Tom Morello
Tom Morello is the guitarist for Rage Against the Machine, He grew up
in Libertyville, Illinois, a small little town north of Chicago.
He first time he wanted to play a guitar was when he heard a KISS song, he paid a guy 5bucks to teach him how to play it, instead, the guy pretty much tough him the general rules of the guitar, tuning it and what's the frets and strings do, etc.
Then, a week later, he paid another 5bucks, the guy tough him the C scale.
After that, that was pretty much it, didn't touch a guitar for a long time. He went to Harvard University, where he
majored in Social Studies, and when he was there, he practice HARD on the guitar, all day long.
As for today, he play for Rage Against the Machine, and is argued to be the best guitarist of the 90's.
Tom's ability to manipulate DJ like sounds off his guitar make's him into that category of "one of the best".
From scratching sound's, and toggle switches, fast solo's, crazy riffs, all the way to Amplifier Feedback, He can do it all. Not to mention he can do it all LIVE as well.
Live is where I believe Tom show's his true ability. If you ever notice, Tom always changes his solo's in his songs, not two of them sound the same, which keeps verity in their music, and more enjoyable to listen to, he always seems to add in little solo's in songs that aren't suppose to have solo's as well, or he will extend a solo longer then usual (Bullet In the Head, Live And Rare Version).
Tom believes that a great guitarist is not based on what guitar you have, or how much equipment you have, but based on the quality of your music your able to get out of your guitar and what you have available. Tom say's that he's seen lot's of bands with great equipment, but sounded like crap, and he's seen other bands, not so great of a guitar tone, but where great bands.
For along time Tom tried to get the best sound, but was never satisfied. He finally decided to stick with the setup he had, and make the best out of it (Amp, Guitar, Effects).
Tom Morello Quotes -
"That's one of the reasons why I've never done guitar endorsements, or string endorsements, or pedal endorsements; I think it's deceptive in a way that guitar companies try to trick aspiring guitar players into thinking that if you have the guitar that Eddie Van Halen uses, or the guitar that Korn uses, that you will all