“There’s something special about picking up a guitar years later and thinking about the hours you put in”: Zakk Wylde says you should never sell the gear you started with
Guitarist Zakk Wylde believes that an artist should never forget where they came from – and one of the easiest ways to do that is to hang on to your early gear.
Despite making a name for himself as Ozzy Osbourne’s chief axeman and fronting Black Label Society, the guitarist has never forgotten the instrument that started it all – a 1981 Gibson Firebrand SG in Pelham Blue. “I still have it,” he reveals in the latest issue of Guitar World. “I sold it but managed to buy it back, which was an amazing feeling”
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“I think it’s important to keep your early gear if you can; there’s something special about picking up a guitar years later and thinking about the hours you put in,” he explains. “Those first guitars are what set you off on the path. I have friends who say they wish they still have some old toy or something, and I always say just go and hunt one down on the internet! Reconnect yourself, you know?”
What was so special about Wylde’s Firebrand SG in particular? Well, as the guitarist explains, it was the “first real ‘quality’ guitar” he ever got his hands on. “I did so much of my learning on it,” he reflects. “I bought it at Red Bank Music [in New Jersey] back in the day. There was a lot of publicity for these models at the time; I remember the Gibson ads saying, ‘A Firebrand for under a grand’. It was a fantastic guitar, though, and a major step up for me.”
“Before I got it, I had a bunch of guitars that weren’t anywhere close to the SG,” he continues. “There was a copy of a Gibson L6 with action that was about 10 feet off the neck. I had a Fernandes and a couple of Electras in crazy shapes and some other stuff that was pretty crappy. The ones I didn’t hang on to, I tried to pick up in later years on eBay or Reverb; some I managed to buy back from the guys I’d sold them to, so I have all my childhood memory guitars one way or another.”
As Wylde explains the history behind his first ‘quality’ guitar, it’s clear why it’s so important to him. It not only symbolises his novice years, but it also reminds him of the people and shows that helped him progress along the way. “My guitar teacher at the time, Leroy, recommended the guitar to me,” he says. “He was a fan of SGs; he thought the double cutaways and access to the top frets would suit the stuff I wanted to play. I wasn’t really playing shows when I got it, more parties and jamming in the basement. I spent a ton of time woodshedding…”
“I never changed a single thing on it – it’s completely stock,” he insists. “I still pull it out from time to time at home; it’s a bit of a lost classic in the Gibson range. Another thing about it was the colour, which I liked so much that I’ve used it on a few guitars since then as well as on some of my own Wylde Audio fiddles.”
Wylde has spoken out about never selling your first guitar in the past. During an interview with the Musicians Institute back in 2019, he said: “It doesn’t matter if the guitar is the biggest pile of garbage on the planet, it’s the connection that you have with that guitar… It has a life of its own.”
While Wylde is precious about his Firebrand SG, he has happily sold other guitars that hold less emotional significance to him over the years. Back in 2023, Wylde was flogging signed, road-used guitars while filling in for Dimebag Darrell on the Pantera celebration tour. Fans who opted for a VIP package were entitled to a Wylde Audio Barbarian guitar in Orange Buzzsaw, Genesis Bullseye or Purple Blizzard finishes, as well as a meet and greet with the guitarist.
The post “There’s something special about picking up a guitar years later and thinking about the hours you put in”: Zakk Wylde says you should never sell the gear you started with appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
