Guitar Villains – Details, episodes & analysis

Welcome to Guitar Villains! Today's guest is the guitar luthier Paul Reed Smith.

Thanks to American Musical Supply for sponsoring the show. Use code Tyler10 for a great deal: https://bit.ly/ShopAMERICANMUSICALdotCOM

Sign up for the PRS Music School
Part of ticket proceeds go to Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.
Guitars given away to random students 8/9, international included.

0:00 - Introduction
4:15 - Paul’s supervillain alter-ego
11:20 - Burning Questions
14:30 - The YouTube effect
16:25 - “Guitars are the violins of our day”
18:06 - Paul’s thoughts on THE FORBIDDEN RIFF
24:17 - The Paul Reed Smith Music School
32:07 - Unfiltered Q&A
33:50 - Single cut or Double cut?
38:35 - How to build a truly beautiful guitar
41:01 - Paul’s opinion on other popular guitar brands
46:21 - The PRS Artist roster
51:20 - Paul screamed at Eric Johnson
52:23 - Paul’s supervillain advice

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Welcome to Guitar Villains! Today's guest is the St. Vincent guitar sorceress, Annie Clark.

Thanks to American Musical Supply for sponsoring the show. Use code Tyler9 for a great deal.
https://bit.ly/SaveOnGear

0:00 - Introduction
1:40 - Annie's opinion about Berklee and music college in general
4:15 - The REAL origin of the name ‘St. Vincent’
7:10 - Annie’s supervillain alter-ego
11:18 - Burning Questions
17”07 - Name Those Notes
17:40 - Perfect pitch versus relative pitch
19:50 - Annie’s manual whammy bar effect
21:00 - Led Zeppelin’s influence on St. Vincent
23:36 - Annie’s favorite guitar riff she wrote
27:10 - Annie talks about the brilliance of Metallica rhythm guitar parts
30:38 - The new St. Vincent guitar approach
35:08 - “I don’t love it when the guitar sounds like a guitar”
38:36 - St. Vincent’s influence on my guitar playing
39:30 - The MusicMan St. Vincent signature guitar
45:18 - The art of improvisation on guitar
47:53 - Songwriting tips from a Grammy-winning songwriter
51:50 - Annie’s supervillain advice

Check out St. Vincent on YouTube
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Today’s guitar villain is Herman Li. A blistering shred god heading up the Grammy-nomninated metal band Dragonforce, Herman is so good he sometimes sounds like a video game with his extremely creative and acrobatic licks, which makes sense, because THROUGH THE FIRE AND FLAMES might be the most famous video game song in the world thanks to its Guitar Hero lore. Herman has also become a major figure in the online guitar community, with his Twitch streams amassing millions of views for their fun and unique segments and guests. This one is extremely fun, so prepare to have an absolute blast on this season finale of Guitar Villains.

Intro and Herman’s supervillain alter-ego: 0:00
Burning Questions: 11:05
Name Those Notes: 12:52
S***- talking fans: 29:17
Underwater guitar playing: 34:05
Looking back on Herman’s instructional stage: 36:20
Crying Women over DragonForce: 41:49
The easiest and hardest thing about guitar: 44:02
Learning to play guitar on a livestream: 49:46
Herman’s favorite airplane album: 49:14
Herman’s dream band: 51:20
Herman’s supervillain advice: 54:08

Subscribe to Herman on YouTube
Herman on Twitch

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Today’s guitar villain is Rick Graham. Rick is easily one of the most humble guitar players on the planet, and you know what that means when the word humble is used to describe a guitarist: that’s right, they’re an absolute monster player. Rick can play things most people would think is impossible to do on a guitar, and yet his musicality is what stands out most–he’s a true maestro and an even better person, and throughout this episode you’ll understand time and again why Rick is one of the most respected guitarists on the planet, on today’s episode of Guitar Villains.

