Learn Michael Schenker’s Improv-Shred on UFO’S “Only You Can Rock Me” | Shred with Shifty

[@mab2112]

Some wild horses cannot be tamed. Michael Schenker has always been eccentric & independent and that is where his magic lives.

[@jamesvincent1434]

Wild Horses/Brian Robertson/In The City/I Give You Love/Reservation

[@JTB--]

I'm "Armed and Ready" for this.....

[@joelutz4348]

Michael echoed what I have been saying for 40+ years. There is just something magical about the combination of Schenker's guitar and Mogg's voice. It's the reason that UFO has been my favorite band for most of my life.

[@chickenbeek]

👍 Nice. well, since i never get to meet a UFO fan in real life generally. In your opinion, what is their best album with Michael Schenker?

[@joelutz4348]

@chickenbeek For studio albums, Obsession is Michael's masterpiece with UFO. But also, the live album Strangers In The Night is legendary in every way.

[@chickenbeek]

@@joelutz4348 Interesting. I don't care for either of those albums at all. heh. For me it's No Heavy Petting. The entire band is firing on a cylinders. The drums are absolutely ripping, the keys are shredding the mix is excellent and the songs are fire. Of course Lights Out as well, but i basically mostly only listen to No Heavy Petting these days. It stands the test of time. Happy New Year!

[@sfmusicscene1249]

Assault Attack with Graham Bonnet is also amazing, both him and Schenker (and the rest of the band) are great on that one.

[@markmilner842]

One of my favourite guitar players. Love old UFO.

[@ginoames]

Such a huge fan of Schenker. Amazing player!

[@RafaelHenriqueRHGM]

Michael has his own philosophy and his own identity as a musician, I think this is really interesting and I respect that a lot. He is one of my guitar heroes and i'm always glad everytime that I find some good interview with him. Awesome! ⚡🎸✌🏼

[@tracimecca8695]

Chris i love you and you did a great job staying on course with Micheal i love the show every week

[@ToddTheJoker]

God Bless You Chris, for trying to stay on course of what the show is all about when you are interviewing someone who doesn't understand what the gist of the show is! It was fun none the less though! Thanks man!

[@jameswyatt7977]

Schenker is one of the very best of the best. His expression and note approach is nothing short of genius.

[@scottc4471]

Awesome interview! The perfect rock guitarist! New album is great. One Night at Budokan by MSG is an all time killer live album. Solo on that version of Attack of the Mad Axeman totally rules….

[@chitownbluesy]

It's in my 6 disc player in my car right now!!

[@jfo3000]

Budokan is epic.

[@CoryHawthorneCharmGames]

"the legend" is right! So glad you interviewed him and this solo looms large in my influences. I still practice it. He's incredible.

[@chrisbirch92]

Michael Schenker is a living legend! But I don’t think it gets said enough how much of a great interviewer Chris is

[@chrisshiflett5287]

thank you sir!

[@GOS61]

Michael is just a killer player - tastefull as hell ! Just an awesome player !!! One of my favourite players along with George Lynch, and Gary Holt

[@jon.wilson]

Got him with the "how slow can you play this solo" lol

[@ToddTheJoker]

yeah..lol...that was brilliant!

[@tommy1moore]

Chris, you are a trooper. Love Schenker’s playing.

[@FelineGuitars]

The UFO guitarist who failed to get to the gig that Schenker had to fill in for was Bernie Marsden (later in Whitesnake)

[@AKJordansKids2009]

Legendary guitarist! Thanks Chris!

[@BigTMusic]

Love it 😁This was so Michael. He’s so eccentric, and that’s why I love him! He plays in the moment. Such a one of a kind human being. Thanks for doing this Chris. Your videos are priceless.

[@JRP3music]

I got into Michael Schenker later on, when McAuley Schenker Group came out. I read the Guitar World interview and saw the Flying V. I bought a 90's series Flying V that was white and black pickguard single pickup. I added 2 Ultra Sonic Neck and Middle humbucking single coil pickups. I put in a Seymour Duncan Screaming Demon 5 way switch single volume no tone control and on/off toggle. It has 24 fret Ebony fingerboard and reverse diamond inlays. Later I had it refinished Indigo Blue Sparkle. That guitar is light and very resonant. I have not seen another V like mine. But, I thank Michael for getting me interested in one.

