Rig Tour: Nuno Bettencourt

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Walls of amps! Shred heroics! Flame-patterned 12-strings! TG says ‘Yes, yes’ to Nuno, as things get a little Extreme...

[@sabahudincerimovic8372]

So humble, no fancy guitars, minimum pedals, amazing player

[@TylerDurden-oy2hm]

such a laid back mellow guy for someone with fearsome talent....youre a Giant among guitarists Nuno...

[@brentmann]

Few years ago he played Local club in Charlotte and he and Gary stood outside the bus for hours till every cd, shirt, guitar was signed. He was very cool.

[@tammysigmon853]

What club? I live near Charlotte. I hate I missed that show. Gary Cherone has an awesome set of lungs!

[@robcobi]

Nuno is a big part of the reason I play guitar today. Amazing guitarist and musician.

[@gmlasam]

Man this guy is an incredible guitarist. I remember first hearing of Nuno in the mid 80s when they were still playing clubs in Boston. The guy hasn't age at all, he looks the way does now in the 80s.

[@STETTRACE]

Hear That Kids???? IT’S IN THE FINGERS!!!!! Bravo NUNO!!!!!

[@timpopuk]

Best live guitarist I’ve ever seen 🤘🏻

[@Jammaster1972]

What a cool dude. He's so past all the fluff and bullshit. Straight talking, love it.

[@williambrooks276]

I wish I could have plugged in to Eddie's rig and played his guitar and sound like Nuno!! Such a humble virtuoso Mr. Bettencourt is!

[@thorndog100]

This man is just toooooooooooooooooo cool for words.. Actually...More than words......Love you Nuno...You are fantastic.

[@johnmccarthy7460]

Nuno is Friggin Awsome. One of true great guitarist of all time. He is the Extreme!!

[@neddistanz]

i'd like to plug into Eddies rig and sound like Nuno too!

[@kahmhalen4094]

Haha I laughed when I heard him say that also. Must suck to sound like Nuno. Lol.

[@scarymike51]

Nuno is one of the greatest of all time!

[@nukarmy3605]

Nuno. You inspired my life and my career as a Musician. Thanks so much.

[@PatrickDKing]

Wow! This guy just doesn't seem to age does he?!?

[@JohnDoe-vx5su]

+Patrick King (Patrick D. King) he seems always stoned..

[@elvisjsax]

It's probably the accent. When (most) Brazilians, Portugueses, Spanish, Mexicans and etc speak English, they tend to sound stoned. (me being a Brazilian)

[@alvildeshirven3571]

I know right? He's still almost as hot as he was in the 90s.

[@HarryStoneDotCom]

Nuno always comes across so well. You get the feeling he's just a really decent and kindly down to earth guy. He really is one of the greats in rock guitar, and his style hasn't dated as much as some others because it is unique and quite timeless. Always enjoy hearing him interviewed even though you always get the impression he doesn't much like talking about himself.

[@iamdansimons]

Got the pleasure of exchanging more than a few words with the Legend on the Saudades tour. Just so chill, humble, thankful. Lovely man.

[@Goatman-wl5nk]

Amazing guitar player, but amazing musician, song writer and human. Finally met him last week after waiting 25+ years! Very humble and down to earth then ripped out one incredible solo after another at the gig. Love all his solo stuff too (Schizophonic, Dramagods, Population 1, Mourning Widows etc) where we writes, plays, records & produces most of the material. Unbelievable and very underrated.

[@TomGrubbe]

Thanks for listing his solo bands. I only new about Mourning Widows.

[@Goatman-wl5nk]

@@TomGrubbe No worries, it's all great material. Amazingly some of Schizophonic was recorded in a hotel room on just a 4-track! 😲

[@MichaelLewisMusic]

Love this interview! Love the sincerity and simplicity and the moment he played EVH's rig... So cool, so refreshing, good chuckles, thank you!

[@dwrdyts]

Very underrated player in my opinion!

