![]() Lynch was shot at this time, but the bullet hit his guitar.ĭuring the Dokken years, the Tiger sported a Stratocaster-style headstock, likely obtained from Charvel in California, and a 21-fret Stratocaster-style neck. One night, all the forward gears in his car went out, and he had to drive home in reverse through South Central LA in the riots. The Tiger actually has a bullet hole in the back, sustained when Lynch was recording a solo record during the LA riots of 1989. It’s somewhat cracked because he traveled with the guitar without a hard case. His Tiger’s body is solid maple, painted with nitrocellulose lacquer that today shows signs of aging. Particularly appealing to Lynch was the level of customization this offered him, including the types of wood, scale length, and neck radius. He liked the idea, as did his contemporary Edward Van Halen, of being part of the process of creating the instrument, rather than simply buying someone else’s guitar. Lynch, in this interview, revealed that in the late 70s, he would pick up individual guitar pieces – necks, bodies, and hardware – and assemble his own instruments. It has remained George Lynch’s number one instrument ever since, with Lynch telling Sleaze Roxx in 2009 that “my Tiger is my go-to guitar for most everything”. He told MusicRadar that he “slapped it together” from pieces of wood, and then a friend helped him give it its distinctive tiger-striped paint job. The guitar around his neck bore a tiger-striped finish and a Stratocaster-shaped headstock suspiciously devoid of a brand name.Īlthough the Tiger entered public consciousness in 1983 with the “Breaking the Chains” video, George Lynch actually built the guitar himself in 1978. In the video, Lynch, chained to a wall, breaks out of said chains to deliver one of the finest examples of mid-80s shred guitar ever recorded. Most of the rock world’s first introduction to Dokken, and to George Lynch, was the iconic video for “Breaking the Chains. See the full list of George Lynch guitars and gear below. George usually rotates between the ESP Kamizake-1, the ESP Tiger, and the ESP GL Super V models. He’s worked with ESP since the late 1970s on many guitar designs, typically boasting wild-eyecatching designs. George Lynch plays custom ESP guitars of which he has several signature models to his name. Although he later left Dokken to form solo Lynch Mob, with whom he has enjoyed modest success for decades, George Lynch continues to push the boundaries of hard-rock lead guitar to this day. Their albums sold millions, George Lynch’s fiery licks dominated car stereos around the world spawning one of the first major “speed metal” euphorias. In their first major top-40 success, Dokken broke the chains of musical mediocrity and was launched to stardom. Photo by perfectrxįortunately for George, and lovers of outrageous lead guitar worldwide, he finally enjoyed the success his talent clearly warranted upon joining lead singer Don Dokken’s eponymous band. Lynch claims that he missed the job because he’d had to take up delivering pizzas to make ends meet, a job that required him to wear his hair short. Later, George Lynch auditioned for Osbourne’s band once more, and actually got the gig, but would eventually find himself replaced by Jake E. ![]() So much so, that Lynch was offered a job teaching at Rhoads’ mother’s guitar school. He narrowly missed out on the spot to Randy Rhoads of all people, but Rhoads himself was so impressed with Lynch’s audition. Lynch, in the late 1970s, auditioned for the lead guitar role in former Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne’s solo band. His career and distinctive molten lead style are testaments not only to his talent but his worth ethic. Born in Spokane, Washington, and raised in Southern California, George Lynch endured several false starts before he found success with Dokken. ![]()
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