Armored Saint

[Tone Slinger]

This band has ALWAYS been great. I didnt like or agree with the Chrsylis label/managements decision to ask Phil Sandoval to leave right after the 1st record though, cause he had a good sense for a hook and melody. EVERYBODY knows that John Bush has some serious pipes. Dave Pritchard was (rip) also very key.Vera is also a great writer and continues to grow. Jeff Duncan has done a nice job with fitting in.Phil rejoined after Dave passed.The brother duo of Phil(guitar) and Gonzo(drums) Sandoval are of equal importance to Armored Saints overall sound and style. Those two are like clockwork.I really hated that Bush left on two occasions tojoin Anthrax. No offense to those guy's or thier fans,but imo, they are one of the worst metal bands ever. Hard to believe they are considered one of the 'Big 3'. The Armored Saint guy's are 10 times better imo.

Here is a cool little jam of them doing 'Brick in the Wall'

http://youtu.be/EvaGc5YinrA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[awangotango]

my first teacher was buddy's with dave Pritchard. i think all 3 had great riffs and tone. He mentioned his amp was modded and it wasn't until later that I found out how and did the mod to my own and instantly nailed his tone. Typical extra tube lee jackson mod that utilizes the PI more. And the late mark realle sold him a old marshall cab that to this day, is burned into my sonic brain as being the tone I wanted. I remember sitting down next to it in his mobile home in the woods, learning all about the dorian mode and listening to his demo tape which would have been a killer album if he hadn't died in a plane accident shortly after.

[Tone Slinger]

I recently got the deluxe edition of 'Symbol Of Salvation'. I tell ya, those demo versions of those songs (with Pritchard) KICK ASS ! He really was improving. I like his tone with the PRS guitar. The 6 screw tremelo he used on it stayed in tune and he benifited by that guitars construction. His sound was still 'Lee Jackson modded Marshall'.I am really hearing a Boss Super Overdrive pushing the front a bit and tightening the lower notes a bit. Pritchard was getting better for sure, he was getting alot better at constructing and condensing his ideas as a writer and a soloist. There is a real nice band interview with alot of Pritchard info/memories as well.

[awangotango]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oshCge5Ppn4[/youtube]

this is saint at a peak imo as a 4 piece. The way dave uses arppegiations to transition constantly between riffs leads and interludes/There's more mastery of the instrument here than in the last 20 years of rock guitar combined. Timing, groove and pitch in particular about half way through the show it;s all coming together.

No OD imo. The lee mod has tons of gain and it nails his tone, and also 'back for the attack' GL. Sounds like a leather bag full of bolts bashing you on the skull. and the amp with that mod is easy to play it has so much natural sustain. It's a cool mod but it's a one trick pony tone. Hard to dial in other plexi/jcm tones. I posted my amp a long time ago and I believe SDM still has the layout.

there's a live vid of him playing that PRS in a killer solo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwEnSVyAFnI

and yes those demos rock. he was peaking right when he left

[Tone Slinger]

It was really sad/tragic/dissapointing that he was adopted (at a young age) and there was no record of his biological parents or siblings. With bone marrow transplants (luekemia) it is parents or siblings who step up to help and donate. The 'matching system' of compatability is '6' (being perfect) system. Dave found a compatable '6' donor...........but they backed out . He was desperate (the end was near) and went with a 5 out of 6 match, which he knew was a risk. It didnt take/work and he passed.
I cant help but feel animosity toward the person who backed out on his transplant, whoever they are/were.

[Did J]

[awangotango]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA-C8_zgLXo


great old school sound and feel to the new tune/album. melody, song writing, vibe, midrange guitar tone. the classic old school metal recipe. Only thing i'd ask is all analog recording (if it wasn't?) and put that out on vinyl. digital recording on vinyl doesn't get the correct old school sound. but this is the right direction! there may be hope yet we pull ourselves out of this new dark age nosedive if we recognize that analog is king, along with songs and melody are what made all the old metal so classic


the new UFO ain't bad neither, finally got a decent guitar sound. Again it would have been much better to record analog because just releasing a digital recording on vinyl defeats the purpose. might as well just stay on digital unless the album is recorded to tape first. but some good tunes on both albums and for the first time in a long time, they deserve to be documented/recorded old school. there's still many analog studios

[Tone Slinger]

HELL YEAH Thanks for posting that. I agree totally. Armored Saint are as bad assed today as they were back in the '80's. Those guys have been playing togather for a LONG time (brothers Sandoval since the mid/late '70's and with Vera and Bush since like '81 ). Pritchard is sorely missed. The demos for 'Symbol of Salvation' that Pritchard was on, is some of my fav stuff to listen too. He (pritchard) really was progressing. Also, John's vocals on that demo were BETTER than what ended up on the album imo.

I gotta check this new stuff out

[awangotango]

didn't know about those demos..see they are a bonus disc on the deluxe edition.

http://www.metalblade.com/us/releases/a ... l-edition/