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Jason Becker | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Jason Eli Becker |
| Born | (1969-07-22)July 22, 1969 (age 55) Richmond, California, U.S.[1] |
| Genres | Instrumental rock,neoclassical metal,heavy metal |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
| Instrument | Guitar |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Labels | Shrapnel |
| Formerly of | Cacophony |
| Website | jasonbecker |
Jason Eli Becker (born July 22, 1969) is an American composer and former guitarist. At the age of 16, he became part of theShrapnel Records-produced duoCacophony with his friendMarty Friedman, and they released two albums,Speed Metal Symphony (1987) andGo Off! (1988). Since the dissolution of Cacophony in 1989, Becker has undertaken a solo career, releasing seven albums since his 1988 debutPerpetual Burn. He later joinedDavid Lee Roth's solo band and recorded one album with him,A Little Ain't Enough.
Becker's performing career was cut short byamyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which he was diagnosed with in 1989.[2] By 1996, Becker had lost the ability to speak, and he now communicates with his eyes via a system developed by his father. He continues to compose with the aid of a computer and has since releasedCollection in 2008 andTriumphant Hearts in 2018, as well as various compilations.
Becker was born in Richmond Hospital on 23rd Street on July 22, 1969, and raised in Richmond, California, by his parents, Gary and Patricia (Heffley) Becker. His maternal grandfather was actorWayne Heffley.[3] He was exposed to the guitar at an early age by both his father and his uncle who were guitar players. He absorbed all kinds of music from around the world and melded different aspects of each style into his playing. He citedBob Dylan,Eric Clapton,Jimi Hendrix andEddie Van Halen as early influences.[4]
Becker started out playing alongsideMarty Friedman in the Mike Varney-produced duo,Cacophony.[5] Together, they put out two albums,Speed Metal Symphony andGo Off! and toured Japan and the U.S.[6] While they never went mainstream in the U.S., they proved popular enough in Europe to sell out almost every performance.[7] In 1989 Becker joinedDavid Lee Roth's solo band, having released his first solo album titledPerpetual Burn in 1988, while Friedman joinedMegadeth in 1990.[5] He has since released the albumsPerspective,Collection andTriumphant Hearts, as well as two albums of demos, entitledThe Raspberry Jams andThe Blackberry Jams.
In 1989, Becker joinedDavid Lee Roth's solo band to work on his third albumA Little Ain't Enough, replacingSteve Vai, who left the band to record and tour withWhitesnake.[5] While preparing for the album, Becker began to feel what he called a "lazy limp" in his left leg. He was soon diagnosed withamyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS;Lou Gehrig's disease) and was given three to five years to live. He finished the recording using lighter gauge guitar strings and other techniques, which made it easier for him to play with his weakening hands. Although he managed to finish the album, he did not join the supporting tour due to his inability to perform on stage; formerLizzy Borden guitaristJoe Holmes took Becker's place on tour.
His ALS gradually robbed him of his ability to play guitar, to walk, and eventually his ability to speak. He now communicates with his eyes via a system developed by his father. Due to the nature of the disease, he remains mentally sharp and, with the aid of a computer, continuescomposing. In the back of thePerspective CD case, Becker states "I have Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. It has crippled my body and speech, but not my mind." His medical condition has remained stable since 1997. In 2003, Becker posted on his website that he was feeling better and had gained some weight, while the folder for his 2008 albumCollection also mentions an upcoming book.
In 1996, Becker released an album calledPerspective, an instrumental album composed by him (with the exception ofBob Dylan's song "Meet Me in the Morning"). The writing of the music had been started before ALS completely disabled his abilities. By using guitar, and, later, when he was unable to use both hands, a keyboard, he continued to compose while his disease worsened. However, when Becker could no longer even play the keyboard, his friend and music producerMike Bemesderfer[8] helped him with a music-composing computer program that reads movements of his head and eyes, enabling Becker to continue to compose after he lost control of the rest of his body.
Three years later, Becker releasedRaspberry Jams (1999) andBlackberry Jams (2003); the first contained various unreleased demo tracks, and the latter contained demo tracks and alternate versions of songs that were later reworked and published on other albums.
