Scott Henderson Discussion

[dan_halen]

Hey Scott, I am a huge fan of your music and have been hooked since my college guitar teacher turned me on to you and I discovered Illicit. To me, you are one of the most balanced players there are in that your areas of tone, technique, vocabulary/theory, and musicality are all so strong, not to mention your compositional ability. Anyway, I really like those clean chorus things you used to do back than on tunes such as "Black Cherry" and the live version of "Caribbean" below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzpAsq2c6ag

Did you use those tri-stereo chorus units like a lot of LA players like Michael Landau and Steve Lukather (two of my other favorites) used to use? I believe Landau used the Songbird one and Luke used the Dytronics one. Also those types of tones sounded very single coil, even if not vintage strat sounding. I know you used a lot of humbuckers back then. Did you have a coil split on them.

Speaking of Steve Lukather, what do you think of his playing? You mention Landau a lot but I haven't ever heard you mention Luke, so I was curious what you thought of him, since his style is closely related to Landau's though they both definitely have their own sounds.

Anyhow, keep up your great music and I will keep listening!

[Scott Henderson]

Thanks for the kind words - I used the ADA Stereo Tapped Delay STD-1

http://tonemerchants.com/products/vintage_used/ada-stereo-tapped-delay-std-1/

I'll need to say this again - stereo rigs are dumb. Only the people sitting in the very middle of the audience hear what you hear. Why no one knew that in the 80's is still a mystery.

I used humbuckers back then, but on Dog Party I re-discovered single coils and never went back.

I like Steve's playing, but he's more of a rock player. My favorite players (like Mike) are more rooted in the blues.

[dan_halen]

Thanks for the reply! I love Luke's playing, and he is how I discovered Mike Landau (whose Tales From The Bulge Album is practically a university course on guitar tone). He is really into the vocal/guitar thing and I know he has blues and jazz chops as shown in some of his fusion collaborations with guys like Larry Carlton, Robben Ford, Herbie Hancock, etc. I just wish he showed that side of his playing more, especially with his own solo records. But you can't argue with that vibrato though! Thanks again Scott!