Guitars
Fender Stratocaster The Edge Richie Sambora Orianthi
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In 2016, after decades of using the Stratocaster to produce some of the most beautiful sounds in post-eighties music, U2's The Edge finally got his Fender signature model, a prime example of understated and functional design inspired by the Deluxe series. The neck heel is the same, as are the two-point vibrato and the integrated straplocks. The pickups are the models that have always worked for The Edge: two Fat 50s in the neck and middle position, and most importantly the DiMarzio FS-1 in the bridge position.
Since that signature model has been made for a demanding musician, other musicians just as demanding got into that Strat, among them Richie Sambora. Sambora got his break with Bon Jovi playing a HSS Stratocaster, ie a model with a humbucker in the bridge position, and even got his signature model sporting that spec. But with age and wisdom, Sambora got back to the modest single coil, while still enjoying a healthy dose of fat distortion. Therefore, the FS-1 is the perfect compromise, better-suited to his taste than a regular vintage inspired model. When Richie fell in love with the Edge Strat, he put locking tuners on it to stay perfectly in tune when using the vibrato extensively.
This Strat was used to record the RSO album. RSO is the band formed by Richie Sambora and Orianthi and their first album, Radio Free America, came out in 2018. It was produced by Bob Rock, a producer mostly associated with Metallica's finest hour but who also worked on Bon Jovi's best albums. Sambora and Orianthi have both signed this Strat as a souvenir of the recording sessions for that excellent pop rock album.
Richie Sambora
(1959)
Band : Bon Jovi
Main guitar : Fender Stratocaster signature
Compulsory listening : Livin’ On A Prayer
Such is the history of rock: for every Mick Jagger, there is a Keith Richards. For every Steven Tyler, there is a Joe Perry. For every Robert Plant, a Jimmy Page. For every superstar that gets the crowd going, there is a moody, infinitely cool guitar player that has the singer’s back and only takes the front of stage for quick assaults of thirty seconds.
Richie Sambora joined the New Jersey band Bon Jovi in 1983, a few months after its creation. Right from the start, Sambora’s playing and personality perfectly matched the image of founding singer Jon Bon Jovi. Together, they created a songwriting duo that would come up with hard rock classics that remain mainstays of every radio station playlist. The true explosion happened in 1986 with the Slippery When Wet album, on which Sambora co-wrote nine out of ten songs, including mega-singles Livin’ On A Prayer, You Give Love A Bad Name and Wanted Dead Or Alive. The guitar hero’s virtuosic, precise and energetic playing are in full force on that album. Sambora has integrated Van Halen’s influence to his style like any soloist of the time, but he added his personal twist to it. His talent for arranging can be head on the twelve-string parts of Wanted…, the pitch shifted solo to You Give Love A Bad Name or the talkbox for Livin’ On A Prayer.
After the release of the album, the band gets huge and starts touring around the world for sold-out crowds of entranced fans. Bon Jovi’s genius is that they achieved mainstream success at several points in their career, which makes them relevant to several generations of fans. They once again topped the charts with Always in 1994, then with It’s My Life (co-written by Sambora too) in 2000. That last song earned them a new audience that still follows them to this day.
A victim of his demons, Sambora had to quit the band in 2013 in the middle of one more world tour. Since then, he has launched the RSO band with his ex Orianthi. Over time, he seems more and more interested in the Telecaster and the Esquire, whereas he was the poster boy for superstrats in the glory days of Bon Jovi. Sambora’s musical future probably has a few great surprises in store.
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