Guitarstuff4U: Just for info I play a Gibson Epiphone Les Paul with a Marshall MG-15 amp, whats your current set up for live play and /or practice (if you set up different for practice that is)?
Thor Rune: My live rig currently consists of an ADA MP2 tube preamp, and an Alesis Quadraverb 2 for effects and a Digitech DHP55 for harmonization. That all gets fed in to a Peavey Classic 50-50 tube power amp and a Marshall cab with Celestion G12T75 speakers. I use an ART X15 foot controller to change tones.
For home practice I recently picked up a Pod xt which is pretty convenient for jamming by myself or recording demos. Every now and then ill crank up my 5150 if I need a little adrenaline rush lol. Luckily I have very nice neighbors. Guitar wise I have a bunch, but live I normally rely on my Charvel Model 6 and my Steinberger. I'll bring out others occasionally for shits and giggles but those 2 are so versatile they can do everything I need.
Guitarstuff4U: which one has no head on the Neck?
Thor Rune: Yeah the Steinberger is "headless"
Guitarstuff4U: when you are practicing, how long do you usually play for? Are there any special thing you do while practicing that you believe make you a better guitarist?
Thor Rune: Marz always rags on me for not practicing enough lol. He's right too I'm really lazy with actual "practicing" (as opposed to rehearsing).
I would say the best thing to do to make yourself better is play with other musicians. No amount of practice by yourself can make up for that. I've met plenty of musicians who could tear it up in their bedroom but as soon as they have to actually play along with others they're lost.
Guitarstuff4U: Have you ever heard of / or use Guitar Pro? cause i agree with Marz that program is the bomb for guitarists
Thor Rune: Guitar Pro is an amazing tool for learning songs; there's such a vast library of tabs out there for it. I've never really used it for tabbing my own stuff though as I use Cubase instead. It's not nearly as powerful as Guitar Pro for creating quality tabs but it's good enough for my needs which is usually just working out guitarmonies and solos for myself.
Guitarstuff4U: "guitarmonies" i like that, and i totally agree if you don't jam with others, you don't get the whole thing about keeping time with others and learning to improvise. and learning to "shred" as people call it nowadays doesn't necessarily mean you can play a song beginning to end. So, then what would you recommend to someone like me who can't "solo" but still can play a good rhythm get better at soloing then, scales? I know some but not enough.
Thor Rune: Scales are good to know for theoretical and harmony purposes, and scale runs are a good way to get from point A to point B in a solo, but relying on them can make solos sound rather predictable and linear. I'd say the best thing for writing tasty solos is to try singing what you want to hear... or humming if your voice sucks like me ;). The point is to think melodically, chances are if you can't sing it you're overplaying. As far as improving your soloing technique there's nothing wrong with learning other peoples solos and figuring out what they do so that you can incorporate their tricks in to your repertoire. One of the best ways to learn parts is to use something like VLC player, which lets you slow down songs without changing the pitch. That way you can learn the tricky parts at a slow speed and work your way up to full speed. A lot of players are too focused on trying to play everything super fast right away instead of worrying about playing cleanly and articulation. Start off slow until it "clicks"; when that happens playing at full speed is way easier and it'll sound a lot better because you're aware of every note and nuance in the part.
Guitarstuff4U: Does everyone in the band contribute to writing songs? or is it more like KISS is set up where only one or 2 or 3 of you write?
Thor Rune: As for the writing Marz does pretty much all the writing. Kingdom Earth was pretty much written by the time I joined the band so that concept was all his idea.
Guitarstuff4U: OK this one's going to be easy compared to the rest of these questions, lol. this is a simple one, what brand strings do you use both on stage and off?
Thor Rune: Let's see... I use either D'Addario or Dean Markley strings. I used to have to use special double-ball end strings for the Steinberger but I got an adapter that lets me use regular strings with it. The special strings were getting quite hard to find and kinda pricey.
Guitarstuff4U: what about your gear when it comes to maintenance, for instance do you change your own strings? take your ax to the shop? DO more than that maybe? such as adjustments to the bridge or neck( just for info: I strongly recommend all new and mid level guys take their instrument to a qualified "shop" for such adjustments)
Thor Rune: I do all my own guitar setup unless it requires fret dressing or some similar alterations. I think every guitar player should at least be familiar with what's involved with setting up their guitar even if they're not comfortable doing it themselves.
great Thor, and thanks for your answers and taking the time to talk with me and I'm sure all your fans will appreciate it
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