Artist View

• EMG Gear/
• 57,
• 66

Best known for fronting the critically acclaimed progressive rock group Cynic, Paul Masvidal is a renowned guitarist, songwriter, composer and international touring artist. Masvidal's professional recording career began in 1991 when he and fellow Cynic founder, drummer Sean Reinert, were recruited by Death to record Human, Death’s most critically acclaimed album. 1993 saw the release of Cynic's debut, Focus, on RoadRunner Records, regarded as a landmark work in the field of progressive rock and metal.

The group reunited after a 13-year hiatus to record Traced In Air, their comeback opus. New York Times music critic Ben Ratliff wrote of the release, “On the basis of Traced in Air, more so than its 1993 predecessor Focus, Cynic should be understood not so much alongside any metal bands but along with the radical harmonic progressives in the last 45 years of pop and jazz: composers like Milton Nascimento, the Beach Boys or Pat Metheny."

Masvidal's alternative rock project Aeon Spoke received BBC Radio 2 and XFM accolades along with numerous TV and film placements.

Cynic has since released two conceptual EPs titled Re-Traced (2010) and Carbon-Based Anatomy (2011). Pitchfork music critic Hank Shteamer wrote in his review of the latter: "The title track is a perfectly paced stunner...Cynic sounds fully liberated, not just from their metal past but from any aesthetic concern other than assembling a great song...further proof that Masvidal and vReinert's core ideas are sturdy enough to withstand drastic shifts in style."

Masvidal also writes and performs music for television and motion pictures, having gotten his start as a session musician on That '70s Show and 3rd Rock from the Sun. Recently, he co-wrote and sang on “Sad, Sad Story,” the theme song of 2013 German-language comedy Der perfekte Mann (The Perfect Man). His music can also be currently heard on H2 series How Sex Changed the World and Discovery Channel’s hit reality shows Deadliest Catch and Ice Road Truckers.

Masvidal has spent the better part of 2012 and 2013 forming and working with composing collective Still Motion Music and writing, recording and mixing Cynic's third full-length album, due Fall 2013. Masvidal also launched his own line of signature guitars through .strandberg* Guitars. Dubbed the Masvidalien 01, the headless model will be available for purchase in Winter 2013.

"Stylistic versatility and dynamics are a key ingredient to my own work as a musician. From the moment I plugged in the 57/66 set, I immediately heard a punch, sensitivity, open-fullness, and attention to detail unparalleled to any other pickups I've ever played. The low end is bone tight, while the top end is present and cutting, but also warm.

These pickups have a rare combination of vintage character and modern cutting edge intensity. They essentially do everything I could ask for and take it up a notch from there. One could say it's an instant shortcut to a perfectly balanced and precise tone from dirty to clean and everything in between.

The unique independent preamp circuitry between the neck and bridge pickups have setup a whole new standard in pickup engineering. Did I mention they look killer too? EMG is the sound of the future, right now!" --Paul Masvidal