“No-one’s seen me with a Tele before. I wouldn’t normally be caught dead with one – I think they’re ugly”: Mikael Åkerfeldt explains why a Fender Telecaster was the only guitar he used on Opeth’s new album

Opeth visionary and Swedish prog-metal legend Mikael Åkerfeldt has been seen with various guitars throughout his 30-plus-year career.

From PRS models to Les Pauls, SGs, Flying Vs, Strats, and yes, even a B.C. Rich Mockingbird, Åkerfeldt's sizeable collection has so far excluded one staple model: the Telecaster. However, this all changed with Opeth's upcoming album, The Last Will and Testament, where Åkerfeldt used only one guitar for the entire recording.

“All my parts were recorded using a Telecaster Custom from the ’90s, with a humbucker in the neck and single-coil in the bridge,” Åkerfeldt reveals in the final issue of Total Guitar.

“No-one’s seen me with a Tele before. I wouldn’t normally be caught dead with one because I think they’re fucking ugly! But that’s the only guitar I used. It doesn’t hum when you raise the gain.”

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The guitarist explains that he actually used this same Tele when recording the original score for the 2022 Swedish Netflix series Clark, directed by Jonas Åkerlund – known for his work on Queens of the Stone Age, Blondie, Lady Gaga, Lenny Kravitz, and Ozzy Osbourne music videos. However, this is the first time he’s ever used the Fender solidbody on any Opeth material.

“I love the feel of that Tele; it’s so comfortable I didn’t feel the need to bring anything else. I also knew if it didn’t work, Fredrik [Åkesson, fellow guitarist] would have a bunch of shit for me to try.”

Another secret weapon came in the form of a beat-up '60s Marshall cabinet, which Åkerfeldt quips has “probably never been serviced”.

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“I asked the Rockfield Studios owner if one of my favorite English prog bands, Spring, used that cab on the one album they recorded. And he said they definitely did. It sounded fuckin’ awesome.”

According to the Opeth founder, it “looked like somebody had taken a dump on it”, but the tone was unparalleled and played a pivotal role in shaping the prog behemoths' 14th studio album.

The Last Will and Testament is released on 22 November 2024 through Reigning Phoenix Music.