Brad Warren Cello

Gear Nerd: Ratt's Guitarist Warren DeMartini

WDeM: When I was 8 or 9 it was just self-taught, then if anyone dropped by the house who could play anything they’d show me. The tuners on the guitar I had were so loose it wouldn’t stay in tune, it was impossible for me to get anywhere on it so later on I did take a few classical lessons. I just dabbled a little bit here and there with instruction, nothing really lasted.

WDeM: Well, it really didn’t resemble anything like a career until a band I had in high school called Enforcer – I named it after the Clint Eastwood movie (I’m a big fan).  We never actually thought it was gonna do something, it was just a case of having a show in a couple of days and needing a name! The first indicator that there might actually be a career was when we played a show supporting Ratt in Burbank, California in 1980 or 1981.

WDeM: I’ve never really done much endorsing. I had a pretty casual arrangement with Charvelle Guitars between 1984 and 1987, it was just a very loose thing. They weren't promoting or anything like that, but it was getting a lot of exposure because of Ratt. I could just drop by with an idea and they’d put it together, it was a really cool thing, then the company got sold and went overseas, by which time I’d met the guys from Performance Guitar- a custom guitar boutique in Hollywood. I knew of them from a trip to Frank Zappa’s house one time, he had this guitar in the studio and I really liked the way it played, so I called Performance Guitar and asked them if they still had the spec for that model. They did, so I had them make me one, and two or three months later I got it. Anyway, Fender bought the rights to all the Charvelle stuff so that’s being produced by the Corona factory now where they make all the other Fender guitars. The quality’s very good and now I am being endorsed by Charvelle guitars again.

WDeM: I had an instructor for a short while and I really didn’t get it because the medium was based on reading music, which I just didn’t like. I’m an ear-player, but I did learn good things from that period. My instructor would say, ‘just use the easiest way, use the least amount of energy to get from one place to another’ – for years that went over my head, but gradually I began to understand that advice. Y’know, I’d just say if it feels good, it is good.

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