It’s been a while since Kirk Hammett bought Peter Green’s iconic 1959 Les Paul. As recording began on a new Metallica album back in May, upon which the guitar will be featured, Guitarist caught up with Kirk to see how ‘Greeny’ is faring...

The guitar has a singular aura around it as well as an amazing tone

It’s unusual for an instrument to become as famous as the players who have made music with it. In that respect, Peter Green’s Les Paul is in an extremely select group. Originally seen on stage with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, the guitar has a singular aura around it as well as an amazing tone.

Many words have been written - some speculative, others informed - about what it was that made the instrument sound so different in the middle pickup position. Peter himself said he never touched the wiring when the guitar was in his possession and that the guitar sounded that way the day he bought it, inspiring many to believe it was inverted polepieces that were at the heart of the mystery, as opposed to the neck pickup merely being reversed. In any case, the Les Paul not only found notoriety within the Bluesbreakers, it also went on to feature in many classic Fleetwood Mac recordings and live appearances.

Gary told us in an interview that Peter just called him up one day and offered him the guitar

After Peter Green mysteriously quit the music scene in the early 1970s, the guitar found its way into the hands of another legendary player, Gary Moore. Gary told us in an interview that Peter just called him up one day and offered him the guitar, initially refusing payment.

In the end, it was agreed that Gary would give him the cash from selling the Gibson SG he was currently using and the deal was done. Over the years, the guitar went on to appear on many more recordings and live dates - often at considerably higher volume levels than before.

In the mid 90s, Gary paid tribute to his former mentor with the album Blues For Greeny and once again those plaintive ‘out-of-phase’ tones could be heard on re-readings of classic Peter Green material. Gary kept the Les Paul until around 10 years ago when it was sold and the guitar was temporarily retired from public life.

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