[@JeffMcErlain]

Schenker is the man!

[@monday6524]

Shred with Shifty is one of my favorite channels! I always find something interesting in each interview. Straight from the source!

[@Mamo878]

He's bang on about the UFO Live guitar tone. The best _ever._

[@Mamo878]

Schenker's music keeps going On and On

[@andrewbecker3700]

Best episode ever, because in many ways Michael is more like Ace than we may realize. I think more than many other players, guys like them, figure out at a very young age. That imitation is the sour of the sauce. People are forever trying to emulate these guys. When they themselves may not specifically remember how or on what gear? Michael has always been famously deceptive in his choice of words. He may not be formally educated at the highest level. Whom of us is? But the guy understands the true value in the music he enjoys creating. The answers he was giving are all very consistent. The message is clear. Figure it out for yourselves. And stop trying to dissect every little nuance, to be copied the same exact way, over and over till its dead! That's not any fun to me. I'm not saying I've never done it. But to stay stuck at that point forever, trying to play exactly like someone else. Seems counter productive to me? When I see or hear of all these players that buy almost all their gear. Because it's what somebody else uses? I'm completely baffled by it? I'm actually partial to finding out later that many of your favorite guitarists happen to use that same exact piece of gear. Then in my pea brain I feel vindicated. Great content for the people that can read between the lines. All your answers are there, if you know how to find them. Peace!

[@z20000z]

I agree. Hard to get a straight answer on how he played the classic solos. He still plays them basically note for note, so you are right that Michael is saying "Go figure it out for yourself." Now we can not only slow it down and keep the original pitch, but we have close-ups of his hands playing those solos on numerous live videos for crying out loud. 😆🤣😂

[@2000om28v]

One of my all-time fav solos is the outro of Loser on Strangers. So melodic and killer tone!

[@jeddak]

48:46 And getting Cozy Powell was Fate. Thank god that happened, because that combination of Powell's thunder and Schenker's melody has never been surpassed, IMO.

[@iltonwhite]

He's as mad as a box of Frogs, but geniuses usually are! He's 70 next month and still comes across with the livliness and enthusiasm of someone who's half his age.

[@stepitupandgo67]

Another great SWS episode. Michael has always fascinated me. He's intense!! Shifty did a good job of hanging in for this interview, and getting his points across. I always loved MSG "Into the Arena"...I have played it for decades, but still don't know wtf is happening during some of that. The picking and hammer/pull offs are hard to discern...he's obviously super improvisational...He is such a legend! And lookin good!!

[@Murphy_R9]

Note to self, When you meet Michael Schenker do not ask him about how he plays!!!🤣

[@walterevans2118]

GOD BLESS YOU Michael ! ….Thank you for all that you taught me with your brilliant sense of Melody and sensitivity of articulation..😔🙏. (Paul)

[@JimmyBurkard]

Thanks for the interview Chris and Michael 🙌🤘👊

[@petergrifindor]

That was a VERY intelligent way to channel Michael.

[@velcro-fly9082]

Epic...too funny how Schenker says 'I can't play that or show you that as its all improvised' yet he can play those solos note perfect to this day haha. Schenker is in my all-time Top 3 guitar players no matter what but this interview was funny and Shiffty did a fantastic job keeping it moving forward.

[@ericnelson5602]

great job Chris...tough interview...Michael's still my favorite, love all your episodes but especially enjoyed this one.

[@byronwelch4754]

You rock Chris! My father (Anglo) always called me a, “hardheaded Deutschman” as my mother was German and strong willed. I get it! You hung in there buddy! ❤️🎸🤘

[@lukeayuso4075]

Thank you for posting this it was awesome one of my favorite guitarists of all time the great Michael schenker

[@FelineGuitars]

EVH, Angus Young and Michael Schenker were all born within a month of each other - must have been something in the air

[@garmisra7841]

It'd be interesting to see if there was a volcanic eruption happening somewhere at that time...

[@mas-qq3ge]

Part mad part genius, followed Schenker for 50 yrs and an amazing talent but prone to self combust. Saw him on UFO walk on water tour in Manchester, someone from the support band had given him a Black eye, he was booed off stage and I could have played better with my foot, recorded him in MSG in Kavarna and he was brilliant. My mate sold a Marshall 50W head on ebay and posted a pic of who showed up to buy it.. it was Michael Schenker who'd driven to a small village in the North west of England to buy a second hand 50W head. Gotta love the guy for balancing Brilliance and nuts in One life time.

