MAB’s Tone
Michael’s distinct tone comes primarily
from his fingers, but he does use specific
guitars, amps and effects to achieve his
signature sound. He’s known for using
Gibson, Charvel, Ritz and Dean Guitars
and BOSS overdrive pedals, all run into
Marshall amplifiers. It’s smooth, fiercely
overdriven and punchy synth-esque
sound, as heard during Michael’s earlier
years, is actually a combination of the
BOSS SD- 1 pedal into modded Marshall
JCM800 amps set at medium gain and a
slightly high volume. In the mid-nineties,
Michael acquired an original Ibanez TS-
9, which he used on the album, Hands
Without Shadows.
He uses custom designed DiMarzio pick-
ups – a PAF Pro and/or PAF in the neck
position and a Super Distortion and/or
Double Whammy in the bridge position
– along with EMGs (in his Dean signature series guitars) and Seymour Duncan
JBs (in some of his double guitars). For
amps, Michael now prefers to use the
new line of Marshall Valve amplifiers,
specifically the JCM2000 DSL, along
with Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifiers for his
rhythm parts.
In 2007, Michael, in conjunction with T.
Rex Engineering, launched an overdrive
pedal designed especially for him. The
pedal is simply called the Michael Angelo
Batio Overdrive, and features more gain
to satisfy Michael’s taste for heavily over-
driven sounds.
MICHAEL ANGELO BATIO
5 LICKS:
114 PREMIERGUITAR SEPTEMBER 2008
Exercise 1
This example features 16th note triplets diatonically ascending and “back tracking” up the
fretboard. For me, the key is to take the riffs and go in unexpected directions rather than just
ascending or descending in a predictable way.
Exercise 2
Exercise 2 is an example of one of my riffs in the key of Bb. Again, I like to use chromatic passing
tones, but in a rock and metal guitar context. These exercises are good examples of how I take what
could be standard melodic choices and twist and turn the notes around to create my own style.
