Warren DeMartini appreciation thread

[67blackcherry]

Of all the 80's guys, he was my fav...he really had it all...great tone, great chops, he wrote some great hooks, played some really cool guitars and he looked so damn cool doing it...
I loved Ratt, they really embraced and brought into the 80's the whole "two guitars weaving in & out of each other" like the Stones and Aerosmith but when I first heard this song and the solo, my jaw dropped.
He never really fully copped the EVH two handed / heavy vibrato bar thing which was so prevalent at the time, he had a pretty unique style, very lyrical not a million notes per measure which was the trend.



Lesson - if Doug Steele happens to be on here, you totally rock!


Solo



I always looked forward to the new Ratt video, to see what new guitar he was playing - still loving that crossed swords guitar, perhaps after I get a Zemaitis guitar first...

 

[Coach T.]

Yeah, I’m a fan as well...caught them on tour multiple times in the 80s and early nineties and Warren was always the main draw for me. I kinda dig this guitar, too:

 

[Dana Olsen]

I've always dug Warren's playing - I still do, the cat's got it 'goin on, IMO! He's a super lead player, has great 'swagger', and a super rhythm player too.

Go Warren D

Thanks, Dana O

 

[Wyatt Martin]

Big time fan as well!

He's the one I wanted to play more like than anyone. I remember getting the Learn to Burn tab booklet and cassette back in '88 to learn some of his solos and techniques. He's the only guitarist I ever really studied to some extent.

I watched some live videos on YouTube over the weekend and I've thought for a while now Warren actually deserved a better band with all due respect to Robbin Crosby.

 

[Kentano2000]

Warren’s style is so cool! Nobody sounds like him, although George Lynch called him a little f$ck (in half-jest) for ripping off his vibrato technique. I mean hey, even Frank Zappa dug him! The Morning After is one of my absolute favorite solos, not only of Warren’s but of the entire 80s.

 

[244300]

I always thought Warren DeMartini was the best of the rest in the Eddie Van Halen guitar era after Randy Rhodes. Too bad there so few albums with their playing.

 

[67blackcherry]

I watched some live videos on YouTube over the weekend and I've thought for a while now Warren actually deserved a better band with all due respect to Robbin Crosby.

I like the first part of your comment but disagree with this part...Robbin was his songwriting partner and I think those two gelled perfectly.
It’s a damn shame what happened to Robbin, another great one lost to his addictions.

 

[freedom's door]

Warren is one of my favorite players.
Since he's not currently part of RATT, I'd like to see him hook up with a great singer, and record some new music.
I think Oni Logan would be s good fit for the stuff Warren writes.

 

[Wyatt Martin]

I like the first part of your comment but disagree with this part...Robbin was his songwriting partner and I think those two gelled perfectly.
It’s a damn shame what happened to Robbin, another great one lost to his addictions.

Yeah I didn't phrase that correctly!

Ratt was never the same without Robbin.

 

[Smacky the Frog]

Lesson - if Doug Steele happens to be on here, you totally rock!

Thanks for turning me on to that guy. He's got an infectious way of teaching.

 

[chris lykins]

I wish there were more warren lessons on the net! I love his style and his Charvels were awesome!

 

[67blackcherry]

I wish there were more warren lessons on the net! I love his style and his Charvels were awesome!

There are so many little Warren nuances that I’ve incorporated into my playing...the subtle micro-bends, the way he joins those pentatonic shapes and plays ascending runs like that flurry of notes in A at the beginning of The Morning After...good stuff!

 

[Kentano2000]

The You’re in Love solo; that descending line he does after the first high note bend at the beginning? Gets me every time! I remember a Guitar for the Practicing Musician where Warren and Jake E Lee were the cover interview. Jake said when he heard You’re in Love for the first time he said to himself “Warren really nailed it! That’s HIS style!” Can’t say I disagree!

 

[Matt L]

That was my guy growing up. I learned pretty much everything he ever played. If I had the motivation and desire, I could’ve made breakdown videos just like that Doug Steele guy. I posted a few but just got tired of doing note-for-note stuff of other players. There were so many people starting to do it with better cameras and production and the right signature guitars. Playing-wise, some were good but a lot failed to get the nuances. I had moved on and just wasn’t into it enough anymore. Even recently on here, some guy started a post asking for DeMartini lessons and knowledge, I offered help, and he never bothered replying back. Anyways, Warren was a killer player who threw down some great leads and riffs. DeMartini, Lynch and Jake E Lee were the trinity of cool LA metal shredders.

 

[sonoragazzo]

Great guitar inspired player for sure !
His guitar arrangements on most Ratt songs were done with melodic feeling and soul

 

[Ampedusa]

This is good if you haven't seen it -

 

[cbell2112]

I totally agree. He is easily one of my top 10 rock soloists to emerge from the 80's.

Warren
Slash
Jake
Randy
George
Vivian

You can throw in Frusciante and Navarro but they are kind of different genre. If you leave out all of the guys that carried over from the 70's(i am including Eddie) and the blues rock guys like SRV then you have my primary guitar influences above.

 

[Drak]

De Martini?
Oh Yeah, that bro rawks!

 

[SgtThump]

Loved Warren and Jake the most!

 

[67blackcherry]

Thanks for resurrecting this thread!