Dave Reffett

Last updated

Dave Reffett
Born (1983-06-06) June 6, 1983 (age 40)
Blue River, Kentucky, US
Genres Heavy metal, speed metal, rock and roll, hard rock
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter
Instrument(s)Guitar, vocals, bass guitar
Years active1995–present
Website davereffet.com

Dave Reffett (born June 6, 1983) is an American hard rock and heavy metal guitarist, singer, producer and bassist. [1]

Contents

Reffett is best known as the singer, lead guitarist, and producer of the album The Call of the Flames from his project Shredding The Envelope, as well as being a noted player, performer and columnist in the guitar community. [2] His music mixes thrash metal and hard rock with very technical and bluesy guitar playing.

Some of his favorite artists include Kiss, Megadeth, Pantera, Van Halen, Motorhead, Metallica, David Allan Coe, Willie Nelson, Hank Williams Jr, Anthrax, Ronnie James Dio, Judas Priest and Ozzy Osbourne. In an interview with Estonia's Metal Storm, Reffett named Kiss Unplugged by Kiss, And Justice For All by Metallica, Rust in Peace by Megadeth, Holy Diver by Dio, and Powerslave by Iron Maiden as some of his all-time favorite albums. [3]

He is also an in-demand guitar teacher. He gives lessons in person and online via Skype and films teaching products for companies like Guitar World, Dangerous Guitar, and Lecture Land. In 2012, Reffett appeared on the cover of the May issue of Asia's Gitar Plus Magazine and was on the cover again in 2014. 2014 also found Reffett giving clinics all over the world in places like China, Mexico, Chile, and the world-famous Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California. He also appeared on the cover of Mexico's Heavy Riff magazine in 2014. [4]

Childhood and early life

Dave Reffett, the son of a coal miner, grew up in the hills of the Appalachian Mountains in Eastern Kentucky and began playing trumpet, tuba, baritone, and French horn at age 11. At age 13 he was inspired to pick up the guitar after seeing video for Metallica's "The Unforgiven". In 1999 at age 16 he released one album with the short-lived band Graveyard Earth, called Warning Shot. Reffett was forced out of the group after he voiced his distaste of the band's overall direction. Upon leaving Kentucky and moving to Denver, Colorado, Reffett joined the band Moore, playing many live shows but releasing no records with the band. He quit during the recording of what would have been their first album together.

While finishing high school in Denver, Reffett was contemplating taking the Berklee College of Music up on the scholarship they had offered him during a summer program there the previous year. He decided to take advantage of the scholarship after he had a chance meeting with one of his childhood heroes, Megadeth frontman and thrash metal pioneer Dave Mustaine. In 2001 Reffett won a KBPI radio contest to meet Mustaine and asked him if he should take the scholarship or hit the road in a band. Mustaine told him "don't look a gift horse in the mouth, if you've got the chance to do something like that for free go get as many weapons in your arsenal as you can and make your army as tough as it can be".

Reffett took Mustaine's advice and studied hard, eventually earning a degree in Music Business Management from the Berklee College of Music. He then went on to work in the business and legal affairs department at the now defunct Sanctuary Records Group, and at Virgin Records, a division of EMI Music, in the radio promotions and marketing departments. During his time at Virgin Records, Reffett helped market and promote acts as diverse as The Rolling Stones, Korn, Meat Loaf, KT Tunstall, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Janet Jackson and 30 Seconds To Mars.

He got the idea for Shredding The Envelope in 2009. Reffett has been quoted in interviews saying, "I really wanted to make an album that I would be the first in line to buy".

Style

Reffett was a primarily self-taught player from age 13–18, taking very few lessons, but ended up studying music and business at the world-renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007. He was a recipient of the Berklee World Scholarship Tour award and the Berklee Best award.

He has been noted for his articulate right-hand picking technique and palm muting style. Guitar International Magazine's Matt Warnock wrote about Reffett, "while he can solo with the best of them, what really stands out is his incredible right hand chord work. I have seen and heard a lot of guys speed pick solos over the years at blistering tempos, but few, if any, can match the speed and rhythmic variation that Reffett possesses with his chords." [5]

Reffett is also known for his use of wide vibrato string bending, fretboard tapping, legato articulation, whammy bar dive bombs, artificial harmonics, and chromatic passing tones. He often uses the blues scale, pentatonic scale and harmonic minor scale with many random chromatic passing tones when soloing. In an interview with They Will Rock You, he noted "Tornado of Souls" by Megadeth, "Flying High Again" by Ozzy Osbourne, "Tooth and Nail" by Dokken, and "I Just Don't Want To Say Goodbye" by Shredding The Envelope as some of his all-time favorite guitar solos.

