Warren DeMartini

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Warren DeMartini (April 10, 1963) is an American glam rock/metal guitarist, best known as a member of the group Ratt.

"I was at Frank Zappa’s studio and his guitar was sitting there on a guitar stand. I said ‘Can I try it out?’ and he said ‘Yeah,’ and I played it and I was astounded how good it played. I was like, ‘What? What is this? Where did it come from?’ and he told me about their shop. At that time it was by the Capitol Records building in Hollywood. I called them up and said ‘Do you still have the specs on the guitar you built for Frank Zappa?’ He said yes and I just ordered one right there. That was the beginning of many collaborations. (...) The Koa necks were all more or less based on that neck they made for Frank. I have several of them, and the Koa was one of those lot, yeah." (http://iheartguitarblog.com/2010/05/interview-ratts-warren-demartini.html)

De Martini wrote the homage "Guitarist Turns Zappa Stylist" for the Guitar Player Magazine booklet "Zappa!" in 1992. He also performed during the Zappa's Universe project.

"I used to visit the house from time to time and got to know him a bit. And there was a conductor in New York who was putting together a tribute to his music called Zappa's Universe. And Frank asked me to perform a couple of songs in that. He was only participating as an arranger, so he was at the rehearsals, but he didn’t actually attend the shows. I’ve never received a Grammy, but if I did, I seriously doubt the feeling would exceed the feeling of getting a call from Frank Zappa. [Laughs]" (http://www.examiner.com/heavy-metal-in-national/exclusive-interview-ratt-guitarist-warren-demartini-speaks-on-band-s-latest-musical-infestation)

He also collaborated with Dweezil Zappa. Along with Dweezil Zappa, Angus and Malcolm Young of AC/DC, Brian May and Eddie Van Halen De Martini will work on an upcoming tribute album to Zappa, "What The Hell Was I Thinking?" (http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news/top-guitarists-on-dweezil-zappa-album/)

See also

  • Wikipedia article about DeMartini
  • MENN, Don, ed. (1992), "Warren De Martini—Ratt Guitarist Turns Zappa Stylist", Zappa! Guitar Player Presents., San Francisco, CA: Miller Freeman, p. 14, ISSN 1063-4533