prince first started using wah wah effect during purple rain album as evident on computer blue and lets go crazy.
using wah wah changed the way he plays especialy during faster runs on freetboard.
so what did you think of his playing when you seen prince in his early dirty mind controversy-1999 days?
i heard he was being considered new jimi hendrix in guitar circles .
is it true?

thebanishedone said:

My opinion is that Prince picked up where Jimi left

thebanishedone said:

nuh-uh. im almost positive that he's just using his whammy bar on computer blue. u dont need a wah effect for that.

There's a wah in the coda of "computer blue."

And, I recall hearing him use the effect on 1999 (title track and DMSR, especially).

"The next Hendrix?" Really?

A stretch, I'd say.

^Yep. Prince has been using Wah-Wah since the very beginning.

ok he used it on 1999 song but he started using ig more on purple rain tour and album

I think he uses the wah wah (and all the other guitar effects) to cover up his technical shortcomings.

Christaro said:

He has no shortcomings

His playing on his last tour was immense. Fast and fluid.

Just becuase you don't play like that fat fuck malmsteen or eddie van halen doesn't mean you have shortcomings. Eddie used to practise shredding 10 hours a day. If Prince did that he would be the best

he use effects to colour the song he plays

Prince primarily used a foot pedal wah wah. Until recently he has been using the wah wah on the guitar itself. Still in all he's one of the best axe men around!

fcukthepolice said:

You guys don't know a thing about guitars. Can Satriani play ONE note like robert johnson? NO. shredders aren't guitarists, they're shredders. Prince's guitar playing echoes the blues. The right school, IMO

Funkyalien said:

you just basically repeated what i said so how can i not know anything?

ThreadBare said:

This is exactly right. Before the title cut of 1999 and DMSR, there was no use of the wah on any of his albums. He used a similar effect to the wah on his lead on 777-9311, plus the use of a whammy bar. But that was only because he was trying to imitate Jesse because that was the effects Jesse used while he was on the first tour with The Time. As far as P being compared to Jimi...that started damn near right away. Definately after his second album was released. There was more prominent rock leads in Bambi and Why You Wanna. That and the fact that P was black and P's stage pressence when he played leads echoed Jimi. So of course the media writers who witnessed this would write about it. As far as the guitar circles, at that time, P wasn't mentioned. P didn't start getting coverage as a guitarist, really, untill Purple Rain. And then, it was very little. Truly, the earliest serious coverage focused on him only as a guitarist was in a Guitar World magazine issue during Lovesexy in 88-89.

fcukthepolice said:

No offence, bro. I was using your quote to validate a point to some mfs in the house (u know who u r). a spur of the moment thang

Funkyalien said:

O,K!

Wah wah or no wah wah, Prince is one of the baddest guitar players on the planet.He's right up there with Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck in my book.

fcukthepolice said:

you can't hypothesize someone's greatness...

i don't know caca about prince's greatness on quitar...he could be one of the best...or he couldn't. that's not why i am a fan of his...

i just thought your rationale was a bit odd.

sosgemini said:

Ever heard the saying practise makes perfect?

fcukthepolice said:

yeah...and?

Oh man. A guitar playing discussion.

blackguitaristz said:

Not to be intentionally contrary B...LOL..I do recall a clean some clean wah rhythm guitar on "Soft & Wet". I haven't listen to the track thru headphones in a great while so I'll have to double check. On "777-9311" to me that sound like an envelope follower or a T-Wah for that sweep in tone during the solo.

Now as far as his coverage in the guitar press..from time to time a album would get reviewed & it would generally be complimentary to his guitar work. But, that article I think you're referring to didn't come about until almost the mid 90's.
I've got pratically all the Guitar worlds from the late 80's & the only thing I can recall is a review of "Sign of the time" one short article about Wendy Melvoin, a photo of Prince & blurb about him being on stage with The Bangles and the Jesse Johnson article & maybe an review of Parade & Lovesexy. That other coverage was later.

Guitar Player usually had reviews of Prince's & Wendy & Lisa's then current albums. I first article that I recall there that dealt with Prince specifically was an interview with Levi Seacer & Miko Weaver about their role in his band & in the studio. That was an early 90's article IIRC.

superfreak said:

he wasn't using the whammy bar until 2004

L4OATheOriginal said:

for the record kidz its actually called a "Tremelo"

IAintTheOne said:

IAintTheOne said:

Uh...yeah the the correct term is "Vibrato". To drop or raise in pitch.
Tremelo became the accepted term even though it doesn't correctly describe what the device actually does.

Prince has been using Wah and Whammy effects pedals for years. He usually uses them so sparingly, you really have to specifically listen for them to notice.

Before Prince started using guitars(live) with a tremolo bar in recent years, he would often physically force the neck fore and aft of the guitar body for the same dive-bomb effect. Hendrix did this as well.

superfreak said:

none of the guitars he was using at the time had a whammy bar...on Computer Blue, it's a wah pedal




No, Hendrix actually had a Whammy Bar/Tremolo/Vibrato, which explains why he was out of tune so often. To do divebombs like that by pushing on the neck, you would rip the neck off the guitar, especially on a fender...
[Edited 1/9/08 20:07pm]
[Edited 1/9/08 20:08pm]

kstrat said:[quote]

blackguitaristz said:

Not to be intentionally contrary B...LOL..I do recall a clean some clean wah rhythm guitar on "Soft & Wet". I haven't listen to the track thru headphones in a great while so I'll have to double check. On "777-9311" to me that sound like an envelope follower or a T-Wah for that sweep in tone during the solo.

Now as far as his coverage in the guitar press..from time to time a album would get reviewed & it would generally be complimentary to his guitar work. But, that article I think you're referring to didn't come about until almost the mid 90's.
I've got pratically all the Guitar worlds from the late 80's & the only thing I can recall is a review of "Sign of the time" one short article about Wendy Melvoin, a photo of Prince & blurb about him being on stage with The Bangles and the Jesse Johnson article & maybe an review of Parade & Lovesexy. That other coverage was later.

Note: I DID state that the effect P used on 777 was a "similar effect to the wah". Which those effects u mentioned are indeed similar to the sound of a wah. I wasn't even thinking about P's first album, for some reason. In my mind, I only went as far back as his second album. It's a strong chance that there is some wah on Soft and Wet. I also haven't heard shit off that album in several years.

blackguitaristz said:[quote]

kstrat said:

Cool...I was aware of your mentioning a similar effect in your previous post..I just stuck that in there for the sake of stating the name for type of effect it could have been. -K-

prince started using tremolo whammy bar in the year 2000.on hit n run tour from 2000 he had whammy bar .habibi track features whammy bar.

but prince made one exception.he used whammy bar and phaser effects on 777-9311 to emulate jesse johnson vibe.
when prince recorded guitar solo on 777-9311 he threw the tape with that song to jesse and said:jesse you play some mean guitar on this song