Kirk Hammett strikes again

[Securb]

I love this guitar it checks every box for me, especially the Fishman powerbridge and powerchip, but 9K Jeez!

An Artfully Recreated and Aged Version of the Metallica Icon’s Versatile Les Paul Custom


To fans of metal, Kirk Hammett needs no introduction. Longtime fans will also no doubt be familiar with his “blacked-out” 1989 Gibson Les Paul™ Custom, which he has used on numerous Metallica albums and tours. Now the Gibson Custom Shop has recreated this renowned guitar in exquisite detail. Like the original, the Kirk Hammett 1989 Les Paul Custom features all-black hardware, and per Kirk’s wishes, it comes equipped with uncovered T-Type pickups, along with a Fishman® Powerbridge piezo bridge pickup system with a Fishman Powerchip preamp and volume control that bring simulated full-bodied acoustic tone to this versatile Les Paul Custom. Artfully aged by the Murphy Lab to match the look and feel of Kirk’s original 1989 Les Paul Custom, it is a fitting tribute to a metal guitar master and one of his favorite instruments.

​

 

[Mincer]

...and no EMGs.

 

[Hsb]

...and no EMGs.

Ive seen an article or two of him saying he is going back to passives vs actives now more and more.

9k is just ridiculous as really you're getting an LP with his name on it. If I wanted a sig guitar, Id spend less on the guitar and build it up to it. I could easily make my Iceman a Paul Stanley model by adding a C5 and 59n to it, all for a lot less than the one with his name on it and a few diff appointments.

 

[Securb]

Ive seen an article or two of him saying he is going back to passives vs actives now more and more.

9k is just ridiculous as really you're getting an LP with his name on it. If I wanted a sig guitar, Id spend less on the guitar and build it up to it. I could easily make my Iceman a Paul Stanley model by adding a C5 and 59n to it, all for a lot less than the one with his name on it and a few diff appointments.

I was talking with my girlfriend about that guitar. If I really wanted to, I could build that guitar on an LP Classic platform for under 3K. She said go for it.

 

[EmiAba]

Slim taper neck, t type pickups and a piezo. Is it really a recreation of that Kirk hammett custom? Wrong neck shape for the period, wrong electronics (Kirk uses a pair of emg 81), why the piezo? And 9k? It makes no sense to me.

 

[solspirit]

$9,000 is ridiculous, you could get three killer guitars for that price.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Hate T-Top-inspired pickups.

 

[beaubrummels]

I'd play the hell out of it. I like the specs. LP Custom black beauty with T-Tops and acoustic sim bridge, perfect for me. T-tops are maligned because they didn't play well with NMV amps in the 1970s. Now you can get any level of gain you want out of almost any amp and they have some chop and cut to them through modern amps.

Maybe I'll wait to see what the Epiphone version clocks in at. Or look for an LP Custom husk and buy some parts.

 

[Mincer]

Ive seen an article or two of him saying he is going back to passives vs actives now more and more.

9k is just ridiculous as really you're getting an LP with his name on it. If I wanted a sig guitar, Id spend less on the guitar and build it up to it. I could easily make my Iceman a Paul Stanley model by adding a C5 and 59n to it, all for a lot less than the one with his name on it and a few diff appointments.

He may have, but historically (and this is an historic model), the famous sounds he created with this guitar are with EMGs. So, this isn't what he used.

 

[EmiAba]

That's the point. This is not the guitar Kirk uses, not even close to it

 

[larryguitar]

Will it have his initials amateurishly carved into it somewhere? That's where the value from a KH replica really comes from.

Larry

 

[Aceman]

I was talking with my girlfriend about that guitar. If I really wanted to, I could build that guitar on an LP Classic platform for under 3K. She said go for it.

I was gonna say you could easily get one for far far less than 9k. With EMG's. Eff what he is going back to. Whatever you like about Hammett was EMGs.

Full disclosure: I could give a Ratt's @$$ what Warren DeMartini is playing this month, or any other month after Reach for the Sky also....

 

[GuitarDoc]

Gorgeous guitar!
But it would be even gorgeouser with gold hardware and a pricetag of $2000. (It would be easy to have all of this at that price)!

 

[ehdwuld]

I love Piezo on an LP
I'm in

 

[Securb]

Full disclosure: I could give a Ratt's @$$ what Warren DeMartini is playing this month, or any other month after Reach for the Sky also....

That is the thing: I am not a Kirk fan, and I am lukewarm when it comes to Metalica. But that guitar, as I said, checks all of my boxes from the finish to the electronics. I would like some pickups with a bit more beef. Of the guys I am crazy about their playing, I'm not so much into their signature axes. I love Jimi and Blackmore but there is no way in hell I would own a SSS Strat.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I'd play the hell out of it. I like the specs. LP Custom black beauty with T-Tops and acoustic sim bridge, perfect for me. T-tops are maligned because they didn't play well with NMV amps in the 1970s. Now you can get any level of gain you want out of almost any amp and they have some chop and cut to them through modern amps.

I don't mean to disregard what you're saying. We have different tastes, but I personally feel that weak pickups still sound weak, no matter how much gain your amp has on tap.

Plus another issue appears with raising the gain on a modern amp to make low output pickups sound nice and chunky: Hiss from preamp, and microphony in tubes becomes greatly exaggerated.

Don't get me wrong. I like the Duncan '59B, the DiMarzio PAF 36's and the Pro, or the Fishman Fluence Classics for that wide soundstage, airy top-end, and almost twangy attack when you pick hard, but T-Tops are just too much for me.

Each to his own.

Kirk's tone has NEVER been standout in Metallica anyways.

 

[Securb]

Kirk's tone has NEVER been standout in Metallica anyways.

.

 

[Aceman]

Of course, with an LP Custom and EMG's, you can also get Zakk Wyldes tone. I like that a lot...

 

[Aceman]

Another thing...While I KNOW he played a Les Paul Custom, When you Say Kirk I think Black V White Pick guard. Just Gibson milking the artist/vintage market for all it is worth.

 

[ToneFiddler]

Slim taper neck, t type pickups and a piezo. Is it really a recreation of that Kirk hammett custom? Wrong neck shape for the period, wrong electronics (Kirk uses a pair of emg 81), why the piezo? And 9k? It makes no sense to me.

The tenon is also different!
should be short on the original, but the copy has a long one…

I think I got it cover,
but one with all black hardware might also be nice?