Kirk Hammett invited Gibson’s Mark Agnesi into his home to show off some of his favourite electric guitars in his collection, and it might just be the best episode of GibsonTV’s The Collection yet, and like Slash, Metallica’s lead guitar maverick is documenting it all in a forthcoming book.
There are some astonishing vintage instruments on show, such as his 1958 Les Paul Standard, custom ordered in transparent Cherry before Gibson even shipped guitars in Cherry. “That is definitely something that’s rare,” says Hammett. “The popular term at the at the moment is ‘unicorn.’”
It’s in mint condition and it is exquisite. Hammett’s ’52 Gold Top with P-90s and a trapeze tailpiece is not very practical for his day job on stage with James Hetfield and co, but it is a beauty. And as eBay purchases go, they don't get any better than that.
And there are some great revelations in the interview too, like the fact that ESP has made him one of his KH-1 signature guitars with an onboard theremin that has a telescopic antenna that allows him to play guitar and operate the theremin at the same time. He has yet to play it in public but we live in hope that he does, or at least uses it in the studio.
Some of these guitars are studio guitars, and many of them he wants to use in the studio, to “document their sound” on a Metallica record. Some have already done so, such as Greeny, the 1959 Les Paul Standard once owned by and named after Peter Green, that was subsequently owned by the late blues-rock icon Gary Moore, and has been in Hammett’s possession since 2014.
Buying Greeny has been a life-changing event for Hammett; he uses it live, in the studio. He says it is “the ultimate player’s guitar”. But here Hammett reveals that he owns a 1958 Les Paul Standard that was previously owned by Moore, that Moore said sounded even better than Greeny. Hammett is not so sure about that. He'd still go for Greeny but that's no shade on this one.
“This was his other guitar, which, funnily enough, he went on record to say that this was a better-sounding guitar than Greeny,” says Hammett. “But I think Gary was just bored of Greeny, maybe, and was just wanting something new to play – because he had Greeny for 25 years or something.”
As Hammett has learned, buying golden era Les Paul Standards is like waiting for the bus, you wait for ages and then two come along one right after the other. And after buying Greeny, Hammett couldn’t pass on this one.
“Well, I am a big Gary Moore fan, and I already have Greeny! My friend said he had it and I said, ‘Send it over!’ I plugged it in and of course I fell in love it with,” says Hammett.
It was appropriate that this episode of The Collection went live on Halloween, not least because Hammett is a massive horror fan but he, as a working musician, uses these vintage instruments as tools, and the collector community at large might not approve of some of the measures he has had to take during the course of a working day.
Some nervous viewers might require the fainting couch at the sight of all that blue electrical tape around this ’58 Les Paul’s output jack.
“I can tell that this has been in the studio with me because when I am really desperate to record and I am in a hurry, I will do anything to get the job done!” says Hammett. “No [that tape] is not factory, and it was not put there by Gary Moore. [Laughs] Something was probably happening with the jack, and I was impatient, ‘Gimme some tape. I’ll put the jack in and we’ll record the track.’
I took the guitar off and put it in the case without taking the tape off and the tape is still on there now. And I apologise because that’s probably going to make people mad
Kirk Hammett
“We recorded the track. I was happy. I took the guitar off and put it in the case, without taking the tape off, and the tape is still on there now. And I apologise because that’s probably going to make people mad.”
“But you’re using it,” says Agnesi. “You use the damn thing!”
“Also, when I see this, I’m thinking, ‘Well it’s kinda messed up theres blue tape on a really, really cool Les Paul, but at the same time it’s part of its story,” reasons Hammett. “I’ll leave it on there for now. But Gary used this, and recorded a bunch of singles on this guitar, and it’s really, really great. It’s got a buzzy sort of sound to it. Add some gain and it’s got this weird kind of chainsaw distortion that I love – and this is the only one that I have that sounds like that, and so of course I feel in love with it and had to have it, and it has been played a lot.”
You can see more of Hammett’s guitar collection in the video above, and in the forthcoming deluxe coffee table book that will be published via Gibson on 29 November. You can sign up for pre-order info as and when it drops at Gibson.
