Q&A: Richie Sambora, Bon Jovi Guitarist

Good article, Thanks! I wish Richie would have talked more about how the iPhone played a role in their composing and recording, or was it as simple as turning on the Record feature?

There are a number of recording apps they could have potentially used, including one I believe that’s called Four Tracks.

Four tracks allows users to record up to four tracks and transfer it to a larger program.

In Richie’s case I’m sure all they were doing was mapping out song structures and other ideas.

Thanks Robert. I like learning about real world uses for technology and would like to see more interviews with musicians, film makers, etc.

thanks for reading Dana, the conversation about the iPhone started when I put my phone on the table to backup the interview, which was being videotaped.

Good article. I hope Richie will really catch on to the analog side of things and champion the idea of releasing all their stuff on LP, preferably recorded on analog tape.

I’d like to say, “Hi,” to Jon & David because I installed their 2 channel audio systems in their Jersey homes right after Slippery When Wet was released and they were already practicing songs, (at full volume), in Jon’s basement for their New Jersey album. I still remember the deafening hum that just came out of their amps when no one was playing at all.

When I first went to David’s condo to see the room where he wanted the system, he had an empty Steinway piano in the living room… it had not guts in it at all. When I asked him what was going on, he told me he was a trained classical pianist and Steinway was doing a custom job on it.

After he told me that, I immediately insisted that he come to my home to hear a true high end system because he was being proposed Bose 901’s and huge Polks, (I don’t remember the model number on the Polks, but they were the ones that you had to connect an umbilical cable between the 2 speakers), by another dealer. He was completely unfamiliar with the brands I was throwing at him.

At the time, I had 2 pairs of Magnepans lined up in a row driven by 2 Amber 200w amps, 1 Technics 400w Radio & Broadcasting amp with matching R&B vertical playing CD player, (it had a whopping 2x oversampling rate and weighed 30+ lbs), an Audio Research preamp, an Audio Pro 12” powered sub, and a JVC QLAF 55 turntable with a Dynavector 10X2 Ruby phono cartridge.

When David first saw the Maggies, he asked, “Those are speakers? Cool!” I sat him down dead center and put Slippery into the CD player. He kept saying, “Louder, louder, louder!”

Just before the Maggies began to brap from being over powered, I told him, “That’s as loud as it goes Dave, but what do you think about the detail and imaging?” He said it was different from anything else he heard, but I knew he wasn’t thrilled. I immediately threw on a vinyl copy of Slippery and he then perked up. Starting both the vinyl and CD at the same time, I I gave him an A/B demo of the 2 formats. There’s no question that David has an ear!

In any case, both Jon & David wound up purchasing Dahlquist DQ 20’s, Aragon 4004’s, ARC preamps, and Sony CD players from me and they were both very happy. Loud enough to get the job done, and much better than a Bose or Polk system.

Lastly, Jon & David are truly down to earth guys. Even back then when their success just began to really sky rocket , I didn’t get any attitude or ego from them at all. It was truly an honor and a privilege to work for them, and it sure didn’t hurt my resume. Thanks guys for everything and we all wish you guys the best of luck!!!