How to Play Guitar Like Ron Asheton

Asheton playngi a Reverend guitar and a Marshall stack with the reformed Stooges.

Often regarded as little more than a Mongolian barre chorder, the Stooges' late guitarist, Ron Asheton, proved to be one of rock's most resourceful and creative presences. From the elementary protopunk of the Stooges' first album, to the densely rocked-up-jazz pastures of their followup, "Funhouse," Asheton laid down some of rock's mightiest riffs. Not even a move to bass guitar during the Stooges' final phase shackled the raw energy that typified the remainder of Asheton's musical career. Today's punk guitar styles would be unthinkable without him.

Things You'll Need

• Ernie Ball Slinky guitar strings (.046 to .009, or .038 to .010 gauges for Stratocasters) Fender medium guitar picks Fender Stratocaster guitar Gibson EB3 bass Gibson Flying V guitar (used on first Stooges album) Guild X-79 guitar Gibson Les Paul guitar Gibson SG guitar Hundred-watt 4 x 12 Marshall amplifier stack with a slant cabinet, and two 50-watt heads Ibanez effects box Sunn 200 bass amps

Instructions

Use Little Touches for Big Sounds

1. 

   Build a strong rhythmic and melodic framework around 3-finger barre chords. To create them, hold your index finger across the relevant fret. Add your middle and ring fingers on the adjacent strings, and form the appropriate chord shape. This, in turn, leaves the pinky finger free to make a ninth chord, if the song requires it.

2. 

   Exploit drones and open strings to get a bigger sound. For reference, listen to "No Fun" from the Stooges' self-titled 1969 debut album, in which the song builds around a simple chord structure played off a bottom E string drone. Asheton used a similar trick on "TV Eye," from "Funhouse" (1970). This time, the ringing A string is an integral part of the song. Simple but subtle, such little tricks enabled the Stooges to overcome their inherent limitations of being a guitar, bass and drum trio.

3. Hook up a 50-watt Marshall amplifier head--for a preamplifier--and run it through a double or triple Marshall stack to get the requisite innard-rattling sound. As Asheton often recalled, he adopted this setup on realizing that his initial amplifier of choice--the Vox Super Beatle--lacked the firepower to cut through the often-sludgy acoustics that typified 1960s-era venues.

4. Make distortion and volume an essential part of your musical arsenal. Since the Stooges did not initially rely on virtuosity to get their point across, going down the opposite route--to play simply, but loud--was the only other logical route. The mantra-like riffs that defined "1969" or "No Fun" also provided a suitable backdrop for Iggy Pop to expand his own array of vocal and lyrical improvisations that became a defining trademark of the "Funhouse"-era Stooges.

Dont's Fill Every Sonic Square Inch

1. Resist the temptation to fill up every sonic square inch. Even a casual review of Asheton's work--from the Stooges to his later bands, like Dark Carnival--shows that simplicity and restraint are the hallmarks of his style. A good example is 'We Will Fall," the droning 10-minute epic from the first album. Instead of peppering the track with extended solos, Asheton confines himself to subtle wah-wah shadings that he plays behind Pop's vocal phrases. For additional shading, use Cry Baby pedals or an Ibanez Tube Screamer.

2. 

   Stay alert to the tonal possibilities of different guitars. At first, Asheton played Fender Telecasters, the same model used in the Yardbirds by one of his main heroes, Jeff Beck. On finding the Telecaster's tone too clean, Asheton flirted with various Gibson models--such as the Flying V that he used on the first Stooges album--before taking up the Stratocaster. In later life, Asheton endorsed Reverend guitars, working with the company to develop a signature model..

3. Keep the groove in mind, always, something that Asheton learned from his roots as a bass player in teen cover bands like the Chosen Few. This approach proved crucial to Asheton's bass-playing days on many live tapes from the "Raw Power" (1973) album era, where he treated the instrument like another rhythm guitar--yet built simple, driving lines that did not detract from the song itself.

4. 

   Stick with Fender medium guitar picks to get the right balance of definition and feeling for rhythm and lead work. Asheton came to that conclusion after deciding that Fender heavy picks were too stiff, while their thinner cousins did not offer enough feeling to serve his purposes.

Tips & Warnings

• Listen to as wide a variety of music as possible. The Stooges' sound harnesses everything from elements of blues, to the Rolling Stones and the progressive jazz outlook of musicians like John Coltrane--which accounts for 3 albums that sound so completely different from each other. Play as often as possible to an audience, since the Stooges learned their trade by going out and playing live. If resources allow, record as many rehearsals and performances as possible to gain insight into how your style is evolving.

• Take guitar tablatures and chord sheets with a grain of salt. In many cases, the proposed transcription represents the author's own musical choices and preferences. For beginners, the best method is listening to albums or relevant live recordings, which helps to develop their own musical ear. Worry more about originality and creativity, rather than slavishly copying an arrangement of a favorite Stooges tune. As Asheton often reminded his interviewers, many players might be more popular, yet lack any sense of their own style.

Resources

• Ron Asheton's Five Greatest Riffs
• Stooges Forum Discussion
• Making The Marshall Stack Swear