Jaxon Benge (born Jackson Lee Benge) is the former guitarist for

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

punk rock band,

Hed PE Hed PE (also known as (hed) Planet Earth and stylized as (həd) p.e. or as (Hed)pe or (Hed)PE) or (həd) Planetary Evolution, is an American rock band from Huntington Beach, California. Formed in 1994, the band is known for its eclectic genre-cr ...

. He exclusively uses

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 ...

Seven-string guitar The seven-string guitar adds one additional string to the more common six-string guitar, commonly used to extend the bass range (usually a low B) or also to extend the treble range. The additional string is added in one of two different ways: by ...

s in the studio and when performing live. Jaxon utilizes a number of styles in his music such as

Speed metal Speed metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) roots.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' (Berg Publishers, 2007), , p. 31. It ...

and

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

tinged

guitar riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accomp ...

s among several others and names legendary guitarists,

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

Randy Rhoads Randall William Rhoads (December 6, 1956 – March 19, 1982) was an American guitarist. He was the co-founder and original guitarist of the heavy metal band Quiet Riot, and the guitarist and co-songwriter for Ozzy Osbourne's first two solo alb ...

and

Dimebag Darrell Darrell Lance Abbott (August 20, 1966 – December 8, 2004), best known by his stage name Dimebag Darrell, was an American musician. He was the guitarist of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan, both of which he co-founded alongside his ...

as his biggest influences as a guitar player. Jaxon joined Hed PE in February 2004 with his studio guitar playing debut on ''

Only in Amerika ''Only in Amerika'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Hed PE. Released on Koch Records on October 19, 2004, it is the band's first release on an independent label and the first album featuring guitarist Jaxon Benge and ex-Otep drum ...

'' and left the band in early 2015.

History

Jaxon is noted for having 10 years of guitar playing experience prior to his introduction to

in 2004 bringing in a total of 19 years since 1994. Jaxon uses

seven-string guitar The seven-string guitar adds one additional string to the more common six-string guitar, commonly used to extend the bass range (usually a low B) or also to extend the treble range. The additional string is added in one of two different ways: by ...

s when performing with Hed PE, but he is able to play six and twelve-stringed guitars as noted by his blog. Jaxon was first considered to become

's second guitarist after the departure of Chad "Chizad" Benekos during the recording of Hed PE's third studio album, '' Blackout'' but was passed on for a more well known guitarist,

Sonny Mayo Sonny Mayo (born July 16, 1971) is an American guitarist. Career Mayo began playing in a thrash metal band called Silence in the late 1980s. Silence (John Mayes, Benjamin Gaither, Louie Denslow, Jason Robinson and Sonny), regularly sold out ...

, who is the former guitarist of

alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With r ...

band

Snot Snot may refer to: * Snot, slang for nasal mucus or dried nasal mucus * Snotter, Scottish slang for nasal mucus or dried nasal mucus * Snot, a character from the US television show ''American Dad!'' * Sid Snot, an ageing biker character performed ...

. When Sonny left Hed PE at the end of the Blackout tour, Jaxon took his spot and has been the band's only guitarist ever since, playing the roles of both rhythm and lead guitar.Jaxon Benge bio.
/ref> Before 2011, he often played onstage wearing white face paint covered with black X's as well as white tees soaked in black dye following the same color scheme and pattern, hence the "X" in Jaxon. As of 2008, Jaxon has been regularly updating his MySpace album "Demo-Itis" with exclusive guitar

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

s that he has written including raw versions of Represent, Walk On By, Ordo Ab Chao, Renegade, No Rest For The Wicked, and N.O.C. These instrumentals show a more experimental side of Jaxon where he tends to explore different types of musical genres such as

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

. In early 2015, it was confirmed that Jaxon had left Hed PE along with original bassist Mark Young, and had been replaced by Greg "Gregzilla" Harrison.

Equipment And Guitar Rig

s *

EMG, Inc. EMG, Inc. is the current legal name of a company based in Santa Rosa, California that manufactures guitar pickups and EQ accessories. Among guitar and bass accessories, the company sells active humbucker pickups, such as the EMG 81, the EMG 85 ...

707 pick-ups * Monster Cables *GH patched cable strings * D'Addario strings

Pedal Board

(Not necessarily in order) *Pedaltrain Pro Pedals *Cry Baby Classic Wah Pedals *

Boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, a ...

Chromatic Tuner *Boss DD-6 Digital Delay *Behringer Midi Foot Controller *Voodoo Lab Pedal Power

Amps

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

JMP-1 pre amp *Marshall 9200 Dual Mono Bloc Power Amp *Furman Power Conditioner *

Korg , founded as Keio Electronic Laboratories, is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instruments, audio processors and guitar pedals, recording equipment, and electronic tuners. Under the Vox brand name, they ...

Rack Tuner *2

4×12 Cabinets *Celestion Vintage 30s * Egnater Tourmaster 4100 Head and 2 Egnater Tourmaster 412A 280W 4x12 Cabinets

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benge, Jaxon American punk rock guitarists American rock guitarists Musicians from Long Beach, California Living people Seven-string guitarists Guitarists from California American male guitarists Hed PE members Year of birth missing (living people)