1.Tell us your name and the band you play for
My name is Ritchie Randall and I play guitar in a metal/punk band called Gravehuffer, from Joplin, Missouri, USA.
2.Who made you want to pick up the guitar
I would say it was Judas Priest guitar players KK Downing and Glenn Tipton. KK in particular played a Gibson Flying V and that’s when I knew I had to have one. I remember digging through my dad’s vinyl collection and seeing the Priest album Unleashed In The East. The cover has all of the band striking poses on stage and that made me realize that’s how I wanted to look. A couple of years later, MTV played a live concert of theirs from the Screaming For Vengeance tour and that further cemented what I wanted to do with the guitar and music in general.
3.Are you self taught or did you take lessons?
I took lessons the 1st few years of playing from a teacher named Johnny Rose. He’s an absolute legend around here. He was teaching here in Joplin at a place called Massey Music. When they unfortunately closed, he moved on to Ernie Williamson Music, also in Joplin. Lessons were invaluable to me as far as proper technique and training my ear. Now I can mostly figure out how to play things just by listening to it. I would play along to cassettes and a little later, CDs all the time. I feel like that really helped with my sense of rhythm and timing.
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4. Can you read music, Can you read tab?
I’m not a very good sight reader but I can read tab just fine. It helped me a lot when I first started learning to play. Honestly I don’t use either one much anymore. I am much more interested these days in creating my own music, rather than learning someone else’s.
5.Do you feel like you have your own sound / tone ?
Yes I do. I think some of that is note choice and some of it is the sound your fingers make when they are touching the strings. There are so many subtleties involved with that. Of course your guitar, amps, and effects can contribute to that, but there’s no denying how you play when you pick up the instrument and just go for it. When you start out, of course you tend to wear your influences on your sleeve a bit, but as you play longer, you tend to carve your own niche.
6.Tell us about your guitar ( brand ,model . year , color )
I am currently endorsed by a company out of Memphis, Tennessee called Killer B Guitars. My model is called the Stealth. It is a V shape that is a matte black. It was released in 2018. I have a new model coming out in December called the Red Baron. It’s also a V that is red with a black border around the edges. It will have Gravehuffer pickups made by Zombie Dust Pickups out of the UK. Unfortunately, Killer B Guitars are closing, so now I am with
7.What about pickups? Passive or active ? Tell us about them
I am a fan of passive pickups myself. I have a pickup endorsement with Zombie Dust Pickups in the UK by a guy named Willie Green. Victor Griffin from Pentagram has a signature pickup with them. They hand wind all of their pickups and will customize them any way you want. In the previous question I brought up the pickups they made for my Red Baron Killer B guitar, and they are red with the Gravehuffer pentagrave logo that is laser etched on the covers of them. They turned out really rad!
8.Lets get into amplification, Same drill brand , model , speakers etc
I have an endorsement with an amp company called Custom Audio Mutation out of Akron, Ohio. The builder is Curran Murphy and he used to play in Nevermore, and Annihilator! He custom made an amp for me last year and it’s a 50 watt beast. It’s a CAM 850MII with a silver alligator tolex that is just awesome to look at! My cabinet is made by another company that I’m endorsed by called Arachnid Cabinets out of Sacramento, California. These things are just monsters! They custom made these for me with a silver paint job and blood red splatter on top of that. The mesh that covers the speakers is a Gravehuffer pentagrave logo with a depiction of Hell in the background.
9.Do you have a pedal board? Tell us about that badboy
I have a pedal board that is fairly basic, but does exactly what I want it to do. It starts with a tuner that bypasses the sound so no one has to hear the ‘tuning song’ haha. Next it goes into a Dunlop Cry Baby Wah that I use on the occasional solo and song. After that I have a Digitech Whammy that I just love to make freaky noises with.
10..Now tell us your Dream Rig in detail…..
I pretty much already have it, since everything I play is custom. ;)
11.What guitarist can you not stand?
Probably any guitarist in a tribute band. I just can’t relate to that at all.
12. Is tone more important or is technique?
Personally speaking, I think tone is more important. You can have all the technique in the world, but if your tone is less than appealing, then it’s hard to overcome that. Of course a combination of both is ideal. That’s not to say that an awesome tone will hide bad technique either.
13. Name your top 5 guitarist
KK Downing/Glenn Tipton,
Tony Iommi,
Ritchie Blackmore,
James Hetfield,
Trey Azagthoth.
14.Who is the most overrated guitarist
Eric Clapton. His playing in Cream is pretty awesome, but other than that, I just don’t get why he is so highly regarded.
15.Who would you like a one hour private sit down lessons with anyone dead or alive?
Randy Rhodes. Not only was he an incredible player that was very distinct, but he also gave lessons in his spare time. He seemed like such a down to earth person, so I think he would be great at not only making you feel at ease, but also able to explain all the wonderful techniques and knowledge that he had.
Loved doing this interview! Thanks again! \,,/
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