From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ty Tabor (born September 17, 1961 in Jackson, Mississippi) is the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the heavy metal band, King's X.

Tabor has a wide-ranging guitar style, from big guitar riffs to soaring melodic passages. His influences include The Beatles, Mick Ronson, Ace Frehley, Jimi Hendrix, Phil Keaggy, and the original Alice Cooper band.

Contents 1 History 2 Other Bands and Collaborations 3 Discography 4 See also 5 External links

Early in his career with King's X, Tabor's guitar sound was considered one of the most sought-after in rock. He played an unusual model of Fender Stratocaster called the "Elite", an active-pickup model that was only in production in the early 1980s. The remainder of his gear was more of a mystery; he would switch the logos on his amplifiers to keep his tone a secret. He later abandoned this clandestine approach, and revealed in an interview in the May 1996 issue of Guitar Player magazine that he had used a solid-state Gibson Lab Series L5 amplifier along with the Strat Elite guitar to record the first four King's X albums. By the time of the interview, however, he had changed his equipment completely. Tabor has more recently endorsed Mesa Boogie, Line 6, and most recently, Randall amplifiers. He currently uses Yamaha's AES series, and a signature series guitar, which has been discontinued. However, fans consider his most popular and best sounding guitar to be his signature model Zion guitar.

In 1997, Tabor's first solo album, Naomi's Solar Pumpkin, was released independently. Most of the songs from that debut appeared (rerecorded) on his following 1998 album, Moonflower Lane. Ty followed that up with 2002's Safety, a much more introspective album that reflected on his then-recent divorce.

Ty has also played in three other bands. He played guitar and sang in Jelly Jam, featuring Rod Morgenstein (previously of the Dixie Dregs and Winger) on drums and John Myung (of Dream Theater) on bass, and the same line up with keyboardist Derek Sherinian (of Planet X and formerly Dream Theater) played under the band name of Platypus. The last of three bands is supergroup Jughead. Jughead's single self-titled LP was released in 2002 on InsideOut Music. Band members include two-time David Lee Roth band member Gregg Bissonette (drums), Derek Sherinian (keyboard), Matt Bissonette (bass), and Ty Tabor (guitars).

Ty continues playing with King's X and as of April 2006 was on tour promoting the 2005 release, Ogre Tones, the band's 13th record.

• Naomi's Solar Pumpkin (independent, 1997)
• Moonflower Lane (Metal Blade, 1998)
• Safety (Metal Blade, 2002)
• Rock Garden (InsideOut, Release date: August 29, 2006)

• Jelly Jam
• King's X
• Platypus
• Jughead

• Ty Tabor official site
• Ty Tabor Myspace site
• Modern Guitars Magazine interview
• site francophone, Accessed on july 24, 2006.

King's X
Doug Pinnick - Ty Tabor - Jerry Gaskill
Discography
Albums: Out of the Silent Planet - Gretchen Goes to Nebraska - Faith, Hope, Love - King's X - Dogman - Ear Candy - Tape Head - Please Come Home... Mr. Bulbous - Manic Moonlight - Black Like Sunday - Ogre Tones
Live Albums: Live All Over The Place Compilations: Best of King's X
Related Articles: Jetydosa