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Biography
for|the actor|Paul Gilbert (actor)infobox musical artist| background = solo_singer| name = Paul Gilbert| image = PaulGilbert - 1.jpg| image_size = 250| landscape = yes| caption = PaulGilbert with Mr.Big at Festivalna Hall, Sofia| Born = birth date and age|1966|11|6 Carbondale, Illinois|Carbondale , Illinois United States | death_date =| alias =| genre = Instrumental rock , heavy metal music|heavy metal , hard rock , neo-classical metal , speed metal , progressive metal | instrument = Guitar , Singing|vocals , Bass guitar|bass , Keyboard instrument|keyboards , Percussion , Harmonica | associated_acts = Mr. Big (band)|Mr. Big , Racer X (band)|Racer X , G3 (tour)|G3 , Yellow Matter Custard , John PaulJones (musician)|John PaulJones , The Evil Stepsisters(band)|The Evil Stepsisters | label = Universal Music Group|Universal Japan , Shrapnel Records|Shrapnel | notable_instruments = Ibanez PGM signature series, Ibanez Fireman| years_active = 1985–present| website = http://www.paulgilbert.com Official websitePaul Brandon Gilbert (born November 6, 1966 in Illinois , United States of America|USA ) is an American guitarist. He is well known for his technical guitar work with Racer X (band)|Racer X and Mr. Big (band)|Mr. Big , as well as many solo albums and numerous collaborations and guest appearances with other musicians.
He has been voted number 4 on a list in GuitarOne magazine of the "Top 10 Greatest Guitar Shredders of All Time",cite web|title=Top Shredders of all Time|url= http://www.randyciak.com/guitar/top_shredders_of_all_time.htm|publisher=Randy Ciak|accessdate=16 April 2011 as well as a spot in '' Guitar World|Guitar World's 50 Fastest Guitarists of All Time list.cite web|title=50 Fastest Guitarists of All Time|url= http://www.guitarworld.com/article/50_fastest_guitarists_of_all_time? page=0%2C1|publisher=GuitarWorld|accessdate=16 April 2011
Shrapnel Records
Gilbert was raised in Greensburg, Pennsylvania .Cite web |first=Gary |last=Glauber |date=May 20, 2005 |title=Paul Gilbert: Space Ship One |publisher= PopMatters |url= http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/gilbertpaul-space |accessdate=October 28, 2011 Around 1981-82, he first contacted Mike Varney , founder of Shrapnel Records , asking for a gig with Ozzy Osbourne . At the time, Varney couldn't think why Osbourne would want a 15 year old guitarist, but after listening to his demo he changed his mind. Gilbert was featured in Guitar Player magazine at the age of fifteen. They talked for the next 3 years, until Paul went to L.A. for the Musicians Institute|GIT (Guitar Institute of Technology), and then was ready to record Racer X's debut album Street Lethal .
Racer X
Formed in Los Angeles in 1985, Racer X (band)|Racer X originally comprised PaulGilbert (guitar), Juan Alderete (bass), Harry Gschoesser (drums) and Jeff Martin (American musician)|Jeff Martin (vocals). They were heavily influenced by Judas Priest and Gilbert's playing was reminiscent of Yngwie Malmsteen , displaying fast-driven solos with extreme-level technique. Gschoesser was replaced by Scott Travis (later known for being the drummer for Judas Priest ) in 1986, and Bruce Bouillet was added as a second guitar player. Bouillet was a very skilled player, as he had to play over Gilbert's always difficult and challenging phrases. PaulGilbert gained recognition as one of the fastest guitar players in the world due to incredibly technical pieces like "Technical Difficulties" "Frenzy", "Scarified", "Y.R.O." and "Scit Scat Wah". Gilbert left Racer X in 1988. Racer X carried on for a short time with guitarist (and fellow GIT alum) Chris Arvin and vocalist Oni Logan (later of George Lynch's Lynch Mob) when singer Jeff Martin departed to play drums in Jake E. Lee's Badlands, in which he replaced Eric Singer who left to join AliceCooper . Shortly thereafter, the members of the re-invented Racer X went their separate ways. The original band would eventually reform (although without Bruce Bouillet, who in-turn did produce the first reunion record).
