Anyone else here really dig Michael Schenker's Gibson and 50-watt Marshall configuration?

[IMMusicRulz]

The guitarist for the hard rock band The Scorpions, which he joined in 1970 at the tender age of 15, Michael and his older brother, Rudolf, cut a swath through the boundaries of hard rock and heavy metal that no other guitarist dare touch.

Influenced by the playing of Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton, Schenker began playing a Gibson Les Paul, but after the strings broke on his Les Paul, Michael borrowed Rudolf's Flying V--and the rest, as they say, is history. During his stint in UFO, Schenker's setup was largely a 1975 Gibson Flying V, which combined with a classic Marshall 50-watt amp, created one of the most imitated guitar tones in history.

These days, Michael still uses Marshall 50-watt and Marshall 100-watt amps, but he ditched the Gibson Flying V for a Dean Flying V copy, of which he and Rudolf have signature models. Maybe one day they'll make a signature Marshall amp for Michael...

I have the UFO Strangers In The Night album, and let me tell ya, it is a great live double album. My mom saw UFO opening up for Pat Travers, REO Speedwagon, Rush and Blue Oyster Cult in 1977 ish, and they were awesome in concert.

 

[bender66]

That Gibson is handing out sig models endorsements to lesser knowns (Mustaine, Cantrell, etc) it baffles me that Schenker should have long ago had one. Not that theres a quality difference at Gibson anymore. I hope Dean/Michael continue having a good business relationship. Gibson missed the boat long ago. Schenker is a monster.

 

[fishermike]

 

[RobRiggs]

MSG! What a phenomenal band! I’ve liked Schenker in all his various bands. A guitarist’s guitarist

 

[cross_word]

great player...very distinctive style, phrasing and i would say, pretty influential...

 

[VintageSG]

I saw Michael two nights on the trot on that tour. On the second night, he walked onto the stage after the intro music, surveyed the first few rows, recognised that a lot of were there from the previous night and leaned into the most beautiful sounds an electric guitar can make.
There were grown men with moist, happy eyes because of his playing. I guess you had to be there.
A happy and sober Michael is a force to be experienced.
Paul Raymond played a blinder too.

 

[telemnemonics]

Love Schenkertone!
I believe it often includes a cocked wah, set to boost at a mids notch?

 

[drmordo]

I had a 50w Plexi in the 90s, and that amp paired with either my Les Paul or SG sounded amazing.

I eventually sold it when I stopped touring and I also got a Line 6 Flextone II that did the Plexi-thing as well as my actual Marshall.

 

[VintageSG]

Love Schenkertone!
I believe it often includes a cocked wah, set to boost at a mids notch?

Cocked wah. His pedal board is very small. Delay, wah, ( sometimes a ) Tubescreamer and every now and then a chorus, because 80's, and a tuner.
Most of it comes from running the amps high and controlling things with the guitar volume with the wah used for mids control and 'nose down' to bring the treble up in a controlled way for held notes during solo time.
Source: - Half-remembered interview.

 

[wildschwein]

Uhm yeah he plays and sounds amazing.

 

[schenkadere]

Schenker is the man.

 

[Jojomojofu]

One of the best rock tones ever !

 

[TheCheapGuitarist]

I actually like the look of the Dean flying-Vs more than the Gibsons he played.

He also mentioned in an interview that he doesn't run the Marshalls very loud anymore. I believe he also said that he has his own signature model which allows him to run it more quietly and get the same kind of performance out of it as the old ones, but don't quote me on that. Some of these old guys who ran their amplifiers at ear-splitting volume no longer do so. I saw an interview with Ted Nugent where he was saying that he's probably running about 10% of the volume now than he used to onstage.

 

[Bluego1]

Oh, man. I play Schencker stuff almost every day. UFO is probably my favorite band. This:

and for Only You Can Rock Me and a couple of others:

 

[Peegoo]

Monster player. Has he influenced me?

Hell yes.

 

[Peegoo]

Some of these old guys who ran their amplifiers at ear-splitting volume no longer do so. I saw an interview with Ted Nugent where he was saying that he's probably running about 10% of the volume now than he used to onstage.

The real reason for that is modern sound reinforcement: it is light years ahead of where it was 30 years ago, and music venues can better control the sound when amps are mic'd into the house system. Used to be, the PA was just the vocals and drums, and everyone in the band had to balance the noise coming from their amp with everyone else in the group. Which is just about impossible. It also makes for really crap sound distribution in a large hall.

 

[arlum]

He's certainly a senior member in the society of hard rock guitarists. His career's been like a dribbled basketball. Up and down. Up an down. When he's on he's fantastic.

 

[stratoman1]

The guitarist for the hard rock band The Scorpions, which he joined in 1970 at the tender age of 15, Michael and his older brother, Rudolf, cut a swath through the boundaries of hard rock and heavy metal that no other guitarist dare touch.

Influenced by the playing of Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton, Schenker began playing a Gibson Les Paul, but after the strings broke on his Les Paul, Michael borrowed Rudolf's Flying V--and the rest, as they say, is history. During his stint in UFO, Schenker's setup was largely a 1975 Gibson Flying V, which combined with a classic Marshall 50-watt amp, created one of the most imitated guitar tones in history.

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These days, Michael still uses Marshall 50-watt and Marshall 100-watt amps, but he ditched the Gibson Flying V for a Dean Flying V copy, of which he and Rudolf have signature models. Maybe one day they'll make a signature Marshall amp for Michael...

I have the UFO Strangers In The Night album, and let me tell ya, it is a great live double album. My mom saw UFO opening up for Pat Travers, REO Speedwagon, Rush and Blue Oyster Cult in 1977 ish, and they were awesome in concert.

I just got an 8 disc version of Strangers. It has the original 2 cd set and six others from the same tour. So there is some overlap with songs but worth buying for 20 bucks

 

[StratDal]

Strangers In The Night is right up there with At Fillmore East and Made In Japan as far as live albums.