Richie Sambora

Richard Stephen "Richie" Sambora (born on July 11, 1959), is an American rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter who is the lead guitarist for the rock band Bon Jovi. Along with frontman Jon Bon Jovi he forms the primary songwriting unit for the band. He is also a solo artist, having released two solo albums; Stranger In This Town in 1991, and Undiscovered Soul in 1998.Contents [hide] 1 Background 2 Technique 2.1 Talkbox Usage 3 Other Instruments 4 Equipment 5 Solo work 6 Personal life 7 Film and television 8 Other ventures and honors 9 Discography[edit] Background Born to a Polish father, Adam C Sambora (family originally from Krakow as stated by Richie), and an Italian mother, Joan Sienila,[1][2] in Perth Amboy New Jersey. Sambora attended Woodbridge High School, in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. He began playing the guitar at the age of fourteen following the death of guitar legend Jimi Hendrix in 1970. From his early days Sambora was strongly influenced by blues and 60s rock 'n' roll and his most important influences were Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. He was also influenced by Spanish classical music and began a life long love of the Spanish guitar[citation needed].Sambora has occasional taken over as lead vocalist on some Bon Jovi songs, most notably "I'll Be There For You" when played live on the Bounce and Have a Nice Day tours. He's also performed "Stranger In This Town" (from the album of the same title) at various Bon Jovi concerts.[edit] Technique Sambora has generally eschewed the more obvious technical trademarks of the genre, instead crafting a more melodic approach.“ With a lot of the stuff I played on the Bon Jovi hits, it wasn’t about developing solos, but to play stuff that was melodic and memorable. So the solos were more like melodic interludes. You can almost imagine them either played by another instrument or by an orchestra. So they are more melodic and melodically-oriented than solo-oriented. ”[3]Pinch harmonics are widely used within his playing style. Heavy use of palm muting can also be seen throughout his work.[edit] Talkbox Usage Sambora is one of many guitarists to make use of the talkbox. He has cited Joe Walsh and Peter Frampton as the main influences in his use of the device:“ When I was a teenager, Frampton Comes Alive was such a huge record. I liked that it was a live album and I loved to see bands live. Joe Walsh also used talkbox amazingly. Those were the main guys. ”[4]The talkbox can be heard clearly in "Livin' on a Prayer", "All I Want Is Everything", "It's My Life", "Love Me Back To Life", "Bounce, "I Want To Be Loved", "Complicated", "Put The Boy Back In Cowboy" and " We Got It Going On "[edit] Other Instruments Sambora is also a self taught musician of other instruments including:Mandolin Sitar Ukulele Bass Banjo Piano Keyboards Drums Flute Trumpet Saxophone Accordion Bouzouki[edit] Equipment Richie Sambora has been known to use a wide variety of guitars and amplifiers throughout his career. In the 80s, Sambora mostly played superstrats (Kramer, Charvel, Hamer) as well as modified Les Paul models. In early-mid 1987, Kramer put out a Richie Sambora signature model with three humbuckers, pointy drooped headstock, gold hardware, star-shaped fingerboard inlays and a Floyd Rose Original locking tremolo, which quit production in 1989. Today it has been reissued by Gibson (which purchased Kramer in 1997) and is named "Jersey Star", no longer carrying Sambora's actual name. He had also used several other Kramer models, including a variety of custom ones ("one-offs"). His two most notable guitars from the Slippery When Wet album/tour were his Kramer Richie Sambora signature and a custom white Charvel with a Floyd Rose tremolo and HSS pickups, and a reversed Fender-like headstock.During the few following years Sambora played various guitars, mostly vintage Fender and some Gibsons along with a custom black Charvel he extensively used on the last (New Jersey) tour with Bon Jovi, which featured only a humbucker pickup in the bridge position, Floyd Rose tremolo system and a maple neck and fretboard with a reversed Strat-like headstock. In 1991, Fender issued a Sambora signature model which featured an original Floyd Rose tremolo system and a HSS pickup combination of a DiMarzio PAF Pro humbucker and 2 Fender Texas Special single-coils. This guitar came in two versions, American and Japanese. The American-made Sambora model featured an alder body with ash veneers and was available in Cherry Sunburst and Olympic White; the Japanese version had a basswood body with black paisley graphics. Other features included a one-piece maple neck/fingerboard with 22 frets and star-shaped position markers, as well as a 25dB active mid-boost circuit with TBX tone controls and an active/passive push-button switch. In 1998 the model has been updated with a vintage-style tremolo, a set of Fender Hot Noiseless single-coils, no-load tone circuit and a 12dB active midrange booster with a push-button bypass selector. There was also a Mexican-made standard version of the instrument, featuring a DiMarzio PAF humbucking pickup in the bridge position and two standard single-coils in the neck and middle positions. The guitar also sported a rosewood fingerboard with 21 frets and white dot position inlays, as well as a Floyd Rose II locking bridge. Both the American and Mexican-made Sambora models were discontinued in 2002. Sambora still plays a variety of Fenders (mostly vintage and custom shop models, such as the Telecaster doubleneck.Currently he plays custom "Sambora" guitars built by his guitar tech Chris "Lumpy" Hofschneider, Zemaitis Guitars, Floyd Rose guitars, vintage Gibsons and custom shop Fender models, aswell as guitars from his collection. One of the guitars built by his guitar tech features a fretboard made of both maple and rosewood, on an ash body with neck-through-body construction and custom HSS pickups.Sambora used Ovation electric-acoustic guitars from the beginning of the 1980s until 1998. He played a custom made doubleneck designed by his longtime Guitar Tech Gary "Gaz" Douglas (seen on Wanted Dead or Alive and