Recordings

The Call Of The Flames

2009's The Call Of The Flames featured performances from famous musicians George Lynch, Michael Angelo Batio, Chris Poland, Glen Drover, Joe Stump, and Mike Mangini. It featured studio mixing from acclaimed producer Andrew "Mudrock" Murdock (Godsmack, Alice Cooper, Avenged Sevenfold) engineering by Steve Catizone, and was mastered by legendary engineer George Marino (Metallica, Kiss, AC/DC, Guns N' Roses). Producer Joe Clapp (Sully Erna of Godsmack) was the primary engineer during the recording of the album.

In 2010 Bruce Dickinson, the singer of the legendary heavy metal band Iron Maiden, called the album a "must-have" on his BBC radio program Friday Rock Show and called Reffett's guitar playing "fantastic." [6] Nationally syndicated radio show Hard Rock Nights named The Call Of The Flames the #5 album of the year in its "Best Hard Rock of 2010" list.

The album was also in the running for a Grammy nomination during the 53rd annual Grammy Awards voting season in many categories, including "Best Hard Rock Performance" for the song "Caravan of Cannibals" and "Best Metal Performance" for "Devils Roadmap".

In 2015 Michael Angelo Batio released the album Shred Force 1: The Essential MAB via Rat Pak Records, which contained Reffett's composition "Juggernaut". Reffett also appeared on "8 Pillars Of Steel" from the album. Shred Force 1 reached #11 on the Billboard Top Hard Rock Albums chart, #2 on the Heatseekers chart, #121 on the Top Current Albums chart, #39 on the Rock Albums chart, and #21 on the Independent Albums chart.

Discography

Equipment

Guitars

At various stages of his career, Reffett was an artist endorsee of Gibson, Legator and Esoterik Guitars. He is now signed to the Dean Guitars artist roster, and plays their Dean #11 Custom V and 450 Custom from Dean's Graphyte series. He has been seen playing Gibson Flying V's in Guitar World magazine video shoots and has used both Gibson guitars and Esoterik guitars for Guitar World 's "lick of the day" iPhone application videos. [7] In the pages of Guitar World he was seen playing a Dean MAB1 Armorflame Michael Angelo Batio signature guitar in the October and November 2010 issues respectively. He has also been seen in Indonesia's Gitar Plus magazine and Poland's Hard Rocker magazine playing a mix of Gibson and Dean guitars. For the recording of "The Call of the Flames", Dave primarily used his Gibson Flying V guitars. For a couple of songs that had whammy bar dive bombs he used a BC Rich Bich, and on the clean intro to "I Just Don't Want To Say Goodbye" he used a Yamaha nylon string classical guitar.

At the 2011 NAMM Show, San Luis Obisbo, California-based company Esoterik guitars unveiled a Dave Reffett signature model guitar known as the DR-1. [8] The guitar featured all of Reffett's favorite specifications such as a Floyd Rose tremolo system and Seymour Duncan Blackout Pickups. It also featured a five-piece walnut neck with figured maple strips, a Honduras mahogany body and ebony overlays, volume knobs and fretboard .

Reffett made headlines on popular heavy metal news sites for his jams with Chris Poland and George Lynch at the 2011 NAMM event. Guitar World Magazine tweeted photos of Reffett performing at the Eminence speakers booth and Premier Guitar magazine filmed Reffett and George Lynch jamming together at the Mr. Scary guitars booth. [9]

Pick-ups

In Guitar World video appearances Dave can be seen using a Seymour Duncan Dimebag Darrell Abbott signature "Dimebucker" pickup, a personal favorite of his in the bridge position. For the neck position he often uses a Seymour Duncan "59" Model Humbucker. In his Dave Reffett signature model guitar, he had Seymour Duncan blackouts. He now uses DMT (Dean Magnetic Technology) pickups as well as the Duncan Jazz and El Diablo.

Effects

On Shredding The Envelope, Reffett uses a vintage 1978 Morley Power Fuzz Wah pedal that he has mentioned in many interviews. The pedal is the same model that Cliff Burton used on the first three Metallica albums, Kill Em All , Ride The Lightning , and Master of Puppets . He occasionally uses a Crybaby Wah pedal and uses various effects when producing in the studio.

