Kirk Hammett says other famous guitarists passed on the chance to buy Peter Green’s ‘Greeny’ Les Paul: “I knew in less than a minute that I was never gonna give it back!”
Kirk Hammett is now the proud owner of Greeny, the iconic 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard named after Fleetwood Mac founding guitarist Peter Green.
But the Metallica man says other guitarists had the opportunity to buy the legendary guitar before he swooped in to make sure he secured it for himself.
READ MORE: “It freaks me out”: Kirk Hammett owns another iconic rockstar guitar as well as Greeny
In a new interview with The Telegraph, Hammett explains: “It’s been offered to other major players, and they passed on it for whatever reason, but when I saw Greeny, I knew in less than a minute that I was never gonna give it back! I had such an instant connection to that guitar, it’s such an amazing source of inspiration and it’s my best-sounding guitar.”
Calling the guitar a “cut above the rest”, Hammett recalls a friend – with whom he jammed with for a few hours using Greeny – told him: “That guitar is your Excalibur!”
Initially, Peter Green bought what would become Greeny when he was asked to join John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, where it made its recorded debut on the 1967 album A Hard Road. After using the guitar on many Fleetwood Mac classics including Black Magic Woman and Albatross, Green sold the guitar to blues rock guitarist Gary Moore – of Thin Lizzy and Skid Row – in 1970.
Moore went on to use Greeny on Thin Lizzy’s 1979 album Black Rose: A Rock Legend, as well as on Parisienne Walkways. In 2006, after facing financial issues, Moore sold the guitar to dealer Phil Winfield, who went on to sell it to private collectors.
Greeny was offered to Hammett’s bandmate James Hetfield, who declined the purchase, and in 2014 it eventually ended up in the hands of Hammett, who has previously stated that he paid “less than half a million dollars” [via Dean Delray’s Let There Be Talk] for the guitar due to its owner’s need for a quick sale.
Back in 2022, Kirk Hammett partnered with Gibson to release signature replicas of Greeny, first a Custom Shop edition – priced at a cool $19,999 – then a more affordable Standard version.
Last year, Kirk Hammett recounted how acquiring Greeny has transformed him as a guitar player. “It’s interesting because people say a lot of things have changed about me since I got that guitar,” he told American Songwriter.
“My playing has changed, my attitude has changed, my tone has changed, my approach has changed. All those things have changed over the last five or six years because of this guitar. I’m really happy about it.”
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
