The Secret to Nuno Bettencourt's Tone • Extreme "Waiting For The Punchline" vid by Michael Nielsen

Love that album.
I recall it was a big drama at the time it came out though. So many people hate it. Such a contrast to III Sides.
 
Nuno live tone is a couple JCM 2K 100 watt heads and a RAT pedal. Well known.
 
Nielsen kept referring to the 500XL pickup that it was a Bill and Becky 500XL but the pickup clearly shows Bill Lawrence USA which I thought was the guy that had split off from Bill Lawrence. Alot of people who have old L500XL's and the Bill and Becky L500XL's say they are different with more lows.

https://bill-lawrence-usa.myshopify.com/
 
TheGreatGreen said:
Sugar Ray not looking too good these days huh.
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I can't help myself, I know the older guys seem to have a nostalgia hard-on for this band, but theyre just so bad and I can't help myself but poke a bit of fun at them - I remember being a teenager and in the used section at the record store there were literally HUNDREDS of extreme cds, and i can't help but laugh

It doesn't help that youtubers treat extreme/nuno as if it's influential on the level of RR and EVH
 
DanTravis62 said:
I can't help myself, I know the older guys seem to have a nostalgia hard-on for this band, but theyre just so bad and I can't help myself but poke a bit of fun at them - I remember being a teenager and in the used section at the record store there were literally HUNDREDS of extreme cds, and i can't help but laugh

It doesn't help that youtubers treat extreme/nuno as if it's influential on the level of RR and EVH
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Yeah I get it. I'm somewhere in the middle on Nuno. To me his best work is awesome. He's no Eddie or Randy but he was absolutely an icon of 80's gunslinger type guitar playing. Back then his tone was killer for the time and some of the riffs and solos he wrote were pretty much perfect. Looking into his tone also introduced me to how great RAT pedals are as a boost. Seriously put a RAT in front of a 5150 and it's balls out ridiculous I think. Here's a RAT into Peavey 5150 clip I did a while back that shows what it can sound like.
Be warned, the clip is WAY too long btw, just a bunch of nonsense wanking, there's even a few EVH licks in there that came from out of nowhere I played like I'm some boomer asshole, lol, but if you only listen for 10 seconds you can get the idea.
The point is that for everything people might say about Nuno, the dude was/is a real guitar player.

That's just Nuno though. As for Extreme as a whole band... yikes. My god the cheese dick stuff they have put out in the last several years. Hearing "Beautiful Girls" the first time just about turned me inside out it was so bad, and most of their other new stuff isn't much better.
 
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TheGreatGreen said:
Yeah I get it. I'm somewhere in the middle on Nuno. To me he his best work is awesome. He's no Eddie or Randy but he was absolutely an icon of 80's gunslinger type guitar playing. Back then his tone was killer for the time and some of the riffs and solos he wrote were pretty much perfect. Looking into his tone also introduced me to how great RAT pedals are as a boost. Seriously put a RAT in front of a 5150 and it's balls out ridiculous I think. Here's a RAT into Peavey 5150 clip I did a while back that shows what it can sound like.
Be warned, the clip is WAY too long btw, just a bunch of nonsense wanking, there's even a few EVH licks in there that came from out of nowhere I played like I'm some boomer asshole, lol, but if you only listen for 10 seconds you can get the idea.
The point is that for everything people might say about Nuno, the dude was/is a real guitar player.

That's just Nuno though. As for Extreme as a whole band... yikes. My god the cheese dick stuff they have put out in the last several years. Hearing "Beautiful Girls" the first time just about turned me inside out it was so bad, and most of their other new stuff isn't much better.
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I wanted to hear a Rat into a 5150 and your clip is gone.........

I have my 1985 whiteface Rat...............:thumbsup:

I just appreciate all the chunky riffs Nuno throws out there and that L500XL clanky tone......I could do without the cheesy Gary vocals and songs but the riffs, runs and crunchy breakdowns are worth the pain.....some of the tunes are good like He Man Woman Hater.....................and there are others equally good.

There are other songs that go into the "What were you thinking" category.:unsure::LOL:
 
harddriver said:
I wanted to hear a Rat into a 5150 and your clip is gone.........

I have my 1985 whiteface Rat...............:thumbsup:

I just appreciate all the chunky riffs Nuno throws out there and that L500XL clanky tone......I could do without the cheesy Gary vocals and songs but the riffs, runs and crunchy breakdowns are worth the pain.....some of the tunes are good like He Man Woman Hater.....................and there are others equally good.

There are other songs that go into the "What were you thinking" category.:unsure::LOL:
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The clip is just a link instead of an embedded clip, the different colored text. I just didn’t want to gum up the post with a big chunky clip graphic right in the middle of it.
 
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On a real note the first 3 albums of Extreme are amongst my favourites and the fourth one isn't bad either but the stuff after that, jfc..

Especially when they released the "Rise" track or w/e and all the clickbait music youtubers were going apeshit for it and calling the solo the "best thing ever".. I listened it and it was the most boring sounding riff salad combined with the most basic sounding solo that sounds more like different parts from noodling sessions put together hastily just to get something out for slobs.

The standards are truly low, people don't give a shit anymore and it shows.

Edit: Oh yeah forgot to mention that people don't know how to produce or mix anymore, that's why every fucking album today sounds like a fucking high school band.
 
The RAT Pedal is pretty important to the attack and note bloom. Ive a turbo RAT and that into any Marshally crunch get you 90% there.

I dont know how you can listen to Nuno in the context of the early 90s, and NOT think he's right up there with EVH and Yngwie in terms of unique voice and tone. Just my opinion...

hes no Gary Moore of course haha
 
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