In a recent interview with Ultimate Guitar, Andy Summers shared his thoughts on both Eddie Van Halen and Yngwie Malmsteen.
The guitarist said Malmsteen’s guitar playing was ‘tiring’ for him and that he liked Eddie more. When asked if he was a fan of them when the two first came out, the guitarist explained why he didn’t like Malmsteen:
“Not Malmsteen, no. Eddie was a genius. Eddie Van Halen, I thought was very musical. [I] see all that stuff he could do and all the tapping stuff he worked out. He was kind of a genius guitar player, very touched by something. I’m so sorry he’s not around anymore because I think he’s one of the all-time greats. I’d put him in the top five, no question.”
Malmsteen ‘Tires’ Summers
Even though Eddie and Malmsteen became popular around the same time, Summers isn’t as fond of Malmsteen as he is of Eddie:
“Malmsteen is a bit too shreddy for me. After a while, my ear tires of it. I didn’t grow up with that kind of music. It’s very clever sort of guitar technical stuff if you want to devote the years it takes to really get this tapping going, but I’m not sure what the music is; what it really produces musically, if it’s something I like or not.”
‘Vintage Guitars Aren’t Any Better’
As opposed to Malmsteen, who owns a Fender Stratocaster, Summers has been different guitars such as a Fender Telecaster, a Stratocaster, and even a Fender Jaguar.
However, Summers said that vintage guitars aren’t necessarily better than new ones and that in the end, all gear is just tools.
In another interview, the guitarist talked about his own gear and shared his thoughts on vintage guitars. He said:
“I have to believe – and this is my philosophy – they are getting made better than they used to. Just because it says 1958, yeah, it may have something, because they tended to overwind the pickups. I actually like to think that all that knowledge, of all those years of guitar making, building guitar pickups, has gotten better, and the guys really know what they are doing.”
Below, you can see the interview with Andy Summers.