Iced Earth - How to Play "Dystopia" Part 1

[jntdhome]

Schaffer is to rythym guitar what Steve Harris is to bass. Incredible and sooooo precise.

[Cymbaline713]

Just found out he uses heavy strings, gauged 13-56! I bow to his greatness.

[thalassara]

he is the ultimate rhythm guitarist

[piratebutty]

Hard 2 believe jon is rythem guitar

[wolfey41]

Nice to see Jon is a Patriot!

[fellipeluck]

very good!

[l3orn1n88]

john schaffer is a fucking mutant with the riffs, its all about IE and IM

[sinanrotterdam]

tuning?

[thedonutboy21]

@sinanrotterdam I believe its standard Eb (E flat, EbAbDbGbBbEb). Pretty much Iced Earth's regular tuning

[rkrokberg]

This is one of the things I love about metal. You watch these videos and realize how much work and how much awesome riffs and parts and vocals and everything a single song contains. I wonder if there's some videos where some dude sits on a computer and says: Hi, I'm gonna show you how I made those computer sounds that require no actual skills for that Billboard 1# hit blablabla. I respect metal musicians for actually being musicians who put a lot of work in a song, be it good or not.

[jtrodin]

@rkrokberg The best comment I've seen in a long time

[MrMethadrine]

@rkrokberg Trust me.Creating a whole orchestra song via pc is not easy.And there r videos showing to u how to create these sounds.It might no need such physical effort as playing an instrument but it needs brain.Many people into metal are into digital composing.

[6672rock]

One of the most underrated rhythm guitarists in heavy metal. I've never seen a picking hand move that fast and flawlessly before. He's got some major rhythm chops.

[MrSeanmor]

a picking god!!!!!

[nicholasfike]

DAT TONE!

[joniiboy]

gibson make a fuckin jon schaffer sig les paul :D

[YeBlackKnight]

Lo, for if this knight were to achieve'th such rhythmic velocity with mine six-stringeth-banshee: this knight shoulde quadruple ye practice regimen of vigorous "sausage spanking" to 10-score times per day!

At that rate of "polishing mine loin-sword" this knight may well launch'eth mine "yogurt pistol" straight into ye heavens!

This post now concludeth!

[HisDudeness89NL]

His rhythm technique is perfaption.

[jcozora]

one of the best riffs makers from history, i love this guy.

[StewieSwan]

This guy is an idiot and an asshole, but god damn that's some tight rhythm playing.

[reet12337]

@StewieSwan You base that of this video? Fucking retard.

[StewieSwan]

@reet12337 Piss off :)

[reet12337]

@StewieSwan Fucking ignorant cunt. Go judge more people based on videos you stupid little shallow foreigner fuck.

[StewieSwan]

@reet12337 I didn't judge it based on this video. You made an ignorant assumption. Also "foreginer"? The fuck are you talking about? Way to show your bigotry.

[reet12337]

@StewieSwan Then what did you base it on you ugly fuck. you look like a retarded nerd in your video. PS: go fuck your harlot mother ( in the ass )

[dentros]

@StewieSwan how is he an idiot or an asshole? I haven't seen anything that you can base that off of, I was at a show and he dedicated a song to a friend of mine who just came back from Iraq, so asshole is out of the question. This guy is a history buff, has strong beliefs of his own, does tons of research for every piece he writes, so how is he an idiot?

[l3orn1n88]

@StewieSwan I knight thee sir ass of faggalon

[mic33j]

You Sir,

Are a GOD! Love Iced Earth!!

[rocknrolf6]

Avenged Sevenfold? Bullet for my Valentine? JAAAAAAA!!!

[nessundorma666]

John is pure genius when it comes to music! Love IE for many many years now!

[bajholster]

Tight as fuck! Easily one of my favorite rhythm guitarists.

[aligatoras98]

"dont tread on me" and a snake on the guitar ? i thing he likes hetfield a lot..... but he is by far better player than james in all axes....

[666danielclark666]

@aligatoras98 The snake with "Don't Tread on Me" is the Gadsen Flag...one of the USA's first national flags before the "Stars and Stripes".