Amplification

Reffett typically uses a Peavey 6505+ amp head. When recording The Call of the Flames, Reffett ran his amps through a 4x12 Marshall cabinet loaded with Celestion vintage 1930s and Greenbacks in mono and stereo. Now he endorses Eminence speakers and favors their Red Fang, Cannabis Rex and Wizard models. In the studio for some of his rhythm guitar parts he uses a Mesa Boogie dual rectifier amp. On Batio's Intermezzo record, Reffett used an Axe FX II for all of the recording.

Microphones

For recording vocals Reffett uses a combination of Shure and Manley Gold Reference microphones. For drum recording he uses Blue Ribbon Condenser mics and on his guitar parts he uses a combination of Shure, Sennheiser and Manley mics.

Strings

Reffett uses D'Addario guitar strings, favoring the .009 to .042 models for soloing and most rhythm guitar parts, while sometimes using thicker gauges for alternate tunings and rhythm. Reffett's favorite acoustic strings are Martin Lifespan SP gauge 0.12 to .054. He has also been known to use Elixir brand strings.

Picks

Dave uses black and red Dunlop Jazz IIIs and pure titanium Jazz III style picks from Timber Tone. For bass guitar he alternates between using finger style and Jazz III guitar picks.

Straps

Dave uses a Planet Waves locking strap as well as various Levy straps.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Megadeth</span> American thrash metal band

Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along with Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer, responsible for the genre's development and popularization. Their music features complex arrangements and fast rhythm sections, dual lead guitars, and lyrical themes of war, politics, religion, death, and personal relationships.

<i>Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!</i> 1985 studio album by Megadeth

Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! is the debut studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released on June 12, 1985, by Combat Records. At the beginning of 1985, the band was given $8,000 by Combat to record and produce its debut album. The band was forced to fire their original producer and produce the album by themselves, after spending half of the album's budget on drugs, alcohol, and food. Despite the poor production, the album was a well-received effort that obtained strong reviews in various music publications. Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! played an essential role in establishing thrash metal as an authentic subgenre of heavy metal music. It explores themes of death, occultism, and violence.

<i>So Far, So Good... So What!</i> 1988 studio album by Megadeth

So Far, So Good... So What! is the third studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released on January 19, 1988, by Capitol Records. It was the band's only album recorded with drummer Chuck Behler and guitarist Jeff Young, both of whom were fired from the band in early 1989, several months after the completion of the album's world tour. So Far, So Good... So What! features music performed at fast tempos with technical ability; lyrically, frontman and guitarist Dave Mustaine addresses a variety of topics, including nuclear holocaust and freedom of speech.

<i>Rust in Peace</i> 1990 studio album by Megadeth

Rust in Peace is the fourth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released on September 24, 1990, by Capitol Records. It was the first Megadeth album to feature guitarist Marty Friedman and drummer Nick Menza. The songs "Hangar 18" and "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" were released as singles. A remixed and remastered version of the album featuring four bonus tracks was released in 2004.

<i>Countdown to Extinction</i> 1992 studio album by Megadeth

Countdown to Extinction is the fifth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released on July 14, 1992, through Capitol Records. It was the group's second studio release to feature the "classic" lineup of Dave Mustaine, Marty Friedman, David Ellefson and Nick Menza, with all of them contributing to songwriting on the album. The album features some of the band's best known songs such as "Symphony of Destruction", "Sweating Bullets", and "Skin o' My Teeth", which enjoyed significant chart success and made a great musical impact.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Mustaine</span> American musician

David Scott Mustaine is an American musician. He is the co-founder, frontman, primary songwriter and sole consistent member of the thrash metal band Megadeth. Mustaine has released sixteen studio albums with Megadeth, sold over 38 million records worldwide, with six albums platinum-certified, and won a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2017 at the 59th Grammy Awards, for the title track of their fifteenth studio album, Dystopia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Ellefson</span> American bass guitarist

David Warren Ellefson is an American musician, best known for his long tenure as the bassist for thrash metal band Megadeth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Schenker</span> German guitarist

Michael Schenker is a German guitarist. He played in the rock band UFO and leads the Michael Schenker Group (MSG). He was an early member of the hard rock band Scorpions, a band co-founded by his elder brother Rudolf Schenker. In the mid-1970s, Schenker joined UFO, playing lead and rhythm guitar. He left the band in 1978 to briefly rejoin Scorpions for the recording of Lovedrive, and then to form MSG. He has rejoined UFO three times, producing an album each time. Schenker continues to perform and record. He has been called "a legendary figure in the history of metal guitar."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Hetfield</span> American musician (born 1963)