[@brianjones8432]

Not at all among guitar players. :)

[@sonykroket]

He's only underrated by the common stupid rock and consumermob. They're the plebes.

[@hellbillyaustin6883]

Im no fan of extreme, but i am of nuno bettencourt( sounds stupid, but its the way it is!), one of the most under rated guitarists ever. Glad to see him still touring, hope he does a solo tour, that comes close to my area, as i really could'nt go to a extreme gig!!, i would never be able to live that one down amongst my friends!!lol!. All the best.

[@brianjones8432]

lol... Get a new set of friends.

[@nandojoven]

Nunos solos is like a little world inside the flat songs of extreme. What Nuno did with Extreme is amazing, he made his band big only because his guitars! I'm sorry for Gary Cherone but... come on... this melodies... this performances... no fckng chance to do ir with out Nuno

[@evalex71]

Saw him in July in Buffalo, NY. He totally rocked, period

[@Phoenix_VanDerWeyden]

Was there as well , the man can shred !! One of my favorite players !

[@dceballos067]

That was funny what Nuno said in the last part about plugging into Eddie's rig, and I'm assuming he was talking about Eddie Van Halen. And the way he said he thought he'd get to sound like Eddie using his rig, but didn't cause he sounded like himself, like it was a bad thing cause Bettencourt sounds and is awesome. Sure, Eddie's always the king among fret meister's but Nuno shreds...big time. Rock on Nuno!!

[@cliffvbajo]

he is always gonna be one of my top 3 guitar players of all time. i like his simplistic approach.. few signature guitars... few effects... thats it. He doesnt have a lot of fancy gears but his playing is very diverse. Most virtuosos are like that, just like Ericn Johnson.

[@keithjohnson5162]

Love the Eddie story and to add to what Nuno is saying, if you watch one of the Video's of EVH demonstrating his amps, he says the exact same thing "you create your own tone"

[@irmasil3]

yeah, it took me a while also. Initially I sounded like "me" with my guitars and setup, then when I thought I evolved. I sounded like "me" with every guitar and every setup.....Now I am just working on liking "me"......

[@christopherdunn317]

@wildcatter63 To get away with what ? randy had his own style and sound , just like vai and every other famous guitarist out there.

[@cainewreck]

This guy rocked it in he 90s. Cool songs and amazing guitar.

[@Avedis-G]

“I plugged it in and realized… It was just me”. True dat!

[@chuckyinges]

Awesome! That bit about plugging into EVH's amp is funny though. I remembered Eddie said Billy Corgan tried out his amp and his guitar and was also disappointed. IMO, Nuno's tone is perfect for his style of mixing rhythm and lead playing together.

[@elvisjsax]

A lot of guys did that and got so goddamn disappointed. Cantrell from Alice In Chains is another good example. I think he also tried Iommi's gear.

[@JHolmes2712]

I met him and he was really nice, really cool

[@abbyjust83]

He's younger than his age...omg🤗🤗🤗🤗

[@Demetrius-Silva]

This last part, is a lesson to be learned.

[@strawman3059]

Yep,surely one of the best there is.and so modest!

[@adampetten5349]

One of the five best ever with Gary Moore Blackmore, Beck and Satriani.

[@ugenziring]

Genuine genius guitarist

[@Travis-pf3gt]

Friggin Nuno forever awesome player and dude.

[@leomonster1973]

If I was Nuno I'd be happy to sound like him even through Eddie's rig...That's waaaaay better than sounding like, say, me perhaps lol...Nuno is awesome.

[@HrhFish]

Saw Extreme at Wolverhampton civic in the UK on 3 sides tour playing to 200 people in a 2000 seat venue. They played their hearts out as if they were playing a sold out 10000 seat show. Only other time I was at a show like that was Frank Marino at Birmingham Odeon and he played to 50 people in a 2500 venue and STILL did a full 2 and a half hour set with no support act. It must be a real come down playing to a small crowd if your used to playing to 10000 plus.

