Former Whitesnake guitarist Adrian Vandenberg recently shared his thoughts on one of the most common mistakes guitarists make when shaping their tone. In a conversation with American Music Supply, the veteran musician pointed out how this widespread habit tends to blur individuality among players, making most guitar tones sound too alike.
While Vandenberg acknowledged that there’s no absolute “right” or “wrong” way to shape guitar tone—since much of it depends on personal goals and genre expectations—he emphasized that many musicians miss the chance to stand out.
The issue, he noted, lies in overusing distortion. Vandenberg explained that the majority of guitarists tend to crank up the gain knob too far, which often leads to tones that are overly compressed and indistinct. When asked about the importance of leaving space in music and not crowding the mix with excessive effects, Vandenberg responded (as transcribed by Ultimate Guitar):
“That’s what I love. And also, the sounds of pretty much nine out of ten guitar players are very similar. It would be different when you would have one guy that plays, like, a more distorted guitar, and the other one plays like an almost clean one.”
While it’s clear not everyone goes heavy on distortion, Vandenberg believes the over-reliance on gain and compression is too common. As a solution, he encouraged players to take cues from AC/DC’s Angus and Malcolm Young, who achieved powerful tones without maxing out distortion levels.
“For instance, a lot of people don’t realize that, in AC/DC, those guitars are not very distorted. But it smacks you in the face because they are not so distorted. It had a lot of punch instead of getting compressed because of a lot of gain and stuff.”
He concluded with a simple but critical insight:
“It doesn’t cut through anymore if it’s too much gain and too much compression going on.”
Vandenberg’s opinions carry weight, given his influential work during Whitesnake’s commercial peak. He played a key role in co-writing all of the tracks on the band’s 1989 album Slip of the Tongue. Before that, he also contributed to the 1987 self-titled album, lending his lead guitar skills to the iconic re-recording of Here I Go Again.
Reflecting on that period, he recalled:
“The solos in ‘Here I Go Again’ and the early Vandenberg song ‘Burning Heart’ are usually seen as my trademark solos for me. Second Vandenberg album made a song called ‘This Is War’ and that’s probably one of my favorite solos that I thought, ‘Oh, this is pretty cool.’ I didn’t realize at the time. I only realized it years later that that was actually pretty cool and stands for what I do.”
He added:
“But just like you mentioned, ‘Here I Go Again’ has got all the little bits and pieces that are, I suppose, my style or trademark, or whatever.”
Through these insights, Adrian Vandenberg not only reflects on his career highlights but also offers valuable advice for guitarists looking to refine their tone and break free from the trap of sounding like everyone else.
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