For Chris Shiflett, being asked to join the Foo Fighters was “a dream come true”. Then, a mere 24 hours later, he found himself going on an electric guitar shopping spree with Dave Grohl – financed by Grohl’s Amex – which compounded that dream into something beyond his wildest fantasies.
In 1999, Shiflett was busy plying his trade in the punk group No Use for a Name when he heard that the Foo Fighters were holding auditions for an extra guitarist.
Though Shiflett aced the audition, Grohl quickly realized that his new bandmate would need more than his sole Gibson Les Paul for the new gig.
“Talk about a dream come true,” Shiflett reflects in a three-way chat with Grohl and Pat Smear on Premier Guitar. “Day two of being in the Foo Fighters, Dave Grohl says, ‘You’re gonna need more guitars, let’s get you some.’”
The band had just tracked their third album, There Is Nothing Left to Lose, and with its supporting tour fast approaching, there was no time to waste.
“So we drive over to Voltage on Sunset and the shops I have been going to since I was a little kid,” Shiflett continues.
For the uninitiated, Vintage is, in its own words, “Hollywood’s oldest, largest, and most established vintage guitar store”. This wasn’t going to be a humble spending spree – and it proved to be a poignant full-circle moment for the guitarist.
“Now I’m walking in there and I’ve got Dave Grohl with me, he’s got his Amex, and we’re going shopping. He’s going, ‘Get whatever you want,’ and I was so freaked out. I couldn’t even think straight, but luckily I got two guitars that are fucking amazing.”
Sadly, Shiflett doesn’t reveal exactly what he bought, but early footage of his Foo Fighters days suggests one may have been a Gibson Explorer in Classic White.
Such reminiscing got Shiflett wondering what that experience would have been like today. Grohl quickly quipped: “You’d be taking your own credit card!”
In the same interview, fellow Foo Fighter Pat Smear recalls how his debut show with Nirvana almost didn’t happen because of his guitar of choice.
In related Shiflett news, the guitarist has just released his long-awaited signature Fender Telecaster after a long process of rugged road-testing.
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