Nothing to do with James Hetfield, but hey..live you learn eh? :)

[aligatoras98]

@666danielclark666 hey im not from america so i live and learn eh!

[blacklabelmansociety]

I loved the tone! What was the gear?

[Rifferx1]

Jon, this is highly appreciated and I am sure you are reading these responses. I'm 43 and i can't get enough of IE and your brand of riffing. I also sling the rhythm a little bit myself with a similar style, although I am obviously not near your level of precision and speed. You are definitely one of my biggest influences along with Hetfield and Mustaine, but in my mind you are the best writer and player in the bunch. Thanks for continuing to put out the best metal around, album after album.

[trdi]

@Rifferx1 You are naive or something else if you think he reads these comments. It's not even his channel. Wow...

[Rifferx1]

@trdi Maybe so, but I don't see how it is shocking to think a guy would want to drop by his How to vids on Youtube to see the responses. Takes all of a few seconds. I know I would anyway.

[trdi]

@Rifferx1 You would now, but trust me, you wouldn't if your name was Jon Schaffer. Google Jon Schaffer and you will find 3000 videos. 30 seconds per video every week is 25 hours.

[mits8989]

john can make the guitar cum

[MrSeanmor]

insane picking!!!!

[nathansongne]

Tuned in Eb?

[Warlord328]

@nathansongne yea, half step down.

[sagyas]

Metal with Johnny Cash shirt

[tometal83]

a shithead disliked that ....dumbass!!!

[metalhead41294]

i fucking love iced earth they are so underrated, Jon is one of the best rythm guitarist EVER!!!!!!!

[Rahan482]

Dystopia is a masterpiece i love it

[15viceandvirtues]

Jon is like, one of the most underrated riffers of all time. So many brilliant riffs throughout Iced earth's discography!!!

[samarhello]

I don't normally swear, but 1:25 HOLY FUCK!!!

[pizzacastello]

I was just about to write "he's downpicking" and in just a second he said I prefer downpicking, haha. Iced Earth, Athens is ready!

[holyevil]

FARK YEAH!!! but what happened to him playing les pauls?

[WyldeBass]

I want a jon schaffer signature guitar!!!!!!

[Grimoire100]

@WyldeBass Its gorgeous. He has the riffs to match though

[Jem16Indica]

james hetfield sucks donkey balls, but Jon Schaffer is one of the most inspirational rhythm guitarist's to me.

[AnthonyRF1996]

@Jem16Indica he doesn't suck, but schaffer kicks his ass any day.

[Tuscopa]

Would love to see Jon play "When the Night Falls". Amazing song. Hell, would spend all day watching him play!

[TheWickedChild10]

He's the best rythm guitar player out there he has proven that with every iced earth album it's a disgrace that he is so underrated but for me jon's a legend.

[heydenlabelle777]

LOVE THAT GUITAR

[6672rock]

Jon has got to be the tightest and fastest rhythm guitarist in all of heavy metal, bar none! I've never heard riffs played with such razor-sharp precision by anyone else!

[Godwin117]

@6672rock john pettrucci

[undericesinger]

Jon does do a lot but from a rythmn standpoint Schaffer may have him in some respects.

[SadisticThrasher]

@6672rock jeff waters

[Tuscopa]

@6672rock Yep! Enought said. This guy is a MASTER when it comes to rhythm and the six strings!

[easq15]

Thumbs up if you laughted your ass off when someone said Johnny Cash is Elvis Presley!

[veeragandersucks]

lovin the elvis presley t shirt

[BurntIce12]

@veeragandersucks That is Johnny Cash lol

[veeragandersucks]

@BurntIce12 aww....noone fell for my trolling.......yet

[Louismetal1]

Jon picks like hell !!! The new album is really sick !

[randynelson1]

Man I realy wan't one of his preamps......

[MrExplorer260]

Finally someone knocked some sense into GuitarWorld.

[NickGallosMetal]

An den uphrxe o John den 8a uphrxe zwh se auton ton kosmo

[szipkas]

Hetfield and Schaffer are both my heroes but Jon is still true to his metal roots.

[EnglShredder84]

Iced Earth is all Eb tuning, however Schaffer has used a baritone guitar tuned to Bb for songs such as "The Clouding" from Framing Armaggedon, and "End of Innocence" on the new album.....