Two tribute albums to Jason Becker have been issued. TitledWarmth in the Wilderness I andWarmth in the Wilderness II, they feature guitarists such asSteve Vai,Paul Gilbert,Marty Friedman,Joe Becker,Rusty Cooley, andMattias Eklundh. The album profits were sent to Becker to help him with his medical finances.
On November 4, 2008,Shrapnel Records released a new Becker album entitledCollection. The album includes three new songs in addition to some older recordings (some previously unreleased) and featuresMarty Friedman,Greg Howe,Joe Satriani,Michael Lee Firkins,Steve Vai, andSteve Hunter.
On August 20, 2010, Becker declared that he was considering releasing an album of music he recorded when he was in his teenage years. He released this album, titledBoy Meets Guitar, in 2012.[9]
In October 2016, Becker launched a campaign to fund an album, which was initially estimated for release in July 2017. The campaign raised more than $100,000.[10] The album,Triumphant Hearts, was released on December 7, 2018.[11]
Considered a virtuoso guitarist and one of the top players of his time,[5] Becker studied the works of violinistNiccolò Paganini and was a playing partner with Marty Friedman. He later arrangedPaganini's 5th Caprice, performing it during an instructional guitar video. Becker's compositions often include high speed scalar andarpeggio passages—trademarks of hisshred style of guitar playing. Often incorporating advanced techniques such as sweep picking, alternate picking, artificial harmonic accenting, tapping and hybrid picking; he was among the leaders of the field during the technical shred guitar andneoclassical metal trend of the mid to late 1980s and is still respected and honored by his musician peers today. The song "Serrana" appearing in the albumPerspective, is an example of his sweep-picking skills.[12] He demonstrated the arpeggio sequence during a clinic at the Atlanta Institute of Music. A video of this performance first appeared on hisHot Licks guitar instructional video.[13]
Many guitarists cite Becker's playing as an influence, includingNita Strauss,[14]Guthrie Govan,[15]Herman Li,[16]Chris Broderick,[17] andDaniel Mongrain,[18] among others.
Becker has appeared on many magazine covers throughout his career, including the February 1991 issue ofGuitar for the Practicing Musician along withJim Martin ofFaith No More, the June 1991 issue ofYoung Guitar, and the July 2012 issue ofGuitar Player, among others. He was also extensively interviewed for the 2017 book,Shredders!: The Oral History Of Speed Guitar (And More),[19] by author Greg Prato.
Becker's first guitar was a Franciscan acoustic. Prior to joining Cacophony in 1987, Becker worked his way through the Franciscan, a Takamine acoustic, a Fender Musicmaster, and finally, a black "Dan Smith" eraFender Stratocaster (likely a 1982 or 1983 model) with a DiMarzio Steve Morse humbucker in the bridge (seen in the "Black Star" video,c. 1986). On his message board, Becker said "I recorded SMS [Speed Metal Symphony] with my Strat."
For his next guitar, Becker said on his message board "Mike Varney got Hurricane to endorse us after we recorded Speed Metal Symphony. I liked how they were like Strats, only beefier."
OnPerpetual Burn, Becker said on his message board: "I used my white and black Hurricane guitar for everything. For clean tone I went direct. For dirty tone I used a 100 Watt Marshall with a Boss Super Overdrive pedal."
The Moridira Hurricane guitar he used is called a Limited Edition LTD.2 model, believed to be made in Japan. (It is not a Hurricane EX series, which appears to be lower quality.) His LTD.2 was a "strat copy", but with a HSS pickup setup, a 24-fret rosewood fingerboard, and unique Floyd Rose where you do not have to cut the strings. For pickups, Becker said on his message board: "I just used the stock pickups it came with." The pickups were Japanese-made pickups.
While Becker is pictured with a blue Hurricane guitar on the cover ofPerpetual Burn, he did not use this blue guitar on the album. Differences on this guitar from his first Hurricane include DiMarzio pickups, a maple fretboard, and 24 frets. (Marty Friedman recorded the whammy parts of his song "Dragon Mistress" using Becker's blue Hurricane, one of the rare times Marty has recorded whammy work.)
