Zacky Vengeance

Zacky Vengeance
Zacky Vengeance of Avenged Sevenfold - Live in Concert
Background information
Birth name	Zachary James Baker
Also known as	Zacky Vengeance
Born	December 11, 1981 (1981-12-11) (age 28) Huntington Beach, California
Genres	Hard rock, heavy metal, metalcore, punk rock, hardcore punk
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, guitarist, vocalist
Instruments	Guitar, piano, vocals
Years active	1999-Present
Labels	Warner Bros. Records, Hopeless Records, Good Life Recordings
Associated acts	Avenged Sevenfold, The Dear & Departed, Mad Porno Action
Website	www.vengenz.com
Notable instruments
Schecter Vengeance Custom Model ZV Blade

Zachary James Baker, (born December 11, 1981) better known by his stage name Zacky Vengeance, is the rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist for the American metal/rock band Avenged Sevenfold. He was ranked as the second best rhythm guitarist's of all time in Kerrang!, behind Dragonforce's Sam Totman.

Biography

In high school, Zackary attended Huntington Beach High School. Baker came up with his stage name "Zacky Vengeance" because he wanted to get back at all the people whom doubted his success . He also came up with Johnny's stage name "Johnny Christ" because he said it was suiting for him.

In the Avenged Sevenfold DVD All Excess he recalls that before Avenged Sevenfold, he was in a punk band called MPA*, which stands for Mad Porno Action. He implies that they were not successful. He and M. Shadows formed Avenged Sevenfold. He taught himself how to play the guitar when he was thirteen. Zacky was also responsible for the creation of the acronym "A7X".^[1]

Despite being left-handed, he recalls the first guitar he learned on was actually a right-handed his parents had bought him for his thirteenth birthday. He learned by playing upside-down, watching his favorite bands and other people he knew who played and practiced as much as he could. He would also read each edition of Guitar World cover to cover, learning the tabs of the songs published in there and watching the professionals perform it until he got it right. His influences in his style are Rancid, Misfits and Bad Religion. Zacky's favorite bands also include Metallica, Misfits and Guns N Roses.

In high school he played baseball. He claims that if not for his music career, he would have played in college and potentially gone pro.^[2]

In 2003, Avenged Sevenfold came out with Waking the Fallen, which boosted A7X fan levels up. Avenged Sevenfold hit the jackpot in 2005 when their Platinum selling album, City of Evil came out featuring songs such as, Beast and the Harlot, Bat Country, and Seize the Day.

In 2007, Avenged Sevenfold self-produced their Self Titled Album (Avenged Sevenfold). Featuring songs such as: Dear God, Critical Acclaim, Scream, Afterlife, Almost Easy and A Little Piece of Heaven.

2008- Zacky and Avenged Sevenfold have announced that they will be back in the studio by July 2009. Zacky quotes, "After touring the world for pretty much two years straight, the stars aligned and have us finishing up in Southern California and Las Vegas. If I could offer one piece of inside info it would be that these shows are the ones to see. We will be celebrating a very successful run and 10 years of madness that all started in the great state of California (though our friends in Las Vegas know how to throw a party so we can’t leave them out either.)

Personal life

Zacky has a sister named Zina Pacheco. She has two children, Gianna and Gavin, Zacky's only niece and nephew. He has a brother named Matt who was with the band Dear and Departed before their breakup. His parents are James and Maria. Zacky and his mother share the same birthday.

Guitars

Zacky uses Schecter Guitars, and endorses the company.

• The Vengeance custom S-1
• The Vengeance Standard model
• The Vengeance Standard model (rebel flag as seen in "Walk" at Ozzfest in 2006)
• The ZV special designed by Zacky Vengeance
• The ZV Blade
• The ZV special with FR (as seen behind the scenes in the Live in the LBC DVD)
• The ZV mirror
• "Gynecologist"(blood splatter)
• Zacky has many custom shop S-1 models made exclusively for him.
• All models are loaded with Seymour Duncan JB Pickups.
• Formerly a Gibson SG left handed was used by him (as seen in Warmness on the soul music video)