Michael Lee Firkins - Hot Licks Video Intro

[MvoIII]

I wanna know how you can make a whammy bar sound so much like a slide guitar!!

[jimmyleppard6]

Don't you all find pathetic and sad that almost nobody knows about for e.g. this guy, Jason Becker, Joe Satriani, Joey Tafolla etc. and almost everybody knows about Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga? People have absolutely no taste for music. I'm a musician myself and I know that music is all about opinions and listening what you like, but I have no respect to people who can't recognize what is good, quality music. Just cause they listen to Jusin, they say he's the best. Well, fuck you..

[gtrrobster]

@jimmyleppard6

I dunno.. I think lots of people know about these guys. And those that do know their work much deeper than the teen idols. Plus in a few years, the greats will continue to influence, while the flash in the pans will no longer exist in people's memories..... other than as just that, a memory.

But heay I hear ya. It would be nice if dudes like this toured a lot and played front of 1000s :)

[WILLIEBUDDA123]

He's so underrated it's pathetic!!!

[Nevigo]

What became of him actually?

[dougs2112]

@Nevigo He's on tour right now with Montrose.

[Nevigo]

@dougs2112

Ahh great he still rock.Thanks.

[UnderMediKated]

OMAHA BITCHES!

[Fredrick997]

hahaha check out the whammy usage.. fucking sick

[Chaif15Let]

His playing sounds like harmonica.

[UnderMediKated]

The man is simply genius!

[frillylizzard]

someone pigeonhole that!! its got it all...

[mortimer2100]

you know this guy is badass when jason becker talks about how awesome he is.

[Cwoka94]

any1 know which guitar he is using ??

[HellRider671]

@Cwoka94 Yamaha Pacifica

[Cwoka94]

@HellRider671 thanks ;)

[rjtexas]

@Cwoka94

He is using a Yamaha Pacifica. He used to be my guitar teacher at a place called Russo's music in Omaha, Nebraska. To state the obvious, he is really good. He is not simply a shredder though. He loved a lot of R&B, Prince, world music, and would try and incorporate that into his playing.

[digitusmedio]

Well he certainly has the ability to shred, but I wouldn't consider this shred at all. I love his style, and how he emulates slide guitar with the whammy bar and uses harmonica sounding licks, or arpeggios I suppose. Overall fantastic.

[kossolas]

Mindblowing!!!

[6672rock]

The whammy bar dips almost make it sound like he's playing slide guitar. A really cool effect!

[Cory1721]

Cool! sounds like a slide,incredible!

[rockgeorge7]

incrivelllllllllllllllllllllll­llllllll, the master

[ibanezxiphos700]

is hot licks still around?

[UnderMediKated]

Why has he not made it really big yet?

Tons of talent and a super nice guy.

[skidjs]

Because he doesn't do popular music.

But he is highly appreciated in the realm of guitar music.

Satch and Vai are the exceptions, in that they have become popular as musicians.

[rockguitar82]

please join the new fan page of michael lee firkins on facebook if you are a fan; we need more people

[rockguitar82]

what kind of guitar is he using???!

[caterver]

Yamaha Pacifica.

[Purrkins]

UnderMediKated means not his current neighbor. Lives next to his dad where he grew up in Omaha- LOL!.

[Soldano88]

Incredible playing!

[Hogweed11]

Love it.

[highrollerzzz]

that neck is just sweeeet

[danimal511]

This is some hot shit

[UnderMediKated]

My neighbor and proud of it. The guy can play. Both my neighbors can play mean ass guitar. Kind of weird?

[algor123]

???? what that cant be true cause this is my neighbor??????

[moroney88]

I love his use of the bar. Is he the only one who´s famous for making it sound like a slide?

[MADEINMAIDEN]

no, i think he uses/used to hybrid pick.

right hand: pick and fingers.....

[MrZovar]

I only knew this guy from his Laughing Stacks solo, but not any more.

BTW, does he always NOT use a pick?

[moregroove]

Actually, he uses a pick in the middle of the vid, he palms it the rest of the time i think.

[shredftw]

WHERE is a tab for this...

[zakkattack99]

that weird tapping shit at 1:40 is mental

[highrollerzzz]

aaahhhh, pacifica :))

[kalapoka666]

god damn is that a pacifica!!!!!! i thought it was something much higher cost or something from Yamaha!! damn man!!!

[MICKEYISLOWD]

yes usa pacificas one of the best built guitars ever they out ibanez custom shop to shame...

