One bizarre moment really defines Schon in my mind.
What always surprised me most about him was the 900 hour solo section of Stars by Hear-n-Aid. All of these virtuousos were trading measures, and it was Schon's section that actually hit me. I thought, "this is somehow much more awesome, tougher, and more badass." Eloquent description, I know. It was just his attitude in the guitar coming through with pure feel and fire, and every time I've heard it I felt like I could see a rare direct comparison of what makes him special as a player. Not to deride any of the other players at all, but consider this, he wasn't pushing to make his band dark or tough or metal, but, playing with a gaggle of metalheads, he truly sounded more metal than any of them.
I think we all cannot help but to respect the hell out of his musicianship, taste, writing, and phrasing, but that one little section of that bizarre collaboration is what defines him to me, in the best possible way, even if it has nothing to do with his musical career.
So anyway I'm beyond excited to get a small glimpse into his current thinking about tone, and I'm not surprised if it's a simple preset. Tone is all in the mind. To paraphrase what Matt put so eloquently, it takes more than the gear to sound like this motherf**ker.
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