Adrian Purser, via Wikimedia Commons
Ichirou Agata
I’m going to begin with the least well-known guitarist on this list, Ichirou Agata, of
Japanese experimental noise rock geniuses Melt-Banana, both because he’s a personal
favorite of mine, and because he possesses a jaw-dropping mastery of the Whammy
pedal. Melt-Banana’s catalog is littered with Whammy squeals and divebombs, as is
Agata’s brilliant solo recording, Spike, but the band’s “Shield for Your Eyes, a Beast
in the Well on Your Hand” from 2003’s Cell-Scape, is an absolute tour de force of
Whammy madness. As far as I can tell Agata never turns the pedal off for the length of
the song, deftly manipulating it throughout for effects both subtle and extreme, and
the main guitar riff is undoubtedly one of the most badass, spine-tingling Whammy riffs
of all time. Whammy maniacs, bow before Agata, for he is your king.
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TONE TALK //
Six Masters of Whammy