[ibanez777vbk]

tell that to vai satch paul gilbert.probs the best 3 rock guitarists ever.ibanez cripples pacifica by a distance.jem guitars are the best guitars on the planet,j custom are miles better than pacifica aswell.

[toxicity28]

i rember i played a pacifica before with some stock dimarzio in it, it was holding that guitar because this guy at a shop was fixing my guitar,i really really wanted to keep that pacifica so bad, it had a very slim and slnder neck and sound ded like a beast

[matthewcross]

damn, slideless slide!!!! LOVE the sound and style! never heard anything like it, at least without a slide! and on a yamaha!

[inchskater]

damn, this video has to be one of the best i've ever seen !

[Ninforadio]

so amazing! axl roses is an asshole...

[pronoiametal]

ultra amazing bar technique!!

[sweeptapper]

he has too much feels, maybe he could sell some to Kanye...

[zefurioustube]

Great chicken pickin' !

[shredftw]

is it scalloped?

[asafav]

I don't think so. looks like a nomal neck to me.

[sicktkdchick]

holy crap! i have never seen a whammy used that way!

[astoundingchimp]

This sounds real pretty, but he's not a patch on Larry Conklin.

[SOCOM018]

lol, shutup!

[TimeLordGuitar]

Some of those lines sound EXACTLY like a slide! Cool to hear someone make use of the bar without resorting to dives/sirens and such. Firkins rules.

[StevieRayVaughan84]

Amazing:sure,Jeff Beck is his biggest influence..

[Fingore]

There's no hope for modern guitar if there's people commenting on this vid saying it's "Boring". It's way more technically and rhythmically advanced and far better sounding than a lot of people 20 years after it's time. Props to MLF. Total BAMF.

[MoritzxD]

sounds so much like mattias eklundh

[Wh00terman]

this was years before mattias.

[PhantomNote]

not entirely true. IA had already been releasing demos and one album (that didn't sell at all :p) with Frozen Eyes in the 80's. In 92 he played on Fate's Scratch N' Sniff album which only 2 years later than Firkins.

[Wh00terman]

@PhantomNote I doubt he played the same back then.

[IVANOVICHM]

EXELENTE ARRECHISIMO.............

[Modes9]

You can't really compare him to Vinnie Moore or Greg Howe. He's more like a 70's player. I think he has more in common with Hendrix, Johnny Winter, Tommy Bolin, and Rory Gallagher.

[shreddingjake]

but he played with the energy of moore and howe. he really fused the shrapnel-era shred with the 60's-70's blues and country, and made something totally unique that he was unappreciated for

[Vinniemoore89]

True

His guitar pieces are.... but his skills are endless

Listen to his playing on

"End of the Begining"

Skill wise he is up there with the top shredders

He sweeps incredible clean

[violingineer]

I dont consider this playing "shredding". Guys, he is blues, with a little country, metal, and funk thrown in. Nobody knows of him because the PR people in this country can't throw him into any SINGLE category. He's too damn good.

[Vinniemoore89]

Neither do I.

I was just saying if he wanted to he could shred with the best of them, his sweep arpeggios in "End of the Beginning" are incredible

[SOCOM018]

oh i agree, they were very precise and incredibly fast

[1madaboutguitar]

Yer he is a fantastic musician/guitarist

[kalapoka666]

He IS too damn fuc*ing good!

[algor123]

@violingineer alot of people dont like him and thats why hes not famous

[rallyivan1234]

@violingineer he played with Jason Becker

[chapkoark]

interesting style, too bad he was never really famous

[Goestothemayor]

he probably read this and was like FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUU-

[aeiturra]

great, he has his particular style , very different from the rest of the shred players. And whitout pick

[theothecoolguy]

Great whammy bar usage!

[Lukeyboi14]

this is just simply fuking amazing

Its proof to all those cocky shredders that speed counts for nothing.

[5amuu]

now THIS is proof that the 80's simply ruled

[danyeo]

@5amuu He came in the 90's though. Probably why he wasn't as popular as he should of been. He's soo much better than plnety of the Varney guys.

[janderson2000]

@5amuu I'll take the 70s of the 80s. The 80s is when guitar players started to think everything was a race.

[Sodacake]

@5amuu pretty sure this was recorded post-1990.

[barishman]

@Sodacake at the beginning of the video it said copyright 1989...

[moineau2007]

@5amuu

First album is dated 1990... so that's more 90's stuff.

