Mick Thompson (English)

Mickael Gordon Thomson (born November 3, 1973), also known simply as Mick, or by his number #7, is an American musician known as one of the guitarists for Slipknot.

Personal life and career

Thomson was born in Des Moines, Iowa. In his youth, he performed in bands such as Body Pit. Thomson joined Slipknot in 1996, replacing the band's guitarist, Craig Jones, who then begun to assume his role as their sampler. He employs alternate picking, drop tuning, and six string sweep arpeggios into his guitar technique.

Thomson expresses his pseudonym as #7 more than most members of Slipknot. For example, as well as being credited with the number in the liner notes of albums he has recorded, he also has the word "seven" tattooed on his left arm, and features the number "7" on the designs of at least three guitar models he has used. Outside Slipknot, Thomson has taught guitar lessons at Ye Old Guitar Shoppe, a local music shop in Des Moines, and has appeared on Malevolent Creation's album Doomsday X. He also made a guest appearance in the music video for Lupara's "No Pity on the Ants".

According to Slipknot vocalist Corey Taylor, Thomson is an avid fisherman, and has a fascination with serial killers. On the topic of the latter, Thomson himself has stated, "If I were a famous killer, I'd take some of the finer points of quite a few of them - Albert Fish and Ed Gein spring to mind. But I'm not a violent person by nature. Don't fuck with me, and you'll be fine."

Mick has a number of tattoos on his body: he has the word "嫌惡" on his right arm (which means "disgust", "detest" etc in mandarin and "hate" in Japanese), the word "Seven" on his left fore arm, a "Morbid Angel" on his shoulder, an inverted cross on his upper back, "Slipknot" going down his right calf, and the zodiac sign for scorpio on his left calf.

Equipment

MICK THOMSON SIGNATURE GUITARS

Thomson was endorsed by B.C. Rich until 2004, and designed a signature model with this company based on their Warlock model. He has since made a switch to Ibanez, with whom he designed his own Ibanez MTM1 and MTM2 Signature Models.

• The MTM1 features mahogany body, 5-piece Wizard II thru-neck, fixed Edge bridge, jumbo frets, custom "seven" inlay, black hardware, reversed headstock, and active Seymour Duncan Blackout humbuckers. It is available in black or blood red finishes. The MTM1 originally featured EMG 81/60 pickups, but Mick recently made the switch to the Duncan pickups because he favored their tone.
• The MTM2 is a more affordable version of the MTM1. It features Ibanez V7 and V8 pickups instead of Seymour Duncan pickups, and has no inlays. It is only available in black.

Mick has also debuted his Ovation signature acoustic/electric guitar, labeled the MT37. The MT37 features textured black finish, Mick's signature seven inlay, custom ultra-thin neck, deep contour body with spruce top and rounded bowl back, OP Pro preamp, and Ovation's High Output pickup.

GUITARS PAST & PRESENT

Ibanez is currently Mick's guitar of choice. Ibanez is currently producing the Mick Thomson Signature MTM1 and MTM2 models. Mick also uses several other custom guitars from Ibanez. Mick's main Ibanez guitars are as follows:

• Ibanez MTM1- black with white binding
• Ibanez MTM1- red with black binding
• Ibanez MTM1- white with black binding
• Ibanez MTM Prototype- black with white binding (features a standard headstock, instead of the reversed headstock of the MTM1)
• Ibanez MTM Custom- green with black pickguard & black binding; features and EMG single coil between the Blackout humbuckers
• Ibanez Tele Custom- telecaster-style body; vintage sunburst with passive Seymour Duncan pickups (JB in bridge and Classic Stack in neck)
• Ibanez S-Series Custom- black with white binding (same specs as MTM1) (seen in the video for "The Nameless")
• Ibanez S-Series Custom- grey with black binding (same specs as MTM1) (seen at certain points in Voliminal dvd)

Mick is also currently endorsing and using his Ovation MT37 signature edition acoustic/electric.

Mick was endorsed for a long period by B.C.Rich guitars, and played several custom shop guitars from them, including the ones used as basis for the B.C.Rich Mick Thomson Signature Warlock model. Mick's key B.C.Rich guitars are as follows:

• B.C. Rich Warlock- black with white binding (All of Mick's BC Rich guitars featured EMG humbuckers, and HATE inlay on fretboard)
• B.C. Rich Warlock- red with black binding
• B.C. Rich Warlock- transparent black quilted top with no binding (tuned to Drop-A; seen on Disasterpieces dvd)
• B.C. Rich Bich- black with white binding, and arched top
• B.C. Rich V- black with white binding (as seen in Guitar One magazine)
• B.C. Rich Beast- mentioned in August 2001 issue of Guitar World
• B.C. Rich Assassin- mentioned in issue of Guitar One

Around the time of Slipknot's debut album, and before his endorsements with B.C.Rich and Ibanez, Mick used various guitars in the studio and on tour with the band. A few of the key guitars used during this period are as follows:

• Jackson Archtop Soloist- Transparent green with flamed top (HATE decal on headstock) (main touring guitar)
• Ibanez RG Series- silver with humbucker-single coil-single coil design (HATE decal on headstock) (main touring guitar)
• Ibanez RG Series- transparent wine red with flamed top (HATE decal on headstock) (As seen in Guitar One magazine)
• Jackson King V- black (reportedly used in studio & seen in Mick's photo from 1997 Dotfest)

AMPS & OTHER EQUIPMENT

Mick is currently using the Rivera KR-7 amp model and its matching speaker cabinet. The KR-7 is Mick's signature model amplifier and features his trademark seven logo. It was based on the Rivera Knucklehead Reverb amps that Mick had previously been using, but the KR-7 was fine-tuned by Mick and Paul Rivera to capture the punchy midrange and enhanced low-end frequencies that suited Mick's aggressive, detuned playing style.

Other amplification used by Mick include:

• VHT Pitbull
• Marshall JMP-1 preamp
• Mesa power amp
• Carvin speaker cab