“Greeny is my Excalibur!”: Metallica’s Kirk Hammett says he’s still in love with that famous guitar

In the latest edition of The Metallica Report podcast, the band’s lead guitarist Kirk Hammett talks about the inspirational qualities of the famous guitar that came into his possession 10 years ago - the 1959 Les Paul Standard named after its former owner Peter Green, who sold it on to another legendary player, Gary Moore.

“I’m having a long running love affair with a guitar called Greeny,” Kirk says. “Every day she’s really great to me. I play her every day. Riffs fall out of that guitar pretty much every single day.

“I love that guitar! Somebody said about three years ago - they pointed at me and pointed at Greeny - and said, ‘That’s your Excalibur!’ And you’re absolutely right - it is my Excalibur. I really feel like that guitar was calling for me and I answered the calling. And once that guitar and me got together, great things started to happen for both of us! It’s a magic piece of wood. It’s blessed! It’s beyond words. I can’t even begin to fully describe the guitar’s effect on me.”

Kirk goes on to describe his role as custodian of this unique instrument. “People have known about that guitar longer than I’ve known about it,” he says, “and that’s not a guitar that is content to be in any kind of retirement situation. That guitar has gone through Peter Green and Gary Moore and now it’s come to me.

"I’ve played it on the last two Metallica albums and I’ll continue to play it. And when people say, ‘Can I play Greeny? Can I take a picture of it?’ Absolutely! Cos who am I to deny them? It’s the people’s guitar! I just came into the situation as a caretaker.”