Me and my guitar: Mastodon's Bill Kelliher
The prog-metal master gives you a guided tour of his LTD Sparrowhawk
When Bill Kelliher switched from Gibson to ESP, little did we realise he’d produce two signature models in the space of a year, the second of which is the Sparrowhawk, which you can see in the Mastodon guitarist's hands above.
We caught up with Bill at NAMM 2017 to get the lowdown on the new model that he calls “his baby”, how he came up with the new body shape, his tunings and signature Lace Divinator pickups.
The Military Green Sunburst Satin-finished bird will cost $1,703 when it swoops in later this year. Mastodon, meanwhile, are prepping their new album, Emperor Of Sand, out on 31 March.
Get the MusicRadar Newsletter
Want all the hottest music and gear news, reviews, deals, features and more, direct to your inbox? Sign up here.
Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism, and has spent the past decade writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as a decade-and-a-half performing in bands of variable genre (and quality). In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.
“After every take, Mutt would say, ‘Check the tuning, man!’ This went on and on for almost a year. One day, I just gave him the guitar and said, ‘You tune it. I can’t take this anymore!’”: How legendary producer Mutt Lange drove the Cars half-mad
“I was shocked. That was the exact sound that I had been chasing for years”: Nirvana tone sleuth Aaron Rash solves his epic tone mystery and finds the guitar that Kurt Cobain used for In Utero