THD Electronics
Encyclopedia
THD Electronics, Ltd. is a manufacturer of vacuum-tube guitar amplifiers and amplifier accessories, and is located in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1986 by President and CEO Andrew Marshall. Although it specializes in hand-built, vacuum tube
“boutique”-style amplifiers, it also manufactures the “world’s best selling [guitar amplifier] power attenuator
,” the THD Hot Plate. The company is well known in the boutique amplifier
market, and is often credited with the creation of this market in the United States. THD’s line of products has stayed relatively small despite its 22-year history as a company. Of its amplifiers, THD currently makes three: the UniValve, BiValve-30 and Flexi-50.
had been established in the 1960s. Marshall also decided against naming the company after his first name because, in his words, “Who…is going to spend $2,500 on an ‘Andy Amp?’" Instead he chose THD, the acronym for “Total harmonic distortion
”.
Marshall has said that THD alternatively means “Two Hairy Dogs”, referring to his bearded collies, Truffles and Tobler and with the addition of a third dog, Piper, “Three Hairy Dogs”.
or installed in a cabinet. Aside from the different faceplates, the UniValve, BiValve-30 and Flexi-50 look nearly identical. These amps are also available in a "box head" version. Although THD does not offer a hard-sided carrying case, they do make a soft-sided case for their amplifier heads.
”. Instead, they utilize printed circuit board
s (PCBs). There is some controversy in the guitar amplifier community about using PCBs as opposed to point-to-point wiring in tube amplifiers. THD escaped much of this criticism by using thick boards with large ground plane
s to reduce noise, as well as through-plating and use of Teflon wire for durability. THD also does not mount their electro-mechanical components like jacks, potentiometers, switches and tube sockets to the board.
An identifying feature of THD boards is the addition of famous quotes to the printing on the board. These circuit board quotes include:
and, unlike the “tweed” covered Peavey Classic Amplifiers of the 1970s (which were covered in vinyl made to look like “tweed”) the 4-10 was covered in authentic cotton tweed
, the first since Fender and Gibson
stopped production of tweed amplifiers in 1960. The 4-10 was in production from 1987-1993. In 1989 a head-only and 2-10 version were released as well.
for guitar amplifiers (the “2” refers to the cabinet having two speakers, the “12” refers to the size of the speakers, in this case 12 inches.) The back of the speaker cabinet is “ported,” (also known as “vented”) which tunes the cabinet to give it substantially more bass-response than either an open-back or sealed cabinet can. The two-inch “slot-port” in the back of the cabinet, “is designed to offer the air and breath you get from an open-back design,” while giving more bottom end and overall efficiency than can be had from a sealed cabinet. Fifteen years after it started production, THD 2x12” extension cabinet won Guitar Player Magazine’s Reader’s Choice Award for best speaker cabinet. Although usually covered in black vinyl, cream, brown and blue paisley
-colored 2x12” extension cabinets were manufactured as well.
was first released by THD in 1994. It was designed to act as a type of master volume control for tube-based amplifiers, without sacrificing the distorted sounds such amplifiers make when they are played at full volume. The concept started in the late 1980s as a way to in-house test the company’s amplifiers without the technicians’ suffering hearing loss.
The Hot Plate works by being installed between the amplifier and the speaker cabinet (if any is used), absorbing the majority of the signal from the amplifier and passing only a small amount to the speaker. The remaining power is converted to heat. The UniValve and BiValve-30 amplifiers have Hot Plates built into them; the Flexi-50 has a foot-switchable master volume control in lieu of a Hot Plate. The Hot Plate is manufactured in five different colors; each color corresponds to the specific amplifier impedance that the Hot Plate is optimized for (the impedances should be matched
.) The colors and impedances are: gold- 2 ohm
s, green- 2.7 ohms, red- 4 ohms, purple- 8 ohms, and blue- 16 ohms.