Paul contacted the members of Racer X, and all agreed to return, with the exception of Bruce Bouillet. In mid-1999 the band recorded the album Technical Difficulties (Racer X album)|Technical Difficulties . Technical Difficulties went Music recording sales certification#List of international sales certification thresholds|gold in Japan, and Racer X's new record label requested a follow-up. In late 2000, the band released another album, Superheroes (Racer X album)|Superheroes . The record was mixed by former Racer X guitarist, Bruce Bouillet.
In order to further capitalize on their new-found success in Japan, Universal Japan requested that the band record a live show for another live CD and DVD. On May 25, 2001, the band played their first live performance in thirteen years to a sold-out crowd at the famed Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles. The show was recorded for both audio and video, and in 2002, both the CD and DVD were released under the name Snowball of Doom (album)|Snowball of Doom .
In January 2002, in support of Superheroes and Snowball of Doom, Racer X toured Japan and Taiwan . The band performed these shows in their Superheroes costumes, and the final show, in Yokohama , was hastily recorded in two tracks on the sound board and was to be later released as Snowball of Doom 2 (album)|Snowball of Doom 2 . Later that year, Universal Music Group|Universal Japan pushed for another Racer X release. In October 2002, all four members of Racer X gathered at Gilbert's house in Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas to record Getting Heavier (album)|Getting Heavier , which was sold alongside Snowball of Doom 2 in a package deal. Although the album was a successful release in Japan, some fans were disappointed with the lighter tracks, which resembled a PaulGilbert solo album more so than a traditional Racer X album.
Racer X performed at the 2009 NAMM show at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Andy Timmons and his band opened the show, followed by a solo set from Paul Gilbert, and finally Racer X. The Racer X lineup consists of Paul Gilbert, Scott Travis , Jeff Martin (American musician)|Jeff Martin and John Alderete .cite web|title=Racer X To Perform At NAMM|url= http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/upcoming_tours/racer_x_to_perform_at_namm.html|publisher=UltimateGuitar.com|accessdate=16 April 2011
Mr. Big
When Billy Sheehan left David Lee Roth 's band in 1988, he joined with Paul Gilbert, who had left his former band, Racer X. They founded Mr. Big (band)|Mr. Big , with Pat Torpey on drums and singer Eric Martin (singer)|Eric Martin . The band was initially a huge success in Japan, and became famous internationally in 1991, with the release of their second album, Lean Into It . This album featured the ballad " To Be With You ", which received strong media play and reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 .
Gilbert continued playing in Mr. Big until the late 1990s. He left the band in 1997 to pursue a solo career, and was replaced by Richie Kotzen . Mr. Big disbanded in 2002.
In June 2009, PaulGilbert reunited with original Mr. Big members; Eric Martin (singer)|Eric Martin (vocals), Billy Sheehan (bass), and Pat Torpey , for a world wide reunion tour. They recorded a new album with producer Kevin Shirley .cite web|title=MR. BIG Begins Recording New Album|url= http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx? mode=Article& newsitemID=146635|publisher=Blabbermouth|accessdate=16 April 2011 titled What If... (Mr. Big album)|What If... . The album was released in Japan on Dec. 15th, 2010, in Europe on Jan. 21st, 2011 and in the USA in Feb. 2011. A tour to support the album kicked off at The House of Blues , in Hollywood , CA on April 2, 2011, followed by several dates in Japan in the same month. In May and June 2011, the tour continues in China, Korea, The Philippines and Europe.
Projects
In May 2003 he played in an only twice-performing project called Yellow Matter Custard , a Beatles cover band consisting also of Mike Portnoy (ex- Dream Theater ), Neal Morse (ex- Spock's Beard ), and Matt Bissonette . In February 2011 Yellow Matter Custard re-formed for 3 Nights Across America. Kasim Sulton replaced Matt Bissonette in the 2011 shows due to other commitments. They took their name from a Beatles lyric in " I Am the Walrus ": "Yellow matter custard, dripping from a dead dog's eye".
