Wylde Audio has unveiled its latest made-for-metal electric guitar for current Pantera reunion shredder, Black Label Society founder and Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde, and it looks like something straight out of the encyclopedia of medieval weaponry.
Immediately assuming the opposite end of the aesthetic spectrum as the Hello Kitty Stratocaster, the evocatively titled Berzerker is a metal guitar through and through. No jazz, please. Ration those blues licks, and if you must play them, play them through a high-gain metal amp. Come on, just look at this thing.
“Crafted for the true metal enthusiast, this axe embodies the soul of legendary guitarist Zakk Wylde,” says Wylde Audio. “Equipped with high-output EMG active pickups, the Blood Skull Berzerker delivers an iconic tone with unparalleled clarity and sustain.”
Where do you start with a body shape like this? Well, maybe with the finishes.
Wylde Audio is offering this in Blood Skull graphic finish, a Slayer fan’s fever dream if ever we’ve seen it, and in this raw-topped Corridors finish, which has an Escher-esque vibe.
Nose to tail the design of this is brutal. It is with some satisfaction to see that this has a reverse six-in-line headstock. And being a Zakk Wylde production, you’ve got a pair of active EMG humbuckers to help put some weight – not to mention clarity – behind those riffs.
There is an EMG 81 at the bridge and an EMG 85 at the neck. These are controlled by dual volume controls plus a master tone knob, with a three-way pickup selector mounted… Well, it’s kind of hard to see on this model but you’ll find it on the lower horn.
For all intents and purposes, this is a double-cutaway. But really it’s a quadruple cutaway. It will be interesting to see how this feels on a guitar strap, or played seated.
As for the fundamentals, the Berzerker has a mahogany body – the Corridors has some maple on the top to give it that surrealist look.
The neck is three-piece maple, fashioned into Wylde’s signature C shape, and joinis the body with a deep-set, glued-in neck joint. The fingerboard is ebony, inlaid with runes, and has a 14” radius.
There’s some Gibson-esque DNA here, what with Wylde a former user and abuser of the Gibson Les Paul Custom. We have a Tonespro Locking Tune-O-Matic bridge and tailpiece, and the guitar has a 24.625” scale length. The black Speed Knobs are perhaps a nod to his old Custom, too.
Other details include Grover tuners, the frets are extra-jumbo, the nut is a Graph Tech Tusq XL and the nut width is 43mm.
Schecter is listing this at $1,699, and the price does not include a guitar case. For more details head over to the Wylde Audio page at Schecter Guitars.
