Rock Hits
Metallica’s Kirk Hammett Is Now Auctioning Off His Custom ESP Ouija Guitar
One of the most iconic Metallica instruments to appear both on record and in live performance, Kirk Hammett’s original, customized ESP Ouija guitar is going up for auction. Hammett used the instrument for much of his work with Metallica in the 1990s.
News of the public sale arrived this week, just days after another axe from the Metallica guitarist’s past — Hammett’s natural wood finish ESP from the band’s “One” music video — went for over $100,000 at a separate auction. The Ouija guitar auction starts on April 14.
See the auction’s description of the guitar that’s made to look like a ouija board, plus plenty of detailed photos, down toward the bottom of this post. They include vintage snaps of Hammett signing and dedicating the instrument over 20 years ago.
The inscription on the back of the axe, dated June 25, 2001, reads, “This guitar has been one of my main touring and recording guitarist of the ’90s. This guitar has been used extensively on the albums Load, Reload, Garage Inc., [the self-titled] Black Album and S&M.”
The idea for the instrument’s look came to the musician around 1990, with ESP’s designers using paper art to meet Hammett’s plan before the age of widespread computer usage or email communication. And in a fascinating bit of technological nostalgia, they sent the guitar’s design to the ESP custom shop in Japan by way of a fax machine.
According to Gotta Have Rock and Roll, the memorabilia dealer facility the auction, the “heavily stage played, recording used and signed glow in the dark” instrument has had only one owner since Hammett first relinquished the guitar in 2001. It’s expected to fetch big bucks.
Get more info on Hammett’s Oujia guitar auction at gottahaverockandroll.com.
Kirk Hammett’s number one glow in the dark Oujia Board Guitar. It was around 1990 that Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett first approached ESP with the idea of a guitar that made use of graphic elements from Hasbro’s classic Ouija mystical board game. Back then, before the age of digital cameras and internet communication, creating a guitar like this took some ingenuity. They got a Ouija board, and used a combination of a copy machine and a pair of scissors to properly position the art elements on the guitar’s body. ESP faxed the result to their ESP Custom Shop in Japan, and the rest is history: the Ouija guitar became one of the most well-known and coveted signature models in ESP history. This very guitar was Hammett’s number one instrument throughout the 1990s. He played and used this guitar on stage frequently. The guitar was used extensively for the albums: ‘Load, ‘Reload,’ ‘Garage Inc.,’ ‘The Black Album’ and ‘S&M.’ This can be considered one of the most important guitars in the history of metal music. This guitar came directly from Kirk Hammett, with photographs of Hammett presenting the guitar to the current owner. Additional photographs of Hammett writing the history of the guitar on the back of the instrument are also included. The guitar comes with one of Kirk’s stage used guitar straps that he signed as well as the original touring guitar case. The value of this guitar cannot be understated as this is the most important Metallica guitar to ever surface in public auction. The guitar is in very good condition. The guitar comes with the original photographs of Hammett presenting the guitar to the current owner, the signed stage used guitar strap and the original touring case. Also comes with a Gotta Have Rock & Roll Certificate of Authenticity.