Gary Moore on The Strat Pack...

Aidanspaghetti · August 2013

Gentlemen, Im sure you've all witnessed this glorious display,

but what amp(s) was Gary using for it? Was it a prototype? Which Cornford would get closest? (Ballpark anyway!) Many thanks for any help!

RocknRollDave · August 2013

Can't help with the amp model / make but one thing I can tell you is Moore ran his amps very loud - my ears were ringing days after witnessing what was basically a Blues gig...that's never right!

Seriously loud, driving the amp hard.

[Deleted User] · August 2013

Some kind of modern Marshall (possibly a DSL). I would have thought any 'British voiced' amp would get you close.

Aidanspaghetti · August 2013

Yeah Gary was a demon for the aul volume!

Great loss ;(

I was lucky enough to be present at his Phil Lynnot one night in Dublin gig...

Truly a great night!

Maybe got to go down the Modded jmp road - cheapeer probably than most options...

Anyone checked out the Friedman SS100?

I'd be short a kidney if i had the chance . . . . .

AlexHunter · August 2013

It's a stock Marshall DSL 100 on the crunch channel with the master volume running on 8, then a stock TS9 tubescreamer in front.

The rest is down to the hands (and the sixties strat).

For a Cornford to get there without pedals I'd be thinking about the RK100, but a DSL can be bought for £300 secondhand so why Cornford?

JayT · August 2013

Hi Guys,

Defo a Jcm 2000 dsl 100 and probably his 4x12 1960 cabs.

impmann · August 2013

Sadly missed.

Although I for one would just like to turn the gain down just a smidge, as when he has the volume slightly down on the guitar it just sings so much better and sounds clearer. I always thought Gary sounded so much better when he played with a cleaner tone - he tended to avoid the diddly-diddly cliches when the gain was down, IMHO.

Bucket · August 2013

Can't help with the amp (I would be inclined to agree that it's a DSL) but I wish to say that the tone is stunning.

And that's before we get onto the Guitar Face...

RocknRollDave · August 2013

^ This.

There's some lovely stuff in this video, especially at 3:27ish...:

Why didn't he play like that more often?!

[Deleted User] · August 2013

Why didn't he play like that more often?!

I suspect a lot of 'name' players have broader abilities than they generally display. Gary Moore played in a jazz fusion band earlier in his career. He clearly had greater fretboard knowledge than the pentatonic based stuff he did on the Tele at the start of the video . The high-octane blues/rock noodling (as Joe Bonamassa has found) sells records....

RocknRollDave · August 2013

True, although I'm not sure Moore's later albums sold fantastically well. I suspect it's more instantly gratifying to play loud, fast easy runs that wow a crowd rather than complex jazz parts...would that I had that kind of choice!

Aidanspaghetti · August 2013

Cheers for the feedback guys - Yeah, real stage volume makes such a difference to an amp's character.

Id love to see the other tracks that didnt make the cut for the Strat Pack video - also the recent Marshall gig with Satriani etc... Anyone know if thats to be released?

[Deleted User] · August 2013

I'm not sure Moore's later albums sold fantastically well.

'Still Got The Blues' clearly did well. After that I suspect you're right. A bit like Roy Buchannan, Beck et al, I think it is difficult for someone who is primarily a gifted guitarist to find a 'vehicle' which properly represents their talents and yet is of broad enough appeal to sell records. Personally I have never considered Moore to be a blues player; his phrasing and attack were always firmly on the 'rock' side of the fence.

FelineGuitars · August 2013

I saw Gary guest with Paul Rodgers a few years ago

Rodgers band all had huge Cornford amps and Gary had a lone Marshall and cab and he blew away the other guys sonically

Now I know that it's 85% down to Gary but it did make me think that the Marshall just sounded better for my tastes

axisus · August 2013

Love his playing. Saw him live with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker - that was memorable!

Bucket · August 2013

richardhomer said:

Personally I have never considered Moore to be a blues player; his phrasing and attack were always firmly on the 'rock' side of the fence.

This.

That's why I love his rock stuff and don't particularly like most of his blues stuff.

EricTheWeary · August 2013

FelineGuitars said:

I saw Gary guest with Paul Rodgers a few years ago
Rodgers band all had huge Cornford amps and Gary had a lone Marshall and cab and he blew away the other guys sonically
Now I know that it's 85% down to Gary but it did make me think that the Marshall just sounded better for my tastes

I saw Bernie Marsden a few years ago and he played a Blackstar stack for a few numbers and a Marshall half stack for the rest. Absolute light and day, I was amazed - expecting basically little or no difference in a band context, suddenly his sound was much more articulate. Might be about familiarity with the gear as well I suppose and at a pub gig level or for versatility I wouldn't consider myself fond of Marshalls but there is something about the sound of one opened up and played by someone who knows their stuff that says they got it right. Anyway, Gary Moore - as I understand it he was something of a child prodigy at traditional Irish music and so had a much wider repertoire than he became known for. I think @rocknrolldave and I agreed, on a previous discussion, that his recordings in latter years, when he had stopped selling much, in many ways represented his more authentic bluesy work. Also, if you watch those clips he did for Guitarist on a small Marshall or the JVM promo clips there is the sense that the specific amp would have always been icing on the cake and he sounded like himself regardless of the gear. I think it's an old Rock Goes to College programme where he does the entire rock gig ( in an 80's widdle stylee) with a Les Paul Junior.

not_the_dj · August 2013

axisus said:

Love his playing. Saw him live with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker - that was memorable!

