Kirk Hammett isn’t just the lead guitarist for the world’s biggest metal band. The long-running Metallica member is also the owner of some extremely rare and coveted Gibson guitars, including a 1957 Korina Flying V prototype and the 1959 Les Paul Standard known as Greeny, once owned by Peter Green and Gary Moore.
In a newly released video from Gibson TV, Hammett talks about 17 of his favorite vintage electric guitars. In addition to the two models mentioned above, he presents a 1952 Les Paul goldtop, 1960 Les Paul TV Special, 1956 Les Paul Custom, 1958 Les Paul Standard, 1958 Les Paul Custom, his “Sunny” 1960 Les Paul Standard, a 1963 Korina Explorer, vintage ES models and more.
To top it off, Hammett discusses his lifetime love of guitars in the roughly 90-minute documentary, from his first discovery of the instrument to his thrill of collecting them.
As he reveals in the film, he first became aware of the guitar’s power through the Beatles’ “Drive My Car,” when he was about five.
“I remember, I was playing with my cousin,” he explains. “At one point he jumped on top of a table and started playing air guitar to ‘Drive My Car.’ And I remember looking at him and laughing, thinking, Wow, you look so cool! And I I jumped up on the table and joined him!”
Kirk also explains his attitude about collecting vintage and rare models and stresses the importance of not getting too precious about a guitar’s condition.
“I’ve come to realize you could be screwing yourself if you pass on something just because the condition's not right,” he says. “If it's rare, it's rare.”
He is especially fond of player guitars and understands they are usually the most beat-up among vintage collectibles. He refers to Greeny as an example.
“Greenie is the ultimate player guitar,” he enthuses. “Two headstock repairs, two knobs are switched out… the pickup selector top is always coming off. There's so many nicks, so many dents. The finish is almost completely worn off. I can sweat, bleed, snot all over that guitar, and the value's never going to diminish.”
Once an ESP player, Hammett joined the Gibson family in 2021. The Gibson Custom Shop honored him in 2023 with the Kirk Hammett 1979 Flying V, a re-creation of the guitarist’s first-ever Gibson axe. Hammett also made news in March 2023 when he purchased an ultra-rare black 1959 Les Paul Standard, which had been custom-ordered by a jazz guitarist to match his tuxedo.
The video is a prelude to the forthcoming book The Collection: Kirk Hammett, a deluxe coffee table book in hardcover featuring the stories behind Kirk’s rare and highly collectible instruments used in the studio and onstage. The Collection: Kirk Hammett will be out November 29. It is the second book release from Gibson Publishing. The first was last year’s The Collection: Slash. Visit Gibson.com for more information and updates.
You can explore the Kirk Hammett Collection at Gibson and Epiphone.
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