George Lynch | Lynch Mob-Dokken | Guitar Lesson

George Lynch was born in Spokane, Washington and raised in the small town of Auburn, California. Lynch is known for his common use of the scale he calls the ‘Gothic Octave’. Guitarist Mark Kendall claims George started two hand tapping before Eddie Van Halen. Twice Lynch auditioned for the position of Ozzy Osbourne’s lead guitarist, once in 1979 – losing to Randy Rhoads – and another time in 1982 to replace Brad Gillis. According to Lynch, he was hired for three days before Ozzy changed his mind and decided to go with Jake E. Lee. Lynch came to fame in the 1980s through his work as the lead guitarist in the band Dokken. Dokken had a string of successful platinum albums such as “Under Lock and Key” and “Back for the Attack”, that prominently featured Lynch’s inventive lead guitar work and cemented his reputation as a bonafide guitar hero. The instrumental track “Mr. Scary” on “Back for the Attack” contributed to his popularity among guitar players.

After Dokken George went on to form “Lynch Mob”. In 2003 Lynch formed ‘The George Lynch Group’ in which he has continued to record and regularly tour. The line-up is: George Lynch – Guitars, Andrew Freeman – Vocals, Vinny Appice (Black Sabbath/Dio) – Drums, Marten Andersson (Lizzy Borden/Starwood/Legacy) – Bass. The 2005’s “Furious George” album is a cover album, including classic rock tunes from ZZ Top, Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, AC/DC, and Led Zeppelin.

Lynch has been an endorser of ESP guitars since 1986. His famed Skull and Bones guitar affectionately named “Mom” is one of the most famous in modern rock, and was designed and hand-crafted by a friend, the neck is by ESP. “Mom” is actually a J Frog guitar but since George was endorsing ESP guitars, an ESP decal was applied to the headstock. Several George Lynch signature guitars have been produced by ESP Japan since then. Lynch is endorsing the hand-crafted Yamaha L-Series Acoustic Guitars.

Doug Aldrich | Whitesnake | Guitar Lesson

Doug Aldrich was first introduced to the guitar at age 11 when his sister Jennifer introduced him to the playing of Jeff Beck. Doug’s first guitar came from Sears, it was a copy of a Les Paul. Doug has played with Whitesnake, Dio, Hurricane, Burning Rain, Lion, House of Lords, Bad Moon Rising. You’ve heard his distinctive guitar tone on many hit songs. Doug even auditioned for KISS. He didn’t get the gig but as a result of the audition he met Gene Simmons and he and Gene are friends to this day. Doug was also once a highly sought after guitar teacher, at one point he was teaching over 70 students a week.

Doug was previously endorsed by Jackson guitars. He used their Dinky and Soloist model guitars as well as his own signature model which uses “Full-shred” bridge and neck position pickups which Seymour Duncan specially wired. Currently, Doug plays a collection of Gibson Les Pauls and Fender Stratocasters through Marshall amps. Doug recently endorsed Marshall’s new Vintage Modern amplifier series. Doug sums up his philosophy of playing this way, “I’m not one of those guys that follows whatever is trendy. I’d rather do what I do best and do it to the best of my ability.”

Richie Sambora | Bon Jovi | Guitar Lessons

Richie Sambora began playing the guitar at the age of 12. He grew up in Woodbridge, New Jersey where he attended Woodbridge High School. At age 17 Richie worked as a janitor at a hospital for six weeks to earn enough money to buy his first serious guitar, a Gibson Les Paul. One of his favorite guitars to this day is a ’59 Les Paul. From his early days Sambora was influenced by blues and 60s rock ‘n’ roll. His top influences were Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnny Winter and Jimmy Page and Joe Perry. He was also influenced by Spanish classical music which explains his love of the Spanish guitar.

Sambora played guitar for Joe Cocker and auditioned for Kiss. Bon Jovi added Sambora to replace original lead guitarist Dave Sabo. For most of the 80s and early-mid 90s, Sambora used Marshall amplifiers. He played through Marshall JCM800 models with 4×12″ speaker cabinets and a variety of rack and pedal units. During his “Stranger in This Town” tour, Sambora used 2 Marshall JCM800 2203 heads and a Fender amp head with three 4×12″ Marshall cabinets. In 1995, Sambora started using Fender ToneMasters with Fender ToneMaster 4×12″ speaker cabinets. On tour, he used up to 12 cabinets on stage.

For his second solo album, “Undiscovered Soul”, he also used a Fender Bassman 4×10″ combo and a Vox AC30. On the tour, he used Fender ToneMasters, a Marshall amp head, a Vox amp head and a VHT Pitbull in combination with Fender ToneMaster 4×12″ and 2×12″ speaker cabinets. In 2000, Sambora started using the Marshall JCM2000 DSL series (both on stage and in the studio during the “Crush” era. Sambora uses gauge .009 strings in the studio and gauge .010 strings live (usually tuned half step down), with the action set relatively high.

Billy Gibbons | ZZ Top | Blues Guitar Lesson

Guitar Legend, Billy F. Gibbons, also known as the Reverend Willie G., was born December 16, 1949. Billy is best known as the guitarist and lead vocalist for ZZ Top, “that little ole band from Texas”. Billy has also written many of the band’s classic songs. Gibbons early signature sound came from a 1959 Gibson Les Paul guitar he refers to as Pearly Gates, which he acquired when he was 18. He found the guitar stashed underneath a bed at a ranch house in Texas. Billy has been known to play his guitar using a quarter or a peso as a pick, this helps to deliver lots of upper harmonics. Gibbons first band, The Moving Sidewalks opened for The Jimi Hendrix Experience on a few gigs during Hendrix’s first American tour.
Billy’s favorite guitars include…

• 1959 sunburst Gibson Les Paul – Nicknamed Pearly Gates.
• Gretsch Custom – Built for Bo Diddley later donated to Gibbons.
• Gretsch Jupiter Thunderbird – A replica modeled after the Bo Diddley custom guitar.
• Custom Jupiter Thunderbird Bigsby – A custom built Jupiter with a Bigsby vibrato.
• Custom Reversed Jupiter Thunderbird – A custom made model of the Jupiter with a reversed body.

Billy has played just about every brand of amplifier over the years. In the early ZZ Top years he delivered his distinctive tone thru stacks of Jake Stack Rio Grande amplifiers. For live performances, Gibbons tunes his stage guitars to E standard tuning. For slide work Billy often uses Open A or Open E tuning. His favorite solo is Bobby “Blue” Bland’s recording of “Stormy Monday” blues.