Michael Schenker on his brother: "Rudolf doesn’t have much talent as a guitarist"

It's no secret that the guitar-playing Schenker brothers are not on good terms with one another, with younger brother Michael seemingly the more outspoken of the two in the press when it comes to grievances. And true to form he's been sounding off big time in an interview over on Guitar World.

After detailing his forthcoming Schenker Fest tour with four singers and looking back on his time with UFO, things took a darker turn when Schenker was asked about his association with the Flying V and why there's been no Gibson signature model…

"[Laughs uproariously] Rudolf [Schenker, Scorpions guitarist and Michael’s brother] took care of that! He’s been working so hard at distorting my image, so people don’t know anymore which one is Michael and which one is Rudolf. 

"Sometimes Rudolf would come up to me and proudly report who’d tapped him on the shoulder and said, 'Hey, Michael, how are you doing?' Slash and Joe Perry, for example. 

Warming to the theme, he went even further. 

"[Laughs] While I wasn’t looking, he managed for years to distort the hell out of the image of the Schenker brothers. People don’t have a clue anymore who is who. Because I’m younger and I was successful earlier and had the first hit in 1976, I was playing in America when I was 19 and Rudolph was 33 before he got to America for the first time.

There's more on Michael's more general beef with the Scorpions in the interview too but he had some additional sting left in the tail for his brother… 

"I know there is a reason for this peculiar journey through life between Rudolf and me. I hope I will understand it if I can get another 10 years on the planet. I’m not bitter about the stupid games he played. He was probably very frustrated that everything he wanted was coming to his much younger brother without even trying for it. 

"I believe I was born to make him successful. Rudolf doesn’t have much talent as a guitarist. Without direction, he is lost. He copied everything I did. [Laughs] I needed to pave the path for him.

"I’m not saying that competitively, but with an open heart. I jumpstarted the Scorpions. They should be happy instead of acting like I’m some little shit. [Laughs]"

Check out the full interview over on Guitar World now.