At just 12 years old, Diamond Rowe played her first guitar everywhere—literally. “It was a Tele knockoff, $70 guitar,” she recalls. “I played that thing into the ground for like a year. I took it to the bathroom and dinner table. I never put it down.”
Now, Rowe is the lead guitarist of Tetrarch, a band leading the nu-metal revival. She has toured globally, released two albums, and gained recognition for her unique shredding style within a genre often resistant to solos. Recently, she debuted her own signature model with Jackson, the Pro Series Signature Diamond Rowe DR12MG EVTN6. In designing this guitar, Rowe aimed to create something accessible to her younger self.
“I’m very much a creature of habit, especially with gear,” she says during a video call from her Los Angeles home, her cat playfully wandering in the background. “Comfort is key for me. This guitar needed to feel familiar, like something I’ve always played.”
Simplicity is central to Rowe’s signature model. It features a single-cut body, reminiscent of her first real guitar, a Gibson her parents bought when she was 13. The design includes EMG pickups, a three-way toggle switch, and two control knobs—nothing extraneous.
Equipped with an Evertune bridge, this guitar ensures stable tuning, which Rowe acknowledges has faced criticism in the past. However, she believes it serves her younger self well. “We started using Evertunes because they were on the guitars we liked,” she explains. “Despite mixed opinions from some engineers and musicians, kids watching won’t notice a difference.”
Given Tetrarch’s drop A tuning, an Evertune is essential. “We tune pretty low, so without it, my light strings would constantly go out of tune.”
Rowe’s playing often draws comparisons to Brian “Head” Welch and James “Munky” Shaffer of Korn, the pioneers of nu-metal. Tetrarch’s sound, showcased in songs like “I’m Not Right,” features tense riffs and alien lead lines, while Rowe’s solos push boundaries within the genre. Surprisingly, Metallica, not Korn, inspired her early on.
“Metallica are my all-time favorite band,” she says. “I learned to play guitar with the Master of Puppets album. That was my teacher.”
Rowe’s journey into heavy music began in Atlanta, Georgia, where she was introduced to it by older peers at her private school. Her passion quickly grew, prompting her parents to invest in her first Les Paul. Around this time, she began collaborating with future Tetrarch frontman Josh Fore.
“Josh and I met in seventh grade,” she recalls. “We started jamming and eventually formed Tetrarch, initially covering songs from Green Day.”
As their skills improved, they tackled heavier material, including Metallica’s “Turn the Page.” Eventually, they ventured into writing original songs, with their debut track evolving from a thrash sound to a darker tone influenced by lower tunings.
“Our first song was a full-throttle thrash piece,” she remembers. “But while writing for our debut album, Freak, I experimented with lower tunings, which added an angsty edge.”
Rowe and Fore have been musical partners for over half their lives. Initially, Fore resisted the idea of a female guitarist. “He said he didn’t want a girl in the band,” she laughs. “I was crushed, but our drummer convinced him to give me a chance, and it clicked.”
As Tetrarch gained traction with Napalm Records and endorsements from notable metal figures, Rowe emerged as a Black woman in a predominantly male genre. She views her identity as a “blessing in disguise” rather than an obstacle, noting that she received a warm welcome from fans.
“People were excited to see a Black girl shredding onstage,” she says. “The positive feedback outweighed any negativity.”
After a successful stint with ESP, Rowe was approached by Jackson just six months later. “I loved ESP, but when the opportunity for a signature model arose, I knew I had to take it,” she explains. “I wanted to be a presence like Slash or Dimebag, someone with a signature guitar.”
With her new model, Rowe has come full circle, designing a guitar that embodies the specifications, simplicity, and comfort she craved as a beginner. She is also excited about Tetrarch’s upcoming third album, describing it as “very dark and nu metal-ish” with some of her best solos to date.
“It’s big, catchy choruses mixed with creepy, dark elements. We can’t wait to share it!”
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