Aleksandar Živojinović,, known professionally as Alex Lifeson, is a Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist for the rock band Rush. In 1968, Lifeson co-founded a band that would later become Rush, with drummer John Rutsey and bassist and lead vocalist Jeff Jones. Jones was replaced by Geddy Lee a month later, and Rutsey was replaced by Neil Peart in 1974, and this lineup remained untouched until the band's dissolution in 2018. Throughout their entire history, Lifeson was the only continuous member who stayed in Rush since its inception, and along with bass guitarist/vocalist Geddy Lee, the only member to appear on all of the band's albums.
A guitar amplifier is an electronic device or system that strengthens the electrical signal from a pickup on an electric guitar, bass guitar, or acoustic guitar so that it can produce sound through one or more loudspeakers, which are typically housed in a wooden cabinet. A guitar amplifier may be a standalone wood or metal cabinet that contains only the power amplifier circuits, requiring the use of a separate speaker cabinet–or it may be a "combo" amplifier, which contains both the amplifier and one or more speakers in a wooden cabinet. There is a wide range of sizes and power ratings for guitar amplifiers, from small, lightweight "practice amplifiers" with a single 6-inch speaker and a 10-watt amp to heavy combo amps with four 10-inch or four 12-inch speakers and a 100-watt amplifier, which are loud enough to use in a nightclub or bar performance.
William Scott Gorham is an American guitarist and songwriter who is one of the "twin lead guitarists" for the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy. Although not a founding member of Thin Lizzy, he served a continuous membership after passing an audition in 1974, joining the band at a time when the band's future was in doubt after the departures of original guitarist Eric Bell and his brief replacement Gary Moore. Gorham remained with Thin Lizzy until the band's breakup in 1983. He and guitarist Brian Robertson, both hired at the same time, marked the beginning of the band's most critically successful period, and together developed Thin Lizzy's twin lead guitar style while contributing dual backing vocals as well. Gorham is the band member with the longest membership after founders Brian Downey (drummer) and frontman and bass guitarist, Phil Lynott.
Richard Dale Kotzen Jr. is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. As a solo artist, Kotzen has back catalogue of more than 20 album releases. He was a member of glam metal band Poison from 1991 to 1993, Mr. Big from 1999 to 2002, and since 2012, has been the frontman of the band The Winery Dogs. Kotzen was signed to California-based Shrapnel Records from 1988 to 1991, and again from 1995 to 1997.
Matthew Thomas Skiba is an American musician, singer and songwriter, known for his role as the founding vocalist and guitarist for the band Alkaline Trio and also served as guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the band Blink-182 from 2015 to 2022. Skiba's lyrical content commonly involves dark romantic themes.
Leslie Abel West was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was the co-founder, guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Mountain.
Kostas Karamitroudis, better known as Gus G, is a Greek heavy metal guitarist. He currently plays with his band Firewind. He has also played in Mystic Prophecy, Nightrage, Arch Enemy, Dream Evil and Ozzy Osbourne's band.
Kenneth Shaun Hickey is an American musician and songwriter. He was the co-founder, guitarist, and backing and occasional co-lead vocalist of the gothic metal band Type O Negative, whom he played for from 1989 until the death of the band's frontman and bassist Peter Steele in 2010. He is currently the lead vocalist and guitarist for the heavy metal band Silvertomb and was the co-founder of the doom metal band Seventh Void. All three bands featured fellow Type O Negative member Johnny Kelly on drums. Hickey is also an occasional touring guitarist for Danzig.
Jeff Loomis is an American musician, best known for his role as lead guitarist in the progressive metal band Nevermore during its existence from 1991 to 2011, as well as brief tenures in its precursor, Sanctuary. In 2014, he joined Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, and in 2021 he joined Graham Bonnet's Alcatrazz as well. As a solo artist he has released two albums and one EP.
Daniel Joseph Donegan is an American musician who serves as the guitarist and keyboardist for heavy metal band Disturbed.
