Troy Stetina is recognized all over the world as a guitar virtuoso and a premier musical educator. In his career he has released lots of his own work and has written more than 30 instructional books and videos, which have sold around 50,000 copies worldwide. Stetina runs his own recording studio in Milwaukee, where he produces his own music as well as other bands. His main influences are Randy Rhoads, Van Halen, Beethoven, and Paganini, who heavily influenced him when he was emerging as a guitarist in the mid-80s.
Stetina takes a lot of inspiration from his influences, mainly
Randy Rhoads. His style varies from classical to heavy metal and even a mix of the two. He started out by changing and performing old classical pieces into "full volume, heavily distorted" electric guitar songs. His riff work is influenced by 70’s and 80’s thrash, with a fast, downward picking style.
His gear and guitars varies a bit but he mainly uses the same set-up for studio work. He uses a Jackson with a Seymour Duncan pickup in the bridge position, a Kahler tremolo system and a Sustainiac sustainer. He also likes to use his St. Blues, it has a Telecaster headstock, Les Paul body shape, Strat-type pickup selector, pickguard and vibrato bar, and a humbucker lead pickup. His other guitars include a Washburn and an AST, which are both endorsements. He uses them as backups and leaves them in different tunings for his studio work.
Stetina’s live and studio rig has never changed. He uses a distortion pedal that is run into a Marshall Half Stack (1970s 100-watt lead head and 4x12 cabinet with vintage Celestion Greenback 25 speakers). Other amps are a 1980s 50 Watt JCM800 head. His distortion pedals include an old Boss PD-1 'rocker distortion’, which are now discontinued. He also uses an Ibanez TS-10 tube screamer among others. More recently, Stetina has acquired a Line 6 POD that is used on most of his recent videos and CDs.
In his long career Troy Stetina has made produced many teachings and recordings. Between 1986 and 2002, he released 31 educational books ranging from techniques and styles to specific genres. In 1992, he released his debut album 'Set The World On Fire.’ Later on, in 2000 he released his milestone album 'Exottica’ which he is most famously known for. Late last year, he released his latest EP, with his new band, 'The Try Stetina Project’. He continues to write and record music along with educational books and videos. His 25+ year career isn’t over yet!
