Dimebag's Whammy bar tricks and Subdivisions of a beat

[Relaxation]

Hey guys! I have Dimebag's book Riffer Madness and in the whammy bar part, he says he does the harmonic by just tapping it. I've been trying this but I can't seem to get a good squeal from tapping the harmonic unlike in picking it where at least I can make it wail a little. How the hell do you really do his whammy bar tricks (specifically the one in cemetary gates)?

Also how do you practice licks with weird beat subdivisions?

[szulc]

http://www.ibreathemusic.com/forums...tural+harmonics


http://www.ibreathemusic.com/article/101

[Relaxation]

Ey! I don't quite get the 1st link... It's not working.

Anyway, do you really tap the harmonic after you dip the bar down or do you pick it? I saw dime in a concert and I think he tapped it for I didn't see any picking. Whenever I try to do this, it just sounds like I'm just sounding the open string...

Oh yeah, I'm talking about the 5th fret harmonic at the g string.

[phantom]

if you push down your floyd rose the strings are "moving" therefor there is no need to pick them again.
it takes a bit practice though to get the point between dampening the string too hard and too soft.
DON'T pull the string off again! just slightly touch it at 5th fret while releasing the whammy bar.
within a few attempts you'll get the harmonic

[wild_child]

this might be repeating what phantom said, but what i do is pick the open string and quickly dump the bar as far as it will go, then TOUCH (dont pick!!) the desired natural harmonic (all that has to be done pretty damn fast otherwise it wont sound good) then raise it to whatever pitch i want. keep doing the excercises in the book and you'll get it, that is a really great book!

[wild_child]

just to add, to do the ones in 'cemetary gates' (particularly the last couple) you need to be able to get some good sustain on those harmonics, a compressor, a delay or just loads of reverb might help with that. also practice getting the EXACT right spot on the final 2.25 harmonic on the high e then lifting it off into the stratosphere awesome stuff when you get the hang of it

[Gatton is God]

I read somwhere that dime flicks the string with his fretting hands index finger rather than picking it at all. Watch the videos, he never once even touches the strings with his picking hand cause he has the bar in a position so that when the bar is pushed down the pitch goes up. Hope this isn't old news, but I thought it might help. Oh by the way, good to see someone asking questions about the worlds greatest metal master. BRING ON THE DAMAGEPLAN!! .feb 10

Cheers

P.S. I remember that when this topic was discussed in three of dimes riffer madness columns, he said he would personally reimburse the first 50 people for a six pack of beer as a reward for getting these harmonics happening, (that was about 10 years ago!) so maybe you should send him a reciept once you get this happening!
Good luck

Josh

[EricV]

Have you ever heard Matthias Eklundh ?
He does some insane stuff with harmonics and the bar, he really has great control when it comes to using those.
Anyway, Ricky told me that he does those with the left hand... he kinda flicks the string with a left hand finger at the correct position ( depending on what harmonic he wants )... weird stuff.
Matthias really has got that stuff down, he does some stuff that sounds like some alien reproduction ceremony. And does it without any effort.
Eric

[Spin 2513]

Has anyone ever used a DOD Whammy Pedal?

I know Paul Gillbert used one on the Intense Rock II Video . Anyone use one?

[EricV]

I used a Digitech Whammy Pedal.
Was it a whammy pedal Paul used in the video ? I thought he generated those whammy bar effects ( divebomb-style ) with his old flanger...

The Digitech was very very cool. I think it was called XP100. Not the old red ones ( those were the first ones they brought out, the ones Tom Morello, Satch and J. Batten used... Dimebag and Vai too, among others ).
The one I had was a bit bigger and also could be used as a volume pedal or a Wah. The wah-sounds very pretty good, and usin the whammy-settings was a lot of fun... You can get some insane sounds with that one.
Eklundh creates similar sounds... but without a pedal

Anyway, I remember seeing Satch live in Philly. I was standing right in front of the stage. At the end of one of the songs, he played a really high-pitched harmonic. Like, at the 2nd or 3rd fret. He then pulled up on the bar. Mind you, the PA was LOUD that night. So that hurt my ears big time.
But then he stepped on the whammy pedal and raised the pitch by an octave or two. I felt this sharp pain going down my spine. It was pretty scary... I think that´s not healthy
So be careful with those high pitches if you plug into a loud amp !

Eric

[Sakkaku]

Eric,

First off - you are a very good online tutor. I've been practicing some of your lessons, and I must say, they aren't for the weak... your study on neoclassical shred type stuff is really good. Thanks for that.

What exactly is the Digitech you used to have ? Was it a dark grey colour ? Was it in fact the Digital whammy II ? Because that's the pedal I have, and it sounds sick through my Marshall. (Good sick that is)...

[Riffer]

Eric is absolutley right about Matthias having great control of bringin out harmonics from the guitar without using his pick.
He does some crazy stuff in the Freak Kitchen song "Hateful little people" where he hits the bridge continuosly with his right hand and at the same time flicks a string with his left hand and bringing out the harmonics. Brilliant.

I´ve vever seen anyone do anything like that.

[EricV]

Originally posted by Sakkaku
Eric,

First off - you are a very good online tutor. I've been practicing some of your lessons, and I must say, they aren't for the weak... your study on neoclassical shred type stuff is really good. Thanks for that.

And thank you for the feedback, glad you like the articles. The one about neoclassical stuff might have a few hard licks, but I guess if you have worked for the other articles ( which I consider "for the weak, also" ) it shouldn´t be too tough anymore )

Originally posted by Sakkaku
What exactly is the Digitech you used to have ? Was it a dark grey colour ? Was it in fact the Digital whammy II ? Because that's the pedal I have, and it sounds sick through my Marshall. (Good sick that is)...

Nah, it wasn´t the regular Whammy or Whammy II. It was a combination of a whammy pedal, wah and volume pedal called XP 100
Here´s a picture and some reviews: http://www.harmony-central.com/Effec...my_Wah-01.html

Hope this helps
Eric