Sykes equipment from Whitesnake?

[MBreinin]

What was Sykes using on the last Whitesnake album he played on? I recall it was a Mk III head...180 watt I think?? [img]/images/graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img] I have never even heard of a 180 watt Mesa...

Les Pauls as well? Some of the tunes certainly have some serious whammy abuse going on.

I have been listening to this CD pretty regularly lately and I am just Ga-Ga over that rhythm tone.....

Mike

[Endrik]

Re: Sykes equipment from Whitesnake?

It was 2 Mesa Boogie Mark III simul-class 180w heads. Bob Rock helped John to dial that tone. He used his main LPC, it had original drity fingers pups at that time. For the whammy stuff he used san dimas Charvel. Probably the most badass guitar tone ever made.

[Endrik]

Re: Sykes equipment from Whitesnake?

180w Mark's are rare, so are 300w's wich Metallica used on the MOP tour.

Back to the Sykes tone, the key element of his tone are his hands, if you listen carefully you'll notice that John picks VERY hardly and when he plays a chord, he vibrates it, yes that's right, vibrato on the chords is one of his trademarks. I've learned a lot of things from John's playing. His tone is always "THE SHIT" for me.
When he palys solos, then he uses a little bit chorus and a neck pickup when playing slower leads.

[Endrik]

Re: Sykes equipment from Whitesnake?

....also I think he turns the tone knob half way down when he uses the neck pickup. This is the way to get "Is this love" lead tone.

[skorb]

Re: Sykes equipment from Whitesnake?

he is also a big guy and I understand his LPC was made bigger just for him? I saw him with Blue Murder in like 89 and he killed. love that tone and that vibrato.

[Reverend Timmy]

Re: Sykes equipment from Whitesnake?

Mike,give a listen to the Blue Murder stuff.Sykes rips,as does the rest of the band.............................

[Endrik]

Re: Sykes equipment from Whitesnake?

Blue Murder '89 has even better tone IMHO, it is more processed and clearer. John used the same gear as on the Whitensake '87. On the second Blue Murder album he used Dual Rectos I think.

skorb, I belive that his LPC wasn't made bigger.

[Endrik]

Re: Sykes equipment from Whitesnake?

I'll complete his gear list a little bit.

2x Mesa Boogie Mark III Simul-Class Coliseum 180w heads (six 6L6 tubes in each one)
Some old 50 and 100 watt plexi type Marshalls
1978 Gibson Les Paul Custom with original Dirty Fingers pickups
1961 Fender Stratocaster
San Dimas Charvel (2 hums, OFR tremolo)
I'm not certain but I think he used some other Les Paul(s) and strat(s) too (a little bit).

His main heavy rhythm tone is LPC and Mark IIIs, I think he recorded one track and double tracked it and then overdubed it and did a double track of the overdub. Track 1 is panned hard left, double track is panned hard right, overdub track is panned hard left, overdub's double track is panned hard right.
I pretty sure all his main solos were done with Mark IIIs. Ballad's solos are definetly done with LPC, neck pickup, tone knob turned half way down, a little bit of chorus to fatten up the tone and a delay.
All the whammy bar stuff is done with San Dimas Charvel. I think he played some leads with his '61 Strat.
Clean sounds are Mark IIIs, some reverb, delay and chorus was used. I think he used his '61 Strat for most of the clean sounds.
I think he used Marshalls for his bluesy licks and riffs, some of it were done as overdubs for the main Boogie tone.

I'm not 100% sure about all this stuff, but I think I'm right for the most part.

[MBreinin]

Re: Sykes equipment from Whitesnake?

Yeah, I know about the vibrato on the chords. It is not an easy thing to do, but if you want that "Crying' in the Rain" sound you have to do it.

Two Mesa Coliseum heads. Damn, I bet that is one hard tone to replicate.

Mike

[Endrik]

Re: Sykes equipment from Whitesnake?

Vibrato on the chords kicks ass, I use it all the time.

Sykes' tone is damn hard to replicate. First of all you have to learn how to play like him, that's what I did. I learned all his tricks, HEAVY picking attack, wide vibrato etc. I can get his tone with some non-Boogies. I'll get very close with plexi marshalls and some pedals, Diezel VH-4. You can't get that tone with ENGLs, Peaveys etc.
And if you somehow get Sykes tone and start to record it, then it doesn't sound like Sykes at all. For jamming it may be great but for recording you'll need authentic gear to replicate his tone.

[MBreinin]

Re: Sykes equipment from Whitesnake?

Well, I already have a pretty damn hard attack on the strings. I learned that from SRV long ago. I also have a wide and aggressive vibrato, same as above. When I watch people like Pete play in a video I am amazed at the economy of movement...both of my hands are all over the place. However, I guess that is why I have never been able to build up any real insane speed, too much movement. I guess I always emulated guys that had a flamboyant style, because it looked cool...doesn't always equate to sounding good though!! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Mike

[Endrik]

Re: Sykes equipment from Whitesnake?

Sykes' style is very unique and pretty simple at the same time. He learned from THE BEST.
Lead playing from Gary Moore (the most intense lead guitarist)
Riffing from Jimmy Page (the greatest riffmaster)
Songwriting from The Beatles (the greatest songwriters)
I can hear very clearly those influences in his playing all the time.

[MBreinin]

Re: Sykes equipment from Whitesnake?

Yeah, what was it that Pagey said..."Still of the Night was the best Led Zeppelin song they didn't write...."

Mike

[pro-fusion]

Re: Sykes equipment from Whitesnake?

To me, Sykes is one of the most underrated rock guitarists. Back in the '80s, I would have killed to get that tone and the ability to play and write like that. And the bastard's a good singer, to boot! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Soap]

Re: Sykes equipment from Whitesnake?

Yep, Sykes is underrated indeed.
His tone from the Whitsnake album (one with still of the night) was his best to that date. He unfortunately didn't get much credit, the media skip right passed him because they were more into Coverdale. Coverdale has got an incrediable voice, but IMO it was Sykes guitars that made those tracks what they were.