Kevin John Wasserman (born February 4, 1963), better known by his stage name Noodles, is an American musician and singer who serves as the

lead guitarist Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featured ...

and backing vocalist for

The Offspring The Offspring is an American rock band from Garden Grove, California, formed in 1984. Originally formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Bryan "Dexter" Holland, lead guita ...

Biography

Kevin John Wasserman was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Before joining The Offspring, Noodles played in a local band called Clowns of Death. He was allegedly in The Offspring because he was the only person old enough to provide alcohol for the rest of the members. He earned the nickname "Noodles" for his frequent ''noodling'' on the guitar. At one of the band's earlier shows, he was stabbed in the shoulder by a skinhead. During the band's early days, Noodles worked as a janitor at Earl Warren Elementary School in Garden Grove. Before '' Smash'' was released, he had been planning to quit the band, but the surprising success of " Come Out and Play" forced him to reconsider. On their DVD release ''

Huck It ''Huck It'' is a video album (released in VHS and DVD formats) by the American punk rock band The Offspring. Created in the ''Conspiracy of One'' era, it is named after the bonus song on that album. The song itself is featured frequently in the v ...

'' (2000), as part of a mock interview, Noodles claims to like the "finer things in life", such as red wine, classical music, cigarettes, poetry and pasta. He occasionally goes snowmobiling and snowboarding.

Equipment

Guitars

Noodles generally plays

Ibanez is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as ...

guitars, and he has now had four signature models, each of which is a Talman. His first was the NDM1, which has a

duct tape Duct tape (also called duck tape, from the cotton duck cloth it was originally made of) is cloth- or scrim-backed pressure-sensitive tape, often coated with polyethylene. There are a variety of constructions using different backings and adhesi ...

finish. Second was the NDM2, which has The Offspring's logo with glasses on the pickguard. His third signature guitar, the NDM3, had P90 pickups. His latest signature guitar is the NDM4. It also has P90 pickups and has a sunburst finish on it. He prefers DiMarzio Tone Zone pickups. In the early days of The Offspring, he played a wider range of guitars, including

Fender Telecaster The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful Les Paul had built a prototype solid bo ...

s, Ibanez Talmans and

Gibson Les Paul The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typi ...

s. He also owns other guitar models, such as

Paul Reed Smith Paul Reed Smith (born February 18, 1956) is an American luthier and the founder and owner of PRS Guitars, a high-end guitar maker. Early life Smith graduated from Bowie High School in 1974. He also attended St. Mary's College of Maryland where ...

guitars, a

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously ...

and other Fender models,

Jackson guitars Jackson is a manufacturer of electric guitars and electric bass guitars that bears the name of its founder, Grover Jackson. The company was acquired by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation in 2002, which manufactures Jackson-branded guitar ...

, and Gibson guitars. In an interview on The Offspring's ''

Complete Music Video Collection ''Complete Music Video Collection'' is an extensive video album (released in DVD and UMD formats) by the American punk rock band The Offspring. It was released to accompany the ''Greatest Hits'' CD, which arrived a month earlier, and shows all ...

'', Noodles said that he gave his Stratocaster to one of the actors that appeared on the video for their 1994 single "

Self Esteem Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth or abilities. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Mackie (2007) d ...

Amplifiers

Noodles used VHT Pitbull amplifiers with 4x12 cabinets for most records. Since ''

Splinter A splinter (also known as a sliver) is a fragment of a larger object, or a foreign body that penetrates or is purposely injected into a body. The foreign body must be lodged inside tissue to be considered a splinter. Splinters may cause initia ...

'', these were mixed with VHT Classic Lead amplifiers.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Noodles 1963 births Living people American punk rock guitarists Lead guitarists The Offspring members Guitarists from Los Angeles 20th-century American guitarists Janitors