For the second Cacophony album, Becker switched over toCarvin gear, utilizing 2 DC Series models, one in a trans blue finish with flamed maple top, and another one in a solid burgundy finish (This is the guitar seen in the famous "Yo Yo" video from the 1989 Japan tour with Cacophony). Both have double cutaway bodies, Kahler locking tremolo systems, six in line machine heads and two Carvin humbucker pickups. He used these up until he was diagnosed withALS in 1989.
During the sessions forA Little Ain't Enough, Becker used various Carvin, Ibanez, ESP and Valley Arts guitars, as well as a Les Paul on some tracks and a Gibson acoustic for select things. Becker has also been pictured with a few Hamer superstrats as well. From 1989 to 1991, Becker used various guitars, most notably aPeavey custom model with the numbered fretboard markers. Also used were anIbanez Custom Shop guitar (probably based on an RG), a custom from Performance Guitars, a couple of various unknown Strat style guitars and a black Hurricane with three single coil pickups.
Becker has allowed Paradise Guitars USA to release a Jason Becker signature guitar. It is similar in appearance to the numbered Peavey, but with a different headstock shape.
Becker used various types of amplifiers in his music. Before joining Cacophony, he used a smallPeavey Studio Pro 40 with the older style Peavey vertical silver stripes on the grille cloth. During his early days Becker was also seen with a red Marshall JCM800 head and 4x12 cabinet.
For the first Cacophony album, Becker used anADA MP1 preamp. He recordedPerpetual Burn with a borrowed 1970s Marshall half stack and a BOSS Super Overdrive and Cacophony's second album was recorded with a Carvin X100B stack.
For theDavid Lee Roth albumA Little Ain't Enough, Becker used "eight different Marshall amps." He also used the SX300H head at some point during that era. After Cacophony, Becker used various amps, including a "Fender M80", an unknown Marshall amp, an ADA preamp and possibly the aforementioned Peavey combo.
Becker typically usedDean Markley and SIT strings.[20]
In 2008 Paradise Guitars worked with Becker to design a Jason Becker signature guitar. The design is based on thePeavey with colored numberfretinlays. Features include analder body,mapleneck with steel 2-waytruss rod, maple 16" radiusfingerboard, 24 jumbo thin frets with colored number fret marker inlays, blackFloyd Rose Pro Style floatingTremolo with Floyd Rose Tremolo stop, Sperzel red satintuners, 14-degree tilt-backheadstock with black Paradise logo and matching tremolo and electronics plates. The pickups areDiMarzio pickups; aPAF Pro-Custom in the neck colored yellow and red, a DP116 HS-2 in the middle colored green, and a Tone Zone-Custom in thebridge colored pink and blue. These colored pickups complement the colored inlays and seem to give the guitar arainbow effect. There is also a red five-way switch and purple 1–11 volume knob.[21]
In 2012, Carvin worked with Becker to design the JB200C Jason Becker Tribute, a guitar that is modeled after the original DC200 guitar he used toward the latter part of his career.
In 2015,Kiesel Guitars, which took over Carvin's guitar manufacturing, worked with Becker to release a second tribute model, called the JB24 "Numbers" guitar. It is the third incarnation of his "Numbers" guitar, previously released by Peavey and Paradise guitars.[22]
For the official launch of Becker's signature Seymour Duncan Perpetual Burn Humbucker and the Carvin JB24 numbers guitar, Danny Young was chosen as the guitarist for both performances due to his stylistic resemblance to Becker and Paganini. The Perpetual Burn performance was played on the Carvin JB200C.[23][24][25][26]
A feature-length documentary film about Becker entitledJason Becker: Not Dead Yet, was released in 2012. The film includes interviews with Becker, his family and friends, and the various musicians he has worked with, includingMarty Friedman,Steve Vai,Joe Satriani,Richie Kotzen, andSteve Hunter.[27]
Cacophony
Marty Friedman
Solo
David Lee Roth
Joe Becker
Other works
Compilations
Tribute
Instructional
Films
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