February 21, 2013
“From deep withing the jungle … made in America”
Rhino Guitar Amplification is another deceased brand about which not too much can be found, though they were seemingly endorsed by Yngwie Malmsteen and Ron Keel at certain points.
Pulled from Guitar Player, March 2001.
September 28, 2012
Have you always wanted to take lessons from Yngwie Malmsteen? Well now you can, sort of. The Swedish icon is bringing the fury at his new website Relentless Shred. Guitar World quotes the official press release:
Tired of watching nobodies trying to teach you how to play Yngwie’s songs? Now, why would you take lessons from a random, when you can learn from Yngwie himself? For the first time in history, Yngwie Malmsteen is giving lessons on how to become a virtuoso like him!
Yes, there’s a fee. Rates range from $34.99 to $99.99 (the “Master Virtuoso” package).
Read more and see some screen captures at GW.
September 11, 2012
Metal Hammer is reporting that none other than Yngwie Malmsteen will be given a tour of Britain’s Houses of Parliament in conjunction with “Rock the House,” an initiative that was “set up to raise awareness of Intellectual property and Live Music issues with parliamentarians.” MH outlines the guitarist’s appearance:
Yngwie Malmsteen will be given a private tour of the Houses of Parliament and later a private event before the guitar god plays the Marshall 50th birthday celebration at Wembley Arena on September 22.
Read more at Metal Hammer.
June 29, 2012
Are your guitars members of the family to the point that they have nicknames? Guitar Muse is running an article chronicling some storied instruments that are recognizable by moniker. The summary includes Tony Iommi’s “Old Boy,” Willie Nelson’s “Trigger,” and Yngwie Malmsteen’s “The Duck,” about which they note:
When Yngwie purchased it, as a teen, it was Olympic White in color. Since then The Duck has seen a new paint job, several pickup changes (all Seymour Duncans), new frets (after a fan threw a bottle at the guitar and popped off the 17th fret), at least 6 neck (due to headstock breakage) changes.
And check out this fact about Brian May’s “Red Special”:
(T)he guitar has been “upgraded” and repaired a few times. In 1998 and 2005 it was refinished and had some other cosmetic work done on it, and later the zero fret was replaced. The other frets have not been touched.
Read about them all at GM.
April 1, 2012
"... classically-inspired solo riffs ..." Huh.
This DiMarzio ad, specifically touting Yngwie Malmsteen’s choice of pickup, the HS-3, comes from Guitar for the Practicing Musician, January 1989. Though Odyssey—Yngwie’s highest charting album in the U.S. and his native Sweden—was going on a year old, the ad still makes reference to the guitarist’s fourth solo album.
December 19, 2011
Where do you go after having your own signature model Fender Stratocaster and Marshall 100 watt head? You get a Magic Marker endorsement, of course. This is just what has happened for shred king Yngwie Malmsteen who now has his own model Sharpie. Ehh, let’s just let Noisecreep sum it up:
Sharpie president Ben J. Gadbois copped to being a massive fan of the guitarist, saying, “I have followed Yngwie since high school and am a huge fan. It was fantastic to meet one of the greatest guitar players of all time and talk about music and several of our common interests. It was also an honor to present Yngwie with his own personalized Sharpies.”
Like to see an Yngwie Sharpie? Head to NC.
September 22, 2011
In terms of guitar playing, speed is a most polarizing characteristic. For every fan or player that favors “feel over flash,” there is another who is exhilarated by a barrage of 32nd notes. Guitar World is fanning the flames of debate with their current poll that asks, “Who is the Fastest Guitarist of All Time?”
The multiple-choice poll features most of the logical choices: Yngwie Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert, Shawn Lane and Buckethead are all listed. And as with any such endeavor, there are some truly mind boggling entries, such as Jeff Beck. Jeff Beck?! He rules, but not because of speed.
At least this is one poll in which readers won’t automatically crown Eric Clapton.
Read the entire list right here.
May 12, 2011
.008? C'mon.
Going back to Guitar World March 1987 again for this full-page Yngwie illustration. This Ernie Ball ad comes from the period between Malmsteen’s Trilogy and Odyssey albums. Did you know that those releases reached #44 in ’87 and #40 in ’88 respectively? Sheesh. Those were the days?
March 16, 2011
It’s being reported in guitar media circles that the Swedish government is considering using the image of the country’s favorite shredding son, Yngwie Malmsteen, on a bank note. As Blabbermouth tells it:
The Swedish government is in the process of reducing the number of coins in circulation by replacing them with bank notes (and) Yngwie Malmsteen is one of the names being mentioned to grace one of the new notes, which will be decided later this month.
I hope this doesn’t affect his ego.
Don’t you think an Yngwie krona would be a nice companion to his business card?
See more at Blabbermouth right here.
April 27, 2010
Sometimes those in orbit about icons have inestimable influence on their well known counterparts and great stories of their own. If you’ve followed the Zappa – Vai – Keneally arc closely you’ve probably run across the name Thomas Nordegg. The Austrian seems to be part guitar tech, part mad scientist, part machine. (In addition to the three mentioned, Nordegg has worked with Yngwie Malmsteen, The Pretenders, Social Distortion and a long list of others.)
There is anecdotal and other information about the man around the web, including a ‘featurette’ on Steve Vai’s site, wherein he describes some keys to being a guitar tech:
It always has to work, one way or the other. You have to have a good attitude … and the love for music helps obviously. Read the tuner right and stretch the strings … always stretch the strings!
That complete piece is right here.
There’s also an interesting introduction to Nordegg at Andy Alt’s website:
Few people have spent time with as many culture-shaping artists as Thomas has. Surely you’d expect to hear nothing but road stories and reflections of crazy antics while touring … but you won’t hear much of it– unless you ask. Unprovoked, the only two things that Thomas discusses is the amount of time he doesn’t have to accomplish a mountain of TODO’s and velcro.
To find out why velcro, get thee to Alt’s page.