The Hot Plate has a Line Out
jack, which can be used to send a DI signal to the mixer, or to insert equalization, time effects, and possibly a solid-state amplifier between the distorting tube power amp and the guitar speaker. The Line Out (or DI) signal can be blended with a miked guitar speaker at the mixing console. The Load setting enables using the Hot Plate as a pure dummy load, with no guitar speaker.
power tubes without rebiasing
the amplifier. In 1994, Guitar World Magazine
conducted a test in which Yellow Jackets were installed in a 100-watt Marshall Plexi Reissue. The resulting tones were “similar to those of a Vox AC30
” although the amplifier was not as loud as it had been before the modification. There are several sets of Yellow Jacket tube converters, their designations relate to the type of amplifier they are converting.
’s “Guitarist Gold” award, under their revised scoring standards. The etched
design on the amplifier’s front panel was made to resemble the work of artists and architects Charles Rennie Mackintosh
and Frank Lloyd Wright
. As of 2004, only around 1,300 UniValves had been produced. Their serial numbers start with 000, although model number 000 was given to the THD dealer who coined the amplifier’s name. Billy Gibbons
(of the band ZZ Top
) requested serial number 007, and model 666 (which is written on the back of the UniValve chassis in red ink) is owned by a former THD employee.
parallel tube amplifiers ever produced, and is the only one with separate primary windings on the output transformer for each power tube, allowing different tube types to blend in the magnetic realm instead of simply connecting the plates of the two power tubes. It, too, has a chemically-etched stainless steel faceplate, although THD chose a marine theme for the BiValve-30. Also, the BiValve-30 uses screen printing on the faceplate in addition to etching. In 2002, the BiValve-30 received a “Guitarist Choice” award from Guitarist Magazine, after being rated a 4.5 out of 5 possible stars. In that test, the BiValve-30 was given a slightly lower score in the “value for money” category, and the accompanying written review stated: “…definitely an amp for the well-heeled purist”.
(The Yardbirds
), Peter Buck
(R.E.M.
), Eric Clapton
, Charlie Daniels
, Bob Dylan
, John Fogerty
(Creedence Clearwater Revival
), Billy Gibbons
(ZZ Top
), Paul Gilbert
(Mr. Big
), Kirk Hammett
(Metallica
), Mick Jagger
(The Rolling Stones
), Mark Knopfler
(Dire Straits
), Mick Mars
(Mötley Crüe
), Steve Miller
, Bob Mould
(Hüsker Dü
, Sugar
), Jimmy Page
(Led Zeppelin
), Prince
, Chris Poland
(Megadeth
, Ohm
), Brian Setzer
(Stray Cats
, Brian Setzer Orchestra), Dan Spitz
(Anthrax
), George Thorogood
, Eddie Van Halen
(Van Halen
), and Stevie Ray Vaughan
The official THD website includes a much more comprehensive "THD Artist List".
Vacuum tube
In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube , or thermionic valve , reduced to simply "tube" or "valve" in everyday parlance, is a device that relies on the flow of electric current through a vacuum...
“boutique”-style amplifiers, it also manufactures the “world’s best selling [guitar amplifier] power attenuator
Power attenuator (guitar)
In conjunction with an electric guitar amplifier, a power attenuator is used to divert and dissipate some or all of the amplifier's excess or unneeded power in order to reduce the volume of sound produced by the speaker.- Explanation :...
,” the THD Hot Plate. The company is well known in the boutique amplifier
Boutique amplifiers
Boutique amplifier is a catch-all descriptor for any type of guitar amplifier that is typically hand built with the intention of being much better than the mass-produced variety offered by large companies. In the majority of cases, this is reflected in the price. Sometimes they are clones of older...
market, and is often credited with the creation of this market in the United States. THD’s line of products has stayed relatively small despite its 22-year history as a company. Of its amplifiers, THD currently makes three: the UniValve, BiValve-30 and Flexi-50.
