Jim Root has owned a Gibson Custom Shop guitar for 10 years but never opened the box

Jim Root is known for his affiliation with Fender, but judging by his latest string of Instagram posts, his electric guitar collection reaches far beyond the big F.

On January 13, the Slipknot guitarist kicked off his Insta spree with a photo of his guitar room with the caption, “Did a bit of a clean up in the guitar room. Going to post some pics of guitars I opened up when I did it.

“Eventually I’ll put some of these along with some pedals and amps up for sale (need to clear up some space) if I do so it will be through Reverb and I’ll announce when when that time comes.”

He followed up with a shot of a white Explorer-style Jackson Kelly, before posting several Jacksons, ESPs, a battered Tomahawk Strat and a Gibson LP Junior in TV Yellow over subsequent days.

But perhaps the most intriguing item in his treasure trove of six-strings is the mysterious, 10-year-old, unopened Gibson Custom Shop box that appears in his latest post.

Captioning the post, Root wrote: “10 years. Let’s get this one out of the way. 1. I didn’t realize the serial number was 000004. 2. Ship date May 2010. So. 10 year anniversary... seems like a good reason to open it, right? Oh. Wait. It’s ‘21. ‘20 just shouldn’t fucking count. So yeah. I stand by it. 10. Nah. I don’t think I will. I like this game. 

“I like the mystery of that guitar... Hidden away in its original packing. Could be the best guitar I ever played. Could sound the best. Could have that 'thing'. Could not. Could just be another Firebird that happens to be Silverburst. Maybe I’ll never know.”

This isn’t the first time Jim Root has shown the mysterious box on camera. Back in 2014, in a FRET12 The Sound & The Story DVD, he revealed that it does in fact house a Silverburst Firebird V.

Keeping it in the box all these years appears to have been Root's plan all along, it seems. Speaking in the DVD, he said, “It's been this long – if I keep it in the box for, say, 10 years, who in the world has found a brand-new vintage Gibson still in the box? I know that's getting a little bit comic book nerd on it, but…”

Will Root ever open that box? You'll have to wait and… read, as we'll let you know as soon as we get a first glimpse at its contents.