Basic Facts

Birth name Daniel Joseph Donegan
Born August 1, 1968
Oak Lawn, Illinois, U.S.
Genres Heavy metal, alternative metal, nu metal, hard rock
Occupation(s) Musician, record producer
Instrument(s) Guitar, keyboards
Years active 1986–present

Member of Disturbed
Formerly of Fight or Flight, Vandal

Daniel Joseph Donegan (born August 1, 1968) is an American musician who is the guitarist, keyboardist and one of the founding members of heavy metal band Disturbed.

Donegan began playing guitar as a teenager and eventually formed a band called Vandal, which was a 1980s-style glam metal band. He also played with some of the members of Vandal in another band that was called Loudmouth, and has pursued a side project band, Fight or Flight, in collaboration with Disturbed band member Mike Wengren.

Donegan was added to the guitar show Chop Shop’s list of “Top 100 Most Complete Guitar Players of All Time” at number 76.

Personal life
Donegan had very long hair during the early days of Brawl and Disturbed.[4][5] According to Disturbed’s DVD titled M.O.L., Donegan got a job with his father doing construction work. He was required to cut his hair for it, but instead opted to wear a wig to fool his dad and keep his long hair. It worked, and his dad eventually let him keep his long hair. He married Nicole Sardo in 2002. They got divorced in 2020. Together, they had a daughter and son.

Technique and style
Donegan is a self-taught guitarist. He uses one handed and two handed tapping in many of his solos, with hammer-ons, pull-offs, and legato, sometimes using the “flick off” technique, as used in the solo for the song “Indestructible”, and in others as well. His heavy riffs and sweep picking are seen in many music videos. He also combines arpeggios with finger tapping and many other techniques. He is known for shredding in some songs and uses finger vibrato on occasion. He uses the whammy bar in many songs to give it a certain sound effect.

In the video “The Making of Indestructible”, Donegan mentions that he prefers “tasteful” solos, as opposed to shredding solos that rely primarily on speed. Disturbed’s frontman David Draiman mentions “he [Donegan] can rip with the best of them”. David also mentions that “He’s [Donegan], in my opinion, you know, among the best in existence, and he doesn’t give himself enough credit”. In the 80s, he was in a glam metal band known as Vandal, where many of his solos were shred guitar solos, but he would incorporate other techniques, which many consider his own style of playing.

Equipment 
While playing with Loudmouth, Dan played an Ibanez Iceman amplified through a Peavey Ultra 120 head with Peavey 4×12 cabinets. Early on with his career with Disturbed, Donegan played Gibson Les Paul Standards and SGs. In some early photos with Brawl, he can also be seen with a Gibson Explorer. Then, he switched to play a few Paul Reed Smith models, the Tremonti Model and a PRS Singlecut. In 2005, Washburn Guitars built Donegan his own signature model called the Maya, named after his daughter. For 2010, Dan built a signature guitar with Schecter guitars, that is based on the ultra classic model (his being the ultra DD). Donegan is a fan of GHS Boomer guitar strings and uses the 12-52 gauge set. He also uses Seymour Duncan pickups in his guitars. He is currently signed to Schecter Guitars and uses custom leather guitar straps made by Orion Guitar Gear. In 2016, Dan and Orion Guitar Gear teamed up to sell a limited quantity of his custom straps to Disturbed fans.

Guitars

Current:
Schecter Ultra Dan Donegan signature model
Schecter Solo-6 2010 limited edition (used in the studio for Asylum)

Past:
Washburn Maya DD81 signature model (Indestructible)
Washburn Maya signature model (Ten Thousand Fists)
PRS Singlecut (Believe)
PRS Mark Tremonti (Believe)
Gibson Les Paul Standards (The Sickness)
Gibson SGs (The Sickness)
Gibson Explorer (used in the early days with Brawl)
Ibanez Iceman (used in the early days of Disturbed)
Amplifiers
Randall RM4 preamp with 1 “Clean” and 3 “1086” modules into a RT2/50 Power Amp. Has used Randall Cyclone and V-Max heads in the past since 2001, when Dan received an endorsement. Uses Randall R412XLT cabs
Mesa/Boogie Dual and Triple Rectifier amps with Mesa/Boogie Rectifier 4×12 cabs. Used until his Randall endorsement
Bogner Ecstasy heads
Marshall Heads and 4×12 cabinets in the early days