 |
Robert Hecker (born March 7, 1965), is a guitarist, singer, and songwriter with the bands Redd Kross and It's OK!
Hecker was born in Hermosa Beach, California. He played lead guitar and sang with Redd Kross from 1984 to 1991, and again from 2005 to 2012, [1] [2] in addition to occasional on-stage reunions throughout the 1990s. He has also played guitar and sang with the band It's OK! since 1992.
With Redd Kross during the Teen Babes from Monsanto era, 1984–1985, Hecker's main guitar was a 1979 Gibson The "SG", played through any number of different amplifiers (Peavey, Acoustic Control Corporation, Sunn, Hiwatt, Traynor, Randall).
In the mid-to-late 1980s, he played a pair of Carvin guitars: first, a red DC125, which would be enshrined at the Hard Rock Cafe in 1987; and after, a green DC200, 'Cal', which had the lower horn removed.
By 1986, and throughout the Neurotica era, he was playing through a Marshall JCM 800 driving a Carvin 4x12 cabinet. In 1988, he switched to a Mesa/Boogie Quad preamp running through a Mesa/Boogie 295 Simul-Class power amp driving a pair of Mesa/Boogie 4x12 cabinets. He would use this set up throughout the Third Eye era.
Since 1990, Hecker's main live guitar has been a custom built Ibanez, 'Ike', built by Mace Baily at the Ibanez Custom Shop in North Hollywood. It is an S body outfitted with a 24 fret Wizard neck, with the lower horn removed to facilitate full access to the 24th fret. This guitar was painted orange in 2006.
During the It's OK! Dream and Redd Kross Researching the Blues eras, his amplifier rig consisted of a Mesa/Boogie Triaxis preamp run through a Mesa/Boogie 20/20 power amp driving a pair of Mesa/Boogie 1x12 EV Thiel cabinets, and a Marshall JMP1 preamp sounding out through a pair of Marshall 1912 1x12 Celestion cabinets. For tours he would often just rent a pair of Marshall JCM 900s driving two Marshall 4x12 cabinets.
Hecker is now an official ZT Amplifiers artist; [3] he plays through a stereo rig consisting of two ZT Lunchbox amps running through two ZT Lunchbox cabs.
In 1983, Robert Hecker ran the 110 meter high hurdles in 14.56 seconds, a Mira Costa High School (Manhattan Beach) school record for 23 years, until Drew Johnston (whom Hecker taught to hurdle) clocked 14.39 seconds at CIF prelims in 2006. Hecker ran the 60 meter hurdles in 8.1 seconds as a member of the El Camino College track team, and was the Exemplary Physical Education Major of the Year at California State University, Dominguez Hills. He was runner-up in the 110 meter high hurdles at the USA Track & Field Masters Western Regionals in 2004. [4] In addition to his career in music, he teaches science, physical education, health, and music, and coaches track & field (the Daily Breeze called him the 'hurdles guru coach') in the South Bay area of Los Angeles.
Vox is a British musical equipment manufacturer founded in 1957 by Thomas Walter Jennings in Dartford, Kent, England. The company is most famous for making the Vox AC30 guitar amplifier, used by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Yardbirds, Queen, Dire Straits, U2, and Radiohead; the Vox Continental electric organ, the Vox wah-wah pedal used by Jimi Hendrix, and a series of innovative electric guitars and bass guitars. Since 1992, Vox has been owned by the Japanese electronics firm Korg.
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.
Jonathan Lee "Jon" Siebels is an American musician, best known as the guitarist of the band Eve 6. He became a part of the band after meeting bassist and lead vocalist Max Collins during Siebels' freshman year in Crescenta Valley High School.
John Ro Myung is an American bassist and a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater.
Peavey Electronics Corporation is a privately-owned American company which designs, develops, manufactures, and markets professional audio equipment. Headquartered in Meridian, Mississippi, Peavey is one of the largest audio equipment manufacturers in the world.
Mesa/Boogie is an American company in Petaluma, California, that manufactures amplifiers and other accessories for guitars and basses. It has been in operation since 1969.
Joel Michael Stroetzel is an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist from the Massachusetts metalcore band Killswitch Engage.
Laney Amplification is a British designer and manufacturer of guitar amplifiers, bass guitar amplifiers, cabinets, and public address systems, selling them exclusively through a network of distributors and retailers.
Dino Cazares is an American musician, best known as the guitarist and one of the co-founders of industrial metal band Fear Factory. He is also a co-founder of Divine Heresy, Asesino, and Brujeria. Cazares popularized the use of digital amp modelling processors, as well as the use of seven and eight-string guitars in metal music.
Kenneth Shaun Hickey is an American musician. 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 Silvertomb and was the co-founder of Seventh Void. All three bands featured fellow Type O Negative member Johnny Kelly on drums. Hickey is also an occasional touring guitarist for Danzig.
Marco Sfogli is an Italian heavy metal and rock guitarist. He has played guitar with James LaBrie, PFM and Icefish.
Daniel Joseph Donegan is an American musician who is the guitarist, keyboardist and one of the founding members of heavy metal band Disturbed.
A bass amplifier is a musical instrument electronic device that uses electrical power to make lower-pitched instruments such as the bass guitar or double bass loud enough to be heard by the performers and audience. Bass amps typically consist of a preamplifier, tone controls, a power amplifier and one or more loudspeakers ("drivers") in a cabinet.
AHED Music Corporation, Ltd. was a Canadian company owned by Phil G. Anderson that produced guitar amplifiers, as well as guitars. Its main product line was the GBX amplifier, which could reach 180 watts with 4x10", 4x12" or 2x15" speakers. The GBX amplifier had a pre-amplifier that could change the gain, brilliance, depth, contour and response of the output.
The Line 6 Flextone was the first in a series of guitar amplifiers to package Line 6's POD digital modeling system in a stand-alone amplifier product. Digital modeling allowed users to access guitar tones based on those of many popular vintage and boutique amplifiers. At the time of its release in the late 1990s, the Flextone series was a more affordable alternative to the company's flagship Vetta amplifier.
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.
The Mesa/Boogie Mark Series is a series of guitar amplifier made by Mesa Engineering. Originally just referred to as "Boogies", the product line took on the moniker "Mark Series" as newer revisions were put into production. The Mark Series amplifier was Mesa's flagship product until the introduction of the Rectifier series, and the amplifiers are collectable.
The JCM800 series is a line of guitar amplifiers made by Marshall Amplification. The series was introduced in 1981. Although models 1959 and 1987 had been in production since 1965 and the 2203 and 2204 had been in production since 1975, they were redesigned and introduced as JCM800 amplifiers in 1981. The JCM800 amplifiers became a staple of 1980s hard rock and heavy metal bands.
Traynor is a brand of bass amplifiers and guitar amplifiers, the first brand formed by Yorkville Sound. The Traynor brand, named for founder Peter Traynor, began in 1963 with the Dynabass bass amplifier, a rental product. Traynor first became popular in Canada by providing less expensive versions of the circuits used in Marshall and Fender amplifiers of the time. The revived brand now produces a wide range of electric, acoustic, and bass guitar amps.