[5amuu]

@moineau2007 Alright, I wasn't aware of that back when I posted the comment. Still rules though!

[brosaguitar]

@5amuu

This video is from 1994.

[planck23]

It looks like he has midget hands

[OwnedRL]

i actually thought it was a slide until i saw the whammy bar.

[risingforce86]

After watching the Vinnie Moore and Greg Howe video intro's this is very boring. Sorry guys.

[darkCheer]

I knew of Moore a while back and checked out Greg Howe's stuff. I randomly bumped into this guy - Firkins -and I gotta say this guy smokes them both. Sorry dude, but your not on the ball here. This guy has so much more feel in his music and his licks just sound better too.

[Vinniemoore89]

technically he smokes them as well

[Govanmaniac]

Fake Slide guitar Rocks!!

[Poppypoo1]

Just stumbled across this guy after 25 years playing. What a guitarist ! Totally and Utterly Wicked!!!! Its like striking gold!!!!

[cmeade20]

ur a fucking fake guitarist u piece of shit

[Lukeyboi14]

sounds like a slide with his whammy bar

[marcometalico]

somebody know where I can download this instructional video????

[BuzzCrumhunger]

No knock here, but a lot of it sounds like it came right off of Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop album (not to mention most of what JB plays for the last 20 years). But if you're going to steal tricks, you could do worse than to copy the mighty Jeff!

[dingle1]

His technique is all the more amazing because its so much harder to pitch double stops and chords with a FR trem. A transposer trem like the Stienberger work much better. MLF is a legend!

[666guitarfreak]

legend, but so unfamous.

he's AWSOME!!!! thumbs up, 5 starss

[shinybald36]

if think this cool you should check out the bb king jeff beck video

[planck23]

hes a funky motherfucker!! Great Job dude, it was completely Rad!!

[Purrkins]

Guitar magazine voted him the best guitarist you never heard of.

[benshamin]

sick

[kisokutadashii]

man this guy is great!!!

[IsKeLeToR]

perfect..

[marcometalico]

where i can learn to manage the whammy bar like that?

[CobHatecrewNor]

practise practise practise :)

if u first fint out how he does it, then u trie to use the same tecnique.. :D

[Devilbat]

best use of a wammy bar EVER. It actually sounds useful instead of gimmicky.

[steve062580]

Almost sounds like he's using a slide! That WAS awesome.

[doeygood3000]

I like Vinnie Vincent better!!!!!!!!!

[BBQkrewe]

killer.

[Sykolprchaun]

Holy Damn.

[vitormirandinha]

coisas que nao se tocam..

aprecia..

[wegot2ew]

Amazing: Vib-Bar technique sounds like "slide" guitar!

extremely tastey!

Billy Gibbons must hear/see + Beale st awaits

[DeathBringer769]

Wtb Michael Angelo Batio hot licks intro or anything.

[ubershredder1989]

he manages to make his wammy sound like a slide

[rapidtranq]

Amazing tone and feel...

[Madblasta]

Thats a Yamaha Pacifica.

I rushed out and bought one after listening to Laughing Stacks from his 1st album...well after my brain recovered from the event anyways :)

There are youtube vids if you wanna look that tune up and haven't seen it.

A total monster player.

[ege92]

what guitar he uses?

[brandonshred1]

do you have this entire video? if you could upload it i would be so happy. ive been looking everywhere for it.

[HEADBANGING69]

I love his style but I must admit it is funny seeing him play on a Yamaha. I think his style fits more a fender or a gretsch. I like how he holds the whammy bar between his pinky and ring finger as he plays. Nice technique.

[Devilbat]

dont knock those Yamaha's there actually great guitars

[IamGuitars]

Hell yeah man, I love mine, I play it more than my JEM and Petrucci Music Man.

[HEADBANGING69]

Country shred. I loved it!

[ioabito]

bravino

[shredder777]

Is Firkins still around Omaha??

[CTROCK]

cool shit. CTROCK THE HIP HOP ROCK GUITAR ARTIST

[freakguitar1]

rofl

[4m2o0eIII]

Man! I've always loved his subtle Trem bar accents that give his overall style that slide or fretless feel to the sound!

[TheLostTruckDriver]

I still love that a guitarist from out of nowhere made a new use of the wammy bar and not just for one solo in a song but his whole damn style.

[plinkytx]

What amazes me is how quickly he can pull his pinky finger out from under the fretboard when needed. In any guitar style that habit is usually a big no no, much like laying your thumb over the top of the fretboard.

