With his blistering fast lead chops, impeccably clean technique, and exceptional composition skills, Jeff Loomis is recognized as one of the top guitarists on the progressive metal scene today. Since the early 1990s, the guitar virtuoso has been a primary creative force in the Seattle-based band Nevermore, and he’s recently spread his wings as a solo artist with the impressive debut effort Zero Order Phase.

One rainy Seattle afternoon, Jeff and I chatted about technique, gear, and all things guitar for a BOSS Tone Radio podcast. To listen to the complete conversation and clips of his music, visit www.BossUS.com/podcasts.

The following is an excerpt from our talk.

When you were 16, living in Wisconsin, you won a Wisconsin Guitar Wars contest.

That’s correct. You know, I didn’t really want to do it, but my father insisted. [Laughs.] He’s like, “You should give this a shot and see what happens. What can happen? You can lose and, no big deal, you can try again.” So I submitted a tape that I did in the local studio down the street. The judges liked it and they said, “Come on down. We want you to be part of this contest.” And I actually ended up winning the thing. It’s a good memory, and it made me want to practice even more and do better at guitar.

Back in Wisconsin, did you take lessons or go to a music school? How did you get good enough at 16 to win a Guitar Wars contest?

I actually started playing drums at first. My dad bought me an old three-piece Ludwig jazz drum set, and I just started playing along with records. My dad had a huge collection of all these awesome ’70s records, like Queen, Fleetwood Mac, The Doobie Brothers, stuff like that, and I would just jam along to them. I think that’s what gave me a good sense of rhythm. But I quickly became frustrated with the drums, just because I really couldn’t go anywhere with it. I saw that my dad had an old classical guitar lying around the house; I picked it up and inside the guitar case was this book called Mel Bay Book 1.

I had that one.

You had that one, too? [Laughs.] I think every guitarist has gone through that book. I just started working on learning the basic chords and stuff like that, and after that I ended up joining a group lesson class. Then I took a few lessons from local teachers, but I didn’t learn much. I found that most of my style and technique just came from myself, just listening to records, like old Van Halen records and stuff like that. I guess I was blessed with having a good ear.

I spent the next five years really listening to Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads…of course, when Yngwie [Malmsteen] came into the picture, that’s when it all changed for me. I closed my doors and locked myself in and tried to get as good as him. Then, after that, I just listened to my true, true heroes, who are Marty Friedman [see BTR Edition 18] and Jason Becker, and that’s where it just got insane. I started joining local bands and we started to play music like that and ended up doing a couple of the “battle of the bands” things. We won one of those and ended up getting free studio time and did a demo tape and it all got crazy after that.

You’ve really mastered massive speed; I was just watching a video of you playing a lick from your song “Jato Unit.” It’s about 160 beats per minute, and you’re playing sixteenth-note triplets.

The whole trick with the picking thing is just really…I’ve noticed so many guitar players trying to pick fast using their whole arm, you know what I mean? And it’s really not the way to do it. Pickers like Paul Gilbert, and if you watch a lot of Gypsy jazz guitar players, they’re using more of their wrist. That’s the key, I think, to getting good, solid picking momentum. If you look at Yngwie, his right arm is totally relaxed, and he’s just using the wrist action there. So that’s what I tried to really focus on. I would have to say that Yngwie was the one who really pointed me in the right direction to get fluid picking down.

Do you practice with a metronome?

I used to. When I’m composing songs or just playing a general riff where I’m working on my picking technique, rather then using a metronome (which can get quite boring), I program a drumbeat. I’ll just program a simple beat and use that to get more of a groove going.

With the BOSS drum machines, there’s a bass part you can program, too. Do you ever do that?

Dude, you’re not going to believe this—my secret weapon and my secret tool for the last 10 years now is my lovely BOSS DR-5. [Laughs.] I’ve been using this drum machine forever. If you listen to the song “Miles of Machines” off my solo record, you hear an arpeggio section [at the beginning]. I actually composed that whole thing on the DR-5. It’s just awesome, because it’s laid out like a guitar fretboard, and you can get all sorts of different synth sounds and piano sounds, and it’s a killer drum machine.