Name origins
Copyright issues prevented Marshall from naming THD Electronics after himself, as Marshall AmplificationMarshall Amplification
Marshall Amplification is a British company, founded by drummer Jim Marshall, that designs and manufactures music amplifiers, brands personal headphones/earphones , and, after acquiring Natal Drums, drums and bongos. Marshall amplifiers, and specifically their guitar amplifiers, are among the most...
had been established in the 1960s. Marshall also decided against naming the company after his first name because, in his words, “Who…is going to spend $2,500 on an ‘Andy Amp?’" Instead he chose THD, the acronym for “Total harmonic distortion
Total harmonic distortion
The total harmonic distortion, or THD, of a signal is a measurement of the harmonic distortion present and is defined as the ratio of the sum of the powers of all harmonic components to the power of the fundamental frequency...
”.
“‘(Total harmonic distortion) is one of the ways that amplifiers are rated,’ says Marshall. ‘And in the hi-fi world, where people are quite conscious of total harmonic distortion, everybody goes for the lowest possible amount of distortion. In the guitar amp world, people tend to go for the most. So it was slightly tongue-in-cheek, but more of an inside joke.’"
Marshall has said that THD alternatively means “Two Hairy Dogs”, referring to his bearded collies, Truffles and Tobler and with the addition of a third dog, Piper, “Three Hairy Dogs”.
Exterior
THD amplifier heads have a unique perforated steel cage, which is removable (via captive thumbscrews) if the amplifier is added to a rackAmp rack
Amp rack is short for amplifier rack and is a term used mostly in reference to professional audio applications to describe any furniture, fixture, or case where amplifiers are mounted by their faceplates or in slot grooves, mostly synonymous with rack mount....
or installed in a cabinet. Aside from the different faceplates, the UniValve, BiValve-30 and Flexi-50 look nearly identical. These amps are also available in a "box head" version. Although THD does not offer a hard-sided carrying case, they do make a soft-sided case for their amplifier heads.
Vacuum tubes
All THD amplifiers utilize vacuum tubes for their preamp and power amp sections. Until the release of the Flexi-50 amplifier, they were all Class-A, (The Flexi-50 is Class-AB). This is why early THD UniValve-prototypes were sometimes referred to as the “Pure Class A Head.”Printed circuit boards
Unlike the vast majority of high-end, “boutique”-style guitar amplifiers, THD amplifiers are hand-built, but not hand-wired “point-to-pointPoint-to-point construction
Point-to-point construction refers to the method in which electronics circuits were constructed before the 1950s. Point-to-point construction is still used to construct prototype equipment with few or heavy electronic components....
”. Instead, they utilize printed circuit board
Printed circuit board
A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, tracks or signal traces etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. It is also referred to as printed wiring board or etched wiring...
s (PCBs). There is some controversy in the guitar amplifier community about using PCBs as opposed to point-to-point wiring in tube amplifiers. THD escaped much of this criticism by using thick boards with large ground plane
Ground plane
In electrical engineering, a ground plane is an electrically conductive surface.-Radio antenna theory :In telecommunication, a ground plane structure or relationship exists between the antenna and another object, where the only structure of the object is a structure which permits the antenna to...
s to reduce noise, as well as through-plating and use of Teflon wire for durability. THD also does not mount their electro-mechanical components like jacks, potentiometers, switches and tube sockets to the board.
An identifying feature of THD boards is the addition of famous quotes to the printing on the board. These circuit board quotes include:
- “‘A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.’ –Mark TwainMark TwainSamuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
” - “‘Experience is the one thing you cannot get for nothing.’ –Oscar WildeOscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
” - “‘Don’t play what’s there. Play what’s not there.’ –Miles DavisMiles DavisMiles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
” - “‘Love is a perky elf dancing a merry little jig and then suddenly he turns on you with a miniature machine gun.’ –Matt GroeningMatt GroeningMatthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
”
First vintage reissue amplifier
In 1987, THD Electronics put the first vintage reissue vacuum tube guitar amplifier into production, the 4-10 amp. It was modeled after a 1959 Fender BassmanFender Bassman
The Fender Bassman was a bass amplifier introduced by Fender in 1952. Although it was originally designed for bass guitars, it was frequently used for normal electric guitar in rock and roll, blues, and country bands.-History:...
