Ratt

Warren DeMartini was only 18 years old when he recorded the guitar parts for "Out of the Cellar," yet his playing on "Round and Round" is so polished and mature that it became one of the defining guitar riffs of the entire decade.

The main riff of "Round and Round" was actually co-written by Robbin Crosby, who came up with the signature chord progression and melodic hook. DeMartini then layered his lead parts and solo over Crosby's foundation, demonstrating how great guitar partnerships divide creative labor.

DeMartini was a student of guitar teacher Edward Van Halen, not formally, but he absorbed EVH's tapping and whammy techniques early and adapted them into a more blues-rooted context. You can hear this hybrid approach throughout Ratt's catalog.

Robbin Crosby tuned his guitars to Eb standard on several Ratt recordings, giving the rhythm parts a slightly heavier, slinkier feel that complemented DeMartini's standard-tuned lead work and added tonal depth to the mix.

The guitar solo in "Round and Round" was recorded in very few takes, DeMartini had the solo essentially composed beforehand rather than improvising, which is why it has such a structured, melodic arc that guitarists find so satisfying to learn note-for-note.

Producer Beau Hill used a layering technique on Ratt recordings where rhythm guitar parts were double- and sometimes quadruple-tracked with slightly different EQ settings on each pass, creating that massive wall-of-guitars sound that defined '80s hard rock production.

DeMartini's charvel guitars featured a distinctive graphic finish created by the same custom painters who worked with other Sunset Strip guitarists, but he chose his instruments primarily for their thin neck profiles and Floyd Rose tremolo systems rather than for aesthetics.