Song Rig

Eleven Alive

Jason Becker · Perpetual Burn · 1988

Tone Overview

What Makes This Sound Unique

Becker's most melodically sophisticated track on the debut — the tone softens slightly compared to the full-shred pieces, with the neck pickup used for the lyrical passages and the tone control rolled back to warm the sound. Shows the melodic sensibility that distinguished him from pure technique-focused peers.

Signal Chain

1Kramer Pacer (neck pickup for melodic sections, bridge for shred)
2Marshall JCM800
3MXR Phase 90 (subtle on some sections)

Amp Settings

Gain / Volume7

Bass6

Mid7

Treble6

Presence6

Slightly warmer than the full shred tracks — Eleven Alive uses pickup switching to differentiate between the melodic and aggressive sections. The neck pickup with a slightly lower treble setting gives the melodic passages a singing quality that the bridge-humbucker shred tone doesn't have.

Technique

How to Play It

Melodic phrasing between high-speed technical passages — Becker understood dynamics and the relationship between tension and release better than most of his contemporaries. The slow, expressive passages in Eleven Alive make the fast sections sound even faster by contrast.

Budget Alternative

Achievable With

Superstrat with neck and bridge humbuckers → JCM800 → practice switching pickups mid-phrase. The dynamic contrast between melodic and shred sections is more important than any single tone element.

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