[sotirak1s]

Reminds me crossroads... I dont know why...

[CoBtheblues]

how could you not be impressed by this jaybird? Jesus Christ!!

[ultimatemegadethfan]

I love those birds-eye maple necks...esquite, am I right? Perfect playability, and you know Mike knows his stuff, just listen to that playing.

[killmaster]

he is rly amazing, very cool style. i wish i could find more of his stuff.

[record124]

kpooo

[tiso89]

OMG!! bottle neck with the floyd rose, amazing

[JEAN7890]

nice 'slide' work using the whammy bar. Never seen that before, in this way.

[ironbird01]

WOW! Directed by AND produced BY Arlen Roth!!! O:53-1:32 Is Awesome! AND then he was chose by Jason Becker!! He leads a charmed Life. =D

[JayBird018]

this is the first vid ive watched of this guy and i dont see how it is gd?

[social666anarchist]

u have to watch carefully and listen.

i don't know how much u like the blues, but basically mr. lee firkins is essentially emulating the sound of a slide using a whammy bar. its like elmore james but with a whammy bar...very unique.

[social666anarchist]

u have to watch carefully and listen.

i don't know how much u like the blues, but basically mr. lee firkins is essentially emulating the sound of a slide using a whammy bar. its like elmore james but with a whammy bar...very unique.

[JayBird018]

yeah, ive listen to more of him and i do actually like some of his stuff. just goes to show that first impressions arnt anything!

[jdude81]

i liked it but his guitar and tone didnt really suite the style of what he was playing

[MoneySexDrugsMurder]

i didn't like firkins before, and i don't like him now...

[punish666]

thats so sad.. =(

[pollin]

Hes Playing Saturday Morning As recorded with the Howling Iguanas¡¡ By Far my Favourite song of Firkins,next to Runaway Train

[codexzero]

awesome.

[auginator14]

this dude and guthrie govan are the shit.guthrie govan is a bad ass too. i am also a petrucci fan also. ferkins is for real.i also dig steve stevens.... another bad ass underrated guitarist.

[smdehn3]

All I can do is rap, dance, lip synch on stage, and talk shit "bout my bitches". What a sad time for the music industry when you have talented musicians playing on youtube and not have them signed to a record deal. This guy is awesome!

[moosepoop69]

this vid is from 1989

[MattIsRocko]

hes good but i dont see why he was signed to shrapnel because its a "shred" label

[kudochop]

WOW.... lots and lots of Jeff Beck licks and influence there!

[deanshon]

I noticed that in this video he isn't using a pick.

Is that so also in the end of the beginning?

Is he a finger style guitarist?

[bigandymc12]

He does play finger style but not all of the time. He wasnt fingerstyle in end of the beginning.Maybe in some parts definately not the faster sweeping parts and that

[sux0rz]

he actually can play perfectly fine with out a pick when it come to sweep picking and alt picking too, look at is live performance of saturday night live. i was like, wtf!??! he can sweep with his thumb?

[amboysupot]

he's got an awesome style

[gabrie166]

Master Lee Firkins !

[mafiaspawn]

Wow, never heard of him till now, and its fuckin awsome!! Where does that tone come from?

[Robertoroboto]

nice shot of his hair when the cameral should be on the frets. dipshits

[GeckoFloor]

You should check him out in Jason Becker's 'End of the Beginning' MV... he was pretty cool in that one!

[Strangeguitar]

I bought his first solo album on Shrapnel, and it's a constant reminder that you can shred and still be tastefull.

Are you listening, Joe Stump?

[Shredlikemad12]

haha lol Stump, whatta' guy.

[UndrMediKated]

The guy is an awesome guitar player. I know his family. They are all talented. I have many friends who are excellent guitarists and they all know him. He is a natural.

[lead73]

MASTER!!!!!!!

[judomouse]

Cool slide effect!!! Unique style 5/5

[satchbooggy]

that neck is either really grungy or very highly figured. his star licks video is entertaining but his style is very strange. he put out a cool record but i cant remember the name

[bowiemott]

somebody was a big jeff beck fan...the whammy technique here is ALL Jeff Beck and I hope this guy gave credit to his source.

[dandood2]

cool use of the whammy bar and fingers. nice

[lord0gore]

Alright for the record i would just like to say i have a very retarded friend, this guy is great, say what you will but i actually think this guy is bitchin