BBM I guess? I must dig out that CD, haven't listened to it in ages

AlexHunter · August 2013

EricTheWeary said:

Anyway, Gary Moore - as I understand it he was something of a child prodigy at traditional Irish music and so had a much wider repertoire than he became known for.

He was able to play Red House practically note for note with the Are You Experienced version when it was first released - making him 15 at the time. Playing the same song 37 years later I'd expect him to be good at it.

RocknRollDave · August 2013

He did a whole show of Hendrix tunes ("Blues For Jimi", released as DVD and CD posthumously), which were pretty close..although with Moore's typical overplaying in evidence in several places

viz · August 2013

Back on the strats.

Aidanspaghetti · August 2013

Gary played a les paul junior with Lizzy a good bit too - Im sure theres some clips of him with Liizzy and his junior on the steps of the Sydney opera house....

I seem to remember him being er, fairly animated

[Deleted User] · August 2013

Wasn't moved by the tone in the original video. FAR too much gain for that type of music IMHO.

I was interested to note that the playing started in earnest at about 0:40. The over-playing came in at 01:05. And the singing was woeful.

Is it too soon to say that about Gary?

And this is coming from a fan of much of his stuff. I was really into him when I was younger (when that sort of shred-blues impressed me) but I got bored with a lot of it.

The later video shows what he was capable of. It's a pity he didn't live longer so that we could've heard more of it

The singing was always shit though.

jaygtr · August 2013

And this is coming from a fan of much of his stuff. I was really into him when I was younger (when that sort of shred-blues impressed me) but I got bored with a lot of it.

The later video shows what he was capable of. It's a pity he didn't live longer so that we could've heard more of it

The singing was always shit though.

i was the same, i thought "the still got the blues " album was one of the bests things i'd ever heard at the time.
i got a les paul because of it too! the one my daughter is holding on the left.

can't listen to most of it now sadly. poor production, to much over playing, dodgy singing. a couple of tracks where
is is slightly restrained are still great though.

i'd rather see that sort of stuff live than listen to it at home now.

i'd still rate him as one of the greats though!

rockmonster · August 2013

IMHO an awesome player period! Many can criticise but he had the ability to make that les paul moan, cry or scream at will. He was the most emotional player i have ever had the privilege to see and I've seen a few! I saw him many times he often used a couple of DSL half stacks and a couple of pedals. To take a quote from Ted Nugent ' if its too loud youre to old' he will be sorely missed.

martinw · August 2013

rockmonster said:

IMHO an awesome player period! Many can criticise but he had the ability to make that les paul moan, cry or scream at will. He was the most emotional player i have ever had the privilege to see and I've seen a few! I saw him many times he often used a couple of DSL half stacks and a couple of pedals. To take a quote from Ted Nugent ' if its too loud youre to old' he will be sorely missed.

A big +1.

vasselmeyer · August 2013

not_the_dj said:

axisus said:

Love his playing. Saw him live with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker - that was memorable!

BBM I guess? I must dig out that CD, haven't listened to it in ages

While the album wasn't brilliant there are some truly standout tracks. For me, the best track is the Albert King "High Cost of Loving" where he channelled AK but made it his own. I saw them on the BBM tour and what were basically three grumpy old men managed to make the evening absolutely magical. There were three musicians on that stage who were the equal of each other, which is something that didn't happen very often when Gary played. Most of the time he played he was head and shoulders above anyone else on the stage but in BBM they were equals.

Aidanspaghetti · August 2013

I read about a BBM gig somewhere that Gary burst his eardrums during soundcheck and the gig was cancelled

He walked it like he talked it

A real legend .... Cant wait til the Gary Moore festival invariably kicks off.....

Moltisanti · August 2013

8 on the master volume holy shit!

vasselmeyer · August 2013

Moltisanti said:

8 on the master volume holy shit!

His volume was truly epic. If you look at many of the BBM gigs on YouTube he has at least two stacks, surrounded by acoustic shields. Somehow I don't think those are dummy cabs!

FelineGuitars · August 2013

Saw BBM at the Marquee - a good night out and they were pretty loud and Ginger Baker seemed miserable....

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Gary Moore on The Strat Pack...

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