You missed Krist Novoselic from Nirvana smashing his bass at the '92 MTV awards where he tossed it in the air and caught it with his face.

The guy in the video is an Indian singer. This actually caused a huge uproar in India because intentionally breaking your stuff is considered very disrespectful here

Mike Mccready bartering his guitar into the pedals was painful

I work in the industry, and saw Green Day smash their gear at RFK in the 90's then come back for an acoustic encore. I was talking with an industry friend 20 years later and found out that he works with the rental house who's drum sets were destroyed there and up in Philly the next day. They had no idea their sets weren't coming back. Rich dick move, IMO.

Never been a fan of destroying instruments (or even modifying limited quantitiy ones)...but I also fall into the "if they bought it, they can do whatever they want in it." mindset.

My one and only guitar smashing experience I saw from the stage. I was the bassist for a band and we were playing a Battle of The Bands. The stage was a converted semi flatbed, so we were about 6ish feet above the ground. At the end of our set, the guitar player, Jerry, drags his amp to the front of the stage, stands on it, and then throws his guitar straight into the air. The thing falls straight down to the ground below, probably about 20 feet all told, and lands face first in the dirt. I had no idea he was planning on doing that, and my guts turned to ice, because not only was I the bassist, I was also the guitar tech. That guitar was Jerry's baby. It was HEAVILY modified inside and out, and it was never not at his side. He literally took it everywhere with him and played constantly. Jerry was also chronically broke. So the situation was: 1) Jerry is going to expect me to fix his guitar after what he just impulsively did. 2) I already know that he 100% just MESSED his baby up BAD...most likely far beyond my capability to fix. 3) He can NOT afford a new guitar. 4) I am NOT buying him another because I am still paying off the bass and amp I bought for the band. So I think to myself "Oh my god...I think Jerry may have just killed the band..." And yeah, that ended up being our last gig. I did fix it but it never did play the same ever again. On the plus side we did win The Battle of The Bands.

heh, I own the Dimarzio humbucker from Kurt Cobains' guitar he smashed in Seattle when they were on tour for in utero, my friend Mike Dees opened for them with his band Fitz of Depression and scavenged the pickup after the show and later gave it to me as a gift. Don't care if anyone believes me.

Blackmore's guitar smashing is part of an epic ragefest that went on for like ten minutes, where he dropped several guitars off the stage and smashed his amps. It's a joy to behold. My band were local heroes for awhile in and around our town. About a year after we broke up we did a "reunion" gig where our bass player smashed his Yamaha (a decent bass, actually for the price) at the end of the show, after our cover of "I Love Livin' In The City" by Fear. The crowd exploded in roaring applause, and one dude ran on stage to grab parts of the bass, then skittered off. It was pretty awesome.

I am unsure the context around a guitar smashing in Coachella. But I think the intention is different. The clash's photo is Iconic because the bass is being smash in a burst of energy. Like the energy has build up so much that there is no valve to release it. What do you do? Turn primal. People gets excited over that shit. Now, if you are having technical difficulties and smash your guitar in frustration, that is not positive energy, that feels more like a tantrum than anything else.

I saw James Hetfield kick the shit out of an acoustic guitar on a stand, during the Hardwired tour. It kept going out of tune (cos raining) and he got pissed.

When Hendrix set his guitar on fire it was a meaningful sacrifice ritual

I broke my leg in 2001, was wheeling around in a desk chair when a squirrel came thru the dog door and attacked me. I grabbed the closest thing, my first guitar, a 1982 Arbor Les Paul copy, and started swinging it. Broke into splinters. 🤣

The Spinal Tap version would be pitching the idea of repairing a broken guitar on stage.

Rockers smashing their guitars onstage is kind of an equivalent of rappers showing off their money in music videos. "I'm a rich douche", but arguable worse, cause the money now also get wasted

Best guitar smashing incident is from Tarantino's Hateful Eight when Kurt Russell smashed a 145-year-old Martin acoustic (not knowing it was valuable). You have to love it when actors improvise.

Regarding that clip of The Who, Keith Moon didn't tell the band he set a charge in his drumkit. He also used about 10x the recommended amount of gunpowder because, well, he was Keith Moon! Townshend's hair actually caught fire, he was deaf for 20 minutes and probably concussed. Moon caught shrapnel from his cymbal in his arm. ( you can see him.grab his arm & run off stage).

