Why was Randy Rhoads' tone so crap?

[panhead]

First time I heard eruption /album had been out about a week. Other than the beginning me and a friend thought it was a keyboard.

 

[stratjacket]

You people are on drugs. Rhodes' tone on his 2 albums were legendary, and probably one of the most recreated tones in classic hard rock.

With 1 inaugural post on the forum dredging up an 8 year old thread:

 

[311splawndude]

Big props to Randy but I'm only posting in this thread so that in 2027 when it is necro-bumped again I can be alerted.

 

[sytharnia1560]

Big props to Randy but I'm only posting in this thread so that in 2027 when it is necro-bumped again I can be alerted.

i'm wondering if it is one of those spamming fucks but they totally forgot to link all the spam

 

[bluguitar]

This is so funny/ weird ,just this morning- I Don.t Know- came on and while I love his playing I agree his tone is not great all mid not much else. I know guitar sits in the mid frequencies but it just sounds squashed.

 

[phil b]

I've always said a major part of his sound was his Altecs. They have such a high frequency range that its mostly mids and high end. Randy always said he was rushed in the studio for Blizzard {and Diary, but more so Blizzard}. Mr. Crowley solo is one of the best sounding solos ever recorded as far as tone. The first intro blues lick is just massive. 12yr old me when I first heard it went on a quest for that tone for years. I am a minority though as I hated the Tribute album tone. The bootleg "Bats Head Soup" was sooo much better. Listen to some of the Randy era Quiet Riot. .. just kinda shows that Max Norman was either high as fuck when he recorded Blizzard or thought he was onto this great sound that no one had heard before.. It was definitely a signature sound that you couldnt mistake.

 

[CornNutz]

The average consumer can't tell the difference from bad tone, or good tone. So it didn't really matter.

Coupled that with the fact that sometimes shitty is more palatable to mass majority. Just look at how many people drink shitty flavored vodka.

 

[Dopethrone]

RR is my #1 ever. That being said i REALLY believe the mics were out of phase on both recordings for some reason. I'll go by what was said above...youll need an OLD non-remastered Blizzard or DOAM to hear it clearer than the remastereds. His tone recorded tone isn't bad, it's hollow. When the leads kick in, it seems all the mics are in phase again. Ive messed with recording multiple amps and rigs enough to know that goofy out of phase sound. I think the other main contribution is recording his Altecs, probably even more so than the phase issue i think im hearing. Those two together create that unrecreatable sound, i think.

Other than that, it's a shit hot marshall mod tone, pushed with an mxr+ and a space echo machine. The mod iirc was removed later BY marshall by the time of the Tribute recording). Gain and volume were maxed to the gills..whats not to love?

 

[lll]

I did some serious research on this tone a few years back.

Reading Max Norman interviews... apparently the AMS Delay provided that out-of-phase flange-y thing:

http://jasobrecht.com/randy-rhoads-max-norman-interview/

Are you familiar with what effect he’d plug into?

On that album, the thing I used a great deal was an AMS 1580, which is a very clean British digital delay with a VCO [voltage-controlled oscillator] on it, so you can slightly flange and stuff like that. I used that for a lot of things. It’s got a real good sound.

Can you think of any cuts where the AMS 1580 stands out?

If you listen to those rhythms on “Crazy Train,” you’ll hear there’s a real grind to them. That particular sound comes from the AMS. It’s almost like a flange, but not quite. It does these strange grindy things if you get it at the right setting. Plus, you can get this kind of hollow, tubey effect too – that’s the same kind of deal.

My results:

Crazy Train (triple tracking w/ below tone components found in vid
https://soundcloud.com/lefty-lounge-lizard/lll-bias-rhoads-crazy-train-3x-tracked

Rhoads Blizzard tone (no triple tracking here
1. Goodbye To Romance solo
2. Crazy Train rhythm
3. Mr. Crowley outro solo
etc...

 

[Ventura]

Haven't read any of the replies, but:

"Why was Randy Rhoads' tone so crap?"

Because his playing was so fucking good he didn't need no stinking tone.



RR Fanboi, 100%
Mojo

 

[phil b]

I did some serious research on this tone a few years back.

