Paul Gilbert: I have the best hearing aid in the world – Marshall amps!’

http://www.guitarmagazine.co.uk/ : One element that might be affecting Gilbert’s choice of musical direction is the revelation that years of playing high-volume metal in arenas around the world has had a debilitating effect on his body.
‘I’ve suffered a lot of high-end hearing loss,’ Paul notes. ‘The first place we really noticed that was with speech. If I decide to go to the bank and the teller is a woman – I say that because women’s voices tend to have higher frequencies – that can be really rough. I travel internationally a lot, so foreign languages can be really tough. But guitars are fine, I have the best hearing aid in the world – Marshall amps!’

The condition of Gilbert’s hearing is quite pronounced, meaning that if he wants to have a conversation with someone it needs to be in a quiet room with the person facing him. He isn’t interested in anyone’s sympathy, though, and takes a typically optimistic view of his situation.
‘If someone had told me when I was 16 years old you’re going to lose a lot of your hearing if you play this style of music, I would have had to say “You know what? I don’t care. I love this music so much I’ve gotta do it.” So I don’t spend much time regretting things, because I really have enjoyed what I’ve done. Now I’m trying to play music that has some more dynamics to it and maybe a little less fuzz, I think that’ll help.

Full interview http://www.guitarmagazine.co.uk/features/learning-to-fly/