Avenged Sevenfold: Five Things We Learned from Their New Ernie Ball 'String Theory' Episode

Today, GuitarWorld.com presents the exclusive premiere of the latest episode of String Theory, starring Avenged Sevenfold’s Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance.

A web series created by Ernie Ball, String Theory explores the sonic origins of influential and innovative musicians.

In the episode, the duo discuss their early days as players, their relationship with Ernie Ball and much more.

Below, you can find five surprising facts the two revealed in the episode.

Avenged Sevenfold will release the deluxe version of their album The Stage on December 15, and hit the road starting January 12. Visit avengedsevenfold.com to find out more.

1. Synyster Gates was inspired to play guitar by his father, a studio musician who worked with Frank Zappa and more (0:22): “My father was a studio musician, played for a lot of people like Frank Zappa and a lot of R&B bands, and was always gone doing that. Then when he was home, he was practicing. And so I always saw it and I always wanted to do what he did.”

2. Growing up, Zacky Vengeance was attracted to music that pissed off his parents (1:17): “[My friends] would bring this music to me—that was fast, that was aggressive, that was just totally created to piss off my parents—and I absolutely loved it. I could not get enough of it.”

3. Vengeance recalls how he first chose Ernie Ball strings (5:02): “I absolutely remember when I decided upon playing Ernie Ball strings, and it was right then and there at the guitar store up in Seattle when I picked up my first guitar ever. They said, ‘What kind of strings should we put on it?’ And I just looked at the brightest color package and said, ‘That one!’

4. Gates remembers a similar story (5:40): “I didn’t even know what it was. I was in a guitar store looking for guitars and I saw a cool little thing—a logo—that was the coolest thing I’d seen in the whole fuckin’ store.”

5. Gates speaks to the democratic nature of their band (9:57): “Everything from the lyrics to the production, solos to the writing—it’s all democratic. At the end of the day, you know, when you’re all done with the grind—which it is always an incredible grind for us to write records—I think it makes it that much more special to hear the final product.”

Of course, these are just five facts pulled from the clip. Be sure to watch the entire episode below.

For the latest on Ernie Ball, visit ernieball.com.