The late 70s and early 80s gave rise to a number of amazing guitarists, but two stood out above the rest, not only in terms of ability and technique but also in influence and legacy. They were Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads. Randy’s beautifully constructed, sizzlingly precise, break-neck speed solos in songs like “I Don’t Know”, “Mr. Crowley”, and “Crazy Train” helped create the template that is still used to judge all metal solos to this day.

Star is Born

Randall William Rhoads was born in Santa Monica, California on December 6, 1956. He first picked up the guitar at age 9, influenced by his mother who was a music teacher in a local school. In his teens, he discovered the pleasures of hard rock and played in a number of school bands performing covers by his favorite guitarists, Mick Ronson from David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars, Michael Schenker, who was in the Scorpions at the time, before joining UFO, and Leslie West of Mountain.

Rise

He then co-founded Quiet Riot with bassist Kelly Garni in 1973, the band went on to become a successful Los Angeles rock act in the mid to late 70s.

Fame

In 1979, Ozzy Osbourne, who had just left or been fired from (depending on whose side of the story you believe) Black Sabbath was looking for a new guitarist and Randy got the job, catapulting him into rock’n’roll history.

Now

Sadly, Randy only recorded two studio albums with Ozzy, “Blizzard of Ozz” and “Diary of a Madman” before he died in a tragic plane crash in 1982, he was only 25 years old. A live double album entitled Tribute was released in 1987 and featured Randy playing live versions of the songs he had written with Ozzy as well as his versions of songs by Black Sabbath.

Looking back at his amazing musical legacy and considering his interests in classical music and jazz, what he would or could have done in his life musically is unimaginable. A phenomenal talent, taken away at far too young an age.

Right Hand

Alternate PickingAlternate picking involves striking the string with both downstrokes and upstrokes in a continuous motion. It enhances speed and precision. Guitarists use this technique for rapid note sequences., FingerstyleFingerstyle involves plucking strings directly with fingers instead of a pick. It allows complex, polyphonic music. This technique is common in classical and folk guitar., Palm Muting

Other Techniques

HarmonicsHarmonics involve lightly touching the string at specific points to produce bell-like tones. They add tonal variety. This technique is used for special sound effects. Harmonics can be natural or artificial, depending on the method used., Lead GuitarLead guitar focuses on melody lines and solos. It often uses techniques like bends and vibrato. This role is prominent in rock and blues bands., Tapping

Techniques Breakdown

Mixing Blues and Diatonic Scales (Aeolian, Phrygian, and Natural Minor)
Chromatic Scales
Open String Licks

• Palm-muting

• Incredible Time-keeping

• Pick Scrapes

• Toggle Switch Flipping

• Fingerpicking

• Pentatonic Pull-offs

• Tapping

• Trills

Guitars

• 1974 Gibson Les Paul Custom - Alpine White

  Original for “Crazy Train” Tone
• 

  Gibson Custom Les Paul Custom

  Best Money No Object Guitar for “Crazy Train” Tone
• 

  Epiphone Les Paul Custom

  Best Budget Guitar for “Crazy Train” Tone

• Karl Dandoval “Polka Dot” V

  Best for Looking Incredibly Cool
• 

  Gibson 70s Flying V

  Gibson Version for Looking Incredibly Cool
• 

  Jackson Rhoads Concorde

  Best for Looking nearly as Cool as the Polka Dot V
• 

  Jackson Rhoads JS32T

  Best Budget for Looking nearly as Cool as the Polka Dot V

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Amps

• 1976 Marshall JMP Super Lead 100-watt Head

  Original Amp for any Randy Rhoads Tone
• 

  Marshall 1959HW 100-watt Head

  Best Money No Object Amp for any Randy Rhoads Tone
• 

  Marshall 1960AX 4x12 Cabinet

  Best Money No Object Cab for any Randy Rhoads Tone
• 

  Marshall Origin series

  Best Budget Amp for any Randy Rhoads Tone

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Signal Processing

• 

  MXR M104 Distortion +

  Best Distortion Pedal for any Randy Rhoads Tone

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Accessories

• 

  GHS Boomers .009-.042 Extra Light

  for Blizzard of Ozz
• 

  GHS Boomers .010-.046 Light

  010 or 0.11 for Diary of a Madman
• 

  Fender 351 Medium Celluloid

• Song - Crazy Train

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Guitars

• 1974 Gibson Les Paul Custom

  The original ‘74 Super Humbuckers.

The guitar is a solid 2-piece sandwich construction with a mahogany body and a maple top. Pick-up settings - Bridge Pickup (Volume: 10 - Tone: 10)

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Amps

• 1976 Marshall JMP Super Lead 100-watt Tube Head

• 

  Marshall 1960A cabinet

• 

  Marshall 1960B cabinet

The speakers were changed from the usual Celestians to Altec 417-AH because Randy preferred the increased headroom and brighter sound. Settings - Bass: 2 - Middle: 6 - Treble: 7 - Presence - 5 - Volume 1: - 6 - Volume 2: 0 - Randy used the top input (Input 1)

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Signal Processing

• MXR Distortion +

• MXR 10 Band Equalizer

• MX DMX 15-80S Rack-mount Studio Digital Delay

MXR Distortion + Settings - Output: 10 - Distortion: 4. MXR 10 Band Equalizer Settings - 31.2: -2 - 62.5: 0 - 125: +3 - 250: +7 - 500: +10 - 1k: +6 - 2k: +3 - 4k: -2 - 8k: 0 - 16k: +3. An AMX DMX 15-80S Rack-mount Studio Digital Delay unit was also used on the track. These vintage delays are now rare, highly collectible, and very highly priced. The settings used were not logged on the tracksheet.

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Accessories

• 

  GHS Boomers .009-.042 Extra Light

• 

  Fender 351 Medium Celluloid

GHS Boomers - .009 Gauge for Blizzard of Ozz, .010 or 0.11 for Diary of a Madman - All sets had the standard gauges for each string.

Note that you can move away from this tab and continue to listen to the video. Enjoying reading about your favorite guitarists while enjoying their skills.

• Randy Rhoads Tribute Video

  A fitting Tribute to the Guitar Mastery of Randy Rhoads

• Crazy Train Live 1981

  A Guitar Master at Work!

• Mr. Crowley Live 1981

  The intro could be from an episode of Scooby Doo!

Here are some GND selected tabs with our difficulty ratings to help you choose what challenge level is right for you.

• Crazy Train

• Mr. Crowley

• I Don’t Know

• Over the Mountain

• Dee