Kirk Hammett
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| Kirk Hammett | |
|---|---|
| Image:Kirkhemmettwien07.JPG Kirk Hammett performing with Metallica in Vienna in 2007.
| |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Kirk Lee Hammett |
| Born | November 18 1962 San Francisco, CA, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | Heavy metal, Thrash metal, Hard rock |
| Occupation(s) | Guitarist Songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, Bass, Sitar |
| Years active | 1979 - present |
| Label(s) | Megaforce, Elektra, Warner Bros., Music For Nations, Vertigo, Universal, Phonogram, Mercury, Sony |
| Associated acts | Metallica Exodus |
| Website | Metallica Website |
| Notable instrument(s) | |
| ESP KH-2 and KH-3 Signature models | |
Kirk Lee Hammett (born on November 18, 1962) is the lead guitarist in the band Metallica. In 2003, he was ranked 11th in the Rolling Stone's The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
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Born in San Francisco to a Filipino mother and an Irish Merchant Marine father, he later attended De Anza High School in El Sobrante, California when his family moved to the East Bay which is where he met Les Claypool from Primus. As a child and teenager, he showed great interest in his older brother Rick's extensive collection of guitars, Rickenbacker Basses and hard rock records, including material by Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Status Quo, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and UFO. One of his biggest influences was Jimi Hendrix, and Hammett was quoted as saying he wanted to be Jimi. He has also performed parts of Hendrix's songs during his guitar solos. He took up the guitar for the first time at the age of fifteen, beginning with a Montgomery Ward catalog special and little more than a shoebox with a four inch speaker for an amplifier. After picking up a 1978 Fender Stratocaster, Hammett attempted to customize his sound with various guitar parts, eventually falling for a 1974 Gibson Flying V.
[edit] Pre-Metallica
Hammett's musical interests eventually drew him into the fledgling thrash metal genre. In 1982, he formed the group Exodus with vocalist Paul Baloff, guitarist Gary Holt, bassist Geoff Andrews, and drummer Tom Hunting. He played on Exodus' 1982 Demo. Exodus was a crucial early player in the Bay Area thrash movement.
[edit] Metallica
Hammett was invited to join Metallica following the dismissal of the band's original lead guitarist Dave Mustaine for substance abuse in 1983. This was prior to the recording of Metallica's first album Kill 'Em All. At the time Hammett was taking private guitar lessons from the now-famous Joe Satriani. In 2002, he became the first inductee into Guitar World magazine's "Hall of Fame". He has recorded and toured with Metallica for 24 years.
Though he is primarily Metallica's lead guitarist, Hammett has written and contributed riffs for Metallica songs since the mid-1980s (particularly in the 1990s during the Load era). One of these riffs, used in "Enter Sandman", was written in a hotel room at 3:00 am, and became one of Metallica's most popular songs. It was the first track and first single on Metallica's self-titled "Black Album" and was ranked 399th on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. Also the riff for 'Creeping Death' was originally an Exodus riff that Kirk took with him to Metallica. Kirk has often been criticised for his extensive use of the wah-wah pedal in his solos (particularly on more recent albums), but he insists, "The wah-wah is an extension of my personality". He also once said, "They'll have to cut off my leg if they want me to stop using the wah-wah pedal." He usually adds harmonies to his solos, as seen on Welcome Home (Sanitarium), Disposable Heroes and The Thing That Should Not Be. Kirk wanted to have guitar solos on Metallica's 2003 album, St. Anger, but drummer Lars Ulrich and producer Bob Rock thought that the solos did not sound right in the songs. He later himself admitted, "We tried to put in solos but they sounded like an afterthought so we left them out".
[edit] Personal life
Kirk Hammett has been married twice. His first marriage to ex-wife Rebecca ended in 1990, during the recording of the Black Album, which consumed the band members' lives for almost an entire year. He now resides in San Francisco with Lani, his second wife, whom he married in 1998. On September 29th, 2006, Kirk and Lani had a son, named Angel Ray Keala Hammett.
