World Best Guitar Players: Martin Friedman

Martin Adam "Marty" Friedman, (born December 8, 1962) is a guitarist, well known for his tenure as the lead/rhythm guitarist for heavy metal band Megadeth, which lasted almost a decade. He has resided in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan since 2003, and has hosted his own television programs, Rock Fujiyama and Jukebox English on Japanese television. Friedman is a largely self-taught guitarist known for his improvisation and for fusing Eastern musical with Western music other styles, such as neo-classical, thrash metal and later progressive rock. When playing, Friedman often uses arpeggiated chords and various customized scales. He also occasionally uses sweep picking.He has a very unorthodox right hand picking technique, namely the angle in which his hand is clenched goes against the conventional palm mute. He also frequently uses the upstroke as opposed to the down stroke, especially on the high strings (strings B and E). These qualities make Friedman's solos unique and hard to duplicate using an alternate picking approach.During his early years as a musician, he formed and played lead guitar in several bands, including Deuce, Hawaii (which had previously been called Vixen), and notably Cacophony. Cacophony featured neoclassical metal elements and synchronized twin guitar harmonies andcounterpoints shared with guitarist Jason Becker. He played guitar on the 1987 album "It Won't Be Long" by Christian rock band Shout. In 1988, he recorded demos for Jet Red that eventually were released as bonus tracks on the 2009 Jet Red release "Flight Plan".

Videos

Equipment

Guitars

- Paul Reed Smith guitars (listed as an artist on PRS)
- In his Cacophony days, Carvin guitars, mainly a V220M model. Also used Carvin on his first solo recording, Dragon Kiss.
- Jackson Guitars (stopped using them in 2000 when Fender bought Jackson)
- Jackson Kelly (he made this model famous and had his own signature KE1 guitar model)

- more recently using Ibanez Guitars (has a singature model available in Japan)
- Ibanez Marty Friedman Model ( Ibanez MFM-1 signature guitar, which is basically an SZ model with stars on the frets and body)
- Gretsch Chet
- Fender Stratocaster

- Dean guitar

- Ibanez Iceman
- Ovation (various models) acoustic guitars
- Seymour Duncan/Ibanez pickups
- Fender Precision bass

Amps and Cabinets

- Bogner amps during Megadeth days (this is debated which model exactly. Likely Triple Giant preamp)
- CAE 3+ Preamps and VHT 2150 power amps (older days)
- Crate Blue Voodoo tube amplifiers (BV120HB)