[MrExplorerman101]

Thats a sick ass explorer

[Cymbaline713]

Jon Schaffer eats James Hetfield for lunch.

[megapurify]

@Cymbaline713 Fuck yea!

[kaliopas1]

@Cymbaline713 obviously......HE should be declaired FAR THE GREATEST rythm guitarist in the whole fucking universe...the guy is a machine...we look forward to see him once more in Greece in a few days...and we promise we will fucking destroy everything

[MrsScottWright]

@Cymbaline713 Yes he does and Hetfield is good too. But not even close to Jon Schaffer. Iced Earth rocks.

[SonGokuFan]

@MrsScottWright Which says a lot about Schaffer, because Het is really good. I saw Iced Earth live, and his picking hand is insane.

[ThatKrookedVulture]

@Cymbaline713 And then eats Hammet for dessert.

[theclitmaster666]

@ThatKrookedVulture Fruits AND Vegetables!?!

[14xJake]

he looks like a heavy metal version of Dumbledore....

[lamentate07]

Schaffer is one of the most precise rhythm players in metal, no doubt. Can't say i like the way his guitars sound once they are recorded though.

[StainIessChina]

I have that shirt

[allfu93]

he can play that type of rythym with so much ease, not even i can obviously

[JerryFro26]

Love that shirt!

[GuitarManDN]

haha his shirt! and he has a randy rhoads strap!

[BDPGT]

DON"T TREAD ON ME

[DarthCyclonuS]

@AdamWarlock666

Pffft, James Hetfield who? I've been singing the praise of Schaffer since Burnt Offering came out. Hetfield can't hope to have a whisper of a wish to hold a candle to Schaffer. (By the way, love your handle sir ;D). Metallica for me fell off the map a long time ago. Not even in my top ten, hell, maybe not even my top 20 anymore. Iced MUTHA FUCKIN Earth for the win!

[alxdd2]

Dude, could you imagine him in a band with Jamez Hetfield!, that would be sick!!

[2und2sind4]

@alxdd2 james hetfield? seeing him with the lamb of god guitarists would be awesome

[TheBladefeather]

Why do poeple just recite what they see or hear on T.V. :"Hetfield is the best rhythm guitarist" - Which was said on one of Metallica' s documentaries on one of the music channels and since then I have heard so many people say the same line! The number of better rhythm players around is insane and include Mr. Shaffer.

[skiny998]

Better than Hetfield?? You must be joking, he's good but not close to Hetfield! Hetfield's the best rhythm guitarist ever.

[aris17561]

@skiny998 ha ha thats good... hetfield not even in his dreams can play the triplets of schaffer...Not even in his dreams !!!!!!

[skiny998]

@aris17561 I suspect he could quite easily, Check out some metallica songs like Blackened, Creeping death, That was just your life and loads of others. He really is just amazing, Best rhythm guitarist I've ever seen man =)

[aris17561]

@skiny998 ok...do you play guitar ? is it hard for you to play creeping death or blackened ? In three min you can learn them... Just try to play side by side with the original cd , pure evil , dantes inferno , iced earth and tell me again your opinion... I love metallica but doesnt mean that hetfield can play all those riffs that schaffer does all these years... Maybe he can , but he never showed to us.... All newbie guitar player , they start to play metallica,,, So easy...

[skiny998]

@aris17561 I can play parts of those songs, I might check the bands out at some other time. But i'm exploring more grunge/punk bands at the moment. Obviously Hetfield can't do everything, Metallica isn't that easy. It just depends what song I.e seek and destroy, that's just chugging on the low E string basically. Where as other songs are much faster.

[NebraskaPL]

@aris17561 Yeah, you can learn any song in 3 minutes if you're good enough :P Also, Metallica has some more difficult riff than those you mentioned - Dyers Eve or Frayed End of Sanity for example. I mean, Jon Schaffer is a great guitarist, and he's superclean, but do you really think James Hetfield wouldn't play all those riffs? I'm sure he would.

