rupe":275ea0q3 said:
Very cool...thanks for posting this Dave! The guy has an instantly identifiable sound.
Thanks Bill and btw my project is green light all the way, just waiting to get a job together so I can relax and not worry about the mundane stuff like keeping the electric, water, phone, internet and rent going. Then I will be artistically free again!! Also finally got my Charvel info for what it's worth!
I feel that I could take a lesson from Steve without being intimidated though when we met up last October when Josie was so kind to place myself and my wife on Steve's VIP list, I was still nervous as hell when we met, but he put me at ease right away and took unbelievable time he didn't have basically to thank me for all my support and that it hadn't gone unnoticed by him.
The nature of the show at the Phoenix State Fairgrounds and the band not arriving until just an hour before the show, plus no curtain, ect. precluded me from a stage tour of his rig that he had promised me.
His sound with the Marsha which has become the SS Signature 2 channel amp was the best I have ever heard, this being the third time I had seen him with Idol.
The first back in Philadelphia for that glorious 1987 Whiplash Smile show at the Spectrum, when after the show started, I left my crappy mid theater seat and rushed up in front of the Stevens Plexi arsenal.
That tone I will never forget, allied with the Charvel Glow was immense and one of the best live shows I have ever seen.
Wished I had seen the Atomic Playboys as well, but I think they only did a small club tour and I missed out on that.
But the bootlegs I have heard are absolutely incredible. And you know Steve still has the fire in his belly that he did all those years ago.
Along with Jimi, Beck, Gallagher, Yngwie , Moore Steve Stevens since I first heard him on 1984's Rebel Yell, actually the first CD I ever bought as well, has always brought it and he has constantly improved his playing.
The tapes of the Whiplash Smile era, especially the King Biscuit Flower Hour show, plus the two Playboys shows I have on audio are just beyond belief.
SS was on fire then and showed that he still rocked that tone and playing on the 1993 much underexposed 'Exposed', where pretty much SS did that whole album himself all the demos, all the guitars and bass, ect.
Then the solo projects, BLS, of course the Ric Ocasek, Robert Palmer and MJ, Top Gun Anthem the list goes on and I am glad that SS mentions all that stuff in the intro of the lesson.
He should be proud, plus being voted in the top 50 rhythm guitarists of all time. I congratulated Steve personally on that, what an achievement alongside all his heros, including the late great Curtis Mayfield.
Now that Billy is naming Steve on the marquee at the shows after over 30 years by Idol's side, they are inseparable.
Looking forward to next years Idol autobiography and the accompanying album, then SS will have time for his third solo project.
The guy can't get enough praise and deserves it all. It's a great success story from the eighties where so many others went to crash and burn, Steve is a working guitarist who has kept his chops and expanded his playing vocabulary as well.
It makes my heart glad to see him with success after success and the endorsements which he is very professional at.
With Josie at his side Steve is a very happy man and she's such a great person and does a great job managing him, besides all her other stuff the successful fashion line, ect.
Yes, I met Yngwie informally and he was very gracious and a kind person, but Steve is such a regular guy that he makes you feel important when you meet him and really listens and pays attention to what you have to say.
I was proud to chronicle the much maligned Washburn year of 1993 and Steve is still proud of those guitars and rightfully so, I have two that were built for him and I will never part with them!!
Atomic Playboy