Intro and Rick’s supervillain alter-ego: 00:00
Burning Questions: 07:40
How to play guitar as fast as humanly possible: 09:38
Name Those Notes: 13:57
The competitive edge of guitar players: 27:32
Rick’s music school experience: 29:48
How ‘regular jobs’ will us to unlock our destiny: 31:48
The greatest teachers all do this: 34:10
Two-note per string scale design: 36:30
The hardest and easiest thing about guitar: 41:20
Rick’s favorite airplane album: 43:05
Rick’s dream band: 45:25
Rick’s supervillain advice: 47:39

Lessons with Rick
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Today’s guitar villain is Cory Wong. A groove master with a pocket deeper than Warren Buffet’s, Cory is one of the leading forces in the world of funk and is an equally competent arranger, producer, and tone aficionado. From his awesome playing in the cult band that is Vulfpeck to his solo music which just featured friend of the podcast Joe Satriani, Cory has made a name for himself through his rhythmic artistry and attention to detail as a musician. Cory also has his own podcast, called Wong Notes, so you know the two of us are gonna be right at home, on this episode of Guitar villains.

Intro and Cory's supervillain alter-ego: 0:00
Burning Questions: 7:35
Name Those Notes: 10:50
The first Metallica solo Cory HAD to learn: 24:12
The transition from jazz cat to funk freak: 25:57
The importance of movement and energy as a guitarist: 26:53
What most musicians overlook: 30:20
How to be an entrepreneur disguised as a guitar player: 34:45
The Cory Wong Archetype plug-in is awesome: 38:30
How life-threatening events can inspire you: 40:15
Cory was in high school drumline–it all makes sense now: 46:25
The trope of 'less is more': 48:25
Cory's supervillain advice: 50:40

Follow Cory on YouTube
Check out Cory's website

Subscribe to Guitar Super System, the most popular independent guitar-learning platform on the internet: http://bit.ly/GVCW008

Today’s guitar villain is Bumblefoot. The unmistakeable wall of sound behind the bands Asia, and Sons of Apollo, Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal is one of the most creative and staggeringly good guitar players you’ll find. With his trusty double neck Vigier, containing both a standard and fretless six string neck, Bumblefoot crafts riffs and licks that will make you wonder if what you’re hearing can actually come from human fingers. With an obsession for hot sauce and a powerful braided beard that would make even John Petrucci do a double take, you’re in for a real treat on this episode of Guitar Villains.

Intro and Bumblefoot's supervillain alter-ego: 0:00

Burning Questions: 9:30

Name Those Notes: 12:20

The best guitar teachers all do this: 33:00

The power of the bebop scale: 37:00

The melody is not for itself: 39:40

The hardest and easiest thing about guitar: 41:13

A fretless guitar mini-lesson: 44:15

 The weirdest tour stories you’ll ever hear: 47:26

The spooky tale of the haunted stage and ghostly guitar pick: 49:15

Bumblefoot’s favorite airplane album: 52:48

Bumblefoot’s dream band: 54:04

Bumblefoot’s supervillain advice: 55:03

Bumblefoot's Website

Bumblefoot's Hot Sauces

Sign up for Guitar Super System, the most popular independent guitar learning platform on the internet: https://bit.ly/GVBF007

Today’s guitar villain is Misha Mansoor, a key founder of the beguiling genre of Djent and an overall machine of a guitar player. Misha is the mastermind behind the wall of sound that is the band Periphery, a signature artist of Jackson guitars and BareKnuckle pickups, the founder of the excellent Get Good Drums software, and an avid sports car enthusiast. Misha is also the founder of Horizon Devices, a company featuring some truly spectacular guitar pedals like the Apex PreAmp and Flux Echo, and now, most recently, they’re making guitar strings. With that resume, you better prepare yourself, because it’s time for this episode of Guitar Villains.

