Matthias Jabs (Scorpions)

[Tone Slinger]

Back at like 12 or 13 years old,I used to sit and rock in a rocking chair,listening to stuff on a walkman and speculate which was my fave. tone of all.........was it Michael Schenkers on 'Obsession', was it EVH's on 'Fair Warning', was it Matthias Jabs on 'Black Out' . Man, hard to believe I STILL pretty much love those same tones best ! Maybe he did use a treble booster ? I'm still wondering about how he ran the wha. Maybe 'jumpered' and blended in that other input channel ? It was SO natural.

Lately, I've been REALLY into the sound Jabs got on 'Same Thrill' on 'Love At First Sting'. Its the black '63 strat with original, non locking floyd and the early (Dan Lawrence ?) hb'er. You can hear the amp giving as much as its got. VERY much like early EVH in a way. Those 50 watters with the lower plate voltage ('75-'81 ?) really 'brown out' when you have them wide open. Jabs, might have used something else in conjunction with that 1978 50 watt 4 holer as well (some sort of load or soak?). The 'Transformer Killer' I've never been sure about. Even Jabs posted something somewhere else about it, but I cant remember what was said ?

[awangotango]

I used to have a '76 50w which had maybe 380B+. I could not get it to sound great and blamed the low plate voltage. it was mush. but i was not knoweledgable at teh time of mods and i'm sure now i could have gotten it to sound great by tightening up the feedback, taking off v2a cap, resistor plate bias etc.....but i don't know if that is the key or even part of matthias blackout tone. I'm sure some of it is dieter's killr vintage board and tube gear down in his german basement recording studio. think of all the supreme recordings that were done by him, metal heart, balls to the wall lovedrive animal magnetism, restless and wild, breaking the chains, the first black n blue, love at first sting etc. so part of the great marshall tone is that gear imo, so i don't know if that added compression i hear is from that gear or a treble booster etc. but something is going on if you compare that lead tone to rudoplphs's which still sounds great, but is more stock straight in plexi. i say a treble booster linked in between the channels, possibly along with a cocked wah, but i hear less of that and as you say, its hard to get a wah to sound mild, but it is possible if it's blended inbetween the channels. If i had a wah and treble booster i'd experiment....but since i don't i just try and dial in the amp with certain tubes and bias points to get that treble saturation i hear him get. it is almost as good as eddies tone imo.

[Tone Slinger]

Agreed, Matthias got a tone right up there with EVH's for a period of time. I know he is still fond of and uses that '78 50 watt 1987. He said he got it brand new right after he joined the Scorpions. I agree that Dierks definately had an overall impact on the Scorps tone back then. He had a unique production style and like you said, certain pieces of gear that was probably rare/unique being used to his applications. Still, the boots sound GREAT, though often Francis Bucholz bass tone overpowered (old Ampegs) the mix.

[chrisom]

I just picked up a black 2006 Epiphone "1967 RI-style" Flying V on CraigsList for $75.00 with a cracked neck. Fixed that with wood glue and a clamp, and put Gibson USA nickel cover humbuckers in it that I had lying around on the parts bench. Looks like the Gibson Schenker is playing on the cover of "Scorpions: World Wide Live"... Plays and sounds great.

[Tone Slinger]

Good deal man ! Those Epi's are pretty much made to Gibson spec....mahogany, rosewood, etc. sure miss my Flying V !

[chrisom]

Here is some eye-candy...
http://1967-flyingv.weebly.com/sunburst.html

[awangotango]

those producers and engineers back then in the golden era really had an impact on the records. Other greats that come to mind:
wyn davis
chris tsangarides
martin birch
tom allom
spencer proffer
michael wagener
ron nevison
max norman
chris bubacz
neil kernon



for my money, the late 70's and eraly 80's had it all, the gear, the tunes, the musicians, the engineers, the producers, the inpsiration. rock n roll was on all cylinders at that point!

[chrisom]

I still maintain that Marshalls running on European 220 volts at 50 cycles per second sounds better than on USA standard of 120 volts at 60 cycles per second. Ask George Lynch, he'll agree...

[awangotango]

agreed, 50v seems to give a smoother top end and more compression. Alot of the lp's i've got are from that era, many european and many US. those recorded on 120 have a sharper edge to the guitar sound compared to UK, german recordings.

[fixer2]

Yeah what set of amps guitar cords effects etc. is he using on the solo and lead breaks on no one like you .

[fixer2]

So I read he used a 50 watt marshall from 1977 78 is that much different than the earlier 1987 models like a kit I want to build they say it is a 1987 model based around the way Marshall made it in the year 1968? just want to get that sound of the early stuff of his like the song no one like you.

[Tone Slinger]

Matthias stated in a 1983 interview that he used a 1959 Gibson Les Paul on the solo's on 'No One Like You'. I also think he used it on 'Arizona' as well.
I think Matthias sold that guitar a few years back.

[fixer2]

NICE GUITAR I have a Gibson SG but what amps and effects do you think he is using for the solo on No One Like you .Do I have to cascade the pre amp tubes in this 1968 1987 model clone or should I get a jcm 800 clone ,I haven't gotten either kit yet just want to do my home work first I can get ad dc sounds out of my jtm 45 clone .

[Tone Slinger]

Matthias used a 1978 50 watt top (4 input '1987' model). In interviews he has stated that the amp was/is totally stock, except for a " transformer killer" ? I'm not quite sure what he meant, maybe some form of an attenuator ? The speaker cab was definately loaded with 25 watt celestions. To this day Jabs still uses this same amp (for certain sounds in the studio)that he bought new the year he joined the Scorpions

[fixer2]

is the 1978 four input like a early jcm 800 is there a master volume yet and when did the extra gain stage start that I been told is in the jcm 800 compared to a 1968 lead 50 watt.as for attenuator what do you guys think of us one of the diy resistor type I would like to build out of the Gerald Webber amp book for my jtm 45 plus amp kit so I can just turn down the sound level just alittle and keep the amp cranked