John 5

[tremoloman***]

Here's a few clips of John 5 I think many of you will like. Say what you will about him, but he's a very rare breed of musician who can play country, bluegrass, metal, shred and mix them all together on the same album.

I love the fact that he worships the Telecaster and is his #1 axe. Not may people play the Tele like he does. He's become a big inspiration to me over the past couple of years.

Guitar World lesson w/"Behind The Nut Love" clip

"Sugar Foot Rag" clip

Charles Snider show interview

"Feisty Cadavers" video

[t_ross33]

It blows me away how you expect John 5 to be spitting blood and shooting fire out of his empty eye sockets, yet he's so down to earth and unassuming in person...reminds me of Will Ferrel (from Saturday Night Live) with eyeshadow and tattoos

That behind-the-nut stuff is just sick!

[Cranium]

He looking freakish but plays nice...I like it

[marnold***]

I despise Manson so I think that put me off to John 5 at first. He really has some serious chops. There's a pretty cool article/lesson from him in the new GuitarOne playing some sweet country-inspired licks.

I've got to get one of his instrumental albums one of these days.

[tremoloman***]

If you are interested in getting his solo albums Vertigo or Songs for Sanity, I recommend Vertigo as it has a little more variety to it. Both albums are impressive nonetheless. If you click on the links I've provided, you can hear samples of each of his songs from their respective albums. John is just another of the many reasons not to judge a book by its cover.

I think most of you twanger lovers will dig Sugar Foot Rag, 18969 Ventura Blvd, and Salt Creek off of Vertigo. In addition, I think Zugg Island Convict kicks butt.

I've been working on learning Sugar Foot Rag and Zugg Island Convict for a couple of months now. Those tunes are hard to emulate!

On another note, his custom Fender Telecaster J5 is goregous... if I had the money I'd scoop one up in a second. I hate the paddle headstock but the rest is just perfect. He opted recommending the paddle headstock to make behind the nut bends easier. "Fashion over function" as they say. I'd have made an exception in this case though.

-trem

P.S. - The reason you don't see John using the paddle necked Tele as he designed is becuase the prototype Fender built him with the regular headstock was "perfect" and is now his #1 guitar to this day.

[t_ross33]

Manson is another dude that'll totally throw you off if you ever see him in a one-on-one interview. Very humble, intelligent and articulate.

Remember when Tipper Gore was on a rampage against rock and roll and wanted to slap an R rating on everything (ya, how old am I)? Two of the most intelligent arguments against censoring artists' material came from Frank Zappa and Dee Snider (the big blonde dude from Twisted Sister). Fairly straight dudes by today's standards, but kinda out there in the day. Just goes to show you can't always judge a musician by his album cover.

That said, I'm more of a classic/southern/country/rock guy than a Manson/Zombie/John 5 fan, but I do enjoy hearing what they have to say, as well as what they have to play...as long as the message/music is articulate. Noise is noise, played or sayed

Just a couple o' cents. Trev

[tremoloman***]

Very well put! Most rock/metal type guys are very down to earth and intelligent.

There's an awesome DVD that just came out called "The History of Metal". Even if you don't like heavy metal, it's an awesome documentary I think everybody here would enjoy. It's got interviews with Alice Cooper and dozens of other rock stars in it. Great disc!

I'm not into Manson or a big Rob Zombie guy myself but I do respect what they do. Rob Zombie is particularly funny when he’s asked what he thinks about the grunge era. His response was to the effect of “I don’t get the stare-at-your-shoes generation – what’s the matter? Life isn’t that tough bro.”