Formed in 1988, Mr. Big was an all-star effort made up of bassist Billy Sheehan, drummer Pat Torpey, vocalist Eric Martin, and guitarist Paul Gilbert. With more chops than a butcher shop, the band used its superpowers to write crowd-pleasing rock anthems and #1 hits.
With help from drummer/friend Nick D’Virgilio stepping in for Torpey (who died in 2018 after dealing with Parkinson’s for four years), they’re closing the book on a treamendous ride with their final studio album, Ten, a tour to support it, and in September they’ll offer fans The Big Finish Live album and an accompanying concert film. Mr. Gilbert agreed to tell all.
When Mr. Big has reunited every so often, is it like riding a bike?
Overall, things fall into place. The challenge this time was we had the idea of playing the entire Lean Into It album, which was our biggest record. Several of those songs we’d never played live. In the studio you can punch in a line, but when you play it live it’s almost impossible to sing. We had to figure out lower keys, which is great for lead vocals and harmonies, but “Never Say Never” has an open-string guitar riff in E. Move that down a fourth, and I have to fret the low note and all the chords are in a different place.
A third of the songs are like that. One of the hardest to play is “Road To Ruin.” I wrote it with a Robin Trower/Jimi Hendrix thing in mind. It’s a standard guitar move, but because we tuned down a whole step, I had to do Drop-D tuning (laughs). It’s a brain melter.
How did you approach writing for Ten?
Because this was our farewell tour, I figured we wouldn’t play the songs live. If I do a triple guitar harmony, I don’t have to reproduce it live. That freed me up in terms of overdubs and tuning. I could do any tuning I wanted and as many overdubs as I wanted and serve the song without worrying about live repercussions. I wrote about half the record myself. I spent a lot of time playing drums on the demos and I wanted to keep the guitars I recorded, and I had to use Pro Tools’ Beat Detective to get it right. So I learned how to use Beat Detective, and was really happy with it. Our new drummer, Nick D’Virgilio, upgraded it at the end. So, I demoed all the guitars, basses, and drums. Then everybody came in and put the Mr. Big fingerprint on it.
There’s a lot of slide on the album, like “Right Outta Here.”
It’s become more comfortable. I feel like I’m in control of it. The song is blues-rock, but I wanted it to have some contrast to let it breathe. I came up with this Arabian melody played through a Pignose Amp to give it sonic contrast.
Is that a Univibe on “Who We Are?”
I love Univibe, from Hendrix and Trower to Frank Marino and Pat Travers. I’ve always loved that modulated sound. I used a big ol’ Fulltone DejaVibe. I remember asking Mike Fuller, “Why does the big one sound better than the mini ones?” He said, “They’re exactly the same (laughs).” I think there’s something about the big ones that has a special tone.
Which amps did you use on tour?
I used the most-common, easy-to-find amps that backline companies carry and sounds good – a Marshall 1959 SLP and a Fender Twin. I needed loud, clean, and reliable. I put the Fender Twin in front of me like a wedge. The sound man is always happy because if I need more of me, I just crank up that wedge and it stays the same out front. Then, I can get what I need so I can feel it, get feedback, and resonance.
On “Just Take My Heart,” I need a 100-percent clean sound. The typical thing is to have a distorted amp and turn down the guitar, but it’s not the Trevor Rabin “Owner of a Lonely Heart” middle-part sound. I turned on a Boss Compressor, an MXR Stereo Chorus, and got a great clean sound. It’s three percent of the show, but an important three percent.
The rest of my pedalboard is a combination of distortions. The two always on are the Xotic AC Booster and a BBE Boosta Grande. It’s a clean boost that hits the front of the AC Booster. The Boosta Grande turns it up to 11. If I need more distortion, I have a JHS Overdrive Preamp and a Mojo Hand Colossus Mother of Fuzz.
Is this really the end of Mr. Big?
Whatever the four of us do after this will be good. It feels like good timing putting all this energy into it for one last time. Right now, I’m learning the vocal part on “Black Water” by The Doobie Brothers.
This article originally appeared in VG’s September 2024 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
