I didn’t pay much for it, and I didn’t care if it wasn’t a Gibson. He put a Gibson trussrod cover on it, and he sold it to me as a Gibson-even though it has a bolt-on neck. When I pulled out my early guitars-my old Kill ’em All white Flying V copy and some of the Explorers-I rediscovered how well they played. Hetfield: I was inspired by this photographer who wanted to get an iconic picture of me with a somewhat iconic guitar. On the subject of looking to your past, you went back to some of your earliest gear to make this record. And yet, here I am, holding it on the cover of Guitar World! -guitar world It’s a shitty Elektra copy of a Gibson V from the late Seventies, maybe, early Eighties. ESP makes me amazing things-anything I want, but I still use that guitar. Even though you don’t know they’re gifts at the time. I think most great music comes from that. I’m always fascinated with stories of people finding these basic tools and making them work to create something amazing. That’s was metal: black pants, white V, go! I couldn’t care less that it was not a real Gibson. It’s a white V! It’s Michael Schenker, it’s Scorpions.
Hmmm, why does it say "Made in Japan" on it? But I didn’t care. Eventually it dawned on me: Oh, it has a bolt-on neck. Somebody sold it to me as a Gibson V, and as a dumb kid I had no idea. And then the next guitar I bought was this V. I traded it for a PA because I wanted to be the singer, because everyone was looking for a singer back then. And the second guitar I had was, like, a ’69 SG that some kid sold me in high school for $200. I put Eddie Van Halen stripes on and all that stuff, like every kid did. My first guitar was a swap-meet thing that I paid five bucks for and painted about 12 different times. It’s actually the third guitar I ever owned. It’s not the beefiest or fattest sound, but the mids just come alive.Īnd the white V-it’s not a Gibson V, right? I’m also plugging into the Mesa/Boogie Mark II C+ that we used on all the early albums.īut what got you back into using your white V? I’m actually using the white V and the old Explorers that I played on the first few albums. But now it just feels good to go to that place.Ī lot of it has to do with playing my old guitars again. In fact, it comes so easy to me that maybe there was a time, like while we were writing the "Black Album" or Load, that I needed a different kind of challenge. Now, though, I’m paying a little more attention to what strings I’m using because they help me stay in tune. I never think, Oh, this neck isn’t made of ebony, or, These strings don’t feel correct. Most of my guitars have been instruments that look cool. I never really pay much attention to that aspect of it. It was used quite heavily during the recording of Death Magnetic.Īre your guitars set up a certain way to make it easier for you?
James hetfield guitar rig full#
It underwent a full tuneup by Gary Brawer of lt Brawer Guitar Repair ( )and brought up to current Metallica specs, including the addition of EMG 81 and 60 pickups. Several years ago before recording Death Magnetic, James had this guitar brought back from the dead. The back of the body has a hand with raised middle finger etched (by James, as stated above) into it.Īt some point, James installed a Seymour Duncan Invader pickup into the bridge position. This change would see the white flying v copy take a back seat to James’ newfound love. While on tour, a break caused James to switch to his backup guitar, a white 1984 Gibson Explorer. Originally painted Red, the guitar sported a white finish all throughout James’ usage in Metallica. That was the first guitar I started scratching stuff into." The only other thing that’s customized is the artwork. It’s got Seymour Duncan pickups in it, with a little more output for the crunch than the originals had. I wanted a white one because Michael Schenker of U.F.O. I knew it was a copy, but we treated it as a real Gibson. "It was the second guitar I ever owned, and I probably bought it for $200. "I got my white V in 1980, " James Hetfield recalls. On the lower arm of the bezel is engraved the words "FUCK IT" and so the body is drawn "Middle finger" and the label "Danger High Voltage", on the head of the skull, at the time was in the back Glued tape. Currently, James mentioned in the snap on the EMG 60 and 81 (at the same time changed the order of the potentiometer with switch) and during the work on the album "Death Magnetic" changed potentiometers and as we can see in the photo is her today.
And he used it to record the intro to the song "Broken, Beat & Scarred", as we can see it on the "Making Of Death Magnetic". It can be seen in the video "Cliff All" in the song "Whiplash". James eventually replaced the bridge pickup with a special-wound Seymour Duncan pickup. James’ guitar on Metallica’s debut album was an Electra 2236 Flying Wedge, a Japanese-made copy of a 70’s Gibson Flying V.
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