Intro and Misha’s supervillain alter-ego: 0:00

Burning Questions: 6:14

Misha’s backward sense of harmony: 11:10

Problem-solving in songwriting: 15:10

Name Those Notes: 16:44

The re-release and return of Bulb: 27:35

Guitar playing from the producer perspective: 30:14

The hardest and easiest thing about playing guitar: 32:22

The most important skill guitar players ignore: 34:34

Writing music starting with a drum groove: 37:02

The problem with drum loops: 40:29

The difference between delay and echo: 42:00

Misha’s dream band: 45:59

Misha’s favorite airplane album: 48:56

Misha’s supervillain advice: 49:39

Check out Horizon Devices

Check out GetGood Drums

Follow Periphery on YouTube 

Sign up for Guitar Super System, the most popular independent guitar learning platform on the internet: https://bit.ly/GVMM006

Today’s guitar villain is Jason Richardson, a technical master of guitar playing and an equally adept composer of complex and interesting music. If you tabbed out his guitar solos, they’d look like barcodes. If someone asks Jason, "Hey Jason, how fast?" Jason simply responds "YES". We’re gonna break the speed limit and have a great time doing it on this episode of Guitar Villains.

Intro and Jason Richardson's supervillain alter-ego:
Burning Questions: 7:50
The best $1,730 ever spent: 11:50
How to play as fast as humanly possible: 13:40
Name Those Notes: 16:55
Blending cinematic and classical genres with metal: 26:05
Jason's new signature EBMM Rorschach Red Cutlass: 31:17
Almost dying in Austria: 41:28
Jason's favorite airplane album: 46:16
Jason's dream band: 48:25
Jason's supervillain advice: 51:30

Jason's new signature Ernie Ball Music Man Cutlass
Follow Jason on YouTube

Sign up for Guitar Super System, the most popular independent guitar learning platform on the internet: http://bit.ly/GVJR005

Today’s guitar villain is Tommy Emmanuel. One of the most musical guitar players you’ll ever hear, Tommy has been dropping the jaws of audiences for decades with this impeccable acoustic guitar playing that sounds more like an entire band than just one person. With flawless rhythm, unreal technique and a way of playing that just makes you laugh, Tommy’s musicianship is captivating in a way that will inspire you to pick up your guitar, or, maybe, just set it down and watch. Tommy’s way of explaining things is another testament to his world class talent, so you may yourself coming back to this one over and over, on this episode of Guitar Villains.

Intro and Tommy Emmanuel's supervillain alter-ego: 0:00
Burning Questions: 7:14
The sound of tuning perfection: 11:12
Name Those Notes: 15:19
Dress up, show up, and do your best: 29:09
The difficulty of instrumental songwriting: 31:10
Tommy's unique approach to guitar playing: 33:35
The hardest and easiest thing about guitar: 37:49
Tommy Hollywood is working on a movie, The Tiger Rising: 38:42
Tommy's favorite airplane album: 42:10
Tommy's dream band: 42:46
Tommy's supervillain advice: 43:35

Tommy Emmanuel on YouTube
Tommy's website

Sign up for Guitar Super System, the most popular independent guitar learning platform on the internet: http://bit.ly/GVTE004

Today’s guitar villain is Tim Henson. An innovator of the guitar and a no-nonsense straight-shooter, Tim has cemented himself in the guitar world as a cutting edge riff-writer, combining elements of tapping, slapping, harmonics, and rhythmic displays second to none. Fronting his instrumental prog outfit Polyphia, Tim has produced some of the most unique and fun guitar moments to fill your eardrums with, and the only thing more refreshing than his music is his no-bullshit demeanor. You’re gonna enjoy this one, so let’s kick off this episode of Guitar Villains.  WARNING: Explicit content.

Intro and Tim Henson's supervillain alter-ego: 0:00
Burning Questions: 17:03
Tim's Guitar Approach – Hooks and Flexes: 19:35
Blending rap and instrumental music: 23:50
A bad acid trip yields a great music video: 26:20
Name Those Notes: 30:00
Tim's love of Jimi Hendrix: 37:27
New Polyphia music: 41:06
Tim's unique guitar technique: 44:46
The hardest and easiest thing about guitar: 49:29
Tim's favorite airplane album: 54:34
Tim's dream band: 55:20
Tim's supervillain advice: 1:00:05

Follow Polyphia on YouTube: http://bit.ly/Polyphia_GV
Follow Tim on YouTube: http://bit.ly/Tim_GV

Sign up for Guitar Super System, the most popular independent guitar learning platform on the internet: http://bit.ly/GVTH003