He rejoined Portnoy along with Dave LaRue and Daniel Gildenlöw for a Led Zeppelin tribute band called Hammer of the Gods in November 2003. The same year, he toured Japan with Linus Of Hollywood , TJ Helmerich , and Scot Coogan in support of his solo albums Burning Organ , Paul the Young Dude/The Best of PaulGilbert , and Gilbert Hotel . In September 2005, he joined Portnoy, Sean Malone , and Jason McMaster in the Rush tribute band Cygnus and the Sea Monsters. In May 2006, he joined Portnoy, Gary Cherone , and Billy Sheehan to form Amazing Journey: A Tribute to The Who , playing three shows. The band (excluding Sheehan) destroyed their equipment after the show in homage.
He was also revealed to be the guest guitarist on the Neal Morse solo album, Sola Scriptura (album)|Sola Scriptura . In 2007, PaulGilbert toured with Bruce Bouillet for promotion of his first instrumental album, Get Out of My Yard , which was released in 2006. Also joining him was his wife, Emi Gilbert, on keyboards. PaulGilbert also joined Joe Satriani and John Petrucci in the 2007 G3 tour . This was the 5th North American G3 run and the 12th tour worldwide since its inception.
On January 23, 2008, Paul released an instrumental CD titled Silence Followed By A Deafening Roar . It was released in Europe on March 31, 2008, and in America on April 8, 2008. This is Paul's second instrumental album. http://www.paulgilbert.com/News.html Newsdead link|date=April 2011
On October 22, 2008, Paul released an album with vocalist Freddie Nelson entitled United States (Paul Gilbert album)|United States .cite web|title=Paul Gilbert and Freddie Nelson - United States|url= http://www.paulgilbert.com/andFreddieNelson.html|publisher=PaulGilbert.com|accessdate=16 April 2011 The collaboration has been described as a cross of Queen (band)|Queen and Mr. Big (band)|Mr. Big .cite web|title=PAUL GILBERT, FREDDIE NELSON Collaborative Effort 'United States' Out Now - Oct. 24, 2008|url= http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx? mode=Article& newsitemID=107554|publisher=Blabbermouth|accessdate=16 April 2011
Paul with Racer X (band)|Racer X performed at the 2009 NAMM show at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California . Andy Timmons and his band opened the show, followed by a solo set from Gilbert, and finally Racer X. This Racer X lineup consisted of Gilbert, Scott Travis , Jeff Martin (American musician)|Jeff Martin and John Alderete .
Gilbert also joined George Lynch (musician)|George Lynch and Richie Kotzen on the Guitar Generation tour.
On June 30, 2010, Gilbert's new album Fuzz Universe was released in Japan, with a release in America and Europe soon after.cite web|title=Fuzz Universe|url= http://www.paulgilbert.com/Fuzz_Universe.html|publisher=PaulGilbert.com|accessdate=16 April 2011 It is Paul's 3rd solo album being entirely instrumental. A cover of Johnny Cash's "Leave That Junk Alone" is featured as a Japanese bonus track.cite web|title=The Guitar Generation|url= http://abrowndudedesign.com/GuitarGeneration/email.htm|accessdate=16 April 2011
Influences and Style
Talking about his influences, Paul mentions many different artists, including: Randy Rhoads , Kim Mitchell , Eddie Van Halen , Yngwie Malmsteen , John J Kirby , Tony Iommi , Alex Lifeson , Jimmy Page , RobinTrower , Ritchie Blackmore , Pat Travers , Gary Moore , Michael Schenker , Judas Priest , Akira Takasaki , Steve Clark , Jimi Hendrix , Kiss (band)|Kiss , and The Ramones . Paul has stated many times that he was heavily influenced by his uncle Jimi Kidd who was instrumental in getting Paul interested in playing the guitar. He is also a great fan of The Beach Boys and The Beatles . He states on the Space Ship Live DVD that George Harrison is one of his favorite guitar players. Guitar World magazine declared him one of 50 of the world's fastest guitarists of all time, along with Buckethead , Eddie Van Halen , and Yngwie Malmsteen .
