroom: http://www.striglsmusicnews.com/gibson/gibson.htm




/jarmo

Robin uses a semi-acoustic on Used To Love Her.

And I don't think it's a P-90 on his Better solo - at least it didn't look like it from what I've seen on boots... I don't know very well the sound of the P-90, tho.

Yeah, its a humbucker (at least live):

(http://www.gunsnroses.us/news/IMG/jpg/robin_nyc1.jpg)

I think if you are going to play guitar in GNR, you better have a Paul or two.  The tone on a Les Paul is much different than a Strat.  So why try to reinvent the wheel.  The Les Paul is the greatest hard rock Axe ever.  Period.  End of discussion.  Its thick ballsy tone made it famous. 

a P-90 is a single coil pickup, so it would sound less phat than a humbucker.

So few guitar freaks round here?

Thanks for the links Jarmo but there is not really that much to be found there, just pictures of their guitar stands but no details about the pickups, effects, sounds, personal preferences...thanks anyway.

I was talking about the studio (demo) version of Better, I'm not an expert or anything but it really doesn't sound like a humbucker to me in the blues solo at the end.

No more info about a collaboration with Gibson of some kind to be found out there?

Amp companies endorse guitarist not the other way around. Just because someone plays a paul doesn't mean they are endorsed. I don't think any of the current guitarist are sponsored by Gbison.

Man, they all have a bunch of pedals and complex stuff I wouldn't even know how to work.  I look at there amps and wonder why they need all this other garbage. They are all playing good amps with good guitars.  Don't over process the sound.  The amp sounds great as it is.

Well, their guitars sound great going through the things they use.

So it isn't really a problem is it?

It is if you don't do it the way Slash did/does it.

Because, as you know...that's the only way to go about things.

ADZ, that is a matter of opinion.  Often times Bumble sounds way too over processed.  But you almost have to be to play those nasty sweeps and leads he is playing.  The more processed it gets, the less ballsyness it gets.  I love gain and distortion, but after a while, if you are relying on that many stomp boxes, maybe you have more of an amp issue.  Lets face it, most gnr songs is pretty much les paul, to marshall.  Some reverb, chorus, delay, typical stuff.  So I don't always get the need to have all these stomp boxes and stuff. But you gotta think too, its probably stuff for one song only.  And not to bring Slash into this, but his tone is much better than the current guys and he is using less effects.  So you tell me.    Billy Gibbons may have the greatest tone EVER, and he has a shit load of stuff his guitars run though.  So you are right.  Its whatever sounds good to the ears, but they would sound just fine plugged straight into the amp as well.

Eddie, ha, good one.  Maybe they should all just play strats through fender amps. 

Why bring Slash into this , and Jarmo says its the VR fans that bring Axl into shit. First off let me give a list

Joe Perry
Jimmy Page
Jimi Hendrix
Stevie Ray vaughn
David Gilmour
Tony Iommi
Jame Hetleild
Kirk Hammet

and SO many more guitarist did it like this ( little to no effects ) , tone comes from an AMP not your giant ass pedal board. Pedals are used to cover up a lot , a real guitarist can pug straight into the amp and sound amazing. So get your facts straight.

Exactly!!!!!  Though they are "neat" I find that a great player really only needs a guitar and kick as amp and he can take care of rest.  Why a player on level of Bumble needs all that processed hocus pocus is beyond me.  But many virtuosos suffer from this.  That TSL 2000 amp Fink uses is pretty damn good.  So I don't know.  I guess they are searching for their own sound or something. 

Bumble plays vigier........it's a french brand, (I have one myself)  http://www.vigierguitars.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsUKtl9SgUM

I wouldn't say Slash is as innocent as he seems, anyhow.

What the fuck? It is a matter of having their own tone. Everybody sounding the same wouldn't do any good... So you're saying guitar players like Van Halen, Paul Gilbert and the new guys aren't "real guitarists"? Also, Jimi Hendrix used fuzz pedals (like Robin) A LOT, so don't talk about what you don't know.  ::)

Also, there's some songs that needs different effects (Chinese Democracy intro, for example). Just because they have all those effects it doesn't mean it's used all the time.