Reading Max Norman interviews... apparently the AMS Delay provided that out-of-phase flange-y thing:

http://jasobrecht.com/randy-rhoads-max-norman-interview/

Are you familiar with what effect he’d plug into?

On that album, the thing I used a great deal was an AMS 1580, which is a very clean British digital delay with a VCO [voltage-controlled oscillator] on it, so you can slightly flange and stuff like that. I used that for a lot of things. It’s got a real good sound.

Can you think of any cuts where the AMS 1580 stands out?

If you listen to those rhythms on “Crazy Train,” you’ll hear there’s a real grind to them. That particular sound comes from the AMS. It’s almost like a flange, but not quite. It does these strange grindy things if you get it at the right setting. Plus, you can get this kind of hollow, tubey effect too – that’s the same kind of deal.

My results:

Crazy Train (triple tracking w/ below tone components found in vid
https://soundcloud.com/lefty-lounge-lizard/lll-bias-rhoads-crazy-train-3x-tracked

Rhoads Blizzard tone (no triple tracking here
1. Goodbye To Romance solo
2. Crazy Train rhythm
3. Mr. Crowley outro solo
etc...

Sounds good but your missing the top end sizzle of the Altecs. Its very easy to nail his tone with them

 

[petejt]

You people are on drugs. Rhodes' tone on his 2 albums were legendary, and probably one of the most recreated tones in classic hard rock.

You're on drugs for digging up an 8 year old thread.

Eight years on and I can't even remember why I was whinging about his guitar sound!?

I like his guitar sounds!

 

[zuel69]

You people are on drugs. Rhodes' tone on his 2 albums were legendary, and probably one of the most recreated tones in classic hard rock.

You're on drugs for digging up an 8 year old thread.

Eight years on and I can't even remember why I was whinging about his guitar sound!?

I like his guitar sounds!

lol! Thanks for the laugh..

 

[Markedman]

A lot of Randy's tone is the speakers. In the videos of him with Ozzy, his speakers are those silver coned speakers that sounded like a speaker with a metal cone. Plus, you can hear the speakers crying from shear volume similar to Jimi Hendrix's tone on "Machine Gun" from the Band of Gypsies album. When Randy lets up the slightest, his amp is freaking out with feedback and the speakers are crying out for mercy.

 

[Goat]

Randy Rhoads guitar tone, crap? That's news to me. Randy wanted that Luther Grosvenor/Mick Ronson sound. For those who weren't around before the horror of digital, you need to listen the original analog recordings on a hq system. I admit... I cannot listen to the studio version of Crazy Train.

 

[Racerxrated]

A lot of Randy's tone is the speakers. In the videos of him with Ozzy, his speakers are those silver coned speakers that sounded like a speaker with a metal cone. Plus, you can hear the speakers crying from shear volume similar to Jimi Hendrix's tone on "Machine Gun" from the Band of Gypsies album. When Randy lets up the slightest, his amp is freaking out with feedback and the speakers are crying out for mercy.

Those are Altec Lansings. Rare as hens teeth, and I forget which model Randy used. I'll be damned If my old HS had a shit ton of them, 12s and 15s, in a room adjacent to the music room.

 

[paulyc]

Not that rare. There is debate over ceramic vs Alnico magnets though.

 

[Ventura]

Not that rare. There is debate over ceramic vs Alnico magnets though.

Fact. I've seen the same Altecs in everything from CL ads to Reverb to local music sell-offs in various cities and whatnot. I do believe the cones were something of a base for RRs tone, but as mentioned above, the fact he was just a full-on maxed out 100W stack player had a lot to do with it. I listen to RR a lot for his nuances and technique - and often laugh while I listen reminiscing about "how many times how many people bitch about his tinny thin tone" and think to myself...


..."fuck, if ya can play anything like Randy, the tone means shit"

Ace Frehley inspired my interest in guitar.
Randy inspired me to take it seriously

 

[crankyrayhanky]

We all know tone is in the fingers, thus, Randy sucked. Good note choices though.

 

[Beyond Black]

We all know tone is in the fingers, thus, Randy sucked. Good note choices though.

What? Are you saying Randy did NOT have good tone in his hands?