Vernon Reid's crazy rig ...

following this rig of Vernon.. i just lost my concentration and soon I discover how beautiful Rebecca is..:)))
..and I just followed the whole interview till the end .. watching Rebecca.. that's all
I have my Axe II and Ultra that's all I need ( I used to be a big rack boy.. but those days are gone)
So Rebecca rules an... I want more Rebecca interviews .. lol !
 

so are kerry king, Neil Young, Jeff Hanneman, Dave Mustaine etc. I listened to Living Color many many times dug the songs, but solos were NOT memorable. He may be a great Jazz player, that I would not be aware of and dont claim to know much about.
 
Personally, I think you're giving him too much credit. When 'cult of personality' came out I was like, who is masturbating with the guitar? Very self-indulgent, busy, unmusical. never got what the big deal is. I sometimes think modern music business is about one thing and one thing only: convincing people via hype that some pig with lipstick is really a queen. And it works most of the time. There are a million trillion-note-a-minute guitarists, but how many can do what Albert Collins does here. He says more with one note than VR sez with a hundred!

Even if I don't agree with you, that is indeed a really great Albert Collins solo! Thx!

Jens
 
so are kerry king, Neil Young, Jeff Hanneman, Dave Mustaine etc. I listened to Living Color many many times dug the songs, but solos were NOT memorable. He may be a great Jazz player, that I would not be aware of and dont claim to know much about.

The man has crafted one of my all time favourite solos in the song "Love rears it's ugly head" from the "Time's Up" Album. It's simple, short and absolutely dripping with tone and feel. Give it a listen, I hope you'll like it.

You may also like to try out his solo stuff "Mistaken Identity","This little Room" or "Other true Self" with his band Masque.

It's true that VR may not be to everyone's taste but he has always been pushing the envelope and isn't scared to try something new. (If his way of expressing himself incorporates shredding through a hexaphonic pickup going into the controls of the starship enterprise then more power to him I say!) *We* all dared try something new in the shape of the Axe Fx :)

I was also fortunate enough to meet the whole band (Living Colour (spelt the correct way)) after one of their gigs last year in London and you couldn't hope to meet a more grounded, friendly and open group of guys. The band chemistry was there onstage too and the musicianship of every member made it look so effortless and *fun* when they were bouncing ideas of each other during improvisations.

Again if you don't dig now perhaps put it on the "I'll listen to it again in a few years" shelf.....
 
Skip to 3:00. He really has problems to play his own riff from Cult of Personality.
Guitar Hero? I think not! (although everybody's entitled for his/her off-day).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxr2zINiH3c

It looks like he's trying to think and locate the names of the notes as he plays them, which delays most guitar players. We tend to be not the greatest at identifying notes we play. I can also sympathise with trying to remember a specific way of playing something that I had written and recorded.

However, he is playing large stages, writing and recording for multiple projects, and has sold quite a few records, and you're using one youtube video to judge his musicianship? Please tell me you forgot to leave the smiley out......
 
Back before I was with Fractal, Vernon took delivery of an Axe-Fx.

I've just reached out to see if he'd like to have a demo, and also to see if he'd like to see the Axe-Fx II.

That's a good move! Interesting to see what results.

This knocking Vernon is interesting, and not unlike the reaction we get (a little further down the food chain), from "real" guitar players, who for example use a trusty (curly?) lead from their guitar into the front of their Fender Twin and that's it. Or maybe an overdrive pedal into their Marshall for solos. They of course, unlike us, don't need to rely on all this newfangled technology in order to sound good. It's all in their fingers you see. They're proper players.
 
It looks like he's trying to think and locate the names of the notes as he plays them, which delays most guitar players. We tend to be not the greatest at identifying notes we play. I can also sympathise with trying to remember a specific way of playing something that I had written and recorded.

However, he is playing large stages, writing and recording for multiple projects, and has sold quite a few records, and you're using one youtube video to judge his musicianship? Please tell me you forgot to leave the smiley out......

OK, let me explain:
No, it's not fair to judge anybody on 1 clip. But, tbh, i didn't like his playing very much to begin with, and when i was searching for lessons to play CoP a couple of years back for the cover band i'm in, and stumbled on this.. First I thought: wow great, lessons from the master himself, but let's say I was pretty underwhelmed.
And especially this song, which he probably played lots of times, I thought it was strange that it came out so weak. That's all.
But as I said in my original message, he prolly had an off-day.

And that he's famous and played large stages is not really
 
Why so much nastiness toward VR? I didn't see any of the guys slamming him interviewed on Premier Guitar. Is he my favorite? No. I just get so tired of guitarists who take a great instrument for making art (music) and turn it into a lame competition. Each one of us has an inner musician that is unique.
 
I'm glad I don't have to set all of that up every gig.

It could be flight-cased, and an FX2 would simplify it quite a bit - except if it stopped working.

Most of us have had complex rigs (hence getting an Axe), me included. Sadly, I am now thinking in terms of complicating it yet again - loopers and WDW in my case. "Sadly" because it's just me to carry and trouble-shoot.

There are some clips of VR using .alt jacklead FX (Are you Experienced at a small club in NYC). I really liked it actually. I was playing that tune myself. Gonna drop it a tone and use the chords he's doing... Then there's clips of him on stage with Steve Vai - plus his table, laptop etc etc.... also doing Hendrix covers. If I had VR's gigs, I'd "put up with" that huge rig (and Marco's comments:lol ).

But maybe he'll start using his new Axe 2, and take on Yek as a virtual guitar tech. But will he opt for Atomic or Matrix cabs?
 
I'm going to give these a listen. Maybe I've sold VR short. Always love having my mind changed! But I still wouldn't perform with that rig for a million dollaz! (well, maybe a million). I've always been a pretty 'techy' guitarist, starting way back in the early days of MIDI guitars, analog delays etc., but sometimes I hear artists who sound like their art and craft has been subsumed by tech - and this is all stripes, from pop to deepest experimental - the gee-whiz, gear-head, dohickyness of it all takes over. For me, I am happy that my setups are getting simpler all the time, though I still feel I am an 'electronic guitarist'. But after reading this thread, I've changed my mind and come respect that he's tearing the envelope apart. Now, the question is, can I find anything he's playing that sings to me. Looks like your suggestions are a good starting place.Thanks.
Also "Known Unknown" with Masque and "GTR OBLQ" with David Torn and Elliot Sharp
 
.... I even have female friends ...

You may be on your own in this one :)

Actually, I know AXes aren't in any way sex objects (I'm standing by to be flamed here), but would I be right is suggesting that there aren't all that many female Axe owners? We've had threads about hot female guitarists, and I'd assumed the posters were all male (might be wrong of course), plus I haven't seen any threads listing hot male guitarists - as in "hot"... Is there an issue here?
 
Tough crowd! What starts out as a thread depicting VR's rig turns into is he a guitar god or an unpolished turd argument. I guess that's why there are different styles of music and just as many variations by those who play them. People are so bitter these days if their view isn't taken as "THE" view. One mans garbage is another mans treasure.
 
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