Gilbert composes music in a wide variety of styles including Pop music|pop , Rock and roll|rock , Metal music|metal , blues , funk and european classical music , but is perhaps best known for his versatility and speed. He is noted in particular for his efficient picking and his tendency to pick many notes rather than relying on legato for fast passages.
Instructor
Paul Gilbert wrote his own section of the British guitar magazine, Total Guitar , where he normally demonstrated guitar techniques in the magazine and accompanying CD. Even before that, he contributed instructional articles to Guitar Player Magazine in a late 1980s/early 1990s series entitled "Terrifying Guitar 101". His period of working with Total Guitar spanned thirty-one issues until the November 2006 issue. Paul also teaches at the Musician's Institute|Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT) regularly, and is also an http://racerxband.com/band.htm "honorary dean" of the GIT division in Japan. Paul visits Japan, enjoying the lifestyle like his Shrapnel labelmate Marty Friedman (musician)|Marty Friedman , who still lives in Japan and speaks Japanese fluently. Gilbert is known for his instructional videos, which are often comical in nature. One of his instructional videos includes him pulling a rabbit out of his guitar, putting his guitar in a straightjacket and having presents thrown at him by members of the film crew. Paul also was, for a short time, the guitar teacher of Buckethead , Russ Parrish (A.K.A. Satchell from Steel Panther ), Michelle Meldrum (The late wife of Europe (band)|Europe guitarist John Norum ) and Nicole Couch of Phantom Blue . Gilbert now writes a column for Premier Guitar entitled "Shred Your Enthusiasm".
Gear
Paul Gilbert primarily uses his Ibanez PGM signature series guitars, http://www.ibanez.co.jp/PGM20/list.html identified by the unique painted on "F-holes". Although earlier PGM models featured the Ibanez Lo-Pro/Edge double locking tremolo system, many of his guitars (such as his main PGM300) were modified to accommodate a fixed bridge after he stopped using whammy bars in the early 90s, hence the Ibanez PGM301 guitar. Along with his signature guitars, Gilbert often uses his sticker-covered "Dino" Ibanez RG750, in addition to a wide variety of Ibanez solidbody and semi-hollow electric guitars. Recently, Gilbert has been using Ibanez "Fireman" (a reversed-body Ibanez Iceman with single-coil pickups and an extra cutaway) guitars, which he designed himself. http://www.ibanez.co.jp/japan/news/f_products/2009/Fireman/index.html A red version The Ibanez Fireman is to be mass-produced for consumers at a more affordable price than the Ibanez PGMFRM1 (current PaulGilbert signature Fireman) in Fall 2011.
Regarding amplifiers, Gilbert used A/DA preamps (A/DA MP-1) and rack effects units early in his career prior to switching to Laney Amplification|Laney amplifiers. He praised the Laney amps as having "the best natural Distortion (music)|distorted sound of any tube amp ever heard" Since the G3 2007 tour however, Gilbert stated that playing with Joe Satriani and John Petrucci inspired him to take a closer look at his own guitar sound. As a result of his search he found the Marshall Amplification|Marshall Vintage Modern series. He currently uses the Marshall Vintage Modern 2266c combo amps. Paul now uses the Marshall JMD:1 (specifically JMD501) amplifier along with his Vintage Modern amplifier. Paul uses Jim Dunlop Tortex picks, of which he prefers the orange (.60mm) picks. As far as cables Paul uses http://www.bulletcable.comBullet Cable 30' Coiled Cables, Bullet Cable SLUG DIY solderless patch cables for his pedalboard and effects.
