Short bio: Mark Tremonti was born on April 18, 1974 in Detroit, Michigan. He bought his first guitar at the age of seven and immediately started teaching himself how to play. At the age of fifteen, he moved with his parents to Orlando, Florida, where he attended Lake Highland Preparatory School. After graduation, he moved to Clemson, South Carolina to attend Clemson University to major in finance. After his freshman year in college, he moved back to Florida to enroll in Florida State University, where he was reunited with his future Creed band mate Scott Stapp, who Tremonti had known in high school.
Creed was formed in 1993, with Mark on the guitar, Scott on vocals, Brian Marshall on bass and Scott Phillips on the drums. They were initially named “Naked Toddler”, and during that time Brian Brasher was also playing a guitar in the band, but left before 1995, when the band was renamed to “Creed”. Their debut album “My Own Prison” was released in 1997 and achieved a strong mainstream success, selling over six million copies. After some disagreement among Scott Stapp, and the rest of the band, Creed was disbanded in 2004. Mark, Brian, and Scott Phillips went on to form a new band, called “Alter Bridge”…
Mark Tremonti is recognized as one of the most influential post-grunge guitarists, and has received a number of recognitions, including being named “Guitarist of the Year” for three consecutive years by Guitar World, and in 2011 he was listed in Total Guitar magazine as the fourth greatest heavy metal guitarist of all time.
(thanks @Crispin CK)
Mark Tremonti’s Electric Guitars:
PRS Mark Tremonti Signature
 | Mark’s main go-to guitar is a Paul Reed Smith signature model, with a charcoal burst finish, and a Dimebag sticker just behind the bridge. The guitar is equipped with uniquely voiced PRS Tremonti Treble and Bass Pickups, with the bridge pickup very loud and the neck pickup a little quieter, 3-way toggle pickup selector, and the PRS tremolo system. Of course, this is not his only guitar of this model, but it’s the one he likes the most. Others worth mentioning are the first one ever made Mark Tremonti signature model, which he keeps at home in a showcase, and #4 model with tiger-eye finish. which he carries on the road with him. The #4 was stolen from him during the rehearsals back in the Creed days, but was fortunately found and returned. The original, and the current MT signature model have a few differences. As time progressed, Mark started thinking about introducing some changes to the original guitar, and PRS sent him a few guitars with tremolo bridge, instead of the fixed one. He ended up liking it, and also started “shaving” the neck to be a little bit thinner. |
PRS Mark Tremonti SE
 | This is a newest signature model from PRS, and Mark uses it himself occasionally. The guitar is a little bit lighter than the original Mark Tremonti signature model, and features a mahogany body, two humbuckers with a three-way pickup selector, and a volume and tone control for each pickup. |
Mark Tremonti’s Acoustic Guitars:
Taylor 514ce
 | Used on tours with Alter Bridge. This also seems to be his favorite acoustic guitar, considering that it has been featured in many interviews, acoustic gigs and in his instructional videos at fret12.com |
Taylor K-12
 | Mike used this guitar on tours alongside his 514ce. |
Taylor 12-string
 | Mark mentioned that he owns a 12 string Taylor, but didn’t mention the exact model. |
Mark Tremonti’s Guitar Amps:
Mark’s live gear consists of four Mesa Boogie 4×12″ straight-back cabinets, all loaded with Celestion Vintage 30s speakers, placed in a upside-down “T” formation (two stacked in the middle, and one on each side). He uses the Radial Engineering Headbone pedal to run a couple of different amps through the same cabinet, and to switch between his rhythm, lead and clean sounds, which all require different set of amps.
When playing rhythm, Mark runs these amps at the same time:
– Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier
– Bogner Uberschall
– Voodoo V-Rock (recently added – it goes through the two cabinets on the side)
When playing lead, Mark used to switch the Tripple Rectifier to orange channel, and switched the Uberschalls to a Bogner Shiva.
In the more recent days, he discontinued the Shiva, and now switches from the V-Rock to a Bludotone Bludo-Drive amp. In an interview with Ultimate-Guitar in 2013, he said that he started using the Cornford RK100 for his lead tone – replacing the Bludotone.
For his clean tone, Mark runs two 65′ Twin Reiussues, TC Electronics G-Force with a little delay and reverb, and in the past, he added a green channel from the Triple Rectifier through a separate cabinet. He also used a Mesa Boogie Heartbreaker cabinet during the “One Day Remains” tour.
Mark runs his own monitor rig, which consists of:
– Mackie – 1604-VLZ3 Mixer
– Crown Macrotech 3600VZ Power Amp
– Furman AR-Pro Power Conditioner
– Lexicon PCM 81 Digital Effects Processor
– Behringer DEQ2496 Ultra-Curve Pro Mastering Processor
Recent additions include:
– Fractal Audio Axe-Fx II Guitar Processor (removed shortly)
– Voodoo Lab GCX Audio Switcher
– Bludotone Loop-o-Lator (used with the Bludotone head)
Mark Tremonti’s Guitar Effects:
MXR EVH Phase 90
– Used occasionally when playing rythm, to “spice up” things a little.
T-Rex Replica Delay Pedal
T-Rex Engineering Michael Angelo Batio Overdrive
– Mark uses these two for his lead sound
Ibanez TS-808HW
– Handwired model, he keeps it in the rack.
T-Rex Tremonti Phaser
– His own signature phaser pedal.
Dunlop Univibe
Micro POG
– Both of these are with him on stage in the most recent setup.
Mark Tremonti Power Wah
– His own signature model, spec’d according to Mark’s needs. Includes a gain knob.
Mark Tremonti’s Guitar Strings:
– D’Addario EXL115 11-49
– D’Addario EXL116 11-52
Mark Tremonti Guitar Picks:
– Dunlop Jazz III (in the past)
– Dunlop 1mm Nylon (currently)