“Any time I get a Fender guitar I take out the stock saddles and replace them with Graph Tech saddles. I have used Graph Tech for 20+ years. Graph Tech saddles save the day....
Guitarist
Lance Lopez
Band
Graph Tech Gear
What Lance Says about Graph Tech
“Any time I get a Fender guitar I take out the stock saddles and replace them with Graph Tech saddles. I have used Graph Tech for 20+ years. Graph Tech saddles save the day. Graph Tech saddles have more sustain and they save the strings! If I play on a regular Strat vintage I rip up the strings. I play Strats very aggressively. Whether it is Graph Tech saddles or nuts, I love it.” - Lance Lopez
More about Lance
Lance Lopez was born in Shreveport, Louisiana on September 30th, 1977. His upbringing was filled by music. He absorbed all the Louisiana roots, heritage and culture all around him as a child. Lance began playing guitar at the age of 8 years and was completely self taught. When he was 12 years old he moved to Dallas, Texas to live with his mother. Just two weeks after moving to Dallas, Lance saw B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan jam together at SRV’s last concert ever in Dallas, which prompted him to make the Blues his passion for the rest of his life. At the age of 14, Lance moved to New Orleans to live with his father. In New Orleans Lance began playing professionally in and around the French Quarter. After a brief stint in Southwest Florida, Lance moved back to Dallas with his family where he has lived ever since.
Upon moving back to Dallas at the age of 16, Lance struck up a friendship and mentorship with Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top and other Texas Blues greats, who began really helping Lance shape and mold his sound and guitar-style.
At 17 years old Lance was hired by R&B / Soul legend Johnnie Taylor and toured as his guitarist all over the Southern United States on the legendary “Chitlin’ Circuit” as his guitarist. A year later at 18 years old, Lance was hired by modern Blues legend Lucky Peterson and toured all over the world with him for 3 years. During his time with Lucky Peterson, Lance did a couple a brief stints as guitarist for one of the many versions of the Buddy Miles Express.
In 1999, Lance started his solo career and began touring locally and regionally opening shows for B.B. King and other legends. When he was 23, Lance, went to Europe on his very first solo tour in 2000 - 2001, after getting his name known in the European market by being a member of Lucky Peterson’s band. Lance released 4 small budget studio albums from 1999 - 2007 on an Indie label based in Rochester, New York called Grooveyard Records. Buddy Miles produced his very first album in 1999 and Lance produced all of the other albums himself. He also collaborated with both Doug Pinnick from King's X and Eric Gales on his second album’s 2004 release, Wall of Soul…
However, those albums never garnered much exposure aside from live shows. Between 2008 - 2011 Lance began touring Europe again heavily, started playing bigger festivals, and toured with large Rock acts ZZ Top, Whitesnake, Def Leppard, and Rod Stewart. Lance has stunned audiences worldwide with his fiery brand of Texas Blues Rock and Powerhouse performances. He has won over the likes of guitar legends like Jeff Beck, Johnny Winter, Billy Gibbons, B.B. King, and Eric Clapton who are all not only personal friends of Lance’s…but fans. In 2009, Lance signed with MIG (Made In Germany) Music / String Commander in Hannover, Germany run by Manfred Schuetz (formerly of SPV). He did 2 albums and a live concert DVD from the German TV Show “Rockpalast” with them. Both of those albums were produced by Jim Gaines and were recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis.
Learn more about Lance on his website or on Facebook.
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