People here are way too attached to Slash's old school to think outside the box. You know, there's more ways to get some nice and interesting sounds from a guitar.. Try to listen to some Radiohead, Muse... There's life after AFD.

As far as live tone, I'd go with Robin's tone anytime. It's your opinion, obviously.

IMO, sounds like indeed a humbucker with a lot of attack. Maybe it's a matter of mic position...

You know pretty much when slash is using any of his effects....  I said earlier he uses them.  And when he does, its pretty simple.  His main pedal is the wah however and the wah is the greatest pedal ever!  Ha.  Adz, nobody would say Slash has a "compressed" or "processed", its mainly amp and guitar doing the work.  I have no problem with what the other guys do to get good tone. 

agreed,  Robin has a much better tone live in my opinion as well.    Its very distinct and unique.   I can't think of any other guitar player that sounds similar.

slash fans are annoying, "not to bring up slash" and then bringing him up  ::)

His tone is a watered down Zakk Wylde tone Jim Bob.  Now shut the hell up unless you know what you are talking about.  There is nothing "distinct" about it. 

go back to the VR section and worship your lil hero.   GnR fans shouldn't be told to "shut the hell up" because they like and have a positive opinion on Robin's tone.

Good tone is good tone ... doesn't matter if it's digital, processed, clean, dirty, valve, solid, whatever ...

I personally have a Marshall all Valve/Tube DSL 100 Head and 1960 Cab loaded with standard 75watt Celestions ... with a Les Paul Standard up front, with alnico II Pro humbuckers, and I use a Seymour Duncan pickup booster to add some gain/volume, for solo's and I use a Boss tuner pedal.  That's all.  That's my tone.  And I love it.  That doesn't mean it's the be all and end all of tones ... it means it works for me.  Robins tone is superb... but I am a bigger Slash fan regarding sound.  So I have to admit, I favour Slash's tone... live and on record.  That said ... as I say, Robin's tone to me is beautiful.  Very unique sound.  Bumble's tone does nothing for me... Richard's tone is badass too ... raw and rocking.

So stop arguing! lol

Hooray!

Finally some confirmation for my fansite.

:/ Gah, I was trying to get a point across!!!  Oh well :) hehe

No, it's not. Unless you're talking about the artificial harmonics (I mean, their playing, not their tone), you should shut the hell up because there's nothing similar between those sounds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7dnWD-1o2Y

That's a pretty typical tone , nothing wrong with that I think it sounds damn good as well but nothing I couldn't hear in the marshall room of the local guitar center.

Now THIS stuff is good tone , how a guitar should sound , minimal effects.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa04ifCum-Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW09oMknOuA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWnapx502uQ


Check out the tone comparison

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=973YLrlrNwM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K9MjjTC1w4

Thats the difference between effect pedals and not , you can hear it ( more so in the solo's ) but it's a lot more raw and you can "feel" the strings against the wood.

Great post

Here's a guitar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs4VqAeZfaY

Here's another guitar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lP0QxX-48U

Here's more guitar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_liAiISOy8


The point?

All great songs, and they don't have to sound like Slash!

So take your "tone" and shove it.  :P



GN'R in the 2000s doesn't sound like Slash? Thank fucking God since he's not been in the band since 1996!

Oh, and "tone" has nothing to do with the original question so I suggest you Slash fans go discuss his perfect tone in the right section until your ears bleed.  : ok:




/jarmo

Did I say they had to sound like slash? No I said unprocessed tone is a hell of a lot better than processed bullshit. All those songs are great , but not examples of good guitar tone , apart from maybe Rage because Tom generally is using his JCM for the tone not pedals , only on solos. I love how you try to turn this on "Slash" fans when EVHT  brought it up but whatever.