James Alan Hetfield is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, co-founder, and a primary songwriter of heavy metal band Metallica. He is mainly known for his intricate rhythm playing, but occasionally performs lead guitar duties and solos both live and in studio. Hetfield co-founded Metallica in October 1981 after answering an advertisement by drummer Lars Ulrich in the Los Angeles newspaper The Recycler. Metallica has won nine Grammy Awards and released 11 studio albums, three live albums, four extended plays, and 24 singles. Hetfield is often regarded as one of the greatest heavy metal rhythm guitar players of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Poland</span> American guitarist (born 1957)

Chris Poland is an American guitarist, best known as the former guitarist of the thrash metal band Megadeth. Since 2002, Poland has been the guitarist of the instrumental rock/jazz fusion bands OHM and OHMphrey, among others, and has appeared on several projects and albums from a variety of different genres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Petrucci</span> American guitarist

John Peter Petrucci is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. He produced or co-produced all of Dream Theater's albums from Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999) to A View from the Top of the World (2021), and has been the sole producer of the band's albums released since A Dramatic Turn of Events (2011). Petrucci has also released two solo albums: Suspended Animation (2005) and Terminal Velocity (2020).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Angelo Batio</span> American heavy metal guitarist and columnist

Michael Angelo Batio, also known as Michael Angelo, Mike Batio or MAB, is an American heavy metal guitarist and columnist. He was the lead guitarist for the glam metal band Nitro in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He is currently serving as the touring guitarist for the band Manowar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Loomis</span> American guitarist (born 1971)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Broderick</span> American guitarist

Christopher Alan Broderick is an American musician, best known as a former guitarist of the heavy metal band Megadeth. He is also formerly the lead guitarist and keyboardist for Jag Panzer, appearing on four of the band's albums, The Age of Mastery, Thane to the Throne, Mechanized Warfare and Casting the Stones. Prior to joining Megadeth and while still in Jag Panzer, he served as a touring guitarist for Nevermore from 2001 to 2003, and again between 2006 and 2007. Following his departure from Megadeth, Broderick formed Act of Defiance in 2014. He joined Swedish metal band In Flames in 2019 as a touring guitarist, before becoming the band's permanent rhythm guitarist in 2022.

"Mechanix" is a song by the American thrash metal band Megadeth. It is the eighth and final track from their debut studio album, Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!, which released in 1985 under Combat Records. "Mechanix" has been featured on many Megadeth releases, including multiple greatest hits albums, as well as live albums.

<i>Shred Force 1: The Essential MAB</i> 2015 compilation album by Michael Angelo Batio

Shred Force 1: The Essential MAB is a compilation album by American heavy metal musician Michael Angelo Batio. Released on April 14, 2015, by Rat Pak Records, it is a career retrospective featuring songs from many of Batio's previously released studio albums. Shred Force 1 was produced by Batio and features a wide range of guest musicians. The album registered on several Billboard charts.

"In My Darkest Hour" is a song by the American thrash metal band Megadeth. It is the sixth track from their third studio album So Far, So Good... So What! It was released as a promotional single in 1988. The song is frequently performed live by the band. The song was featured in the documentary The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years, where it received a music video as well as featuring on the films official soundtrack released under Capitol. Dave Mustaine has said that the song has one of his favorite solos that he has written.

"Dystopia" is a song by American heavy metal band Megadeth, written by Dave Mustaine. It is the second and title track from their fifteenth studio album Dystopia, which was released on January 22, 2016. The song was released early on streaming services on January 7, 2016.

References

      1. ↑ Deaton, Jarrid (2010), "Shredding Away: Blue River native releasing thrash metal CD", Floyd County Times, archived from the original on March 15, 2012, retrieved May 24, 2011
      2. ↑ "Interviste - Shredding the Envelope (Dave Reffett)".
      3. ↑ "Shredding the Envelope interview (03/2010)".
      4. ↑ Rohman, Ashiqur (2013), "Interview with Dave Reffett", IndianMusicMug
      5. ↑ "Dave Reffett Interview : Guitar Interviews : Interviews | GuitarInternational.com". Archived from the original on February 17, 2011. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
      6. ↑ "SHREDDING THE ENVELOPE – Tooth and Nail". June 17, 2010.
      7. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine : Dave Reffett Guitar World Lick of the Day. YouTube .
      8. ↑ "Splash".
      9. ↑ http://www.bravewords.com/news/154436 George Lynch at the Mr. Scary guitars booth
        This page is based on this Wikipedia article
        Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
        Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.