Leland Bruce Sklar is an American bassist and session musician. Sklar rose to prominence as a member of James Taylor's backing band, which coalesced into a group in its own right, The Section. This group of musicians so frequently supported many of the artists on Asylum Records, both on stage and in the studio, that they became known as Asylum's de facto house band. Those artists would become the standard bearers of the singer-songwriter era in the 1970s. Since then, Sklar has recorded and toured with artists such as James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Carole King, Linda Ronstadt, Phil Collins, Toto, Lyle Lovett and others. As a group member, session player, or touring musician, Sklar has lent his talents to well over 2,000 albums. In addition, he has contributed to many motion picture and television show soundtracks. Since 2018, Sklar has been the bassist for The Immediate Family, a group reuniting lifelong friends and most of his former bandmates from The Section.
An acoustic-electric guitar is an acoustic guitar fitted with a microphone or a magnetic or piezoelectric pickup. They are used in a variety of music genres where the sound of an acoustic guitar is desired but more volume is required, especially during live performances. The design is distinct from a semi-acoustic guitar, which is an electric guitar with the addition of sound chambers within the guitar body.
Distortion and overdrive are forms of audio signal processing used to alter the sound of amplified electric musical instruments, usually by increasing their gain, producing a "fuzzy", "growling", or "gritty" tone. Distortion is most commonly used with the electric guitar, but may also be used with other electric instruments such as electric bass, electric piano, synthesizer and Hammond organ. Guitarists playing electric blues originally obtained an overdriven sound by turning up their vacuum tube-powered guitar amplifiers to high volumes, which caused the signal to distort. While overdriven tube amps are still used to obtain overdrive, especially in genres like blues and rockabilly, a number of other ways to produce distortion have been developed since the 1960s, such as distortion effect pedals. The growling tone of a distorted electric guitar is a key part of many genres, including blues and many rock music genres, notably hard rock, punk rock, hardcore punk, acid rock, and heavy metal music, while the use of distorted bass has been essential in a genre of hip hop music and alternative hip hop known as "SoundCloud rap".
Theofilos Xenidis, better known as Phil X, is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Since 2013, he has played lead guitar with Bon Jovi and officially replaced former lead guitarist Richie Sambora in 2016.
William Breen Kelliher is an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist of heavy metal band Mastodon, and being the only band member who doesn't share the lead vocal duty.
Randall Amplifiers is a manufacturer of solid-state and tube guitar amplifiers. Randall Amplifiers is currently a brand of U.S. Music Corp., a subsidiary of Canadian corporate group Exertis | JAM.
Chapman Guitars is a guitar company established in 2009 by Rob Chapman, a guitarist best known for his videos on YouTube. The company claims to be the first to design its guitars "collaboratively" and the design, features and specs of new models are selected by public votes in online polls on their website.
James Patrick Lynch is an American musician. He is a guitarist and a vocalist of the Boston Celtic punk group Dropkick Murphys. Lynch joined the band in 2000 to record the album Sing Loud, Sing Proud. He was previously a member of the Boston-based bands The Ducky Boys and The Pinkerton Thugs. When Marc Orrell left the band in 2008, Lynch was asked to move up to lead guitar, but declined because he enjoyed his position in the band where he only played one instrument. Instead Tim Brennan was moved up to lead guitar and Jeff DaRosa was brought on to play banjo and mandolin. Lynch also played in the band Gimmie Danger along with Marc Orrell, Tim Brennan, and Ben Karnavas.
David Michael Murray is an English guitarist, best known as a member of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden. He joined Iron Maiden early in its history, and is the second-longest serving member of the band after founder Steve Harris. He and Harris are the only members of Iron Maiden to have appeared on every album.
Andertons Music Co. is a musical instrument retailer based in Guildford, Surrey, England. Its online store is one of the United Kingdom's top 150 e-commerce sites, with sales approaching $40 million per year. It is widely known among guitarists for video demonstrations by owner Lee "The Captain" Anderton, Rob "Monkey Lord" Chapman, and Peter Honoré a.k.a. "Danish Pete". It also partly owns Chapman Guitars alongside Monkey Lord Ltd, which is in turn owned by Rob Chapman and his wife Natassja Chapman.
