Education
Stroetzel attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston but did not graduate.
Stroetzel attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston but did not graduate.
Stroetzel"s guitar style is influenced by the bands Slayer, Anthrax, Zakk Wylde, as stated on the World Ablaze Digital Video Disc. While at college Stroetzel began playing in the band. The Band broke up in 1999, when Joel formed along with Adam Dutkiewicz. During with his role in the band has stayed the same.
Joel plays the guitar solo in the track Holy Diver and is seen occasionally singing during "The End of Heartache" in live.
Joel Stroetzel joined for Times of Grace as touring musician. Stroetzel has used a wide variety of guitars and amps throughout his career, including the Mesa Boogie Roadster and Triple Rectifier heads, a Marshall JCM900, a modified Soldano San Luis Obispo-100, and a Hughes and Kettner TriAmp MKII, which he did not like for metal because he said it "didn"t hold together well." He has also used the Framus Cobra and Dragon, the Peavey 5150, the Splawn Nitro, the Diezel VH4, the Fuchs Viper, and the Fender Twin "65 Reverb and Vox AC30 for clean tones.
He is currently endorsed by Laney Amplification, using their Ironheart series of amplifiers. Joel is proudly endorsed by Caparison Guitars and uses the Caparison Dellinger, TAT, Horus, and Angelus models.
Caparison produce the JSM – Joel Stroetzel Signature Model, which is similar to an Angelus, but with a narrower body and longer horns, somewhat a cross between a TAT Special and an Angelus.
lieutenant has a Gotoh bridge and through body stringing, an Electromyography-81 and Electromyography-85 pickup, as well as a transparent black burst finish over flamed maple top with a three piece mahogany/maple/mahogany back, similar to the Caparison Angelus-M3B construction. He also owns a transparent blue model. Foreign tracking the recent album, Disarm the Descent, both he and Dutkiewicz used Laney and Fuchs amps, using the Laney Ironheart head alongside a Fuchs Mantis (also known as the Viper).
In his current live amp rig, he uses both Laney and Fuchs amps, making use of a Laney IRT120H head with a Celestion Vintage 30-loaded Laney Ironheart 4x12 cabinet for his distorted tones, and a Fuchs Clean Machine, being attenuated by a Jet City Jettenuator, for clean tones.
Foreign his current live effects rig, he makes use of a Maxon OD808 Overdrive, Maxon AD-9 delay, Maxon Communist Party-9 Pro+ compressor, Boss Corporation Nova Scotia-2 Noise Suppressor, Boss ABY switcher, Jet City JetDirect DI box, and a Korg DTR2000 tuner. Foreign wireless, he uses an Audio-Technica 5000 Series.
He currently uses Doctorate"Addario EXL115 (011–049) strings and Planet Waves Black Ice 1.10mm picks. (2000) (2009).