and, unlike the “tweed” covered Peavey Classic Amplifiers of the 1970s (which were covered in vinyl made to look like “tweed”) the 4-10 was covered in authentic cotton tweed
Tweed (cloth)
Tweed is a rough, unfinished woolen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. It is made in either plain or twill weave and may have a check or herringbone pattern...
, the first since Fender and Gibson
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
stopped production of tweed amplifiers in 1960. The 4-10 was in production from 1987-1993. In 1989 a head-only and 2-10 version were released as well.
THD Plexi amplifier
The next amplifier in production was the Plexi, manufactured from 1990-1993. Although it, too, was physically styled after the Fender Bassman (and was also available in tweed,) electronically and sonically, it was meant to mimic an early JMP Marshall. In 1992, Guitar Player Magazine conducted a one-to-one test with a 1973 JMP Marshall 50-watt amplifier head, and found the two sounded “very close”. From 1990-1991, a very limited run of THD 50-watt bass amplifiers was also produced. These bass amplifiers were dubbed the “Classic Bass Head”. For the last 18 months of the Plexi’s production, several minor circuit changes were made, prompting THD to rename it the “Type-O”.2x12” extension cabinet
In 1990, THD also started production on a 2x12” extension cabinetLoudspeaker enclosure
A loudspeaker enclosure is a purpose-engineered cabinet in which speaker drivers and associated electronic hardware, such as crossover circuits and amplifiers, are mounted...
for guitar amplifiers (the “2” refers to the cabinet having two speakers, the “12” refers to the size of the speakers, in this case 12 inches.) The back of the speaker cabinet is “ported,” (also known as “vented”) which tunes the cabinet to give it substantially more bass-response than either an open-back or sealed cabinet can. The two-inch “slot-port” in the back of the cabinet, “is designed to offer the air and breath you get from an open-back design,” while giving more bottom end and overall efficiency than can be had from a sealed cabinet. Fifteen years after it started production, THD 2x12” extension cabinet won Guitar Player Magazine’s Reader’s Choice Award for best speaker cabinet. Although usually covered in black vinyl, cream, brown and blue paisley
Paisley (design)
Paisley or Paisley pattern is a droplet-shaped vegetable motif of Indian, Pakistani and Persian origin. The pattern is sometimes called "Persian pickles" by American traditionalists, especially quiltmakers,The Persian Pickle Club, Sandra Dallas. St. Martin's Press,...
-colored 2x12” extension cabinets were manufactured as well.
Hot Plate power attenuator
The Hot Plate power attenuatorPower attenuator (guitar)
In conjunction with an electric guitar amplifier, a power attenuator is used to divert and dissipate some or all of the amplifier's excess or unneeded power in order to reduce the volume of sound produced by the speaker.- Explanation :...
was first released by THD in 1994. It was designed to act as a type of master volume control for tube-based amplifiers, without sacrificing the distorted sounds such amplifiers make when they are played at full volume. The concept started in the late 1980s as a way to in-house test the company’s amplifiers without the technicians’ suffering hearing loss.
The Hot Plate works by being installed between the amplifier and the speaker cabinet (if any is used), absorbing the majority of the signal from the amplifier and passing only a small amount to the speaker. The remaining power is converted to heat. The UniValve and BiValve-30 amplifiers have Hot Plates built into them; the Flexi-50 has a foot-switchable master volume control in lieu of a Hot Plate. The Hot Plate is manufactured in five different colors; each color corresponds to the specific amplifier impedance that the Hot Plate is optimized for (the impedances should be matched
Impedance matching
In electronics, impedance matching is the practice of designing the input impedance of an electrical load to maximize the power transfer and/or minimize reflections from the load....
