Am I the Only One...

[TheMrAxeman]

that and the mixing was fuckin horrible!!!!!i cant stand randys tone on that....it sounds too spongy. am i the only one who feels this?

i think that in the new stereo crazy train AH his guitar sounds a little more filthly...in a good way ya know. i too hated the softness and heavily un-countoured of randy's tone in the preformance, its weird though that it sounds the same in ET and the other rock show or whatever it was called

[Tito]

almost like a battery was dyin on one of his pedals or something?

[AceVader]

Wow, I actually LOVE the tone in AH. It's full and growly, it's got a snarl to it that I dont hear in other recordings. The only recording of his I like BETTER, tone-wise, is the Providence, RI boot. FHA on that one is absolutely incredible.

[AndrewT1976]

Yeah, I'm a fan of the AH guitar tone too. The PDV sounds decent, but the Les Paul sounds totally amazing.

Randy absolutely KILLS his guitar during Crazy Train.

[AceVader]

Yeah, I'm a fan of the AH guitar tone too. The PDV sounds decent, but the Les Paul sounds totally amazing.

Randy absolutely KILLS his guitar during Crazy Train.

Im glad Im not alone. I always thought it odd that nobody seemed to like it much.


One of my biggest disappointments being a Rhoads fan is the actual sound of the material we have. I never got to see him live. Tribute was released when I was just getting into hard rock (I was 9 lol) and it made a real impression on me. I adored the playing, and it sure seemed like this album was made for someone special. Those were my impressions. I didnt think "WOW, this guy had amazing tone). I think we all agree that the tone on Tribute wasnt spectacular.

However, I had always heard from people that DID see him live that his tone was huge, monstrous, amazing. I never, ever got that impression from the boots. Not that it was BAD, but it wasnt this ginormous wall of sound people had talked about.

I actually think AH must come pretty close to capturing what he actually sounded like. The growl, the crunch, the heavy midrange, I feel like I am standing in that room with him and it sounds like it, too, when I watch AH. I'd love to hear from someone who actually saw him live, to hear their impressions of the real sound vs. the recorded material we have. I really think AH is as close as it comes to what he sounded like in person. Followed by the Providence boot I mentioned.

[AceVader]

Oh, and the LP, yes, I cant believe it survived years of abuse from Randy lol. Whacking the neck down at least a half step like that night in and night out......haha.

[The Flying Dutchman]

I really like the AH sound too. The punch, the midrange snarl. I feel it represents his 'real' pure guitar tone comming out of his speaker cabs more than any other recordings.

btw: I really don't like the guitarsound Randy has on those two new '82 clips from the box.
It sounds horrible (imo), lifeless with way too much 'solid state' alike distortion with no dynamics at all. That in combination with his guitar just a little out of tune during the solos. It makes it sounding uninspired or so. (to me then) Of course it's great to watch these clips and see the performance, I'm happy we got it, but the guitarsound to me is bad. And I feel it affects his playing in a bad way either. In comparison his AH sound is way better. (imo)
I still wonder what was done to his rig that totally destroyed his great '81 sound in '82?

[AceVader]

Dutchman, wasnt it something to do with them blowing tubes constantly? I thought they ran the heads a certain way that made them sound great but was just destroying equipment left and right, but cant remember the details of how they were actually running it or what problem it caused so blowing tubes is just a haphazard guess.


It was something along those lines though, that his rig just could run like it was and remain reliable.

[whoopiecat]

I guess we can reference what Sarzo said in his book concerning the band's issues with their sound and the castle stage setup. It seems like they had difficulties not only hearing eachother, but themselves as well.
Bernie Torme's comments on the audio experience of the Diary stage:

"The onstage sound was absolute crap. I could hardly hear a note I played, I had set up my three amps and five cabs back of the stage behind the portcullis, and they may as well have been back in England, I couldn't hear a fucking thing without standing close to it. Mind you that may have been a blessing. I couldn't hear Don or Rudy at all."
"All I could hear was Ozzy wailing away like the back end of a Concorde, and Tommy's snare, no bass drum, no hi-hat, no toms...A very uphill journey sound-wise."

Maybe someday, we'll have a chance to compare a soundboard recording of an "A Stage" show with a "B".

~T.

[The Flying Dutchman]

Dutchman, wasnt it something to do with them blowing tubes constantly? I thought they ran the heads a certain way that made them sound great but was just destroying equipment left and right, but cant remember the details of how they were actually running it or what problem it caused so blowing tubes is just a haphazard guess.


It was something along those lines though, that his rig just could run like it was and remain reliable.

It looks like he had a problem with one of his amps during the first Palladium set. I will 'bump' an old thread about this soon. (that new Palladium footage gives great insight what probably happened there. )
That Palladium footage is maybe not the best quality we hoped for but it's priceless to me!