Jason Newsted is selling over 60 rare electric guitars and basses via internet gear retail giant Reverb, many of which have been played onstage with Metallica or used in the studio, some of which really are wholly unique.
Take his 1992 Alembic Europa Custom 10-string bass guitar. There is only one of these in the world. While it did make it out on the road with Metallica, Newsted admits that he never quite got the best out of it, and he would like to see it to go to someone who can put it to good use.
Whoever that might be, they’d best be strong, and will preferably have a thick, padded guitar strap in their inventory.
“This thing is a beast, an absolute beast,” says Newsted. “The weight of it itself, you have to be a straight-up badass just to carry it let alone play it. Somebody who could really make this thing happen, I want to get it in their hands. I want to see what this thing could actually do.
“I was never able to give this thing enough time but I did take it on tour, Black Album tour… even some studio stuff I think. But there you go, really, really special piece of history, piece of metal history. That’s a one-of-one right there.”
If 10 bass strings seems like six too many, how about three? That’s another bona fide unicorn from Newsted’s collection, a Tony Levin Ernie Ball Music Man StingRay with just three-strings, extra spacing between the strings to accommodate Levin’s percussive “funk fingers” approach that he developed with his tech, Andy Moore. If you’re the sort of player who likes the idea of drumstick fingers, this is the instrument for you. Again, they did not make many of these.
“They wound the pickup custom and everything,” says Newsted. “There’s only maybe a half dozen of those on the planet, if that. I couldn’t figure out what to do with it so I am hoping that someone who is inventive [will] maybe do slide bass or something crazy.”
There’s pretty much something for everyone in Newsted’s Reverb shop. You don’t have to play bass with a pick in the world’s biggest metal band to find something that might fit your style. Indeed, first instrument he shows us in the launch video is a Gibson Barney Kessel, which is top-tier jazz guitar for comping and throwing around your best chord shapes. It might struggle with Rhythm Figure 1 of Blackened. We like the looks of that ‘70s ES-335 12-string too.
One of the weirdest guitars in Newsted’s big ol’ sale is a weird V-style that has been custom finished by Newsted himself. Newsted says there will be “one little handful” of these available, each assembled from a kit, hand-finished with his own custom artwork.
If you’re looking for something that looks less radical but has a sound that you don’t hear everyday, maybe the Hofner 459 VTZ ‘Beatle’ guitar is more your speed. It's a very rare piece, but be warned; Newsted says it takes a “delicate touch”.
Jason Newsted's official Reverb store goes live on 24 July. To find out more and sign up for an alert when it's online, head over to Reverb.
