Zacky Vengeance

Zacky Vengeance
Zacky Vengeance performing in 2014, with his Schecter Signature S-1 '6661' Guitar
Background information
Birth name	Zachary James Baker
Also known as	Zacky Vengeance, Zacky V.
Born	(1981-12-11) December 11, 1981 (age 35) Olympia
Origin	Huntington Beach, California
Genres	Heavy metal, hard rock, metalcore
Occupation(s)	Musician, guitarist, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, vocals, piano
Years active	1999–present
Labels	Warner Bros., Hopeless, Good Life Recordings
Associated acts	Avenged Sevenfold, MPA
Notable instruments
Schecter Zacky Vengeance 6661

Zachary James Baker (born December 11, 1981), better known by his stage name Zacky Vengeance, is an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist, and founding member for the American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. In 2016, Vengeance alongside Synyster Gates was voted as Best Metal Guitarist in the World by Total Guitar.

Zacky was born to Maria and James Baker in Olympia, Washington, and later moved to Huntington Beach, California along with his older sister Zina and younger brother Matthew, during his high school years. Zacky attended Huntington Beach High School, and formed Avenged Sevenfold there with M. Shadows and The Rev. Before Avenged Sevenfold, his first band was a crust punk band called Society Down. He said before that a demo exists, but it was lost years ago. After Society Down, he formed a punk band called MPA*, which stands for Mad Porno Action. He implied that they were both unsuccessful. Baker came up with his stage name "Zacky Vengeance" because he wanted to get back at all the people from his youth who doubted his potential. He also came up with Jonathan Seward's stage name "Johnny Christ," saying it suited him. Vengeance was also responsible for the creation of the initialism "A7X".

In 2005, Schecter Guitar Research made signature guitars for Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance. Zacky's guitar is based on Schecter's S-1 model. The guitar consists of a Tune-o-matic bridge that can be found on a Les Paul guitar. At the bottom of the body of the guitar, 4 numbers are written out which read "6661" which is simply the year Avenged Sevenfold formed, 1999, upside down and backwards. The inlays are trapezoids and on the 12th fret it says "6661". Zacky Vengeance also has another signature guitar called the Blade. This is also based on the Schecter S-1 and it has Avenged Sevenfold Deathbats over the body of the guitar. Zacky has used many other guitars in his career before he got a signature guitar. In 2017 in their live show at dublin. Zacky used an unfamiliar signature guitar in the shape of a les paul with his signature "6661" numbers on it.