Michael Schenker

• Flying V bridge pickup for leads — the warm, sustained character of the Gibson Flying V humbucker at the bridge produces the singing lead quality
• Marshall at medium gain — Schenker's tone is not extreme metal high-gain. Medium amp gain with the Flying V's output level produces the natural saturation
• Melodic approach to solos — think of each solo as a composed melody, not a technical exercise. Each note choice has a musical direction
• Pentatonic minor with blues notes (b5) — the basic vocabulary is accessible but the execution and note choice are sophisticated
• Vibrato on every sustained note — Schenker applies vibrato immediately to long notes. The width is medium, the speed is medium — neither very fast nor very slow
• Study "Doctor Doctor," "Lights Out" and "Victim of Illusion" — these represent the essential Schenker vocabulary across different tempos and feels
• Position the Flying V's strap for stability — the V shape means the guitar shifts when you release it. Practice holding it stable while soloing
• Right-hand palm muting on rhythm riffs — the hard rock rhythm approach uses heavy palm muting on single-string riffs between chord changes
• The tone knob at 7-8 gives the warm-but-not-dark character — full treble is too bright, rolled off is too dark. Find the midpoint

Michael Schenker defined early European heavy metal lead guitar with UFO and MSG — a melodic, bluesy approach to hard rock leads on a Gibson Flying V that combined classical phrasing with raw aggression.