Monday, March 12, 2012

The #60 Guitarist of the Rock Era: Reb Beach

Inside the Rock Era is presenting The Top 100 Guitarists of the Rock Era*.  Here is the list so far:



100.   Mick Barr, Orthrelm
99.    Jerry Cantrell, Alice in Chains
98.    Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield Blues Band
97.    Danny Kirwan, Fleetwood Mac
96.    Daron Malakian, System of a Down
95.    Sam Totman, Dragonforce
94.    Kerry King, Slayer
93.    Robbie Krieger, Doors
92.    Ted Nugent
91.    Jason Becker, David Lee Roth
90.    John 5, David Lee Roth, Marilyn Manson
89.    Jake E. Lee, Ratt, Ozzy Osbourne
88.    Michael Wilton, Queensryche
87.    James Munky Shaffer, Korn
86.     Uli Jon Roth, Scorpions
85.     Richie Sambora, Bon Jovi
84.     Rick Derringer, McCoys, Edgar Winter Group, solo
83.     Dave Mason, Traffic, solo
82.     Warren DeMartini, Ratt, Whitesnake
81.     Synyster Gates, Avenged Sevenfold
80.     Jack White, the White Stripes
79.     Alex Lifeson, Rush
78.     Chuck Schuldiner, Death
77.     Neil Young, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, solo
76.     C.C. DeVille, Poison
75.     Gary Rossington, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rossington-Collins Band
74.     Peter Frampton, Humble Pie, solo
73.     Neil Giraldo, Pat Benatar
72.     Keith Richards, Rolling Stones 

71.     Michael Schenker, Scorpions, UFO, Michael Schenker Group 

70.     Tom Morello, Rage Against the Machine 

69.     Neal Schon, Santana, Journey
68.     Vivian Campbell, Whitesnake, Def Leppard, Thin Lizzy
67.     Dave Mustaine, Metallica, Megadeth
66.    Danny Gatton
65.    Timo Tolkki, Stratovarius, solo
64.    Allen Holdsworth
63.     Dave Murray, Iron Maiden
62.    Nuno Bettencourt, Extreme
61.    Ace Frehley, Kiss, solo


The #60 Guitarist was recognized from the beginning and he's done nothing since then to disappoint:
#60:  Reb Beach, Winger, Whitesnake, Dokken
28 years as an active guitarist
(guitar solo in 2008)

Richard Earl Beach, Jr. was born August 31, 1963 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  When he started out, the magazine Guitar for the Practicing Musician voted him Best New Guitarist and Guitar World Magazine voted him Best New Talent.  Beach has become prominent as the lead guitarist of Winger and Whitesnake.  

Reb played piano and later guitar at an early age with little formal training.  He spent his years as a teenage jamming along with songs of Aerosmith, Sammy Hagar and Ronnie Montrose but was more influenced by Steve Morse of the Dixie Dregs.
After going to the Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts in the early 1980's, Beach played guitar for Fiona and became a sought-after studio musician.  He played on records by Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Roger Daltrey, Chaka Khan, Howard Jones and Twisted Sister.  While working for Fiona, Beach was introduced to Kip Winger, who was touring with Alice Cooper at the time. Winger and Beach recruited Rod Morgenstein and Paul Taylor to form the band Sahara, which became Winger.

Winger recorded three albums, Winger, In the Heart of the Young and Pull and had the hits "Seventeen" and "Headed for a Heartbreak". When Winger broke up in the mid-90's, Beach caught on with Alice Cooper's band before replacing George Lynch in the group Dokken. Beach recorded one album with Dokken called Erase the Slate.

Beach has been involved in several recording and touring projects, along with touring occasionally with the reformed Winger. He released his solo album (Masquerade) in 2002 and then joined Whitesnake the following year. Beach also participated in the group The Mob with Doug Pinnick of King X and drummer Kelly Keagy, which released a self-titled album in 2005. Winger released their first album in a decade, called IV, in 2006. For a brief time, Beach joined Night Ranger for a tour but announced his departure in January, 2008.

Beach is essentially in two groups at once, recording Karma with Winger in 2009 and Forevermore with Whitesnake, and tours with both.

Ibanez guitars produced Reb's Signature RBM models in the early 1990's. The first Ibanez Beach used was the RG560 but the Voyager was the one he played most often with Winger in the early days.  On the reunion tour for Whitesnake in 2005, Beach used custom guitars made by luthier Suhr Guitars and in fact Suhr is now his guitar of choice.  



Beach plays the Suhr Signature Reb Beach Model, a solid Hawai'ian Koa body with a Brazilian Rosewood neck and stainless steel frets.  The guitar is fitted with an original Floyd Rose tremelo system that is designed to pull back as well as forward, a Suhr JST humbucker and 2 Suhr noiseless single coils. 


Reb used the same two amplifiers since Winger--two Marshall master volume Mark II heads, until 2005, when he switched to the Custom Audio Electronics OD100 designed by Suhr.


Beach has used a Pedal Power power supply, a TU-2 Chromatic Tuner and LS-2 Line Selector from Boss, a Digitech Whammy II, an Danelectro Dan-Echo delay, a Boss MT-2 Metal Zone distortion, a Crybaby Wah-Wah and a Morley A-B box.  Recently with the change in amplifiers, Reb switched to a Digitech Digital Delay pedal and replaced the Boss Metal Zone with the Fulltone Fat Boost and the Morley box with the OD100 switchbox.


Beach is considered a virtuoso guitarist who features melodic shredding and catchy riffs.  Reb ranks as The #60 Guitarist of the Rock Era*...

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