The Three Ages of Lynch - The Dokken Days Part 2

George Lynch’s lead playing is legendary. He is one of the rare breed of players who has the magic touch. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it is about his playing and whether there was some collusion with an other worldly force for him to be able to play the way he can…hmmm, I wonder if he went down to the Crossroads like Ralph Macchio in the film of the same name. Was there a duel with a gentleman named Jack Butler, who just happened to be a spitting image of a certain Mr. Vai??? An interesting thought…

George’s time in Dokken allowed him to unleash his own brand of incendiary lead guitar licks to the masses of headbangers and budding young guitar players who swamped the 80s music scene. His use of legato, fast and very accurate picking, and tapping were all wrapped up in a neat little blues package which made everybody sit up and listen to what he was playing. He wasn’t just the guitar player in Dokken, he was the integral part of the Dokken sound and experience. Indeed after George’s departure, Don Dokken has sought to find replacement gun slingers who are able to emulate George’s sound and style as closely as possible.

Having listened to George’s music for many years, read countless interviews, talked with the man himself and stood in right in front of his amps while they were unleashing their assault on my unprotected ears (which incidentally was absolute ecstasy!), I know that the starting point and the most important element of George’s lead playing is his guitar tone. The “Mojo” is in the tone. Great tone inspires - and George has always been very tuned into this fact. I can attest to that as well. If I have a great guitar tone, my playing seems to take off, if I have a bad tone then I feel like my hands are tied behind my back and I have forgotten 18 years of guitar playing. I am often asked about how to dial in the George sound and how to sound like George. My answer is always the same – great sounding high gain amp (Marshall, Soldano, etc), gain at 5-6, bass at 8, mids at 5, treble at 6, presence about 4, master as loud as possible, some delay, a touch of reverb and you’re all set……….then all you need to do is grow a set of George’s fingers!!! 90% of all tone is in the fingers – a cliché, but very true.

Transcription and Notes

Backing Track

Sorry, flash is not available.

Full Track

Sorry, flash is not available.

This is the second part in the Three Ages of Lynch series. Read the description above for details on the track...

Please note that the guitars are tuned down half a step to Eb.