I heard you have a BOSS BR-600 portable digital recorder.

Yes. I just started working with it, but I think I’m going to move up to the BR-800. I did some research on it, and it just looks great.

When I’m on vacation, I take the BR-600 and an acoustic guitar. I set the BR-600 in front of me, and I just put headphones on and use the built-in mics.

That is absolutely brilliant, and it sounds so fantastic, too. And it runs on batteries, so you can bring the thing anywhere. [Laughs.] That’s just phenomenal, that’s great.

Let’s talk about gear. You play your own signature model Schecter guitar. Can you describe that guitar?

It’s called the Schecter Jeff Loomis model. It’s based off the old Hellraiser guitar that Schecter had, and it’s a beautiful guitar, man. For a seven-string guitar, it is absolutely gorgeous. It’s made out of ash, with 24 very, very large frets, and I use EMG 707 pickups.

How long have you been playing a seven-string guitar?

I’ve been playing seven-strings since 2000. I had a friend of mine who builds guitars back in Wisconsin make me a seven-string. I just wanted to mess around with it [at first]. I slowly practiced to get used to it, and then I started to incorporate the seventh string with chords and stuff like that, and I really liked the sound of it. It sounds super-heavy, super-brutal; I’m a huge fan of the “heavy chunk” kind of thing.

That’s how it all started. I started doing demo songs with the seven-string, and I just loved the sonic quality of it. It was just so heavy. I started sending Warrel Dane [Nevermore’s singer] songs that I composed, and he’s like, “Wow, this sounds really cool.” So that’s kind of the beginning of how all hell broke loose there.

Do you tune the low string to B and then tune the rest of the guitar to standard tuning?

No,I tune one half-step down.

So the low note is…

…A sharp.

One of your ex-band mates is Chris Broderick, who’s now in Megadeth. Did he play seven-string guitars before he met you?

Yes, he did. He was playing seven-string in Nevermore, and I think he’s still using it in Megadeth, too. Obviously, he doesn’t really need that now with that band, but he’s an amazing seven-string player. Some of the stuff he does is quite insane. Go to YouTube™ and check out some of his finger tapping stuff. It’s just outrageous—three active fingers tapping out arpeggios and stuff. The guy’s phenomenal. He’s a really great player and I’m really proud of him for taking the gig in Megadeth. That was huge for him. Congrats to him.

I read that you auditioned for Megadeth when you were 16.

That’s correct, yeah.

You didn’t get the gig; was it because you were too young?

Pretty much. I had a friend who was living in Los Angeles at the time who knew their manager, believe it or not. He said, “Jeff, here’s your opportunity. Send us a demo tape and I’ll make sure the manager gets it.” Sure enough, the manger got it and they liked everything they heard. I asked my parents if I could go do this, and [they said], “You can only do it if you bring a friend with you.” [Laughs.] So I brought my drummer friend, who was in a band that I was in at the time, and got on the plane for the very first time. So here’s a 16-year-old kid, getting on a plane, shaking in his boots because he’s afraid of flying.

I get to Los Angeles and get in the line at the audition. David Ellefson, the bass player, called my name, and he looked at me like I was crazy. I put two and two together and [realized] these guys must not have known how old I was. They still gave me the audition, which was really cool. I’m in there playing along, and it was a lot of fun. I remember Dave Mustaine not singing, which kind of threw me off a little bit because I referenced a lot of things with where he was singing certain parts.

I got through the audition and Dave was super-cool. He came up to me afterwards and said, “Hey kid, you’re not going to get this gig, but we really appreciate you coming out. You’re just too young and too inexperienced to join a band like this.” He was right, you know, but it’s a cool story I can always remember.

Let’s get back to gear. Do you use ENGL amps?

Yes, I’ve been using ENGL amps for four or five years, and I’m now using the Savage 120 head. Chris Broderick actually turned me on to the amp; I was using Peavey Triple XXX amps before that.