.) The colors and impedances are: gold- 2 ohm
Ohm
The ohm is the SI unit of electrical resistance, named after German physicist Georg Simon Ohm.- Definition :The ohm is defined as a resistance between two points of a conductor when a constant potential difference of 1 volt, applied to these points, produces in the conductor a current of 1 ampere,...
s, green- 2.7 ohms, red- 4 ohms, purple- 8 ohms, and blue- 16 ohms.
The Hot Plate has a Line Out
DI unit
A DI unit, DI box, Direct Box, or simply DI , is a device typically used in recording studios to connect a high-impedance, line level, unbalanced output signal to a low-impedance microphone level balanced input, usually via XLR connector...
jack, which can be used to send a DI signal to the mixer, or to insert equalization, time effects, and possibly a solid-state amplifier between the distorting tube power amp and the guitar speaker. The Line Out (or DI) signal can be blended with a miked guitar speaker at the mixing console. The Load setting enables using the Hot Plate as a pure dummy load, with no guitar speaker.
Yellow Jacket tube converters
The Yellow Jacket was also released in 1994. Yellow Jackets are a type of adapter that allows the existing power tubes in a guitar amplifier to be replaced with EL84EL84
The EL84 is a vacuum tube of the power pentode type. It has a 9 pin Noval base and is found mainly in the final output stages of amplification circuits, most commonly now in guitar amplifiers, but originally in radios and many other devices of the pre-transistor era.It was developed to eliminate...
power tubes without rebiasing
Biasing (electronics)
Biasing in electronics is the method of establishing predetermined voltages and/or currents at various points of an electronic circuit to set an appropriate operating point...
the amplifier. In 1994, Guitar World Magazine
Guitar World
Guitar World is a monthly music magazine devoted to guitarists. It contains original interviews, album and gear reviews and guitar and bass tablature of approximately five songs each month. The magazine is published 13 times per year...
conducted a test in which Yellow Jackets were installed in a 100-watt Marshall Plexi Reissue. The resulting tones were “similar to those of a Vox AC30
Vox AC30
The Vox AC30 is a guitar amplifier manufactured by Vox and known for its "jangly" high-end sound. First introduced in 1958 due to the growing demand for higher-wattage amplifiers, it became an iconic amplifier for British musicians and soon for others....
” although the amplifier was not as loud as it had been before the modification. There are several sets of Yellow Jacket tube converters, their designations relate to the type of amplifier they are converting.
UniValve amplifier
The UniValve is a 15-watt amplifier head released in 2001. Although it operates with only one output tube, it was designed to take a wide range of output tubes without needing to be rebiased. The UniValve was the first-ever recipient of Guitarist MagazineGuitarist (magazine)
Guitarist is a monthly music making magazine published by Future Publishing in the United Kingdom. The magazine features reviews of newly released guitars, amplifiers and other equipment, plus interviews with guitar players, features on the guitar industry, news articles, and features on playing...
’s “Guitarist Gold” award, under their revised scoring standards. The etched
Etching
Etching is the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio in the metal...
design on the amplifier’s front panel was made to resemble the work of artists and architects Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a Scottish architect, designer, watercolourist and artist. He was a designer in the Arts and Crafts movement and also the main representative of Art Nouveau in the United Kingdom. He had a considerable influence on European design...
and Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
. As of 2004, only around 1,300 UniValves had been produced. Their serial numbers start with 000, although model number 000 was given to the THD dealer who coined the amplifier’s name. Billy Gibbons
Billy Gibbons
William Frederick "Billy" Gibbons is an American musician, actor and car customizer, best known as the guitarist of the Texas blues-rock band ZZ Top. He is also the lead singer and composer for many of the band's songs. Gibbons is known for playing his Gretsch Billy Bo guitar and his famous 1959...
(of the band ZZ Top
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based boogie rock, has come to incorporate elements of arena, southern, and boogie rock. The band, from Houston Texas, formed in 1969...
