To What Are Yee Listenin' Right Now?
- Thread starter Goldmember
- Start date
Best cowbell ever - Def Leppard Rock of Ages
The Man!!!
Leslie West!!!!
Mr. West - Is there anything on the guitar you've always wanted to do but can't?
"Yeah. I'd love to be able to play full-blown classical music like a cellist or violinist. See, I only use two fingers on my left hand. I wish I could play the normal way. But playing with two fingers made me play the way I do, so I can't complain too much. Still, it'd be cool to play like other people."
You’ve talked openly about not using your pinky on your fretting hand when playing solos. How did that come to be, exactly?
"I just never used all four fingers on that hand. And now when I look at my pinky, it’s sort of swollen and looks arthritic. I use the first and the third finger for leads, and then I play chords. I use three fingers — that’s it."
What led you to get a Hagstrom model guitar when you played with The Vagrants?
"It was the only guitar we could afford. I had a Stratocaster, and I wanted a new red guitar. I traded a ’56 or ’58 Strat. The Hagstrom was beautiful, but what a piece of [crap]. It wouldn’t stay in tune. I remember when we started Mountain, the guitars wouldn’t stay in tune. So Felix told me to go down and see this guy in the Village, and he ended up giving me a Les Paul Junior. It stayed in tune for the most part, so that was when I started playing the Les Paul Juniors.
Mr. West - Is there anything on the guitar you've always wanted to do but can't?
"Yeah. I'd love to be able to play full-blown classical music like a cellist or violinist. See, I only use two fingers on my left hand. I wish I could play the normal way. But playing with two fingers made me play the way I do, so I can't complain too much. Still, it'd be cool to play like other people."
You’ve talked openly about not using your pinky on your fretting hand when playing solos. How did that come to be, exactly?
"I just never used all four fingers on that hand. And now when I look at my pinky, it’s sort of swollen and looks arthritic. I use the first and the third finger for leads, and then I play chords. I use three fingers — that’s it."
What led you to get a Hagstrom model guitar when you played with The Vagrants?
"It was the only guitar we could afford. I had a Stratocaster, and I wanted a new red guitar. I traded a ’56 or ’58 Strat. The Hagstrom was beautiful, but what a piece of [crap]. It wouldn’t stay in tune. I remember when we started Mountain, the guitars wouldn’t stay in tune. So Felix told me to go down and see this guy in the Village, and he ended up giving me a Les Paul Junior. It stayed in tune for the most part, so that was when I started playing the Les Paul Juniors.
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In December, 1999, I lost the end of my left middle finger, just past the joint and suffered a laceration that nearly removed the pinky. Although I healed amazingly well, I have little feeling in either one, and I can no longer shred as once I did. This brought me to a curiosity of those who seldom use a pinky...
Care to join in???
Care to join in???
Watch Rick roll his bridge volume up at 1:51 for the solo then switch to the neck pickup at 2:11