col-end Paul also used a modified vintage A/DA Flanger from the 1980s (source: Berlin VIP session interview). You can hear it on tracks like 'Bucket of Rocks', and he also uses it on the 'Snowball of Doom' DVD. Paul stated the flanger had been modified. He would set the flanger to self oscillate, which would make the pitch of the resulting signal alternate up and down to create a sound similar to a dive bomb or a pull up on a whammy bar. Unfortunately, during Paul's 2008 European tour, his trusty A/DA Flanger broke. Thankfully, before the pedal broke, he and Ibanez collaborated to make a similar pedal, with both a regular flanger mode and a mode which can be set to create a close approximation of the A/DA pedal's sound, and the pedal has been released as the Ibanez PaulGilbert AF-2 Airplane Flanger. He also uses the Psilocybe phaser and THC chorus pedals from Home Brew Electronics .
In the intro to "Get Out Of My Yard" Paul uses a Boss Corporation|Boss DD-3 Delay (audio effect)|Delay Effects pedal|pedal to achieve the altered pitch looped effect at the beginning of the track. This was also demonstrated by Paul on the instructional DVD of the same name.
He is also famous for using a Makita cordless drill with three picks mounted on the end of it, which he used most famously on the Mr. Big track "Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy".
In 2009, Ibanez released a new PGM model, the Ibanez PGM401, which is rather different from most of Paul's previous models, with an ash body (most of his previous models were made of basswood, although his PGM800 guitar was made of lightweight ash, a similar but different wood than that used in the PGM401), Trifade Burst finish, Cosmo Black hardware and a regular headstock replacing the reversed one of the previous models. Also, rather than the DiMarzio PAF Pro, Tone Zone and Super Distortion pickups used in his previous models, the PGM401 comes with Paul's favorite humbucker model for the past five years, the DiMarzio Air Classic, arranged in a dual humbucker arrangement. Paul has stated that he had the bridge pickup moved 1mm closer to the neck, which he said results in a warmer and thicker sound, particularly for the high notes he often uses in soloing. The F-holes are 3% smaller, to make the look more balanced with the pickup mounting rings. But perhaps the biggest difference from other current Ibanez guitar models, is that the PGM401 uses the old late-1980s neckjoint, which is thicker than the current neckjoints on other Ibanez guitars. http://www.ibanez.com/ElectricGuitars/model-PGM401
In 2011, Ibanez released a new model for Gilbert the FRM100. The design of the FRM100 was inspired by many hours of playing and performance by PaulGilbert with the original Ibanez Fireman model featuring a distinctive reverse Iceman body outline http://www.ibanez.com/ElectricGuitars/model-FRM100
Get Out Of My Yard Guitar Instructional DVD (2007)
Get Out Of My City Guitar Instructional DVD/VCD (2007)
One Night In New York City - Yellow Matter Custard (2003)
Two Nights In North America - Hammer Of The Gods (2006)
One Night In Chicago - Cygnus And The Sea Monsters (2006)
One Night In New York City - Amazing Journey (2007)
Silence Followed By A Deafening Roar Guitar Instructional DVD And Shred Annex (2008)
The Last Note of Freedom
References
reflist
External links
commonscat|Paul Gilbert
http://www.paulgilbert.com/ The official PaulGilbert site
http://www.racerxband.com/ The official Racer X site
http://rocksquad.net/paul_gilbert_interview.htm PaulGilbert - Rock Squad Interview
http://mrbigband.info/? id=video& cat=solo& pos=gilbert_solo Gilbert's solo on Mr Big site
http://www.last.fm/music/Paul+Gilbert PaulGilbert on Last.fm
http://guitarvideochannel.com/artists/17 PaulGilbert artist page at Guitar Video Channel
Mr. BigG3 (tour band) Persondata | NAME =Gilbert, Paul | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH =November 6, 1966 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Paul Category:1966 births Category:Living people Category:American rock guitarists Category:Lead guitarists Category:American musicians of Polish descent Category:Racer X members Category:Mr. Big members Category:G3 Category:Musicians from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:People from Carbondale, Illinois