[edit] Other appearances
In 2006, Hammett voiced himself on The Simpsons ("The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer"). He also provided various voices on the Adult Swim show Metalocalypse, including a two fingered fan ("The Curse of Dethklok"), The Queen of Denmark ("Happy Dethday"), and a Finnish barkeep ("Dethtroll")
At Mid-January 2007, ESP Guitar Company has announced the release of a 20 piece Limited KH-20 Guitar, to celebrate 20 years of relationship with Kirk Hammett (based upon the KH-2 guitar with some modification). There will only be 40 guitars made and the price has been set at $9,999. Picture
[edit] Equipment
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[edit] Guitars
- ESP M-II "Zorlac". This was the starting line for the whole KH series. It features vertical skull & crossbones opposed to the horizontal ones featured on todays KH's, and an upside down Jackson Guitars style headstock which is what Kirk originally intended. However, Jackson Guitars was not thrilled about this, and threatened law suits if this model ever hit stores. So the headstock was changed to a typical ESP but flipped upside down. Picture Picture
- ESP KH-2 (Main touring guitar) Kirk's signature model guitar is based upon the modifications he made to his M-II. (Nicknamed "Skully" because of the skull and crossbone inlays) Picture
- ESP KH-2 M-II - Boris Karloff Mummy I graphic (Kirk's favorite guitar. Kirk owns the rights to the image on it and it will NOT be released by ESP. Picture
- ESP KH-2 M-II - Ouija. This guitar contains 2 spelling errors on it. It sports the words "WILLIAM FUED TALKING BAARD SET" but it in fact should say "WILLIAM FULD TALKING BOARD SET"
- ESP KH-2 M-II - Boris Karloff Mummy II graphic. Same as the Mummy I but with hieroglyph inlays. Picture
- ESP KH-2 M-II "Fuck You" KH-4. It's the same as a typical KH-2, but with a pearloid pickguard, dot inlays, a Roland midi unit (for roland vg8/vg88), and the words "FUCK YOU" written at the 12th fret. Picture
- ESP ESP MII Skully 7 String. Though it belongs to Kirk, James mainly used it in the studio for St. Anger. It doesn't go on tour, rather than stays home with Kirk. Picture
- ESP KH-3 Eclipse - Pushead Spider graphic. It is taken from a classic les paul jr. shape with floyd rose and EMG pickups. Picture
- Gibson Les Paul Custom 1968 also known as "Black Beauty"; Kirk also uses regular Les Pauls at some performances Picture
- Jackson Randy Rhoads Model RR1T custom made from the shop specifically for Kirk. It is usually tuned one step down from standard e, and used for the song Sad But True. Picture
- ESP KH-1 Flying V Picture
- ESP KH-2 M-II - Skull & Crossbones II
- ESP M-II Red Frankenstein graphic
- ESP M-II Skull & Crossbones I
- ESP WaveCaster Blue- Wave Machine (Only 3 in existence.) Picture
- Fender Stratocaster 1998 - American black and green Stratocaster
- 1974 Gibson Flying V (Used mainly for recording the first four albums. In 1989 he replaced the stock pickups with EMG 81s. Was the third guitar he ever owned.)Picture
Kirk Hammett's first guitar was a cheap Montgomery Strat copy. The pickups had gold aluminum foil on them, and there wasn't even a name on the headstock.
Metallica's "St. Anger" DVD rehearsals features a new guitar which has "Invisible Kid" written on it, which he uses in the song "Invisible Kid".
[edit] Amplifiers
- Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Rackmount Amp
- Mesa Boogie Strategy 400 Stereo power Amp
- Mesa Boogie Tremoverb 2x12 Combo Amp (used for warmup)
- Mesa Boogie Triaxis Pre-Amp
- Mesa Boogie Quad Pre-Amp
- Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+
- Mesa Boogie Mark IV
- Randall RM100 amplifier
- Marshall DSL and TSL Amps
[edit] Cabinets
- Mesa Boogie 2x12 Speaker Cabinet
- Mesa Boogie 4x12 Speaker Cabinet
- Marshall 4x12 Speaker Cabinet
NOTE: All cabs are loaded with Celestion Vintage 30 speakers.
[edit] Pickups, effects and other equipment
- EMG 81 pickup at bridge and neck positions
- Digitech Whammy pedal
- rack-mounted Dunlop Cry Baby with expression pedals (he is also known to use the Dunlop Crybaby Classic)
- EMB Audio Remote Wah system
- Ibanez Tube Screamer TS-9
- Line 6 MM4 modulation & DL4 delay effect stompboxes
- Lovetone Meatball pedal (used on I Disappear)
- Jim Dunlop Tortex 0.88mm custom picks (green)
- Ernie Ball Power Slinky (.11-.48) strings
- custom Levy's strap
- Radial Tonebone Hot British distortion pedal
[edit] Discography
[edit] Exodus
[edit] Metallica
[edit] References
- ^ "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time", Rolling Stone, August 27, 2003.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
| Exodus |
|---|
| Rob Dukes | Gary Holt | Lee Altus | Jack Gibson | Tom Hunting |
| Paul Baloff | Steve "Zetro" Souza | Rick Hunolt | Rob McKillop | Michael Butler | John Tempesta | Paul Bostaph | Kirk Hammett |
| Discography |
| Studio Albums: Bonded by Blood | Pleasures of the Flesh | Fabulous Disaster | Impact is Imminent | Force of Habit | Tempo of the Damned | Shovel Headed Kill Machine | The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit A | The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit B |
| Live Albums & Compilations: Good Friendly Violent Fun | Lessons in Violence | Another Lesson in Violence |
| Related articles |
| Primus | Metallica | Exodus photo gallery |
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Categories: Articles needing additional references from October 2006 | Articles that may contain original research since December 2007 | Wikipedia articles needing rewrite | Cleanup from December 2007 | All pages needing cleanup | Articles needing additional references from December 2007 | 1962 births | American heavy metal guitarists | California musicians | Filipino Americans | Irish-American musicians | Living people | Metallica members | People from San Francisco | Exodus (band) members | Eurasians
