“You see that shape and it’s undeniable. It’s like, ‘This isn’t going to be country or pop’”: Lzzy Hale on her love of the Explorer
When picking a guitar, what matters most to you? It could be electronics, tonewood, or even weight. For Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale, shape is also important, and the pointy lightning bolt zig-zag of the Gibson Explorer makes it her go-to guitar.
Hale is the first female ambassador for Gibson, and has an affinity for pointy, rock ‘n’ roll shapes. She also has a very sharp looking signature Voyager model with Kramer – part of the Gibson family of brands – which is covered in a Black Diamond Holographic Sparkle finish that dances under stage lighting.
READ MORE: Halestorm pick their five most underrated rock and metal bands
In a new video interview with Guitar World off the back of Halestorm’s appearance at Black Sabbath’s final show and following their album launch for Everest, Hale explains why she loves her trusty and worn-in Explorer so much.
“My guitar here is my first signature model that we ended up doing back in 2011/2012. And [it has a] mahogany body, mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard. It used to be Alpine white; I don’t smoke, but it’s definitely got that cigarette yellow thing going on. All of the dark grey is just from all the leather over the years. It’s been loved to death,” she says.
“Originally I was a Les Paul girl and then I fell in love with the Explorer shape while we were making our first album out in California. I ended up getting my first Explorer off of Craigslist. This poor guy, he had to sell it because of medical bills. I went to go see him and he was so incredibly excited that it was gonna actually get played and go out on the road.
“What I love about the Explorer shape is that it doesn’t matter whether you’re front row or in the nosebleed section [at a show]. You see that shape and it’s undeniable. It’s like, ‘okay, this isn’t going to be country, this probably isn’t going to be pop. This has to be rock.’”
Fellow Halestorm guitarist Joe Hottinger adds: “There’s three great shapes for hard rock and heavy metal: it’s the V, the Explorer, and the SG.”
Watch the interview below:
Halestorm’s sixth studio album Everest is out now. The band are currently touring across Europe – you can get tickets via the Halestorm website.
The post “You see that shape and it’s undeniable. It’s like, ‘This isn’t going to be country or pop’”: Lzzy Hale on her love of the Explorer appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
