Gary Richrath WHOA!

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He ripped for sure; was always the coolest part of that band to me
 
Gary was alot better than I gave him credit for. I actually hated REO Speedwagan. I thought it was commercial music played by posers. In the same category as Styx. I do remember the GP articles. His gear was pretty simple. I did a bit of research and I could have guessed it was NMV 50 watt Marshalls. Went back and watched some old live vids. He was great. Which made me think.....why did I hate this band? It was the singer. I couldn't get past his stupid look and Irish-accent vocals. Riding The Storm Out, my ass.
Gary's tone isn't far removed from Michael Schenkers, who also used 50 watt NMV Marshalls in that era.
My only other REO memory is going to see Rainbow OPEN for REO in '78 at Commack Arena on Long Island.
Everybody was there for Rainbow. Last time I saw them with Dio.
After Rainbow's set the hall emptied out. Nobody cared about REO.
 
I liked Gary's tone and playing a lot on Only The Strong Survive among others.
 
99% sure metal panel. 50 watters I think. Not sure if he ever used 100w.

Yep, that's what I remember reading in an old Guitar Player mag interview. I think he mentions using a coil cord too...
 
Remember those old Gibson ads of him standing among a shitload of vintage Lester's?

"Like you Do" off the live album just kills and shows off his monster riffs
 
If you’re looking for a brighter PAF style pickup, I’d recommend the Rewind PAF A4s. I have them in one of my R9s - great pickups. Definitely tighter and brighter than the A2/A3 Rewind combo I have in my other R9. Not cheap, but I’ve been really happy with the pickups and wiring harnesses I’ve bought from Rewind.
 
If you’re looking for a brighter PAF style pickup, I’d recommend the Rewind PAF A4s. I have them in one of my R9s - great pickups. Definitely tighter and brighter than the A2/A3 Rewind combo I have in my other R9. Not cheap, but I’ve been really happy with the pickups and wiring harnesses I’ve bought from Rewind.
Whats the companys name?
Rewind PAF.com ?
 
They turn up on Reverb, the Les Paul Forum and My Les Paul Forum from time to time - worth keeping an eye out for
 
This tune is one of my favorite examples of a Les Paul through a Marshall scorching badass rock and roll guitar.

Some people hate how bright his tone was when he used the wah like on this first tune, but I love it.

Besides using the wah as a tone shaper, I read somewhere that he would adjust his pickups to sit really low and then raise the pole pieces real high. I gotta try that.

Anyone out there know what kind of Marshall he used? I've heard that he had mahogany speaker cabinets made, but can't confirm this. I wonder what speakers he used.

Jeebus on a pogo stick, he was amazing on this tune. FIRE!

RIP Gary.



No wah on this track. I would kill to get his tone. I know original PAFs vary a lot tone wise... any suggestions for killer bright sounding PAF type pickups?



Wow...



And lest we forget this monster classic...


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He prefered 50 watt JMP's thru 2x12 cabs.
My school years were in northern Illinois, GR was thee man.
 
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You have to think how these older guitar players made it work! Very few guitar / amps choices . The pedals went into the front of the amps and were noisier than hell, low output pickups. You really just took what you had and made it work. A lot of these guys were monster players!
 
Gary was alot better than I gave him credit for. I actually hated REO Speedwagan. I thought it was commercial music played by posers. In the same category as Styx. I do remember the GP articles. His gear was pretty simple. I did a bit of research and I could have guessed it was NMV 50 watt Marshalls. Went back and watched some old live vids. He was great. Which made me think.....why did I hate this band? It was the singer. I couldn't get past his stupid look and Irish-accent vocals. Riding The Storm Out, my ass.
Gary's tone isn't far removed from Michael Schenkers, who also used 50 watt NMV Marshalls in that era.
My only other REO memory is going to see Rainbow OPEN for REO in '78 at Commack Arena on Long Island.
Everybody was there for Rainbow. Last time I saw them with Dio.
After Rainbow's set the hall emptied out. Nobody cared about REO.
Give me a break.
 
Give me a break.
Yeah, that's how it went down. Rainbow OPENING for REO Shartwagon in '78 at Commack Arena, LI.
Whole crowd was there for Rainbow, which was obvious. After Rainbow, most of the crowd left. REO played to an emptied arena.
 
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Yeah, that's how it went down. Rainbow OPENING for REO Shartwagon in '78 at Commack Arena, LI.
Whole crowd was there for Rainbow, which was obvious. After Rainbow, most of the crowd left. REO played to an emptied arena.
Gary wasn't "NY"> He was a midwest guy.
I saw Sammy Hagar open for Black Sabbath Heaven & Hell w/ Dio and while some of it was good I thought Hagar blew them away.
We all different. I met Dio on a plane he was just a regular guy. The devil shit was just a prop for unsuspecting at risk youth.
 
Gary wasn't "NY"> He was a midwest guy.
I saw Sammy Hagar open for Black Sabbath Heaven & Hell w/ Dio and while some of it was good I thought Hagar blew them away.
We all different. I met Dio on a plane he was just a regular guy. The devil shit was just a prop for unsuspecting at risk youth.
Who said he was a NY guy?
 
Who said he was a NY guy?
Carls comment was about a Long Island NY Dio / Rainbow show. Im not surprised they didnt like REO according to him.
Of course most of us in the 70's & 80's may not have total memory recall from back then. YMMV
 
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