What Pete Townshend would do, is piece the guitars he rendered to splinters back together and save the good ones for regular play and use the repaired ones for smashing. Otherwise, it would have cost him too much money to maintain. That's also the reason why he played Fenders for the longest time, they are easy to repair. Likewise, Paul Stanley used prop guitars with their necks sawed almost all the way through, so they'd snap on impact.

I remember reading an old Total Guitar magazine and there was a bit about the 'worst' interviews and guests they had ever had. A guitarist was mentioned. (I think it might have been Linkin Park's but I could very easily have that wrong - it was so many years ago ) The photgrapher wanted him to smash a guitar for the cover photo and he didn't want to because it was useable and he felt a kid could use it if no one wanted it anymore. When I was a teenager I read that and thought he was kinda lame. Now I'm older and I really respect him lol

I think Ritchie had "stunt" guitars he would smash during the Rainbow years. He would switch from his primary stratocaster to a stunt stratocaster for an encore song, and then smash it (and maybe a second one in the process!)

Cobain’s gear destructions were the most visceral and intense that I ever saw.

I think it all started with Townshend . They were playing a small club with a low ceiling and he accidentally rammed the neck through the ceiling. It got such a reaction that he started doing it on a regular basis. He said it was “auto destructive art” Not to be left out, Moon joined in too. I agree that it can look really cool if done sparingly and under the right circumstances, but that example you showed from Coachella was pretty lame.

I was in teen punk band - the neck had already given way on my pawn store no name flying v. The strings were so high during rehearsal that I cut loose and broke it in half. I was working at a guitar factory and took it apart and we glued and clamped the neck joint back together. Took it home, reassembled and setup and played it for many years in many gigs to follow. 35+ years later, it still plays and sounds amazing - mohagany still showing where neck broke. Maybe gave it some mojo? I'm older now and would NEVER smash a guitar again, even it its not repairable you can still repurpose it as wall art.

Paul Simonon said he regretted smashing his good bass rather than his backup. Never found one he liked as much.

I'm 47, so I've seen quite a lot of guitar-smashing by now - but I have to be honest, it was always very off-putting to me. Not in an "OMG I'm so offended!" kind of way - but I just never liked it, for two reasons. One is that I feel like it's almost disrespecting the instrument, and it makes me think that "that guy is in it for the chicks, not the music" - which I know is a bit silly of me, but it's just that I can't imagine ever grabbing my first crappy, half-broken electric guitar and smashing it into the ground. I still take care of that piece of crap, and I would cry if I accidently knocked it over and broke it 😂 Another reason, and I know this sounds so holier-than-thou, but I just remember being a kid who desperately wanted a guitar, knowing it was going to take a lot of work and patience to be able to get just that piece of crap guitar I mentioned before - and then some rich dude just smash them every night, right in front of my nose. It's a bit petty of me, I know, but it almost felt like being hungry, and watching someone take one bite from a giant plate of food and just throw the rest in the trash. So - guitar smashing doesn't offend me, it's their money to waste, but I'm just not a fan 😂

Paul Stanley playing a gorgeous Ibanez and then walking the side of the Marshall cabinets to switch it out with a roadie for the cheap strat knockoff to smash. Lamest thing I’ve ever seen, but I was glad he didn’t destroy a fine instrument.

Matt Bellamy world record holder for most guitars smashed

I smashed a broken classical acoustic once, I thought it was junk, but then my friend asked for it back... I felt so bad I gave her my spare electric guitar and a little Marshall practice amp, she was happy about it, but I will never break another instrument. In fact, I like building guitars now, so a bad guitar can be a project.

It's not rock n roll if it's overdone. I still think the L7 tampon incident is the most rock n roll thing ever and I'm certainly glad that isn't repeated again and again by others.

I would always pass an instrument down to someone before destroying it. Now, if it’s beyond playability, might be another story.

Stone from Pearl Jam destroyed his at one of the first Lollapalooza before they were huge. It was pretty Epic.

Yeah I've never really enjoyed people smashing Guitars. I've made a few in my time & it seems pretty disrespectful. On one hand someone might give their left kidney for a decent guitar and on the other some idiot just smashes them...

I maintain that the only time I ever think a "guitar smash" has actually worked was Jimi Hendrix's Monterey guitar burning. It felt like a beautiful ritual or something, unlike guys who needlessly destroy instruments because it's "cool". Hendrix's felt like it had a real purpose.

