"One Foot Out the Door" falling down the stairs lick and lesson

**P.G.R.O.** · 03.02.21, 01:48 AM

I always loved that descending lick at the end of "One Foot Out the Door" at the end of Fair Warning. I tried transcribing it and figured it out. Here's the video, and the lesson video is in the description. Rock on.

**garbeaj** · 03.02.21, 07:54 PM

Well done man! I’ve never thought of that part being done with a “Cathedral” style delay, but you may very well be on to something here. I’m not 100% sure that’s how Eddie did it, but you’ve certainly given me food for thought. If he did do that here, it would be one hell of an anomaly because I don’t think he’s ever done it this way in any other lead that I can think of...I’ll work on this and try it your way! Nice work!

**iplayguitaralot** · 03.02.21, 08:08 PM

That’s pretty dead on. Garb, I think Edward did it on the beginning of “Act like it hurts”. Since he fucked a lot with the delay on that solo, and it sounds like the same lick, I’m going to say this is cracked.

**5150rob** · 03.03.21, 03:52 AM

awesome man nice job for sure. I've always loved that lick at the end of the song too.... so loose and mean and cool sounding. Love how he starts in E and just noodles through it. Typical Ed stuff but just bad ass...

nice job man now I wanna play that hahah. I'm off today so now I have something to work up.

Rob

**Jedi McFly** · 03.03.21, 11:25 AM

Well done - that's a great lick and it sounds like you cracked it!

**garbeaj** · 03.03.21, 12:23 PM

Yeah, I tried it and I think P.G.R.O. has it right! I used to play it with tapping, but this is absolutely the way Eddie actually did it. Very nice sleuthing!

Now I’m left to wonder what delay he used? I think he had stopped using the Echoplex at this point...maybe the Lexicon?! Eventide delay of some sort? Another door is opened...

**iplayguitaralot** · 03.03.21, 03:19 PM

Originally Posted by garbeaj

Yeah, I tried it and I think P.G.R.O. has it right! I used to play it with tapping, but this is absolutely the way Eddie actually did it. Very nice sleuthing!

Now I’m left to wonder what delay he used? I think he had stopped using the Echoplex at this point...maybe the Lexicon?! Eventide delay of some sort? Another door is opened...

I’m thinking this is the last showcase of the echoplex. I swear that lick is in act like it hurts and the echoplex is all over that, at least it sounds like a tape delay. I don’t know if the H910 had enough memory or if the lexicon was around when they did fair warning.

**ATONESIR** · 03.03.21, 03:38 PM

Awesome job man!... thank you for sharing.

Still blows my mind that we are still unlocking many of the little mysteries he created over the years.

Thankfully, it will be a lifelong pursuit!

**garbeaj** · 03.03.21, 05:41 PM

Originally Posted by iplayguitaralot

I’m thinking this is the last showcase of the echoplex. I swear that lick is in act like it hurts and the echoplex is all over that, at least it sounds like a tape delay. I don’t know if the H910 had enough memory or if the lexicon was around when they did fair warning.

I’m now almost certain this was not Echoplex and that he’d abandoned it after the recording of ‘Women And Children First’. And this is a simple delay...Eventide had delay before in the Harmonizer and that went back back to at least 1973. I just don’t hear any of the Echoplex degraded tape style sounds anywhere on this record.

There were two Eventide H910 Harmonizers used on ‘Fair Warning’ for the stereo detune chorus effect and the sub-octave effect and the H910 had 112.5 milliseconds of digital delay. My best guess is that he used the digital delay in the Eventide H910 Harmonizer for the delays on the album and there doesn’t seem to be any reason why he wouldn’t have used it for this passage in “One Foot Out The Door”.

**Brett** · 03.03.21, 05:42 PM

Yeah I definitely think the echoplex went bye-bye after 1980.

**P.G.R.O.** · 03.03.21, 06:44 PM

Originally Posted by garbeaj

Yeah, I tried it and I think P.G.R.O. has it right! I used to play it with tapping, but this is absolutely the way Eddie actually did it. Very nice sleuthing!

Now I’m left to wonder what delay he used? I think he had stopped using the Echoplex at this point...maybe the Lexicon?! Eventide delay of some sort? Another door is opened...

Thank you brother! Much appreciated. Great forum with some great fans!

Okay how about falling UP the stairs:

Same deal on this one: dotted quarter note delay, one repeat. (Actually it might be dotted eighth note on this one? but you get the idea.)

**P.G.R.O.** · 03.03.21, 07:30 PM

(Not sure why I can't edit post above, but just wanted to say my vid above is not the "note for note" the solo; I just learned it by approximation quickly tonight and wanted to put the vid up because I just realized today that EVH is also using the same dotted-quarter note echo here, on the Women and Children First record, two albums before Cathedral!).

The frets for the falling up the stairs are 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 22(bend up 1.5 steps).

**iplayguitaralot** · 03.03.21, 09:32 PM

Those delay licks are nasty for sure. Thanks!

**garbeaj** · 03.03.21, 10:14 PM

Originally Posted by P.G.R.O.

(Not sure why I can't edit post above, but just wanted to say my vid above is not the "note for note" the solo; I just learned it by approximation quickly tonight and wanted to put the vid up because I just realized today that EVH is also using the same dotted-quarter note echo here, on the Women and Children First record, two albums before Cathedral!).

The frets for the falling up the stairs are 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 22(bend up 1.5 steps).

Oh yes, those delay tricks on “In A Simple Rhyme” and “Take Your Whiskey Home” are very similar, but I feel those are more obvious. The “One Foot Out The Door” bit is not so obvious...at least it wasn’t to me! I think those echo tricks on WACF were the Echoplex in contrast to what I stated about the Eventide H910 and that bit in “One Foot Out The Door”.