Another classic hard rock solo… This is Kee Marcello’s famous solo from Europe’s song, Superstitious.
This one is really quite difficult, the fast run near the end is a real bugger to play… Partly because it’s so fast and clean, but also because the timing of it is very loose. It speeds up then slows down, and even when the run is in full flight, it’s going against the beat – you really have to “feel” it… which is going to cause a lot of shredders problems… Also, Kee played this solo on a 24 fret guitar, and as I only have 22, I had to change the fingering during the very fast run. Kee hits the 23rd fret of the B string in the ascending part, so I altered it so I could play the same notes but lower down – I had to do a string skip from the D string to the B to make it work (like it wasn’t hard enough to begin with!!!)
I really like Kee Marcello’s playing… I remember back in 1989, reading in Guitarist magazine that Kee played “Flight of the Bumblebee” during Europe’s live set. That summer, I went to Milton Keynes to watch him play it – I wasn’t interested in anything else on the bill (Europe also played with Bon Jovi, Skid Row and Vixen) – and he didn’t disappoint. Just a couple of years ago, Kee did a small guitar clinic here in Sweden and I was lucky enough to see him there. He started the clinic with the solo for Superstitious – and he nailed it. The man still has it.
Gear-wise, I used my usual setup – TS9 Tubescreamer, Laney Ironheart Studio. I’m playing on the neck pickup of my Strat, which is a DiMarzio Chopper (I think).
Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!