I can’t believe he bought ‘Greeny’ which already had headstock breaks and other battle scars, and it fell and broke the headstock yet again. That guitar is like a wounded war vet that was also in a WWE death match and had more surgery than an old Hollywood celebrity, yet it’s still considered a holy grail guitar to rich guitar nerds.
I've had a good first hand look at that guitar before Kirk Hammett owned it, and was fortunate enough to be able to spend a morning comparing it with some of my favourite Les Paul Juniors, and a Special, as well as a really nice '54 Gold Top that I know well. (Probably early 2013, who knows? Definitely a while back.)
Greeny is less "Frankenstein" than anyone might imagine. Gary Moore's car crash headstock damage was clearly a bit of a jigsaw puzzle to repair, but it's really beautifully done, and very stable. The neck and bridge pickup position sounds are just killer. I was really surprised that the bridge pickup is is both more aggressive and soulful than my "best" Les Paul Junior (a 1955 example). Both pickups have a remarkable 3-D quality about the tone. And then when you flick to the middle position, the out-of-phase thing is another world (unless you turn both volume controls up full, and it's better than average, but kind of dies on you). When Beato says "oh wow" as Kirk turns the knobs on fading notes, that's the opening of Pandora's box. Also, action, intonation, playability - all were beyond reasonably perfect, just exactly spot on. (I was at the home of possibly the finest electric guitar luthier that ever lived when doing all this. I never actually asked, but I'm guessing he will have at least checked over and tweaked truss rod and bridge saddles. God Bless the late, great Terry Morgan.)
Holy grail to rich guitar nerds? Maybe. Clearly way out of reach for most of us. It's a slightly oddball feeling '59 Les Paul if you have handled a few. Definitely an original, but a quirky feel to the neck shape compared to most (in a good way), and while most are beyond good, Greeny really has quite a unique "voice". I'll be surprised if Kirk sells the guitar in his lifetime. I have some really nice '50s electric guitars, but that one would be a keeper had I been fortunate enough to be able to afford it. Greeny is genuinely an outrageously good 1959 Les Paul.
I feel like Kirk has great taste from the bits I have watched so far, and his Fractal experience echoes mine (although I thought
I was late to the party. Seems I wasn't the last!) Hopefully his tech has been switched onto some of the more useful firmware updates, and might even encourage Kirk to twiddle a few knobs in the near future. It's definitely getting easier.
Liam
Not a fan of that position two tone at all.