And you're whole GN'R doesn't sound like Slash is funny look at Robin's set up

In GNR :

Guitars
- Gibson Les Paul Studio
- Gibson Les Paul Standard
- Gibson Les Paul Standard Plus
- Gibson Les Paul Classic Goldtop
- Gibson Les Paul Custom Guitars
- Gibson Blueshawk

Amplifiers
- Marshall JCM-2000 w/ Marshall cabs

Effects
- Wah-Wah Jim Dunlop Rack Mount Pedal
- Delay Boss DD-5

That is Slash's setup , swap the JCM-2000 for a Jubilee or JCM800 and it is identical. So get the facts straight

You're the one bringing up Robin's tone as a example of something bad, I didn't say anything about them using some of the same equipment.

When you bring up Robin as an example of bad tone and Slash as n example of good tone, I assumed you'd love it if Robin had sounded exactly like Slash.

So, take your Slash trip somewhere else.


Now.... Before you're banned for a second time.  : ok:


So, if you want to post in this thread, just make sure you stick to the fucking topic from now on.





/jarmo

I never said it was bad I said it sounded pretty generic to me. Yes I think Slash's tone runs all over the guys currently in GN'R  , still love the band I think Davild Gilmour and Stevie Ray's tone run circles around Slash and Robin , its an opinion. Peace.

Good for you.

And I think a question about what equipment Richard, Robin and Ron use has nothing to do with what you think of a former GN'R member's tone. Especially when you post it in order to try to criticize the people who the question was originally about.




/jarmo

?

Page - modified his guitar, even made his own custom effects

Hendrix - used effects (floor and studio) like crazy, effects were like his 2nd instrument

Gilmour - basically takes his own nuclear power plant on tour....

Sure you can just plug in and sound great. But that is not the question here, as no one in GN'R does that and I'm trying to find out more about their sounds and equipment.

When you play guitar yourself and want to nail a certain sound/tone or make your own variation of a tone it's just very helpful to know what was used to get that tone in the first place. No to copy it or buy a certain guitar because someone else plays it, but to understand what's going on the technical side of things.

Jarmo, I think feel the burn may agree that tone in GNR is a requirement that Depeche mode and U2 don't require.  Those are song based bands, GNR is a Guitar driven band.  Always has been.  So that means GNR has a thick fat ballsy tone.  No one listens to U2 to hear great guitar playing or tone, they do for GNR.  

On topic, they all play the gear they play for the "tone".  Gibson's are a huge part of that.  If they were all playing Strat's with Fender or Vox amps everyone would bitch.  Would it sound bad?  No, but there is a reason why they used the gear they use.  To get the sound AXL wants and what GNR is, you have to use certain gear, which they are using to attain a sound that is GNR. So for GNR and its current members, tone is obviously important.  

So what do we know so far?

Slash is about the only one giving some real insight about his equipment and endorsement deals.

On Buckethead's website there is some good info on why he does not endorse anything and about the models and the voodoo he uses.

But that's about it. What about the other guys?

Ron just lists his guitars by brand and basic model and says he uses Di Marzio pickups. Great. WICH ONES?? And does he really get the sound out of only a crappy Line 6 amp? Hard to believe for me. Elaborate elaborate, Ron!

Robin and 4tus just show a pics of their guitar stands...wich is not very informative either.

Especially Robin's guitars would be intresting in detail since he seems to modify them according to his preferences.

Dude, don't even act so innocent.  When Smoking Guns posted his thing, I knew it was ALL about Slash.  Three seconds after my post, lo and behold, he posted about how wonderful Slash's tone is.  That post disappeared of course.

Buddy boy.

There's some Richard interviews out there. I remember one for the Jellyfish site (tho he said he didn't use it with GNR because he recorded work was finished by then, in 2004 - of course, that was the situation back then) and another one talking about a brand new bariton he got (he even said he would use it on Oh My God). A lot of the interviews are more about his setup with Nena, but it can give you clues. Just try to find out on the HTGTH articles section or even the main board about those interviews.

About Robin's guitar, I would love to know more about his gear, but I don't think there is a detailed info about that. You can find some info about endorsements and gear here:

http://www.heretodaygonetohell.com/misc/equipment.html

Robin does have some really sweet looking guitars. 

Ha, I didn't delete any posts.  You're funny.