[@thelolguy007]

You don’t need to love Michael Schenker. He loves himself enough already

[@Музрок-ы3у]

Его творчество очень достойно, чтобы любить себя!

[@ccwhiskey]

My favorite new you tube watch !!

[@patwest8304]

Way to keep the train on the tracks, Chris! Fantastic interview!

[@darrenevans3148]

Probably my favourite guitarist. Shame he couldn't have shown us how to play Rock Bottom off Strangers. Maybe the greatest guitar solo ever.

[@chitownbluesy]

Listen to the new album. He plays a lot of the solo's like Stranger's. It's fuckin EPIC! Favorite guitarist since 1975.

[@P51]

exactly what i expected! guy's a genius

[@tryghanson3260]

Great interview of my all-time, favorite, guitarist. As with a lot of legacy artists, they play thel solo different live than on the record. But they usually keep certain key phrases that identify the solo. You can see that on Rock Bottom and many of his classics.

[@seandowning5918]

Man, he is really stubborn, but one of the all time greats

[@profileproductions4462]

So nice to hear the truth of how things were!

[@leed818]

That V he is playing is the Guitar Center exclusive mirror pick guard 70s version …this particular iteration came out in the past year or so…

[@Mark-wp8fo]

Love this channel so much!

[@premierguitar]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@trevornever27]

Such a nice surprise to see Michael Schenker made it on the show, he deserves more regard for his contributions to music and aspiring guitarists everywhere. PS - now you just need to get one Elliott Easton on here next!

[@chrisshiflett5287]

Elliot Easton is in the can and coming soon!!

[@trevornever27]

@@chrisshiflett5287 thrilled to hear this, it just seems like a no-brainer so figures you are all over it, thank you Shifty!!

[@magnusjarl9575]

What a legend 👍🤘🤘

[@MoneyGrip70]

He was amazing on " that metal show" 🎸

[@stevesnvegas9040]

Giving Eddie Trunk one of those shitty off the shelf Dean V's was classic!

[@applehead252]

My buddy and his wife met him in a bar when touring with rush in the 80s and said he was so funny. Hasn’t changed a bit . He looks younger… no fair ! lol Great interview.

[@jacquesfinster5034]

UFO stayed in tour with Rush in 1977.... but Michael ?

[@z20000z]

Alex can get us coffee. Yeah, right! Another legendary guitarist...

[@walterevans2118]

I remember Michael would work out slow solos with nice melodies but sometimes he would IMPROVISE something in the studio sessions which were So good when he would play it back that he would keep it as part of the song permanently…And sometimes Michael would look at overdubbed parts he had recorded in the studio and would re-arrange them so you could play 2 harmonies at the same time LIVE at gigs. He did this with Doctor Doctor.. (Paul)

[@walterevans2118]

Michael is RIGHT …..You CAN’T teach FEEL even if you can show technique…Another important thing with Michael is that he doesn’t start with ‘theoretical abstractions ’ …He starts with his EAR and his Aesthetic TASTE..(Paul)

[@garmisra7841]

Schenker is influential to so many but it's better that we don't know the exact details (he could've been somewhat more forgiving about it during the interview but whatever) so the 'kids' who tried to cop those licks can come up with their own approach and incorporate them into their own styles, and so many of them did! Dude is probably on the spectrum but a lot of musicians are, go figure.

[@gladiator22666]

I felt the frustration watching this ………

[@NEINLIVES999]

I'm sure Dave G had a good laugh at some of Mike's answers about that solo break-down! Been listening to UFO since 1978 when I first picked up the guitar!

[@bourbontraveler]

I bailed MS out of jail in London in the late 70’s he had cut off all his hair He was a good guy, a little crazy.

[@dkpitt3912]

If you’ve ever seen him interviewed, or heard him talk, there is no way you would think you’re gonna get him to perform in that way. He’s got some balls asking him though lol

[@Bwana6274]

I play in a MSG cover band…this is gold!

