RIP John Sykes

[Blix]

Damn

Legendary THIN LIZZY And WHITESNAKE Guitarist JOHN SYKES Dead At 65

Legendary English guitarist John Sykes (TYGERS OF PAN TANG, THIN LIZZY, WHITESNAKE, BLUE MURDER, SYKES) has died at the age of 65. Earlier today (Monday, January 20),the following statement was posted on Sykes's social media: "It is with great sorrow we share that John Sykes has passed away...

blabbermouth.net

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

BOOO!

 

[Los-D]

Damn

Legendary THIN LIZZY And WHITESNAKE Guitarist JOHN SYKES Dead At 65

Legendary English guitarist John Sykes (TYGERS OF PAN TANG, THIN LIZZY, WHITESNAKE, BLUE MURDER, SYKES) has died at the age of 65. Earlier today (Monday, January 20),the following statement was posted on Sykes's social media: "It is with great sorrow we share that John Sykes has passed away...

blabbermouth.net

Daaaaamn.

This one hurts.

 

[norminal]

Fuuuck… was he ill?

Edit: Nevermind. Cancer. 65 is way too young.

 

[Badonkey Kong]

Shit...

 

[GTR37]

I thought this was a fake at first

Great player great tones Bad Boys is one of my favourite riffs on all time

 

[paisleywookiee]

Fuuuck… was he ill?

Edit: Nevermind. Cancer. 65 is way too young.

article says cancer. Must have kept it quiet.

 

[la szum]

Fucking fuck!

 

[Dave Lewis]

Sad news another gone to young.

 

[Stone]

RiP

 

[megametal7]

man... i just saw my Fb feed and at first i thought it was fake... John is one of my fav guitarist... That guy could sing, chug, shred and slay some pussy with no problems....


world lost a titan for sure...

R.I.P.

Your legacy lives on forever..

 

[la szum]

Sad that he kind of Jake E Lee'd the last 30+ years of his life.

Shitty people and the Music Biz can do that to even legends.

 

[TSJMajesty]

WHAT??!!! Man...., Sykes was phenomenal! Awesome player (on a LP Custom no less! NOT an easy guitar to play the shit he played), helluva songwriter, fantastic singer, and rock-star good looks. Feels like a gut-punch.

 

[TSJMajesty]

I remember that interview where he announced a collab w/ Portnoy and Sheehan. That would've been epic!

 

[LeftyLoungeLizard]

One of the best ever. One of my favorites. From the Gary Moore school.

He could be blazingly, shreddingly fast... or sultry as fuck.

These are for you, John.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

One of the best ever. One of my favorites. From the Gary Moore school.

He could be blazingly, shreddingly fast... or sultry as fuck.

These are for you, John.

Fucking goddamn cigarettes.

 

[Blix]

Sad that he kind of Jake E Lee'd the last 30+ years of his life.

Shitty people and the Music Biz can do that to even legends.

Yeah I really wonder what held him back. One single song since 2000.

 

[LeftyLoungeLizard]

Fucking goddamn cigarettes.

Yeah, and the brand were "Coverdale" brand.

 

[LeftyLoungeLizard]

Tone Recipe:

John Sykes' Whitesnake '87 & Blue Murder album tone (most stuff) -

'78 Gibson LPC with Gibson Dirty Fingers in bridge

2x Mesa-Boogie Mark III Coliseums (180 watts)

Mesa-Boogie 4x12s with C90s on top EV-12Ls on bottom

Lexicon PCM41

...you're using the Lexicon PCM41 to make a stereo signal with just a tiny bit of modulation/delay (a la micropitch).

Then you lay down the guitar part (in stereo).

Then you lay it down again (manual doubling) in stereo... in essence, giving you a total of 4 (four) guitar tracks (1x L&R + 1x L&R)!

“For the rhythm on ‘Still of the Night’, I used my 1978 Black Les Paul Custom”, Sykes said. “At that time, I had a Dirty Fingers pickup in the bridge. I plugged in two Mesa/Boogie Coliseum - which are great-sounding amps. I ran the gain at about 4, so the tone was heavy but clear [...] and I tracked in stereo with a slight delay between the two sides. Then I doubled the part.”

Straight from the horse's mouth, Bob Rock - "I went over and I just did what I did. I split John’s sound with a delay and a little modulation, which I had been doing and I split his sound. I think it was a Mark IV Mesa Boogie head and the EV Celestion cabs. What I did is he had his sound through one and then I split it with a DDL and made the other cab using that as a slave with a slight modulation. I just put up flat mics in the balance and miked it and he went, “Oh, my god. That’s it.”

 

[TVvoodoo]

Ahh this sucks. Guitar God moves on. Misty.