[@ALTDOK667]

I like that guy. He's pretty cool.

[@TylerDurden-oy2hm]

the student is now the teacher....EVH could learn from you Nuno....musically and attitudinally....

[@ArtGuitarLTX]

I was gonna say that his love tone in 2018 and leads sounded like Dime.. then he mentioned Bill Lawrence pups.. it all makes sense 👍👍👍👍🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@Omertahun]

He seems such a good lad to me.

[@ludwigmarcello8915]

Nuno is the man!!!!

[@tsafanyoh]

Amazing player, and down to earth guy... Excellent advice.. you don't need a million pedals and $5000 guitars to sound good. Its all in the player, not the gear.

[@RenanBeltrao]

+tsafanyoh Actually, a N4 is nothing cheap. And it is a super guitar in what regards quality. Also his amps are super high end. The thing is, high end does not mean 1 million buttons and control knobs, its just quality stuff to get you through safely.

[@tsafanyoh]

+Renan Beltrão well i agree, a simple tube amp with quality parts will always give the best tone. I have a custom shop N4 and a quality Les Paul is easily double the price.

[@Sekeletu]

Magic of the brand, man. Gibson is expensive by being Gibson, and Washburn... is just Washburn. Plus, Les Paul finish is much more time consuming. N4 is very simple regarding the looks, so it's also much cheaper to make it.

[@Demetrius-Silva]

It's, at least, impressive that a guitar monster like Nuno uses a Boss GT-8. Makes me think that the quality of the sound is more about the musician than the equips.

[@Rescatando_valores]

He just doesn't give a f##k about the interview. We couldn't wait to be over lol

[@theperpetuallyannoyed4074]

Its all in the fingers not in the guitar or tone or gear.. Nuno ❤️

[@SIXX2772]

like he said....its all in your fingers and your talent.....not the devices

[@grasshopper9488]

I have the same issue with guitar knobs and switches in the way. I remove the tone knob and move the volume pot back to the tone spot. Most guitar manufacturers insist on putting that volume knob exactly in the way.

[@lawrencel500]

Muito bom. Obrigado Total Guitar.

[@yogengrg7690]

He uses digital processor? for real? his tone is one of the best I've heard both in studio and live.

[@dougiemanross]

No but yes. He uses his amps distortion tone but the processor in the loop to give him effects.

[@mravanteguarde]

Yogen Grg dude, the sound is really in the amp 50% of the time gear wise, go for tubes, honestly if you're amp(playing aside) isn't that good, pedals/multi-effects you're using would sound horrible as some pedals work better if your amp is also better. Greg howe uses digitech rp300 before, with a killer amp which i forgot, aside from his great playing.

[@leighbromby1743]

Either you started to laugh or I got caught off😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆

[@paullittle8719]

Unbeleivably minimal pedal board. Amazing player.

[@MattCollisMusic]

He hates talking about gear ....his philosophy is that it all comes from the player's fingers...

[@-lien8string541]

Matthew Collis He isn’t wrong. Gear is cool, and excellent gear will help an excellent artist create great sounds, but guitarists can be the worst kinds of materialists when it comes to equipment.

[@ameer_saban]

That weird logo fucks up the whole look of that awesome stack

[@officialmetalwill]

5:04 Your playing style will always sound like you no matter what you play through. The TONE will always sound like the gear being used, no matter who is using it.

[@TruthSurge]

1:18 totally. For me anyway, I've learned that NOTHING needs to be in the way (even where his vol knob is is too close). That way, all your strumming cannot hit a switch or knob and screw you up during play.

