Sammy Hagar Compares Les Paul Guitars To Muscle Cars (a top story)::Sammy Hagar News ::antiMusic.com

Sammy Hagar Compares Les Paul Guitars To Muscle Cars (A Top Story)

. On Friday Sammy Hagar Compares Les Paul Guitars To Muscle Cars was a top story. Here is the recap: (Gibson) Aside from being a successful solo artist, Sammy Hagar, aka the Red Rocker, has surrounded himself with some of the world's best guitar players as a member of Montrose, Van Halen, and Chickenfoot. But Hagar himself is no slouch when it comes to playing killer riffs and soloing. Sammy says that he is self-taught, and that he's picked up quite a few tips and tricks along the way from guys like Ronnie Montrose, and Eddie Van Halen. Gibson guitars have always been a part of Hagar's guitar collection, and he is often seen playing Les Pauls and Explorers on stage. Hagar even has his own signature Explorer, and a signature Les Paul - the Sammy Hagar Red Rocker Les Paul . Here's a few quotes from Sammy on what he likes about Gibson guitars, his influences, his guitar playing style, and some advice for wannabe guitar players.

In a video interview with Gibson, Sammy talked about what he likes about the Les Paul: "I've always been a Les Paul, Gibson player. For some reason, the necks, the way they sound, the weight of a Les Paul is important when you're throwing that big rock pose, and the guitar is hanging down hard. You got a light guitar and you throw the pose you feel the guitar bouncing around, Les Paul's like - bam! So it's got a really macho thing. It makes you just feel rough and tough playing. It's like driving a muscle car for me. The Les Paul's like a muscle car."

In that same interview, Sammy spoke about using a Gibson Explorer on his early albums: "I love an Explorer because on my 1979 Danger Zone front album cover, I had this Explorer on the cover. I played an Explorer half my pre-Van Halen years - I was an Explorer player. I had this wonderful Explorer. It was one of the first remakes I think - it was the first remake of the Explorer. I still have that guitar, and I used it on all those albums, on Danger Zone, 'Love or Money' - the song 'Trans Am' [which is actually from the album Street Machine.] That album was done with that Explorer."

Hagar also imparted some advice to up-and-coming guitarists: "Because I sing and play guitar, I never, except in the early days, did what you're suppose to do to become the hottest guitar slinger. Like with Joe Satriani, Eddie Van Halen - those guys sat in a room and practiced scales all day. [...] If you wanna be a slinger, you got to go in and put in the time. There's no other gateway to get around it, you cannot cheat." - more on this story

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