Good point with London Calling cover. Absolutely iconic

I have a very similar story to you. 1979, huge KI$$ fan, had a short scale 70s bass and smashed it on Dads cement garage floor after I bought a full scale. Harder than you think. Took a lot of work to smash it. Wish I hadn't now. I didn't realise at the time that Paul $tanley had his 'smashing only' guitars pre neck cut 3/4s of the way through. Man I wish I still had that little bass now. Would never do it again. But then I saw Wendy O Williams from the Plasmatics, chain saw her guitar in half and I started giving my cheap little black strat a sideward glance, but I'm glad I couldn't get the chainsaw started. Still got that strat.

It seemed Trent Reznor made it his mission to destroy something on stage during every performance

I remember a documentary about the “Moscow Music Peace Festival,” where multiple American metal bands played in the late ‘80s. Nikki Sixx from Motley Crue smashed his bass and tossed the pieces into the crowd. Some guy was interviewed and said the crowd was horrified. Amateur musicians in Moscow at the time could barely find/afford strings, never mind a beautiful, expensive instrument. Nikki was unintentionally tacky by doing this, sort of living up to the “spoiled American” stereotype. But still…kinda cool.

I've always hated guitar smashing. I always remember when I was 14 with no money to buy even the shittiest electric guitar. It always pisses the me off.

I have 2 favorite guitar smashes number one is Jimi's monterey sacrifice number two's that one time Krist played baseball with Kurt's guitar

3:00 that guitar was kicking your ass for being cruel. I am glad it taught you a valuable lesson.

They must smash the Jimmy Page limited Double Neck Gibson :D.

Watching him talk about guitar smashing while holding a pristine LP Custom... I held my breath the whole time.

I just couldn’t. I could never plan on doing something like that. However, if the Rock Gods take notice of me one day and during a particularly worthy performance they bless me with a rock-trance, it might happen…

We grew up to poor to be abusive to fine guitars. Trent Reznor at Woodstock. The flying Les Paul Billy Howerdel plays. I still cry out '' Guitars aren't supposed to fly!''

Honestly, I feel like doing ANYTHING from the “rockstar” era is insanely difficult to make look cool.

A lot of rock stars like Hendrix have designated smashing guitars with break away neck that is gonna put the guitar back together to be put back together, just like the Paul Stanley thing

Well, some brands have guitars that are playable but not good enough to be sold so sometimes these are given to artists to play a gig with with the understanding that the guitar needs to be smashed before the end of the show. Usually it's a bigger named artist who has an endorsement with that brand. I have killed an amp with my Tele and I ended up taking the brand logo (Fender badge from a failing GDEC) and put it on my Squier. The tip of the headstock still has the scratches from it. I smashed an acoustic one time (it really was not playable) and to be honest it was not as cool as you think it would be. Now I don't bother with crap gear, I just throw it away or don't accept it.

In order for guitar smashing to occur, there has to be paying customers and cameras present.

No mention of Hendrix at Monterey? Man, you dropped the ball on this one.

My fav will always be Hendrick lighting his guitar on fire.

In regards to that electric feeling that shot up your arms you need to find the The Center of Percussion when swinging your axe. Look up the video “The Professor - Center of Percussion”, dude was friends with Einstein and did a bunch of really informative videos back in the day where he keeps things simple while using props so they are easy to follow, he has a bunch that apply to music theory of making sounds as well.

Poor guitars they don't deserve to be destroyed like that.

I think one of the coolest examples of guitar smashing in the modern era has to be A Place To Bury Strangers. They go through 2/3 guitars in a set, but they always glue them back together afterwards which results in some really cool and weird guitars

I inherited an classical guitar from my sister and I put metal strings on it. The top started warping and over time it became un-tuneable. One day on a road trip we decided to crush it on the rocks ...because that would ... rock. It bounced back like it was nobody's business. Took about 3-4 hits to kill it.

The dumbest thing to do is smashing a guitar..what we love about players is the way they play and that 's it

My favourite (attempted) guitar-smashing was a televised 2015 show by the Manic Street Preachers in Cardiff. Guitarist takes the bass, and repeatedly tries to smash it... but it just doesn't break. So he shouts out "Toughest guitar in the world!"