[aris17561]

@NebraskaPL You re right... There are lot of guitarists non professionals in youtube that plays iced earth , dream theater... Even malmsteen , satrianni and vai , are being covered ... So a profe like hetfield , for sure he can , if he tries... But i judge them , by their work... And I know every newbie student is able to play lot of ruthm parts of metallica , and I know lots of experienced guitarists that cannot play schaffer`s triplets , in tha same speed... That my point of view...

[NebraskaPL]

@aris17561 Ok, I see your point ;) Btw that reminds me of Kirk struggling to play Hetfield's triplet riff in Some of Monster, haha.

[BKets4ever]

@skiny998 I can smell fanboy from a mile away. Learn to appreciate guitar. Hetfield is a really good songwriter and a good guitarist. His vocals were really awesome back in the 80's and maybe the early 90's but now they're just above mediocre. Claiming that he's THE BEST rhythm guitarist ever is at least an overstatement.

[skiny998]

@BKets4ever Yeah I am a fan boy admittedly. His vocals just changed because of his age and touring so much, you couldn't really expect him to sing like he did on the justice album now could you? Although that'd be amazing if he could. I do appreciate guitar, I've been playing for 6 years now, I'm exploring other genres like Punk and grunge at the moment. I used to just limit myself to rock and metal, I even learnt a bit of Mozart a month ago. Personally I think his rhythm playing it just great!

[BKets4ever]

@skiny998 I absolutely agree with you! His rhythm playing IS great! It's just not the best.

[hjalmarBuoi]

NICE

[AdamWarlock666]

...and that's why some people(including me) believe he's a better rythm guitarist than James Hetfield...

[thanoskakourhs]

@AdamWarlock666 you can't compare those two...

[aris17561]

@AdamWarlock666 by far schafer is a better rythm than hetfield..

[MegaDarth666]

@AdamWarlock666 Well, to be honest, James isn't the best rhythm guitar player out there. Metallica had it's place sure, but it's a really over rated band.

[king666nothing]

@AdamWarlock666 James Hetfield is extremely overrated, the whole Metallica is. Guys like Schaffer and Waters (Annihilator) can easily put Hetfield to shame any day.

[Deidarete6ml]

@AdamWarlock666 Compare this with Hetfields is like compare... Hanna montana and Blind Guardian

[BurntIce12]

@AdamWarlock666 Jon Schaffer is the tightest Rhythm guitarist ever.

[ozzyzyggy]

@AdamWarlock666 both are awesome, but James is a legend

[Tuscopa]

@AdamWarlock666 I also agree with you. This guy is simply amazing, rhythm guitar wise. First time I saw him I was like "how th Fu$%k can someone play that tight and that good?!" But James is a close second and also rips it good ;) \m/

[Necrophil89]

@AdamWarlock666 sure he is!

[eltxo]

With that right hand wrist speed, his masturbation process won't last much.

[Tuscopa]

@eltxo LOL

[Rockerboy3872]

this guy's palm muting is tight and crispy as fuck, geez...

[SomeYoungGuy1993]

What tuning is he using?

Drop C#?

[jmeadowbrooks]

@SomeYoungGuy1993 He uses E flat! :)

[aris17561]

@jmeadowbrooks No he allways uses D#

[joniiboy]

@SomeYoungGuy1993 Dont think iced earth has ever used drop C, maybe though, they mainly use e flat and D as far i know

[drury2361]

@SomeYoungGuy1993 Mostly all Iced Earth is Eb

[aris17561]

i wish i knew what amp he uses...

[juliancscs]

@aris17561 @tiuri95 Custom amps from Larry Amplification 

[joniiboy]

@juliancscs he also uses marshall jcm2000 with a larry preamp

[juliancscs]

@joniiboy Not on Dystopia

[aris17561]

@juliancscs yep i know it of course I am a bog fan... I mean in this video here i wish i knew what amp he uses...thnkx anyway...

[tiuri95]

JOHNNY CASH!! :D

[fireseal0]

NOBODY can play rhythm like that...yikes!!!

[katevenwanifores]

@fireseal0 YEAH.... exeprt those who just know how to play the guitar... i agree with you but this album  is not so difficult if you compare it with the other albums... but its amazing!!! :P:P:P

[antony1234560]

@katevenwanifores hahahaha re ta idia ta glika esu!!