) requested serial number 007, and model 666 (which is written on the back of the UniValve chassis in red ink) is owned by a former THD employee.
BiValve-30 amplifier
As the name would suggest, the BiValve-30 amplifier head is a 30-watt amplifier with two output valves. It was released by THD in 2002. Like the UniValve, the BiValve-30 was designed be auto-biasing. It is one of only a very few single-endedSingle-ended signalling
Single-ended signaling is the simplest and most commonly used method of transmitting electrical signals over wires. One wire carries a varying voltage that represents the signal, while the other wire is connected to a reference voltage, usually ground....
parallel tube amplifiers ever produced, and is the only one with separate primary windings on the output transformer for each power tube, allowing different tube types to blend in the magnetic realm instead of simply connecting the plates of the two power tubes. It, too, has a chemically-etched stainless steel faceplate, although THD chose a marine theme for the BiValve-30. Also, the BiValve-30 uses screen printing on the faceplate in addition to etching. In 2002, the BiValve-30 received a “Guitarist Choice” award from Guitarist Magazine, after being rated a 4.5 out of 5 possible stars. In that test, the BiValve-30 was given a slightly lower score in the “value for money” category, and the accompanying written review stated: “…definitely an amp for the well-heeled purist”.
Flexi-50 amplifier
The Flexi-50 amplifier head was released in 2003, and made its debut at that year’s Music Live event in the UK. It is a 50-watt, class AB amplifier, meant to “create an idealized (Marshall) ‘Plexi’ tone”. As a “subtle homage” to the Plexi, the Flexi’s faceplate is gold Plexiglas. Like its predecessors, the Flexi-50 was designed to take the same range of vacuum tubes that the UniValve and BiValve-30 can. However, the Flexi is not self-biasing. Instead, it has three bias test-points on the rear panel for manually biasing the amplifier when the tubes are changed. It received a Guitarist Choice Award from Guitarist Magazine in April 2004, and a Guitar Player Magazine’s Editor’s Pick Award in December of that year as well.Notable customers
THD has traditionally shied away from formal endorsers. However, the company does have many professional customers. Some clients include Jeff BeckJeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
(The Yardbirds
The Yardbirds
- Current :* Chris Dreja - rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Jim McCarty - drums, backing vocals * Ben King - lead guitar * David Smale - bass, backing vocals...
), Peter Buck
Peter Buck
Peter Lawrence Buck , is an American rock guitarist who is best known for playing in and co-founding alternative rock band R.E.M....
(R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
), Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
, Charlie Daniels
Charlie Daniels
Charles Edward "Charlie" Daniels is an American musician known for his contributions to country and southern rock music. He is known primarily for his number one country hit "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", and multiple other songs he has performed and written. Daniels has been active as a singer...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, John Fogerty
John Fogerty
John Cameron Fogerty is an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for his time with the swamp rock/roots rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival and as a #1 solo recording artist. Fogerty has a rare distinction of being named on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest...
(Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums....
), Billy Gibbons
Billy Gibbons
William Frederick "Billy" Gibbons is an American musician, actor and car customizer, best known as the guitarist of the Texas blues-rock band ZZ Top. He is also the lead singer and composer for many of the band's songs. Gibbons is known for playing his Gretsch Billy Bo guitar and his famous 1959...
(ZZ Top
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based boogie rock, has come to incorporate elements of arena, southern, and boogie rock. The band, from Houston Texas, formed in 1969...
), Paul Gilbert
Paul Gilbert
Paul Brandon Gilbert is an American guitarist. He is well known for his technical guitar work with Racer X and Mr...
(Mr. Big
Mr. Big (band)
Mr. Big is an American rock supergroup, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1988. The band is a quartet composed of Eric Martin , Paul Gilbert , Billy Sheehan , and Pat Torpey ; Mr. Big also included Richie Kotzen, a reputable blues-based guitarist who replaced Gilbert in 1999...