unplugged versions of some other Bon Jovi songs) and a variety of other Ovations, such as Adamas.In 2000, Taylor started the production of a Sambora signature model, a 6-string acoustic made of koa wood, called the RSSM. Only 100 were made, all in the year of 2000. However, apart from the new Taylor 6-string, Sambora acquired a custom doubleneck model, which featured both a 6-string and a 12-string. The Taylor doubleneck replaced the spot of the old Ovation doubleneck in a variety of live shows and has been used extensively until 2004/2005, when he decided to part ways with Taylor. All of his doubleneck acoustics have been know to feature 6-strings on top and 12-string below, which is the opposite of the manufacturing standard.Since Sambora has been known to use his favourite Martin acoustic, among others, on a lot of recordings, Martin guitars put out two of Sambora's signature models in 2006, a 6-string and a 12-strings, based on his mentioned favourite 1930 Martin OM-45. He hasn't been publicly seen using a doubleneck acoustic since.Sambora also used Gibson and Guild acoustics, particularly a Guild F-50 12-string, which the song Wanted Dead or Alive was recorded with. He acquired it straight from the Guild factory due to the guitar having a finish flaw.For most of the 80s and early-mid 90s, he used Marshall amplifiers, particularly the JCM800 models with 4x12" speaker cabinets and a variety of rack units (including effects). During his Stranger In This Town tour, Sambora used 2 Marshall JCM800 2203 heads and a third non-Marshall amp, with 3 4x12 cabinets. In 1995, Sambora started using Fender ToneMasters with Fender ToneMaster 4x12" speaker cabinets, following the These Days Tour. For the studio sessions of his second solo album, Undiscovered Soul, he also used a Fender Bassman 4x10" combo and a Vox AC30. On the tour, he used 2 Fender ToneMasters, a Vox head and a VHT Pitbull. In 2000, Sambora started using the Marshall JCM2000 DSL series (both on the tour and recording sessions of Crush). He has also used the DSL series on the Bounce tour. During their Have a Nice Day tour, Sambora used to Diezel and Divided by 13 amplification and custom made 4x12" speaker cabinets made by Divided by 13. During the studio recording sessions of the Lost Highway album, he used Matchless, Bogner Ecstasy and Diezel Herbert amps. In 2007, he started appearing on stage with 2 halfstacks featuring Marshall JCM2000 DSL amplifiers and custom made 4x12" cabinets.He used a floor MIDI controller for most of his career, while on the last few tours he has changed to a more simple pedal setup featuring a Boss SD-1, a Framptone talkbox, and a few others pedals, including a chorus, compressor, Crybaby or Vox wah and an A/B switcher.Sambora uses .009 strings in the studio and .010 strings live, with the action set relatively high.[edit] Solo work His first solo outing was "Stranger In This Town" in 1991, a blues-influenced album that was received well by many critics and fans[citation needed]. Legendary guitarist Eric Clapton played the solo for the track Mr Bluesman. "Undiscovered Soul" was Sambora's second solo album, released in 1998. The album was produced by Don Was. In 1999, Sambora appeared as a guest vocalist on the Stuart Smith album "Stuart Smith's Heaven & Earth", performing a cover of the Deep Purple song "When A Blind Man Cries". Sambora played on a recently released album called Lessons from a band called "Message". The album was recorded in the early 1980s. Sambora sings "Long Way Around" (background audio) during the final scene in the 1997 Steven Seagal action movie "Fire Down Below". His guitar work is also featured on the track Misery on Pink's 2001 album M!ssundaztood with Steven Tyler. In 2004, Sanctuary Records released a self-titled album which had been recorded in 1978 by Shark Frenzy, documenting Sambora's first recorded material. The mix tapes had been damaged in a flood and it had taken band member Bruce Foster to remaster them for them to be released so many years later.[edit] Personal life He lives in California and was married to actress Heather Locklear in Paris in December 1994. They had a daughter Ava Elizabeth on October 4, 1997. In February 2006, Locklear filed for divorce due to irreconcilable differences. The couple are currently in the process of settling custody arrangements for their daughter. The divorce was later finalized on April 11, 2007. Sambora dated actress Denise Richards, who is a friend of his ex-wife Heather. As of March 2007, they are no longer together, although some new reports claim that Richie and Denise are back together. Some pictures were taken while they were walking together.[edit] Film and television He has appeared in several movie and TV cameos, notably playing Eric Clapton in the TV series American Dreams. The list continues with the film On The Line as 'The Mick', and the TV show Chris Isaak show as himself as well as appearing in Staying Alive as the guitarist in the band at the beginning of the movie. He contributed songs to the soundtracks of The Red Shoe Diaries, On The Line and The Banger Sisters.[edit] Other ventures and honors Recent ventures have seen him compose television theme tunes for both Entertainment Tonight and The Insider. He is a shareholder of Philadelphia Soul, an Arena Football League football team.Over the years, Sambora has been an ardent fundraiser for many charities, such as Dream Street, the Steve Young Foundation and Michael J Fox's Parkinson's charity.In May 2004, Richie Sambora was bestowed with an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by Kean University where he attended the awards ceremony and gave a speech of acceptance, even though he had attended Kean University as a freshman but then dropped out. In 2005, He had a guest starring role as a hippie type minister in the show with Jami Gertz, Still Standing.In 2004, he appeared on American Dreams as a member of the New Yardbirds.Sambora made a cameo appearance in The Sims Superstar.One of Sambora's replica guitar was autographed and placed inside Hard Rock Cafe in London.I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4 I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4