“I asked, ‘Do you remember what the word was on the headstock?'”
After much anticipation, Metallica’s highly awaited album, “72 Seasons,” was finally released last week, ending four months of eager anticipation that began with the surprise release of its lead single accompanied by eye-catching artwork.
The enigmatic cover of “72 Seasons” had electric guitar enthusiasts scratching their heads, as they were intrigued by the sight of a charred and shattered guitar resting on the floor. It sparked a flurry of speculation and questions among fans, who were left pondering the mysterious backstory behind the damaged instrument.
Fans wasted no time in speculating about the significance and origin of the six-string depicted on the cover, with various theories swiftly circulating. Many pointed to the headstock as a crucial clue, suggesting that it resembled a Fernandes LE-1 Stratocaster copy from the late 1980s based on the evidence at hand.
The intrigue grew even more when fans considered Metallica guitarist Hammett’s previous association with the Fernandes brand. Hammett had famously played a Fernandes FST-13 guitar, affectionately nicknamed “Edna,” in the early 1980s. This connection added further fuel to the speculation about the guitar on the cover of “72 Seasons” possibly being a Fernandes LE-1 Stratocaster copy, making the argument even more tantalizing.
Fans had resigned themselves to the possibility of never uncovering the truth about the enigmatic guitar, but now Kirk Hammett has finally addressed the speculation head-on.
In a recent interview with Guitar World, Kirk Hammett was questioned about the charred guitar depicted on the cover of “72 Seasons,” and his response left all the previous theories obsolete. Surprisingly, Kirk Hammett revealed that he was just as curious about the guitar as the fans were, indicating that the mystery remained unsolved even for him.
Kirk Hammett explained:
“It was some $200 guitar, which I admit doesn’t really answer your question.”
“The photographer who took the picture isn’t a guitar player. He just said it was some cheap instrument he found and then burned. I asked, ‘Do you remember what the word was on the headstock?’ and he said, ‘Oh, no!’
He continued:
“If people have identified it as a Fernandes, that’s great, because I’d actually like to know, too!”
“People like you ask me these sorts of questions, so I need to have a decent answer for them. But it wasn’t meant to be any sort of statement or anything.”
“There’s no fuckin’ conspiracy or whatever. It’s plainly and only a burnt guitar that ended up being part of the artistic concept for the album… that’s it.”
“I’m guilty of all that kind of stuff myself.”
“I really understand.”
“For a long time, I couldn’t figure out what string gauges Jimi Hendrix used until (producer) Bob Rock found out and sent that information over to me. It was a mixture of two or three sets that they made back in the day.”
“And when I found out, I felt like a geek, you know? I’m just as guilty of collecting the same geeky and nerdy info that exists out there.”
