In the world of rock guitar, there are few more respected names than Yngwie J. Malmsteen. He is at the level of Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen in terms of influence on guitar players. The fact is, like those two before him, Yngwie single-handedly altered the course of rock guitar upon his emergence on the scene. Keep in mind he was not yet even 20 years old when he finished recording the debut Rising Force album. Twenty! It's actually quite mind-blowing. It is safe to say he has achieved mastery of the instrument and seemingly from a quite young age. Besides that, he lives and breathes the rock star life and is always in stage attire. He is firmly a Legend of Rock. Have you ever seen a picture of him in a t-shirt and shorts? Wearing anything resembling ordinary daily clothing? Driving around in a Toyota? No. He looks like he is ready to rock 24/7.
He is, to many of his true fans, not just a revolutionary guitarist, but a great songwriter. OK his later albums are crap (whose isn't?) but I will simply take his first 8 albums up to Magnum Opus as proof as they are chock-full of creativity and emotion, without even mentioning the inhuman guitar playing (tone, feel, precision).
Yet with all his talent he never managed to achieved mainstream superstardom and adulation like say EVH or Slash did (despite being much more prolific with this recorded output). The fact is his concerts are poorly attended and who really bought his last 10 albums? Can you even name them. To many today he's viewed more as a novelty or nostalgia act. He still needs to work doing Asian club tours for money. I think it would have helped his career if he was actually a nice guy. But he's not and he's not too concerned about that at all.
If you are like me, having read the excellent biography As Above, So Below by Anders Tengner (highly recommended) with the revelations of his shocking antics and bad behaviour, and find yourself asking WHY?? is he such an asshole, the answer may perhaps be found looking from another perspective.
Certainly in the 70s, mental health or development disorder was not as widely recognised or diagnosed and treated as it is today. I'm not a psychologist, and I don't intend to psychoanalyze Yngwie Malmsteen, but I've taken this example from Wikipedia:
Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's syndrome or Asperger's, is a term formerly used to describe a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior and interests.[5] Asperger syndrome has been merged with other disorders into autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and is no longer considered a stand-alone diagnosis.[10][11][12] It was considered[13] milder than other diagnoses which were merged into ASD due to relatively unimpaired spoken language and intelligence.
From the book about his YJM's life:
plays guitar 6-8 hours a day, zero interest in school, or showering, or anything else
poor with numbers (guitar to exclusion of all else, hence poor financial sense; getting cheated by managers, car salesmen, etc)
has no friends
only dresses a certain way, plays a certain type of guitar, plays repetitively (though wonderfully)
has no time for niceties
prone to insulting or belittling others
speaks bluntly with no care for consequence
reacts to any perceived slight harshly
speaks well, in at least 2 languages fluently, and with intelligence
I dunno... do you think I'm on to something here? But one thing's for sure, he's special, no doubt about it
He is, to many of his true fans, not just a revolutionary guitarist, but a great songwriter. OK his later albums are crap (whose isn't?) but I will simply take his first 8 albums up to Magnum Opus as proof as they are chock-full of creativity and emotion, without even mentioning the inhuman guitar playing (tone, feel, precision).
Yet with all his talent he never managed to achieved mainstream superstardom and adulation like say EVH or Slash did (despite being much more prolific with this recorded output). The fact is his concerts are poorly attended and who really bought his last 10 albums? Can you even name them. To many today he's viewed more as a novelty or nostalgia act. He still needs to work doing Asian club tours for money. I think it would have helped his career if he was actually a nice guy. But he's not and he's not too concerned about that at all.
If you are like me, having read the excellent biography As Above, So Below by Anders Tengner (highly recommended) with the revelations of his shocking antics and bad behaviour, and find yourself asking WHY?? is he such an asshole, the answer may perhaps be found looking from another perspective.
Certainly in the 70s, mental health or development disorder was not as widely recognised or diagnosed and treated as it is today. I'm not a psychologist, and I don't intend to psychoanalyze Yngwie Malmsteen, but I've taken this example from Wikipedia:
Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's syndrome or Asperger's, is a term formerly used to describe a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior and interests.[5] Asperger syndrome has been merged with other disorders into autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and is no longer considered a stand-alone diagnosis.[10][11][12] It was considered[13] milder than other diagnoses which were merged into ASD due to relatively unimpaired spoken language and intelligence.
From the book about his YJM's life:
plays guitar 6-8 hours a day, zero interest in school, or showering, or anything else
poor with numbers (guitar to exclusion of all else, hence poor financial sense; getting cheated by managers, car salesmen, etc)
has no friends
only dresses a certain way, plays a certain type of guitar, plays repetitively (though wonderfully)
has no time for niceties
prone to insulting or belittling others
speaks bluntly with no care for consequence
reacts to any perceived slight harshly
speaks well, in at least 2 languages fluently, and with intelligence
I dunno... do you think I'm on to something here? But one thing's for sure, he's special, no doubt about it
1988 Fender USA Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster Sonic Blue
An early example of the very first series Fender Yngwie Strat, in rarest sonic blue finish long since faded, 57 small headstock, quite uncommon today considering the Fender YJM strat has been in uninterrupted production since 1988. A fact that may have slipped past the casual fan is that Yngwie was the very first artist to receive a Fender signature model. Ever. Ahead of Eric Clapton, Ritchie Blackmore, and whoever else.
Being from 1988 it has the Dimarzio tuners, HS-3 and HS-2 pickups, TBX tone controls, and the original blue finish has gloriously faded & yellowed on its own over 30 years to take on a teal hue. Natural fading that can't be achieved by any Custom Shop! Sonic blue with small headstock was certainly one of Yngwie's favourites in the mid 80s. It also features in the very first Fender ad for the Yngwie model.
Being from 1988 it has the Dimarzio tuners, HS-3 and HS-2 pickups, TBX tone controls, and the original blue finish has gloriously faded & yellowed on its own over 30 years to take on a teal hue. Natural fading that can't be achieved by any Custom Shop! Sonic blue with small headstock was certainly one of Yngwie's favourites in the mid 80s. It also features in the very first Fender ad for the Yngwie model.
1989 Fender USA Yngwie Strat CAR maple
As mentioned above, CAR with small headstock was a solid favourite in the day, especially the full maple neck version which was as ubiquitous as his pirate shirt. Here pictured next to a 90s Fender Japan off-catalog order model of the same.
1990 Fender Japan Custom made Gold 'Eclipse'
Fender Japan are known to release 'unofficial' artist models, off-catalog, by dealer order, or special promotion. As can be seen often with Blackmore or Yngwie models but also many other less popular artists in limited runs. These are basically guitars with artist specs but without their signature on the instrument (hence lowering the cost to dealer while increasing sales). Of course I like them a lot if I can find them as they are often unique from what was normally available to the masses in catalogs.
This is a 1990 order-made Strat in gold finish from 1990, with "Fender Custom made" decal. Order-made as evidenced by the neck stamp with K-xxx unique order number. With the gold hardware and Dimarzio HS-3s. How cool is this? Yngwie was using his gold Strat a lot on the Eclipse and Fire And Ice album cycles circa 1990- 1994, and most famously in the infamous REH guitar instructional video.
This is a 1990 order-made Strat in gold finish from 1990, with "Fender Custom made" decal. Order-made as evidenced by the neck stamp with K-xxx unique order number. With the gold hardware and Dimarzio HS-3s. How cool is this? Yngwie was using his gold Strat a lot on the Eclipse and Fire And Ice album cycles circa 1990- 1994, and most famously in the infamous REH guitar instructional video.
