“It’s no different to purchasing a friggin’ milkshake”: Why Kirk Hammett thinks buying vintage guitars “leaves you feeling empty” and he prefers to trade them
While Metallica‘s Kirk Hammett is a known collector of vintage guitars – and is so prolific, in fact, that he’s celebrating his illustrious collection in a new book with Gibson – he says these days, he prefers to trade them rather than buy them with cash.
In a new interview with Guitar World, Hammett says the days of him spending big money on an instrument are “long gone”, adding how trading feels far more pleasant to him now than buying.
READ MORE: “I’m still chasing that sound”: Kirk Hammett thinks his best-ever lead tone was on this Metallica album
Asked about the total value of his guitar collection, he replies: “I dunno… at least a nice house somewhere! Some of these guitars I’ve had for 20 or 30 years. I didn’t buy them for what they’re currently valued at – thank God, man! Now you have to be ready to spill $250,000 just to get a dealer to answer the phone.”
He goes on: “The time of me spending that much on an instrument is long gone. If I do find something, I’m instantly thinking about trades. It’s exactly what I used to do with comic books and movie posters. My strategy is the same: find the most unique models and coolest rarities and then just go for it.
Hammett says his trading strategy is how he’s with the collection he has. “It’s the rarest, coolest and most unique stuff everyone wants,” he says.
“With trades, everyone walks away smiling. “Cash deals don’t do that; you walk away feeling empty. It’s no different to purchasing a friggin’ milkshake or whatever.”
A long-time collector, Kirk Hammett says the habit has always been a part of who he is. “At first it was comic books, monster magazines and whatnot,” he explains. “I’ve always been a collector of something. When I started playing guitar, I’d look at books and magazines and see all these wonderful Flying Vs and Strats, thinking to myself, ‘Wow!’
“As soon as I started touring with the resources to buy, probably around 1988 0r 1989, I started acquiring rare instruments. Me, James [Hetfield] and Jason [Newsted] would go to dealers in the Midwest and walk away with 10 cases each!”
Hammett’s collection includes plenty of famous guitars, like John Frusciante’s 1961 Gibson SG, which he played on the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Otherside and is seen playing in the video for Fortune Faded; and the Flying V played by UFO’s Michael Schenker on his first four albums – to name a few.
“It’s weird how celebrity instruments over the last 10 or so years have gravitated towards me,” says Hammett. Speaking of the Flying V, he adds: “I used to stare at it when I was 15 years old, on the back of UFO’s Force It album. I’d be thinking, ‘What an amazing instrument!’ Well, now I own it. It’s in the book, painted like a V-2 rocket, so Michael probably wouldn’t recognise it.”
Hammett is also the owner of Greeny, the legendary 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard which previously belonged to Fleetwood Mac’s Peter Green. The guitarist recently said that other guitarists passed on the chance of purchasing it. “But when I saw Greeny, I knew in less than a minute that I was never gonna give it back!” he told The Telegraph.
The post “It’s no different to purchasing a friggin’ milkshake”: Why Kirk Hammett thinks buying vintage guitars “leaves you feeling empty” and he prefers to trade them appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
