As is well-known in guitar circles, Kirk Hammett is currently in possession of perhaps the most legendary Gibson Les Paul to ever exist. We’re speaking, of course, about the ‘Greeny’.
Once owned by Peter Green and then Gary Moore, this particular Les Paul Standard is heralded for its flipped neck humbucker and mythical middle position guitar tone, having been used by its previous owners on countless legendary in-studio and on-stage moments.
Now, Greeny belongs to the Metallica guitar slinger, who honors its storied legacy and does its heritage justice by continuing to tour and record with it every time the heavy metal group hits the road.
He’s spoken at length before about what it means to him to own such a celebrated electric guitar, but never before has he fully divulged the circumstances surrounding the acquisition, nor has he revealed how much he paid for it.
In a new episode of Gibson TV’s The Collection, Hammett addresses the above, and recalls the conversations that took place prior to him purchasing the legendary Les Paul.
And, rather surprisingly, he says he had no interest in buying it at first, owing to the rumors surrounding its monumental price tag. When he ultimately got his hands on it via a guitar dealer friend, though, Hammett swiftly changed his mind.
“When that guitar became available, I was aware of it,” Hammett says. “I read about it in all the guitar magazines. I was aware of Greeny being out there and it being super-expensive, with a price tag of $1.5million or $2million.
“I remember reading that and going, ‘Who’s going to buy that?’ I didn’t have interest, because it seemed like one of those untouchable things.
“Three weeks later, I was sitting in my hotel room in London, I gave my friend [renowned guitar dealer] Richard Henry a call. I said, ‘Hey Richard, what have you got for me today? I know you’ve got something.’ He goes, ‘Oh, I have a guitar for you. I’ve got the Peter Green, Gary Moore Les Paul.’
“I said, ‘Hold up, I’m not going to pay a million dollars for a guitar, ever.’ He goes, ‘It’s not a million dollars, that’s a rumor.’ I go, ‘Oh, okay, bring it over.’”
It didn’t take long for Hammett to change his mind on Greeny. After playing the guitar for just a few minutes, he had a new appreciation for the instrument and its mythical middle position. And, ater being informed of its actual price tag, he just couldn’t say no.
“I plugged it into the [Marshall] Bluesbreaker, put it on the neck pickup and started playing Still Got The Blues. I went, ‘Yep, there it is.’
“I put it in the middle, and I was not really familiar with the middle sound at all… I was like, ‘This is a Les Paul – it’s not supposed to sound like that. This is amazing! I’m not giving it back to you guys.’ This all happened in a minute.
“The price was very realistic. It wasn’t a million dollars. It wasn’t half a million dollars. I hear of Les Pauls going these days for way more than I paid for Greeny. I will never let anyone know how much I paid for Greeny. That guitar is priceless.”
It took a text from Jimmy Page to finally tip Hammett over the edge and buy the guitar – which initially annoyed his bandmate James Hetfield, who branded himself an “idiot” for not snapping it up when he had the chance.
The rest of the story is well accounted for: Hammett purchased Greeny and quickly put it to work, and still uses it to this day.
Over the past few years, Greeny has even been recreated for a series of high-end Gibson and Epiphone signature guitars.
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