[@originaftermath720]

TruthSurge it also depends on what style of music your playing

[@TruthSurge]

Brandon Thomas maybe. But for me, my next guitar will be parts I buy and the exact locations of switches and knobs will be decided by me and most likely it'll be in that lower right area BELOW the bridge and BEHIND the bridge. So, if you like constant switching like Malmsteen does, that prob won't work for you. I don't like a tone control either so I'll have a 3 way switch, volume, coil tap switches and probably out of phase via pull pot of the volume. I don't play live so I don't need fast switching. I just need my damn picking area clean of debris! :)

[@TruthSurge]

Brandon Thomas cuz I get sloppy with my strumming and picking. :)

[@rbagel55]

+TruthSurge Yeah, that is a problem with this Ibanez I play, the volume knob is too close, so I just took the damn thing off

[@rbagel55]

+TruthSurge Warmoth is a great company. Every player who has been playing for a while likes certain things. Myself, I got fat fingers, so I like a rather wide neck with jumbo frets. I like a good radius on the fretboard. I like a hardtail, no floyd rose, and I would wire the pickups for 1 center single coil, 2 humbuckers with coil split, and phase switchs. They can make the parts anyway you want, with a variety of diffent woods or body styles,

[@theminiaturepaintingtutor7885]

I noticed his back uo had the bill lawrence usa in where his others had the bill lawrence B+B (wilde). So the mystery of all that business put me if buying either. Knowing he uses both is reassuring.

[@leighbromby1743]

You do rock at playing the guitar

[@matthajba1075]

Extremely interesting.

[@anderjl276ps]

Cool looking amp

[@leighbromby1743]

I like how your truthful

[@sardomaitland8156]

Great guitarist! And what's best: finally he's aging. :)

[@jedsebastian]

This guy ages by only 2 years in 10 years time trust me lol.

[@bendygirl9889]

jedsebastian yes very bad lighting there, in every other recent interviews he looks 10 -15 years younger than he does in this video.

[@moonwillow9456]

Sardo MaitlandOne of the best looking guitarists alive!

[@rbagel55]

+MoonWillow Yeah, he is 49, a year younger than me, but he must take care of himself and avoids drugs and alcohol & works out. Maybe it's his genes

[@BoyAditya]

he look younger now than 3 years ago .... what is happening ....

[@Mooseboy08]

5:22. How many young players just don't get it.

[@peluca82]

Nice energy bro ! Inspiration

[@whynottalklikeapirat]

Wow - it's Bruno Supremecourt!!!

[@Slears]

I am allways fascinated how many of the "big guys" use the BOSS Stompboxes..I mean the Boss pedals are just all over the place..every guitar player has at least one..from the bloody beginner up to super pros

[@mravanteguarde]

Slears play boss effects in cheap amps, i think you would never appreciate it, but play any effects(not just boss) in a high end amp like this type of randall, any pedal brand would really sound more amazing.

[@christhomas3898]

The best period

[@sonykroket]

Nuno is the greatest.

[@gianluigidautilia6417]

he looks 32 years old here , nuno how hell you did it

[@DrAL00isin]

As no frills as a rock star can get man, I need a little more style in my guitars that a cutting board look but if you can shred like Nuno it is actually an appropriate look.

[@yaninemar]

Que hombre tan divino!

[@ejstar245]

Lovely as always ♥✌

[@hastyberford]

"I'm not much on effects". Cut to a GT-8 lol.

[@beefcake0354]

+hastyberford hahaha same thought. and then he started talking about him using like 10% of its capability, and I'm like .. oh, OK :)

[@FatSynthDude]

Please don't crucify me, but I've never known who this guy is until now (heard the name, but never bothered to find out who he was and landed on this video while investigating the ProCo Rat pedal) but he seems like a really swell guy. I like the story about plugging into EVH's gear. I used to know a guy that had a rehearsal room next to a famous classic rocker that had a similar story: Asked to jam on said classic rock musician's rig, still sounded like himself. He asks this notorious guitarist to play through his own rig (keeping in mind the other guy I'm referring to is a metalhead that slams a Rectifier with a Tube Screamer) and sure as shit, it still sounds like freakin' this other classic rocker.

[@FatSynthDude]

+Omar Torres Okay, as long as you don't crucify me.

[@blossomgonzales7410]

I'll help with the cutting 😆😆

[@FatSynthDude]

+Blossom Gonzales Wow. That's the most erotic thing someone has said to me all week!

