Find high-quality Leslie West stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty. And singer and guitarist Leslie West of rock group the Vagrants performing at. Leslie Weinstein? He changed his name to Leslie West and joined Pappalardi to form a band called Mountain. But that's another story.

Photo of an Electra Plexiglass guitar of the type West used for slide guitar during the 1970s. This guitar was often mistaken for the nearly identical Dan Armstrong from which it was copiedWest frequently used two Les Paul Juniors, one 'TV Yellow' and the other a sunburst. West also used a modified, with the neck pickup removed (he used the hole for an ashtray) and a P-90 pickup fitted at the bridge position, West also had a two-pickup which he used after the Flying V with the ash tray broke (serial number 906965). West also used a plexiglass Electra guitar, which is a Japanese copy of the better known Ampeg made Dan Armstrong guitar, for slide.West also played a Pantera guitar. From 1977 to 1982, he used a signature on-board effects MPC model guitar, created by the Japanese company. He currently uses a signature model from, the USA Soltero Leslie West Signature model, fitted with a custom-designed Dean pickup called 'Mountain of Tone.'

Based on an endorsing contract in the Seventies, West played British made Burns guitars. West has also long favored, and can be seen playing them on some of the videos he has appeared in. In an interview segment on 'Night of the Guitars – Live!' West stated that he had narrowed his commonly played instruments down to two: an off-the-shelf Steinberger and a Kramer with DiMarzio pickups.Amplifiers In 2005, West received a sponsorship with amplifiers, and could frequently be seen playing through 'Carlsbro 50 Top' valve heads. His studio amplifier is a Marshall JMP.

Live, he used Marshall JCM 900s. He started endorsing and using in 2008.

He was also associated with Sunn amplifiers, and used a Sunn Coliseum PA head, when it was shipped to him by accident. He claims that this is the amp that gave him his signature sound in this Gibson Interview with West.The Sunn amplifiers that West used were of the late 1960s era and were not factory stock. The 4-channel amplifier heads' preamps were wired as cascading preamps to 1 channel, out to the amp's power section.

That's what produced the long compressed sustain and distorted overdrive of the great Mountain sound that he is well known for. This is years before Mesa Boogie Amplifiers with a similar idea got their amps on the world stage, but Boogies do have their own sound comparatively.Leslie West currently uses Blackstar ampsEffects West uses, and effects.Discography For his work with and, see their pages.

YearAlbumPeak chart positions196972——1975168——1976———1988———1989———1989Night of the Guitar- Live!———1993Live———1994Dodgin' the Dirt———1999As Phat as it Gets———2003Blues to Die For———2005Guitarded———2005Got Blooze———2006Blue Me———2011Unusual Suspects—81—2015Soundcheck—2—References. Fischler, Marcelle S., October 15, 2006. Accessed November 26, 2007.

Fantasy Life by Matthew Berry. The safety of our customers, vendors and employees is our #1 priority. As a result, our shipping promises could show longer than you normally expect from us.

'Dee Snider of Stony Brook, the shock-rocker from the 1980s heavy metal band Twisted Sister, known for his defiant metal anthem We're Not Gonna Take It, and Leslie West of the band Mountain, who grew up in East Meadow, Lawrence and Forest Hills, are also being inducted.' . ^ Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll, p674, Mountain, Rolling Stone Press, U.S., 2001. The group's name is widely believed to have been inspired by West's then-considerable physical bulk, although he subsequently lost a lot of weight. Initially the group did not feature a keyboardist, but one was later added to the band to keep them from seeming like a imitation. Ingham, Chris (2002).

The Book of Metal. Thunder's Mouth Press. Retrieved December 6, 2015. June 21, 2011. Retrieved August 27, 2011. November 6, 2011. Retrieved July 17, 2014.

Retrieved January 4, 2016. October 22, 1945. Retrieved January 14, 2016. ^ Gress, Jesse (July 2009). '10 Things You Gotta Do To Play Like Leslie West'.

43 (7): 78–86. Retrieved July 17, 2014. September 22, 2011.

Retrieved July 17, 2014.External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to.

Artist Biography by Richie Unterberger

Most famous for featuring Leslie West on guitar in his pre-Mountain days, the Vagrants were extremely popular in their home base of Long Island, NY in the mid-'60s, and recorded some decent singles without approaching a national breakout. Like fellow New Yorkers the Rascals, the Vagrants prominently featured a Hammond organ, and often played soul-influenced rock. Icymi meaning. The Vagrants were far more guitar-based than the Rascals, however, as well as projecting a more garagey, less mature outlook; their later material lands somewhere between the Rascals and Vanilla Fudge.

One of the few rock bands signed to the folkie Vanguard label, the Vagrants cut some fair singles between 1965 and 1968 that suffered from a lack of identity: a Zombie-ish number here, a punk stomper there, a soul-rock thing here. 'I Can't Make a Friend,' which shows up on some garage compilations, is the most well-known of their initial efforts, but the group took their closest swipe at stardom after Felix Pappalardi helped them sign to Atco. A rock version of Otis Redding's 'Respect' (which surfaced on the Nuggets compilation) was a hit in some Eastern regions, but couldn't compete with Aretha Franklin's rendition, also released in 1967. After a couple of other singles on Atco, the group broke up in late 1968, when West formed Mountain (which also included Pappalardi). Much of the Vagrants' material was reissued in the mid-'90s.