QUESTION OF THE WEEK: WHICH MODEL OF GUITAR IS THE MOST METAL?

Banner Designed by Cysquatch

Welcome to “Question of the Week,” a (sometimes) weekly debate amongst the MetalSucks staff regarding a recent hot button issue.

This week’s query was suggested by a reader identifying himself simply as “Andy” —

WHICH MODEL OF GUITAR IS THE MOST METAL?

The MS staff’s answers after the jump.

Well, duh. This is obviously still the most metal model of guitar that has ever, and probably will ever, be made:

Talk about sonic excess in its purest form!!!

-Axl Rosenberg

Gotta be the Les Paul. No guitar has lasted through as many eras; from the jazz meanderings of Les Paul himself to Paul McCartney, to Pete Townshend, to Jimmy Page, to Slash, to flat-brimmed cap hardcore dudes to today’s metal players in all sorts of sub-genres, the Les Paul has proved the most durable, adaptable and most METAL guitar of all time. And you just can’t fuck with those tones.

-Vince Neilstein

Dimebag Darrell Guitars made by Dean Guitars are the only guitars metal musicians should play on. Anyone using anything else is a hipster communist.

-Gary Suarez

Jackson = instant metal for me. Gibson I typically equate with rock stardom more than metal (despite my beloved post-metallers pounding on Les Pauls and Tony Iommi creating the whole shebang with an SG), and BC Rich or Washburn generally strike me  as metal in the same way a studded wristband or prolifically-patched denim-jackets are: trying too hard to achieve the look, like marking off items on a checklist. So there’s something inherently and organically metal about pretty much anything Jackson does: those smooth fretboards, evocative but pragmatic designs, angular headstock… or maybe it’s just seeing Dave Mustaine, Randy Rhoads (well, via pictures and archival footage, seeing as I’m not THAT old), or Scott Ian performing lightning-fingered theatrics with them in my formative years. But they seem to be the brand I most associate with awkward, acne-scarred dudes with long, barely-kempt hair hunched over a guitar for 8 to 12 hours at a time, petrified of women because they’re intimidating and don’t like metal. A Les Paul or an Explorer can easily be employed by metal dudes; a guy with a Jackson can be assumed to be into metal.

-Sammy O’Hagar

Fender Strat. I have an uncle that collects guitars (he actually has one of Eric Clapton’s old guitars) and us nieces and nephews were taught to stare at Strats in awe and make fun of the Gibson Flying V.

-Leyla Ford

Karl Sanders’ KxK Warrior V. There’s nothing more metal than being able to impale people while playing death metal without a pause in between the two.

-Dave Mustein

Okay, kiddies, now it’s your turn! Weigh in with your answer to the question of the week below.