Are they like Marshalls or Mesas?

I would compare them more to a Mesa. I’ve loved this amp for quite some time now, and I actually used it on [all of the] new record. I keep it really simple with the effects; I don’t really use too much. In a live situation with Nevermore, I use maybe a chorus pedal to get some nice sheen on my [clean sounds]. The picks that I’m using are a big part of my sound as well—I’m using the Jim Dunlop 2.0 millimeter Sharp pick. [With its little tip, I can dig] into the string and get this really killer attack. It’s an awesome pick.

Do you have any favorite BOSS pedals that you’ve used over the years?

I’ve used my trusty noise suppressor, the NS-2, for many, many years, and also my [TU-2] chromatic tuner, which I’ve used for many, many years as well.

Do you have the TU-2 with you on tour?

All the time, man! If I didn’t, it wouldn’t be right. [Laughs.] It’s always there; I’m always checking my tuning with that thing between every song. It’s very trustworthy.I wouldn’t leave home without my tuner. It gives me the comfort factor of knowing that I’m always in tune when I’m on stage.

If someone ever asks me how to get a better sound, I point to that pedal. [Jeff laughs.] Being in tune is so important.

It is, man. You’ve got to be in tune, otherwise you’re going to sound like crap. So yeah, I definitely look up to that pedal. I use a lot of Roland stuff as well. Roland is affiliated with BOSS, right?

BOSS is the guitar products division of Roland.

I use the Fantom-X6 keyboard a lot, the workstation keyboard. I use it for layers and stuff like that when I’m writing music. I use it in my demos, and sometimes it goes on record, too. I also want to mention that I use the Roland guitar synth.

The GR-20?

Yes. I have [a GK] pickup installed on one of my six-string Schecter guitars, and I use that quite a bit on the new record. It sounds amazing. That’s such a fun thing to play around with; it opens up a lot of doors, too. And it tracks very, very well. Even when you’re playing fast sequences, it’s just a matter of setting it up right so it tracks well with your playing. You could MIDI it to some other component and get those sounds as well, couldn’t you?

Absolutely.

That would be something interesting to mess around with, because I just bought this new keyboard plug-in [for my DAW].

With the GR-20, you can use any computer-to-MIDI interface to get into your computer. We also make the GI-20 GK-MIDI Interface. Unlike the GR-20, it doesn’t have any sounds built in; it’s a half-rack unit that converts your guitar to MIDI, and it has a USB output that connects directly to your computer to control your software synths and stuff like that.

That is very, very cool, man. What is this new thing you guys have out now [for jamming]?

It’s called eBand. Imagine a really good boom box with 300 different jam tracks inside, with all kinds of connectivity to plug into your computer and plug your guitar in and play with amp models and effects. You can load in your own WAV and MP3 tracks, and it automatically loops them. You can time-stretch them, slow ’em down and speed ’em up, or change the tuning.

That’s awesome, Paul. That’s something for me to look into. Thanks for letting me know about that.

Do you have any last words of wisdom or advice? Maybe some tips on how to play fast like you? Your technique is so amazing.

Thank you very much, Paul. Yeah, I have a bunch of advice, actually. There’s one thing in general that really comes to mind: I see a lot of musicians, especially kids, listening to one style of music. These kids are into metal and stuff like that, and there’s nothing wrong with that at all. But I found out at a young age that it’s very important to listen to all styles of music. It really opens up your mind as a musician if you listen to things like jazz music or classical music. Lately, I’ve been listening to Gypsy jazz music, which is really, really awesome. It’s cool to expand your mind a little bit and see what’s out there, because there’s so much to offer musically.

There’s a lot of beautiful music out there, so try not to just limit yourself to just one style. Listen to everything, and that’ll make you a better guitar player and maybe open some new doors for picking techniques that’ll make you faster as a player as well. Always expand your mind, listen to other styles of music, and you should be good to go.

To keep track of Jeff, visit his website: www.jeffloomis.com.