Metallica Frontman James Hetfield Discusses His Early Guitars

2018-07-04

Story by Charles Ken, photo by Herring Herrin

James Hetfield of Metallica had an early love for the Flying V guitar

Metallica frontman James Hetfield has been through more than a few guitars during his career, and in a new episode of his “Guitar Talk” video series on Metallica’s official TV channel, Hetfield discusses his history with the six-stringed instrument. As it turns out, Hetfield was a major fan of the white Flying V as a kid. In the video, he talks about how much he wanted the coveted Flying V during his youth.

“(Like) most kids who love certain bands, you just want to get the same guitar that guy’s playing,” Hetfield said in the video. “I wanted a white Flying V forever. That was it. I mean, c’mon! The Scorpions! Judas Priest! It was a heavy metal guitar.”

Hetfield finally got his prized Flying V, but it wasn’t quite what he expected. He found that the shape of the instrument wasn’t very comfortable for his playing style. After some searching, the ESP Explorer became Hetfield’s No. 1 guitar of choice. It’s still his main guitar to this day.

In other news, Metallica will kick off a new leg of their WorldWired tour in North America in September. The tour will begin Sept. 2 in Madison, Wisconsin, and run through a March 13 date in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After the tour winds down, the metal band is expected to begin work on their follow-up to 2016’s “Hardwired…to Self-Destruct.” For information on Metallica’s upcoming tour dates, head to Metallica.com.

Charles Ken
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Posted by Charles Ken | Metal, Music, Rock News

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