[@blossomgonzales7410]

+FatSynthDude 😂😂😂

[@Dejoblue]

Holy shit, sober as fuck in this! :)~

[@BeerAndBeards]

dude I just saw you in Pixxy live!

[@Dejoblue]

+BeerAndBeards Haha, We talked about Nuno. Now go check out Vito Bratta!

[@tammysigmon853]

He didn't age well

[@hazor777]

+Tammy Sigmon and what is "aging well" to you ? For 49 yrs old, I'd say he doesn't look it - you must have stupid, ridiculously high standards......

[@tammysigmon853]

+hazor777 I had to watch this again to see what I meant. I guess I didn't make it clear that Eddie didn't age well. Nuno is an awesome guitarist, but I love his acoustic guitar better. I apologize for not making myself clear. Lol, it looks like Nuno is still in his early thirties. Have a good night.

[@niknarg8150]

Amazing dude

[@nunoloureiro341]

doing good cuz , keep it up ...

[@94SexyStang]

Very true about Eddie, I've seen people that buy Thousands of dollars of pedals and EVH 5150's, and STILL DONT sound like Eddie! Meanwhile, I run an old 70's Peavey, distortion pedal, and Jackson Dinky and I can get a BETTER sound, closer to Eddies, haha. It's all in the technique and how your brain is wired. Eddies mind was wired differently, just his offset timing, squezing notes in between other notes, just Everything was backwards/random with Eddie. If you don't have That, you'll never sound like him, period.

[@Tattood-gv9fk]

Never would have guessed he used a GT-8...I wonder if its just out front or if he uses the 4 cable method...I would love to ditch my pedals and just go with a multi unit. But I've always assumed it wouldnt sound very good and take away from my tone

[@leighbromby1743]

Did you post that??? On my time line???nuno

[@schlagdog]

The Randalls are cool looking but he never uses them live. He always has a Marshall head behind them. If you watch him playing live those Randalls are always on the clean channel sitting there for show.Saw him again recently playing Pornograffitti live and they wheeled out his amps and sitting right behind them is his marshall head like always.

[@rbagel55]

+schlagdog He probably did for a while. But you know the competition is tough among amp makers. And musicians are always on a quest for "that perfect tone" Good tube amps are fucking expensive nowadays

[@timehrhart2905]

Anyone know what gauge string Nuno uses? They sell the N4 with 9’s on it- but I thought I heard him at one point say he uses 10-52…..thought I’d ask this forum

[@leighbromby1743]

Nice hair got that trained well

[@dr2675]

Whatever you do don't ask him about his delay settings.

[@elvisjsax]

Why not?

[@pablo7182]

does this guy ever age?

[@LL-ow1qt]

Apparently not 😄

[@rubarihihuki6566]

If you compare gear interview of nuno and the other guitarist, you will notice that nuno's interview is shorter..

[@purpledc1]

LOL, its funny. Nuno saying he is disappointed with him plugging into Eddies rig because he still sounded like him. I know the feeling. I have been trying to duplicate Nunos sound on Pornograffiti since I heard the album. Even when you get tabs or sheet music for nunos songs its useless because even if you know the songs note for note if you dont know nunos technique it will never sound right. Like he man woman hater. (not the bumble bee intro but the actual he man woman hater song) That song is impossible to get it to sound like on the album. He plays that riff with a technique that really turns the guitar into a percussion instrument. And how it is played doesnt seem to make sense. You arent hitting the notes so much as you are trying to get the percussive clicking with the notes adding nuance to the percussive clack. He has this same technique on the whole album and it just adds an other worldly dimension and aggression to his playing.

[@jamesrockford2626]

+China's High End EDC he used and ADA MP1 on that album

[@purpledc1]

James Rockford which does help. Many albums were cut with that preamp. Many with the exact same settings. It seems to have a lot of compression with lends an insane attack to even lightly picked notes and that can be heard on Skid Rows Slave to the Grind album. But still without Nunos legato technique it still wont sound right. I have duplicated the sound of the ada with my current amp but that technique? much harder as evidenced by the numerous covers on youtube that never sound like the actual song.