), Kirk Hammett
Kirk Hammett
Kirk Lee Hammett is the lead guitarist and a songwriter in the heavy metal band Metallica and has been a member of the band since 1983. Before joining Metallica he formed and named the band Exodus. In 2003, Hammett was ranked 11th on Rolling Stones list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time...
(Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
), Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
(The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
), Mark Knopfler
Mark Knopfler
Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
(Dire Straits
Dire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...
), Mick Mars
Mick Mars
Mick Mars is the lead guitarist for American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe.-Career:After his family relocated from Indiana, to California, Bob Deal dropped out of high school and began playing guitar in a series of unsuccessful blues based rock bands throughout the seventies, taking on menial day...
(Mötley Crüe
Mötley Crüe
Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1981. The group was founded by bass guitarist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, who were later joined by lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil...
), Steve Miller
Steve Miller (musician)
Steven H. "Steve" Miller is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter who began his career in blues and blues rock and evolved to a more popular-oriented sound which, from the mid 1970s through the early 1980s, resulted in a series of successful singles and albums.-Early years:Born in Milwaukee,...
, Bob Mould
Bob Mould
Robert Arthur "Bob" Mould is an American musician, principally known for his work as guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for alternative rock bands Hüsker Dü in the 1980s and Sugar in the 1990s.-Early life:...
(Hüsker Dü
Hüsker Dü
Hüsker Dü was an American rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1979. The band's continual members were guitarist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton, and drummer Grant Hart....
, Sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
), Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
(Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
), Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
, Chris Poland
Chris Poland
Chris Poland is an American guitarist, best known for being a former member of heavy metal band Megadeth.-Early career:...
(Megadeth
Megadeth
Megadeth is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California which was formed in 1983 by guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine, bassist Dave Ellefson and guitarist Greg Handevidt, following Mustaine's expulsion from Metallica. The band has since released 13 studio albums, three live albums, two...
, Ohm
Ohm (band)
Ohm: is a project formed by Chris Poland and Robertino Pagliari. The band was formed in 2002 and has released 3 LPs and a live album up to date.-Members:* Chris Poland - Guitar* Robertino Pagliari - Bass...
), Brian Setzer
Brian Setzer
Brian Setzer is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He first found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly revival group The Stray Cats, and revitalized his career in the late 1990s with a jazz-oriented big band.-Career:Setzer was born in Massapequa, New York...
(Stray Cats
Stray Cats
Stray Cats are an American Rockabilly band formed in 1980 by guitarist/vocalist Brian Setzer , upright bassist Lee Rocker and Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in the UK, Australia and the U.S...
, Brian Setzer Orchestra), Dan Spitz
Dan Spitz
Dan Spitz is a musician best known for his work as the lead guitarist of the heavy metal band Anthrax from 1983–1995 and from 2005 to 2007. He is the brother of former White Lion and Black Sabbath bassist Dave Spitz.-Personal life:...
(Anthrax
Anthrax (band)
Anthrax is an American heavy metal band from New York City, formed in 1981. Founded by guitarists Scott Ian and Danny Lilker, the band has since released ten studio albums and 20 singles, and an EP featuring Public Enemy. The band was one of the most popular of the 1980s thrash metal scene...
), George Thorogood
George Thorogood
George Thorogood is an American blues rock vocalist/guitarist from Wilmington, Delaware, United States, known for his hit song "Bad to the Bone" as well as for covers of blues standards such as Hank Williams' "Move It On Over" and John Lee Hooker's "House Rent Boogie/One Bourbon, One Scotch, One...
, Eddie Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen
Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen is a Dutch-American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
(Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...
), and Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stephen Ray "Stevie Ray" Vaughan was an American electric blues guitarist and singer. He was the younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan and frontman for Double Trouble, a band that included bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton. Born in Dallas, Vaughan moved to Austin at the age of 17 and...
The official THD website includes a much more comprehensive "THD Artist List".