CRISS OLIVA's GEAR?

[savage]

What was criss using in the early savatage days?
amps
guitars
pups
effects
criss had such a devilish tone that i would like to try to copy somewhat.

[markD]

at one point criss was using the laney AOR amps. i had a chance to buy a couple of half stacks from him in 89-90. he was switching gear. i know he played kramer guitars, along with charvel.

i got to have a sit down "lesson" with him a couple of times. i was friends with a kid, mike, whose uncle was the drummer in nasty savage, and jon and criss would be around sometimes at family pool parties or whatever. it would ALWAYS turn into a jam. i wasn't very good at the time so criss offered to give me a couple of "lessons". this was in 86-87. he was playing a kramer then.

i was a big fan of the "dungeons are calling" and "sirens" - those albums were a HUGE influence on my first band...which included mike (the kid related to nasty savages drummer) on drums. we sucked ass!!!! hahaha...criss, nasty ronnie and jon oliva came to a "gig" once....a 5 song thing at a pool party. nasty ronnie told us to give it up!!!! criss smiled and said we should practice more....

good times in those early years of tampa metal....gotta love 'em. i have some GREAT glen benton stories too!!!! he is a mega-douche....

[DonP]

i was a big fan of the "dungeons are calling" and "sirens" - those albums were a HUGE influence on my first band...

Some of my favorite albums still.

I use a Soloist (59n and TB4) and a DSL100 1/2 stack to get those tones.

If Criss was using Kramers, chances are they would be loaded with a JB, right?

I've read where he had a pair of DS-1 pedals connected. It was probably on this forum where I read it. Do a search.

I have an AOR 50, but I prefer the tone of the DSL100. I didn't spend much time dialing in the AOR however....

[savage]

at one point criss was using the laney AOR amps. i had a chance to buy a couple of half stacks from him in 89-90. he was switching gear. i know he played kramer guitars, along with charvel.

i got to have a sit down "lesson" with him a couple of times. i was friends with a kid, mike, whose uncle was the drummer in nasty savage, and jon and criss would be around sometimes at family pool parties or whatever. it would ALWAYS turn into a jam. i wasn't very good at the time so criss offered to give me a couple of "lessons". this was in 86-87. he was playing a kramer then.

i was a big fan of the "dungeons are calling" and "sirens" - those albums were a HUGE influence on my first band...which included mike (the kid related to nasty savages drummer) on drums. we sucked ass!!!! hahaha...criss, nasty ronnie and jon oliva came to a "gig" once....a 5 song thing at a pool party. nasty ronnie told us to give it up!!!! criss smiled and said we should practice more....

good times in those early years of tampa metal....gotta love 'em. i have some GREAT glen benton stories too!!!! he is a mega-douche....

you knew criss?
I head he was rarely seen without a axe in his hands?
he is a huge influence for me with both tone and style

[savage]

good times in those early years of tampa metal....gotta love 'em. i have some GREAT glen benton stories too!!!! he is a mega-douche....

aint he in diecide?

[Mordor]

yes he is the Deicide frontman

[markD]

you knew criss?
I head he was rarely seen without a axe in his hands?
he is a huge influence for me with both tone and style

no, i didn't "know" criss. he was more of an aquaintance. i was much younger than those guys. i was in the 7th grade when criss sat down and gave me a couple of "lessons". they were "local" guys in a way. and almost ALL the area metal bands hung out together. i had more of a connection to nasty savage. THOSE guys were friends with savatage, so jon and criss would be around quite a bit. but, hahahaha, NO i wasn't on close terms with criss. i think he saw me as a cool kid with some potential, but he couldn't really remember my name!!

whenever i saw him, guitars were ALWAYS around. usually, everyone was together for a BBQ and a swim, but the garage at nasty ronnies place was set up for jamming. so their girlfriends and wives would cook and swim and the guys would jam. so criss ALWAYS had his guitar, which was a kramer - i don't know which model - but he had a floyd and everyone thought that was AWESOME!! it prolly had a jb, but it could have been a schaller humbucker...kramer used both.

[savage]

no, i didn't "know" criss. he was more of an aquaintance. i was much younger than those guys. i was in the 7th grade when criss sat down and gave me a couple of "lessons". they were "local" guys in a way. and almost ALL the area metal bands hung out together. i had more of a connection to nasty savage. THOSE guys were friends with savatage, so jon and criss would be around quite a bit. but, hahahaha, NO i wasn't on close terms with criss. i think he saw me as a cool kid with some potential, but he couldn't really remember my name!!

whenever i saw him, guitars were ALWAYS around. usually, everyone was together for a BBQ and a swim, but the garage at nasty ronnies place was set up for jamming. so their girlfriends and wives would cook and swim and the guys would jam. so criss ALWAYS had his guitar, which was a kramer - i don't know which model - but he had a floyd and everyone thought that was AWESOME!! it prolly had a jb, but it could have been a schaller humbucker...kramer used both.

cool stuff bro!
care to share some benton stories?

[horns666]

After the Laney he used a Marshall 2210..which Chris Cafferty adopted. Clevo-John's bands always did a tribute set to Savatage..which always went over great around here. John and I cultivated alot of our tone from Chriss ..and that's wht I'll never sell my Marshall rack..it really nails THAT sound from day one.

[horns666]

Mark..I always heard that Jon always tormented Chriss when they were young. Chriss told a friend that he thought his bro was going to drown him in the pool. Did you ever witness any behavior like that?

[savage]

and that's wht I'll never sell my Marshall rack..it really nails THAT sound from day one.

this your rack?

[Cleveland Metal]

I've been through so many diverse rigs, and always sorta manage to sound like Oliva, haha... A lot of it is how you play.

Ask Bill. I always sound about the same regardless of what I've played through. Some rigs just worked better for some things.

I tried stuff like the guitar tech from Savatage describes on several sites (800's with 2 super overdrives in series with one's tone set to all bass, and one set to all treble) and I thought that sounded horrible.

He is some info on his gear towards the end...

http://www.savintage.com/criss/gear.htm

[Cleveland Metal]

Bills rack? It's custom

[markD]

Mark..I always heard that Jon always tormented Chriss when they were young. Chriss told a friend that he thought his bro was going to drown him in the pool. Did you ever witness any behavior like that?

yeah. those guys (all of them actually) played REALLY rough. "drownings" were nothing. nasty ronnie had a wrestling fetish and would try moves on his bandmates and family members. it got VIOLEBT after the beer began flowing. i would hop on my bike and ride home before most of it started. i had to be home before dark and it was a 2 mile bike ride, but mike would tell me about it at school.

[savage]

I've been through so many diverse rigs, and always sorta manage to sound like Oliva, haha... A lot of it is how you play.

cool!
I wanted to state one thing even though i love the guys playing te death i really dont want to "sound" just like him style wise
I really just wanted to get that tubey OOMMPPHH and that sinister midrange grind he gets like on the tune HOTMK