Kirk Hammett with AXE-FX lll

Does Kirk ever use it like Peter did? The tone he got with the neck p/u that was wired ass backwards is an awesome blues sound. (I think that's how the story goes). I think he used a Sun and that Les Paul. I've only seen a few videos with him using it but he's playing hi-gain stuff. I'm inspired to dig into Gary Moore's use of it. Gary made everything sound good though.
All the time. So many people here jump on the little technicalities of ‘well actually the pickup was flipped’, ‘oh but actually the magnet was in backwards’..

The magnet is installed in the opposite direction to how it should normally be and the neck pickup is rewound with heavy formvar wire typically used in single coils. It’s a weird pickup. But none of this actually answers our friend’s question..

To answer the actual question. Yes, Kirk uses the middle position all the time live, most noticeably on the intro to The Unforgiven and the clean parts of Sanitarium. It has a completely different sound to everything else he uses that’s very distinctive if you’re listening for it, and having seen Metallica 6 times live since he first used it on the By Request Tour in 2014, I can hear when he uses Greeny quite clearly.

(And, having spoken to people at both Gibson and the boutique he buys passive pickups from, he has a bunch of exact Greeny replicas and nobody outside the Metallica camp is 100% sure whether he still takes the real one out or not, though I believe he probably doesn’t take the original anymore. The replicas all have pickups wound by Monty’s Guitars, who had Greeny for a short time before it originally went to Kirk (and very shortly after I was fortunate enough to play Greeny when it passed through the place I used to live!))
 
All the time. So many people here jump on the little technicalities of ‘well actually the pickup was flipped’, ‘oh but actually the magnet was in backwards’..

The magnet is installed in the opposite direction to how it should normally be and the neck pickup is rewound with heavy formvar wire typically used in single coils. It’s a weird pickup. But none of this actually answers our friend’s question..

To answer the actual question. Yes, Kirk uses the middle position all the time live, most noticeably on the intro to The Unforgiven and the clean parts of Sanitarium. It has a completely different sound to everything else he uses that’s very distinctive if you’re listening for it, and having seen Metallica 6 times live since he first used it on the By Request Tour in 2014, I can hear when he uses Greeny quite clearly.

(And, having spoken to people at both Gibson and the boutique he buys passive pickups from, he has a bunch of exact Greeny replicas and nobody outside the Metallica camp is 100% sure whether he still takes the real one out or not, though I believe he probably doesn’t take the original anymore. The replicas all have pickups wound by Monty’s Guitars, who had Greeny for a short time before it originally went to Kirk (and very shortly after I was fortunate enough to play Greeny when it passed through the place I used to live!))

Good stuff!!
 
:rolleyes: moronic comment is moronic.

Surprised you didn't say he wants to play a quality with crappy QC that will break its headstock off for almost no reason. Right?
First... thanks for the compliment.

Just to clarify... ‘adult’ guitars is said by me as a joke pertaining to old guitars made by Fender and Gibson... not to make fun of anybody who doesn’t use them, or to imply you’re not an adult if you don’t. I don’t buy into that thinking. I can be sarcastic, to use as humor... not to insult.

And no... I wouldn’t say what you’re ‘surprised’ I didn’t. It was a joke... maybe you’ve heard of them.
 
Am i too late to say that Kirk has been amassing a collection for a while and is in the “corksniffing” magazines with cigars etc? Lol
 
That’s totally not true.., and for metal .. IMO, I wouldn’t think so. EMG’s are more a ‘metal’ sound than an original ‘59 Paul.

PRS pickups sound different than Gibson’s. Better is subjective... but for metal, I generally prefer the PRS’s I have over my Les Paul’s.

Both are great in their own way. And just because his ‘now’ ‘59 Les Paul is a holy grail guitar, doesn’t mean it has magical properties. To me, it’s kinda weird that Kirk now owns it... maybe because he’s getting old and wants to now play adult guitars.
You wouldn't use a LP on modern metal, because of it's tuning flaws.

However I've not heard a PRS (yes they're amazingly consistent guitars) sound as good as this one. An even better one is the 'Beast' owned by Bernie Marsden. It covers most musical genres simply by varying the volume pot,
 
You wouldn't use a LP on modern metal, because of it's tuning flaws.

However I've not heard a PRS (yes they're amazingly consistent guitars) sound as good as this one. An even better one is the 'Beast' owned by Bernie Marsden. It covers most musical genres simply by varying the volume pot,
I have 12 very good guitars.. 4 different PRS’s, 2 Gibson Les Paul’s, 3 Fender Strats & 3 Tele’s. I play all styles.. hence, the Fractal is perfect for me.. modeling is better than ever.
But for metal... the PRS’s are my first choice.
I don’t 100% buy into the original ‘bursts’ are ‘better’ than the rest. That mythological mindset has been around for years. Yeah... Kirk now owns a good one that both Peter Green & Gary Moore owned... but in the end, it’s just another ‘good’ guitar. The PLAYER makes the difference. Kirk still sounds like himself.
 
I feel like Kirk now just exists to be Kirk Hammett. He doesn't really do anything for the guitar as an instrument, he just plays in Metallica.
 
not the best quality photo, but judging by the fret board I wouldn't be surprised if this was a replica
 
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