Beat it soloing

[Lethal_Ibanez]

Hi I just registered last night after listening to eric v's version of the beat it solo and all I can say is wow. It sounds exactly like the one taken from the actuall song, so much that at first I thought it was eddie without music in the background.

Anyway, im posting because ive been playing for about a year now and im trying to learn this thing, and im having trouble with his bending on the b string (0-3, 0-3, 0-3, and then the 2 on the G string.

Is he whammying while tapping the 3? or he just bending it.
and the part im actually frustrated with is the pinch harmonic he does on the g string following it, it sounds absolutely nothing like when i do pinch harmonics...its a very "in your face" sound that I cant even describe.

(the sound is at 13 seconds and he does it again at 17 seconds)

Is he using the whammy for the pinch harmonic? bending the string upward or what....

anyhoo let me know because im sure alot of people on here can play this thing through 100%.

(very awesome job eric)

[ncook]

Welcome to the board pal! I went through the same pains you are now to learn that. Eric helped me out quite a bit, if you search some of my posts you'll get some answers to your questions. The part your talking about, as far as I know, doesn't involve the tremolo bar, although I have heard renditions using it there. I'm not sure if Eric did or not, I didn't. Here's what I ended up with; I really think I'll redo it, I know I can stick it better. But, for what its worth...

[Lethal_Ibanez]

that was sick man, to me the harmonic just doesnt have the twang that erics/eddies has, i dont know...I could also be insane.

are you just doing a straight harmonic and bending up? are you picking the harmonic (with your thumb or a diff technique) and just tugging the string up or what

[ncook]

that was sick man, to me the harmonic just doesnt have the twang that erics/eddies has, i dont know...I could also be insane.

are you just doing a straight harmonic and bending up? are you picking the harmonic (with your thumb or a diff technique) and just tugging the string up or what

It sounds better on an Ipod than on pc speakers. Its just a normal pinch harmonic, the trick is the attack. You have to go after it pretty aggressivly, hit it hard. The one on my recording wasnt money, but it really screamed so I kept it. Again, I plan to redo it and make it more like Eddies. It took me a few hours of playing to even start to develop that sound... its sorta like riding a bike because I can hit it most of the time now, where I was lucky to hit it 1 time out of 20 during the recording. It helps if you have the right EQ settings as well. Boost the Mids on your first EQ, then, on your amp, scoop the mids out while boosting lows and highs. I don't know if thats the way everyone does it, but it works for me

The way I'm picking it is choking up on the pick and sorta strumming (while palm muting) the E, A, and D strings prior to hitting the G with the harmonic, all done with my thumb brushing each until it hits the G causing the harmonic. Basically its just a normal artificial pinch harmonic. Then I slightly bend the string up and before it completely dies, I add a little vibrato.