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Mick Thomson
Thomson in 2005.
Background information
Birth name	Mickael Gordon Thomson
Born	November 3, 1973 (1973-11-03) (age 36) Des Moines, Iowa
Genres	Alternative metal, heavy metal, death metal
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1996–present
Labels	Roadrunner, Nuclear Blast
Associated acts	Slipknot, Body Pit
Website	http://www.slipknot1.com
Notable instruments
Ibanez MTM1 and MTM2 Signature Models B.C. Rich Warlock

Mickael Gordon "Mick" Thomson (born November 3, 1973), or known by his number #7, is an American musician, best known as being the lead guitarist for the Grammy winning metal band Slipknot.

Biography

Mick Thomson is one of the guitarists for Slipknot. Thomson was born in Des Moines, Iowa. In his youth, he performed in bands such as Body Pit. Thomson joined Slipknot in 1997, replacing the band's guitarist, Craig Jones, who then became the band's sampler.

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 word "seven" on the designs all of his custom Ibanez guitars, and on all of his Ibanez MTM1's. Outside Slipknot, Thomson has taught guitar lessons at Ye Olde 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 writer of poetry, loves cats, 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 "detest" and "disgust" in Mandarin and "HATE" in Japanese), the word "Seven" on his left forearm, a "demon attempting to rape an angel" on his shoulder (actually artwork from Immolation's first album Dawn of Possession), on his other shoulder a morbid angel tattoo by Paul Booth, an inverted cross on his upper back, "Slipknot" going down his right calf, and the Zodiac sign for Scorpio on his left calf.

Masks

Mick Thomson performing at the Allstate Arena in Illinois on January 30, 2009

During Slipknot's demo tape and self titled era, Thomson wore a hockey mask that had six circular holes in the mouth area which was a mottled green color. The mask represented hate. Later in the Slipknot era, and in Iowa, Thomson wore a leather mask that looked like metal and had slits in the mouth area. In Vol. 3, he wore a silver mask that had the same slits, but they were longer and the eyes were altered, making it look more aggressive and featuring an evil grin. Thomson's recent mask (for All Hope Is Gone) had the same appearance and is truly metallic.

Technique

Thomson commonly employs an extremely fast and accurate alternate picking technique, also implementing pinch harmonics into his work. He also utilizes sweep picking on occasion. He has admitted he found influence in bands such as Racer X, stating that it gave him something to strive for when he was young.

Other characteristics in his playing includes tremolo picking passages, and dropped tunings.

Equipment

Guitars

Thomson was a long time player and endorsee of B.C. Rich Guitars until late 2004, and he had previously designed a signature model with this company based on their Warlock model. According to Thomson, he stated that the reason he left B.C. Rich was because they were not giving him the instruments that he needed.

In 2004, Thomson moved to Ibanez, with whom he designed his own Ibanez MTM1 and MTM2 Signature Models. The MTM1 is a higher priced model, which features a mahogany body with a 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, while the MTM2 is a more affordable version. It features Ibanez V7 and V8 pickups, and has no inlays.

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

Mick Thomson's current tour guitars include:

• Unofficial Markmax Signature - Mahogany body, maple neck, neck-through construction, Seymour Duncan Blackout pickups, and black hardware. Manufactured in White and Black. Only 5 manufactured.

Pickups

• Seymour Duncan

• EMG

Picks

Thomson previously used Dunlop Jazz lll picks and cut into the tip them for grip. Now he uses the Dunlop Carbon Fiber Jazz lll Picks as claiming on the Dunlop T.V. interview with his rig, saying that they don't slip out of your hand, and their material is made that they don't wear down like most picks.

Amplification

Thomson currently uses his signature Rivera KR-7 amp model and its matching speaker cabinet.^[1]

Effects

To avoid problems with pedals being damaged during live performances, Thomson keeps his effect pedals in a rack along with his amplifiers and his tech controls them through a pedalboard sidestage. The pedal controller allows him to change between different effect pedals and amplifiers. He also uses a FURMAN voltage regulator to power, protect and stabilize his system.

(used in Iowa only)

• DigiTech Synth Wah
• DigiTech Whammy
• Boss MD-2 mega distortion
• DigiTech Tone Driver

Discography

Filmography

• 1999: Welcome to Our Neighborhood
• 2002: Disasterpieces
• 2002: Rollerball
• 2006: Voliminal: Inside the Nine
• 2008: Nine: The Making of "All Hope Is Gone"
• 2009: Of the (sic): Your Nightmares, Our Dreams

References

Slipknot #0 Sid Wilson · #1 Joey Jordison · #2 Paul Gray · #3 Chris Fehn · #4 James Root · #5 Craig "133" Jones · #6 Shawn "Clown" Crahan · #7 Mick Thomson · #8 Corey Taylor Donnie Steele · Anders Colsefini · Greg "Cuddles" Welts · Josh Brainard Studio albums Slipknot · Iowa · Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) · All Hope Is Gone Live albums 9.0: Live Demo albums Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. Singles "Wait and Bleed" · "Spit It Out" · "The Heretic Anthem" · "Left Behind" · "My Plague" · "Duality" · "Vermilion" · "Before I Forget" · "The Nameless" · "The Blister Exists" · "All Hope Is Gone" · "Psychosocial" · "Dead Memories"  · " Sulfur" · "Snuff" Video albums Welcome to Our Neighborhood · Disasterpieces · Voliminal: Inside the Nine Tours Ozzfest 1999 · Livin La Vida Loco · Tattoo the Earth · World Domination Tour · Iowa World Tour · The Subliminal Verses World Tour · All Hope Is Gone World Tour Related Lists Awards · Discography · Members · Songs · Tours Articles Behind the Mask · Behind the Player: Paul Gray · Infected · List of covered Slipknot songs · Nic Diederichs Technical High School slashing · Outside the Nine · Roadrage 2003 · Rollerball · Tattered and Torn · Up to our Necks Groups Stone Sour · Murderdolls · To My Surprise · Dirty Little Rabbits · Junk Beer Kidnap Band Labels Big Orange Clown Records · Great Big Mouth Records Slipknot portal