John Hiatt - Perfectly Good Guitar, nice tune and on point

7:12 - Hehehe, wouldn't smash that guitar of yours too! But I wouldn't smash any guitar anytime, destroying stuff of value (at least two thousand bucks in your case, but my 550€-guitar is also valuable enough to not smash it) is ignorant and degenerated, I'm totally on your side! The final sketch was on point, kudos! If I got the money to smash guitars after every gig, I would give them to some young people who want to play but cannot afford a guitar instead.

You missed out that the Clash album was a copy of Elvis Presley's debut studio album cover

If you're feeling it that intensely and in turn breaking your instruments is cathartic for you, I'm all for it!

Greenday's was punk rock solidarity!

One of my concert highlights was Tre Cool of Green Day smashing his entire drum kit and then setting it on fire on stage. It was wicked.

I had a really cheap guitar as a teenager that I could never get to work. I traded an old KISS t-shirt for it so, it wasn't an expensive piece of gear. I always remember telling my best friend that I would smash it like Paul Stanley someday. I remember when I finally decided to do it in my front yard. I lit that cheap piece of junk on fire and then tried smashing it as I thought it would look cool swinging a guitar that was on fire. The flames quickly went out but I smashed that sucker and felt badass doing it. I don't remember feeling the shocks in my hands but I was like 14-15 years old and was probably too stupid at the time to notice it. I still smile when I think about it. Good times 😁

Really enjoy your videos

I smashed a pearl white SG one night at a new years gig, splintered wood and electronics everywhere, it was epic 🤘 The band had the bar kick me out and I had to pay for it 😥

Only do it when you have a sponsorship lol I wanna know how many guys, after turning their guitar into kindling the night prior, had to barter an electric guitar at a used gear music shop for tickets to their show that night.

Check out John Hiatt's song Perfectly Good Guitar about this very subject

i used to smash my 1990 series 10 a lot, smashed it at a school talent show, basically threw it 10 feet in the air, and some other theatrical swingings and whacks, let the floyd rose fall out when it hit. also kicked in a peavey amp speaker at the same time, but the speaker was already blown, so it was all prop gag really. i beat the heck out of that guitar, only managed to break off the high E tuning peg throwing it across my bedroom into the wall, so i had to re-drill that. but the frets and everything else are still in great condition 30 years later, except that the floyd rose was diy wrongly installed to begin with, so i plan on fixing that one of these days. recorded 7 records with that guitar.

Having done it myself and seen other local bands at the time do similar or worse, it was always a massive "Fuck You" at somebody and it always got a reaction. In my case it actually resulted in the other band being banned from the venue, weirdly and the venue owner LOVED what we did. It is a great release, but the "planned" destroying of equipment that you see larger bands doing every show is cringey because it's not a statement. Plus if it's a Fender type design, they actually survive better than you'd think. My attitude has always been that we shouldn't baby our guitars or put them on pedestals, they are tools and if you're afraid to damage them, you won't get the best out of them.

I never understood the smashing the guitar thing even back then. I always thought “just give it to a kid after the show” if they did that instead of smashing them we may have way more bands now

When I see someone destroying a musical instrument it tends to piss me off.

I smashed a classical guitar back in the day. It wasn't on stage or in front of anybody, but when the body shattered it was such an awesome feeling. That guitar had been so abused over the years. At one time I had put electric guitar strings on it. I'm amazed that alone didn't destroy it. I will only add that I never was impressed watching someone smash an electric guitar. But seeing an acoustic guitar get smashed is something to behold. Just watch Weird Al's "You Don't Love Me Anymore" and you'll know what I mean.

I've always hated seeing people smashing guitars. I just know how hard I worked for my first guitar. It was a cheap piece of junk but I still wouldn't have smashed it. I still have it and still maintain it even though it sounds like ass. Now some of that all digital dj laptop shit, that's a different story.

One of the most heinous acts of guitar breaking I remember as a kid was the end of Warrant's video for Down Boys. They are playing all these nice, custom BC Rich guitars and at the end of the video, they all throw all their guitars up in the air and they come crashing down. As a teen I couldn't believe they did that to those nice guitars. When I got a little older and I paid closer attention, I noticed they were just throwing some cheap BC. Rich guitars (probably used ones at that) so it didn't hurt as bad.

I don't care how much money I had. I'd never smash one of my guitars.

"Grimes??" You say that as if we've heard of it

Seeing a video of Jimi lighting one on fire=Next Level. I smashed my 1st guitar like that also in the garage. Garage sale guitar for $10. McCready smashed his amps and pedalboard

Im 57, been seeing guitar smashing for decades. Now, as a person in desperate need and want and desire of a guitar, I kind of hate it.

