The one-of-one custom SG that Gibson CEO Cesar Gueikian built from scratch and loaned to Kirk Hammett to play during Metallica’s set at Black Sabbath’s farewell show, Back To The Beginning, is officially heading to the auction block – and it’s in pretty good company.
Gibson and its charitable arm, Gibson Gives, have joined forces with Julien’s Auctions for its Played, Worn & Torn auction – an annual event that puts some bizarre, brilliant, and holy grail lots under the hammer.
Expect super-rare guitars, amps, and all manner of rock ’n’ roll ephemera – and this year in particular, some true Gibson rarities.
You want bizarre? This year’s event gives Elvis fans the chance to by the King’s service bayonet from his time in Germany. Brilliant? How about a Gibson Custom Explorer, in Ebony, full-on tuxedo mode, signed by Cheap Trick? That is just one of the Gibson lots supporting its Gibson Gives fundraising drive.
There is also a stage-played Kramer Lzzy Hale Voyager, with Hale's signature guitar signed and resplendent in Black Diamond Holographic Sparkle finish. The Halestorm frontwoman has also signed the guitar case.
This is also your chance to own a custom Dave Petillo semi-hollow once owned by Danny DeVito, and the Penguin has signed it too.
But back to the Gibsons. There are some special artist-signed Les Pauls; a Les Paul Custom ‘70s signed by Rise Against and played onstage by Zach Blair, and another signed by Gibson signature artists Sergio Vallin of Maná.
And then, headlining the auction, you have those unique electric guitars made by the Gibson supremo himself, the SG CEO#4 and the Flying V CEO#8. Both have a finish that Gueikian developed himself, Ghost Burst. Adam Jones of Tool gave it its name.
“I sent him the picture of the finish, the picture of the guitar already finished, because I really I knew he would like the finish,” says Gueikian. “And he replied immediately saying, ‘I love that finish. It looks like a ghost burst.’ And so I told him, ‘That’s the name.’ And that’s what we call it.”
You’ll notice the difference in the finish between CEO#4 and CEO#8. Gueikian tells us that he had always envisioned it as more of a perimeter burst, and has perfected it on the latter model, and in CEO#9, another of his custom builds.
Gueikian says he knew that one of the Gibson artists would be into this and Hammett declared his interest.
“I created it as a tribute to Tony Iommi, the father of heavy metal, who defined the genre with a Gibson SG,” says Gueikian. “After the show, Kirk signed the guitar, and it remains untouched since strings included. The guitar also comes with my backstage pass from that historic event.”
Seeing Hammett play it at Villa Park, honouring Black Sabbath, playing the guitar he made, was kind of mind-blowing all things considered.
I created it as a tribute to Tony Iommi, the father of heavy metal, who defined the genre with a Gibson SG
“To have him, obviously, the lead guitarist of Metallica, with everything that he and Metallica have accomplished, but also a close friend of mine play it [was incredible],” says Gueikian. “But then also that he played it at Back To The Beginning, the tribute to Black Sabbath where everything started, and paying tribute as a result of that to Tony Iommi, who is the reason why I play guitar. I picked up a guitar because I heard Black Sabbath when I was 10 years old.
“All of that coming together, the guitar I built with the help of all of my staff, in Kirk’s hands for Hole In The Sky, Metallica’s song in the set, paying tribute to Tony, Ozzy and Black Sabbath, it was amazing, and strange, and humbling, and epic.”
Now, you can bid for that guitar. It’s officially a piece of metal history now, and Hammett has signed it too.
If CEO#4 was intended to be a cross between a Les Paul Custom and an SG, with its figured maple top, plus the Supreme-style inlays, then CEO#8, applies this hybrid design to the Flying V Custom. Again, this is a stage-played instrument, but this time it was Gueikian who broke it in in front of a live audience, joining Mana onstage at the Bridgestone Arena, Nashville
It’s a particularly gnarly build that gives the V a Les Paul Custom headstock, and you can check it out and the Gibson lots – and bid if you’re feeling flush – over at Julien’s Auctions. Bidding is open now with the auction event happening on 20-21 Nov at 10:00am CST, Nashville.
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