[@jamesrockford2626]

China's High End EDC Nuno has great feel and technique no doubt. one of the best players of all time

[@purpledc1]

James Rockford I agree. There are a ton of players with amazing speed and flawless technique. Yngwie comes to mind. But for some reason I have always gravitated to players who can express emotion with the least amount of notes possible. Nuno and a few other players to me defy my preference because they seem to be able to bridge intense technical prowess while imparting nuance and feeling. I think another player who really understands this is John Sykes.

[@jamesrockford2626]

China's High End EDC The first time I saw Nuno was in 1986. I was in this thrash band and we backed up his band at this dinky club North of Boston. I had never heard of him. I did know the band he joined since I grew up i nthe same town as their singer. I remember walking in the club the with my sound man and Nuno was warming up.. Our jaws just dropped.. I couldn't believe it. I had seen Malmsteen and Vai and Dimeola and VH prior. But Nuno was better as a raw player. He was like 19 or 20 at the time. I remember going backstage and his roadie was a total cock. I wanted to meet Nuno and tell him how great he was but he wouldn't have any of that.. But to this day I have never seen a guitar player that good. And I have seen many great bands front row and backed-up up some big bands as well. Nuno's playing still sticks with me.. In his prime he was untouchable. I do think Malmsteen and EVH were way more innovative, but Nuno had amazing technique and he had great melodic approach. I still rate him top 10 in metal.. Too bad he never played in a band with a good singer. Gary sucked. Perry was ok.. Riahnna is good but she is pop I always wished he hooked up with DLR or Hagar or Coverdale

[@jorgemartins1738]

Indeed awesome! Love the way he does not care absolutely about boutique pedals this, effects that, racks, diferent amps and shit.... what really cares is his playing style.... lol

[@The-Bard]

The reason he needs that Rat is because the bill lawrence pickup is thin and tinny.

[@toddhawkes36]

May some one let me know if Nunos general tuning is half a step down generally

[@toddhawkes36]

Yes me it depends what he's playing or I should say doin. I love trumpets even more now for let's say the many uses they can give. Nuno and Steve what beautiful gifts they have shared that will last forever in me and many others who know what I mean

[@edgelivier772]

Que felicidade eu tenho uma washburn hehe

[@leighbromby1743]

Have to listen to Steven 😆😆😆night now

[@zepp3lin]

Sorry Nuno & Washburn, that's the reason I didn't buy that Overprice N4 because no matter what I use, it will sound like me..........

[@rawh321]

haaaa The dream is over!!! NICE!

[@Pasionadamujer]

where will your the band play next after japan?

[@GtrPknMama]

Fewer knobs the better for a flogger…. 😎👍🎵

[@Flvbybcn]

He said he used Rat (i.e. proco rat), right?

[@nunocarmona]

He "forgot" to mention the modded Marhall head he uses instead of the Randalls live (at least) on most of the venues... Nice insight nevertheless. Thsnk you TotalGuitar

[@schlagdog]

He did that years ago when they were working out bugs in the Randall when they where still prototypes.

[@nunocarmona]

schlagdog He still does that. Seen it with my own eyes past July.

[@schlagdog]

Ok. I'll take your work for it but haven't even heard of that in years and he never used it the 3 times I've seen them over the years and was in back twice.

[@schlagdog]

I've got an NBKing and its kinda squishy sounding like an Orange Rockerverb. Definitely his tone on their live dvd along with green back speakers breaking up everywhere.

[@nunocarmona]

schlagdog The Randall's were there but the heads weren't plug to the cabs. The Marshall head was on the back plugged into one of the Randall cabs.

[@billzaferatos2256]

Would rather sound like nuno than Eddie any day. My favorite since their first album.

[@9642SM7¹]

The dream is over.