[@cb24203]

Love how he says "Uxl" and "Slush" 😂

[@chrisquinn9104]

Schenker has an unusual fingering technique where he used mostly his first three fingers, but will spread them for some very wide stretches. I think that where the power comes from. Frustrating, when you realize you have to almost completely change the way you play if you want to do it. My theory is he started playing like Leslie West and it evolved from his three finger technique, although Schenker does use his pinky from time to time

[@ssstenning]

You tried your hardest Shifty!

[@ousley421]

I have a GOTW reverse V that he is welcome to play whenever he is in town...

[@Epiwhite]

I grew up on Eddie - I now prefer Schenker- that LOVEDRIVE tone is SAF!!!!!

[@jasonreed3739]

Great redirect Chris! "How slow can you play this solo?"

[@chrisshiflett5287]

🪄

[@1Phepsi]

Alright Shifty, step Into The Arena.

[@MoneyGrip70]

38 minutes in FINALLY lol 🎸🎸🎸

[@RubyDimasStudio]

well come Michael Schenker’s

[@bobbyarthurmagic]

Met him in Lax in 87/ 88 i believe and I was on route to Mexico at about 20 years old , I truly believed he was a God and asked him for a photo and he obliged this MSG super fan … I was telling the stewardess this is Micheal Shengkar don’t you know who he is … and she snapped a photo .. which didn’t turn out at all haha sadly !! But he was cool about it super tall a rock God to me at that time !

[@TGormania]

'Things got a little funny' you have seen other interviews with him, right? I am a huge Schenker fan, I was glad he didn't shit on a lot of people as he has done in the past. He isn't wrong on the improve though. Iommi was the more or less the same. I would just record some of those Schenker rhythm tracks and just jam!

[@walterevans2118]

Michael was (and is) a pure expressive musician but there were both people in the industry and fans who would always ASSUME Michael was in it for the fame and the money like THEY were. But he wasn’t. So people didn’t understand him unfortunately. 😢 That was possibly also why he fell out with his brother Rudolf ..(Paul)

[@pmunkey1]

Bloody hell Michael, buy a Boss Katana! 🎉

[@MoneyGrip70]

A wee bit more playing please Chris. Otherwise great Episode. We are all learning about the guitarist but wanna pickup tricks and styles in realtime

[@ivorharden]

Ufo should have been a bigger band in the 70s.

[@rayfabris2512]

I was lucky enough to see UFO in a club (Keystone in Palo Alto) in 97 there was all the original players doing strangers in the night album with a few other songs added that was and I said luck because they added another show because the 2nd show Michael's sound was right (for him) and he threw his guitar down and walked off the stage then they added 1 more night and I went it was a gamble because with Michael who knows what will set him off btw kirk Hamet has his original black and white flying V along with Greenie and before Metallica made it big they used to play the same club in palo alto idk if that club is still there all those clubs are being torn down sad it's ROCK history in that club so ROCK ON this album sounds cool idk how he got a Gibson back in the late 60s or early 70s because I think they were banned from the UK I know that history about that ban and what countries banned Gibson

[@jamescarter3130]

You should have asked have you ever used your pinkie

[@martymusch1375]

Mount Rushmore of tone, Touch Too Much, ACDC.

[@chrisshiflett5287]

agreed!!!!

[@dieterschanzerbschonsmrics3528]

He's bonkers but my No1

[@paulchris5521]

Lord Flying V

[@elliottstrong686]

Trying to get info out of michael is like trying to herd cats

[@chrisshiflett5287]

🤣😹

[@swede7160]

Amazing improvisation in the slow version ;)….nevertheless…my fav guitar player.

[@Mamo878]

Good to see MS back with a Gibson V. That whole Dean thing was just 'not right.'

[@tommy1moore]

I noticed his stage banner had been modified to hide the Dean headstock in his logo.

[@durba8]

"Are you high tonight"...

[@OUTRONAUT]

Ian Hunter! Missed opportunity there…

[@JRP3music]

I thought it was cool he toured with RATT on the Detonator tour...

[@TheLexluthier]

Finally an interview with Michael where he doesn't go off the rails and whine about how much of an asshole his brother is. I've been a huge Michael Schenker fan since the later days of UFO in the late 70's. It's pretty well known he is a 'different' sort of guy, to put it mildly. Still love his playing, though. One player he admitted years ago to have been influenced by was Allan Holdsworth when he was playing in Tempest. It makes sense when you hear his playing on Lonesome Crow, and then how differently he played on Phenomenon and later albums.

[@P51]

you're so dead-on. i was waiting for the Rudy smack talk at any moment!

[@stiffmeister0hYeah]

Looks like I scheduled a CT scan on the wrong day. I love some old school McAuley Schenker group!!

[@danielkelley7769]

Been a fan for nearly 50 years but I think he's kinda being a dick by not showing how he played different solos , he knows what he plays like on lights out. Only you can rock me solo is different now vs the studio solo after the decending line..I know the studio solo.

[@walterevans2118]

No he’s not. It’s just he doesn’t use the reductio ad absurdum concepts other musicians use and he doesn’t try to analyse things the way they do because Michael knows it involves more things than just technique studied in isolation. (Paul)

[@robertkidd6270]

It's a kinda magic

[@embreesmith7613]

Doctor Doctor FYE

[@eccentric0official]

This was a bit like the Ace interview.

[@stratjed]

Once you get to Know Germans you find they all want to be Hippies, but they are still very straight. Very strange internal struggle. UFO was the greatest band that never really became the superstars they deserved to be. Love to Love and Rock Bottom are rock masterpieces.

[@chitownbluesy]

I've been saying that since before I saw the show in Chicago on Friday the 13th, 1978, when they recorded Strangers. Yup, I was there..."Backstage pass, really showin' out, feel that's where I belong". I've seen Michael almost 100 times.

[@jamesvincent1434]

Warlord❤‍🔥Deliver Us❤‍🔥1983❤‍🔥William J Tsamis❤‍🔥R I P

[@victorvaldenegro4001]

This was uncomfortable to watch, but in a good way. 😁

[@4dmind]

He reminds me of me - a lot of choices I made for the same reason, and I have doubted those choices at times, but in the end, developing your own style is a good path. Depends on who you are I suppose. I saw Michael on tour last year and his tone was unreal and the band was so damn tight. One of the best live acts I've seen in a long time.

[@Mike-enigma]

Read Pete Ways book to find out about this dude

[@mcraft2240]

I was going to comment on that. I just read Pete’s book, and I was a little shocked about the stories of Michael. I love UFO, and Mike’s guitar playing, but yikes.

[@tjallingdejong9645]

Smart thing to do to go slow Chris about 40 minutes

[@danielkelley7769]

There's no way he played a non master 50watt Marshall on one, it would be super clean he had to as least have it half way up.

[@walterevans2118]

I think there were two distinct TYPES of Marshall amp heads …Earlier on in the late 1960s and 1970s there were the SUPER LEAD Marshall heads where you could only get sustain and distortion if you cranked the master volume right up high….Then later in the late 1970s they developed the MASTER VOLUME Marshall heads where you had a master volume and a PRE AMP volume where you could get distortion and sustain at much LOWER volume without having to turn up the amp very loud…I believe Michael may have used the Super Lead Marshall heads for the UFO stuff but switched to the Master Volume Marshall heads later for the MSG stuff. (Paul)

[@jfo3000]

Michael used boosters, although I've never heard that discussed. Listen to the FUZZ in "Too Much of Nothing", fuzz in some, maybe all lead parts in Love to Love. After you hear that fuzz, go back and listen to the other UFO stuff for slight amounts of fuzz. I highly doubt he plugged straight into a Marshall. Plus, he also used the four input Marshalls where guys would jumper the inputs. Guys back then wouldn't tell what they were using. Even Carlos said he plugged straight in, yeah into a prototype Mesa with TWO preamps!

[@TheLexluthier]

He has been using JCM800 2205 channel switching heads for a long time. I saw him a few years back, and the PA cut out mid song. I was kind of surprised at how low his stage volume was

[@SecretWeapon62578]

@@jfo3000 I do remember him saying that he recorded pretty much the entire Lights Out album with a Pignose amp. I always thought his tone on that album was quite different (and in my opinion, quite dry sounding) compared to most of the other albums, and when I heard that he used the Pignose on that album, I thought that could explain it.

[@michaelm298]

I think that setting was for the 2205. He's said in past interviews that settings on the old Marshalls were all on 10 but volume on 8, Treble input.

[@Addicted-2-Guitars]

Love and adore Schenker's playing but as a person pfffffft