The magic of a smashed instrument was lost to me when I learned people were breaking the same guitar every night and having their guitar techs reassemble it after each show to be smashed again the next night (that also makes breaking it a lot easier). It really is just theater. I'm not against it, but once it becomes part of your nightly production, the intended spirit is lost. The Who's explosion on the Smothers Brothers was spontaneous, shocking, negligent, and dangerous. Their audience was uncomfortable, scared, and didn't know how to respond, I love everything about it. Hendrix was having a BBQ with his guitar on stage. You're going to give a man on that much heroin a bottle of lighter fluid in a crowded room and encourage shenanigans? Fantastic! Whatever that is, it transcends theater because you could really die. Billie Joe Armstrong is going to be charged with manslaughter for skewering a fan with a guitar neck someday, and I can't wait! The world needs rock stars. Keep your audience on their toes. Ever been to a Dillinger Escape Plan Show? Noone is safe. And it's great!

I saw Tesla open for Poison in the 80s and one of the guitarist threw an SG custom in the air intending to catch it but missed and the neck snapped off. I wanted one of those sooo bad at the time. I almost cried.

Also at coke chella … some of the bands commented on how the crowd was way more into selfies then the actual music … coke chella has become a selfie festival instead of music festival

No, I've never smashed a guitar. Never had the heart look at it like this. Any guitar can be saved one way or another. I'll never liked seeing someone destroy something that could be used. Or given or donated to someone or an organization

I've always found it feeling kind of contrived and awkward when someone smashes their guitar even when a small artist does it and now it's way too overdone. I saw a band once that smashed a cheap looking guitar and it shattered all over the stage and then he started ripping apart what didn't split with his hands. It looked really cool but looking at the pieces, you could tell how incredibly pre-planned it was. It looked like someone sawed part of the way through the guitar earlier so it would easily break off into clean cut pieces. At least fans had a souvenir to take home. People were talking about AP Dhillon smashing his guitar because he did it after a tribute for a murdered singer and because instruments are important to Indians due to how intertwined music and religion is in India.

I remember in the 80's when Guns and Roses were up and coming Slash would buy cheap Les Paul copies to smash at the end of their shows. I personally think it's sacrilegious. I'm off the opinion if the instrument is close to death then maybe, but if it's a perfectly good instrument then it should be donated to charity.

Craziest thing was when Keith Emerson would smash up his Hammond B3 Organs. Those things are BIG and weigh around 200 lbs. He would stick knives in them to effect the sound. But he also beat the Hell out of them. His organ tech & the Hammond company hated this. Sometimes they would try to fix the organs. These giant things are harder to replace than a guitar or bass.

I once smashed a guitar that was supposed to go to the junkyard anyway. I used itbas an archery target and tzen smashed it. Later i found out that it was a classical guitar from the 50s that goes for a few hundred to almost a thousand bucks on reverb 😬 But it was already broken beyond repair

The other thing that annoys me about smashing guitars is that part of it is the 'its my property, therefore I can do whatever i like with it, including smashing it'. But thats fucking daft-its like the musical equivalent of scratching your own car. That and a musical instrument isnt just an inanimate object, its a means of getting your emotions out. And while it isnt completely unknown, a painter smashing his canvases after painting a masterpiece, or a writer ripping up the manuscript of his fantastic new novel isn't impressive -its just being destructive for the sake of it. I get the whole 'primal human energy' thing, but its still stupid.

You’ll never catch me smashing a guitar. Not while I can sell it on Craigslist.

Love the shirt! Wrestling is cool again!

In ‘87 when I was a senior I picked up a pointy Hondo from a pawn shop for like $70, it was just terrible. I really only bought it as a joke, I already had a nice Kramer Baretta that I loved. The Hondo was a lost cause and would never stay in tune so I decided to sacrifice it to the metal gods. A friend and I took turns throwing it from my second story balcony to try and get it to stick into the ground like a javelin. The damn thing wouldn’t break, but we couldn’t let it win. We then drove to the Piggly Wiggly parking lot up the street (the lot was deserted since it was late at night) and proceeded to place the guitar on the ground under a rear wheel, punch the gas and make it shoot across the lot at 60mph shattering against a curb…that did the trick.

You can't blame the metal for this one!🤘

The same complaints were made back then. A lot of people like to think they're Rock & Roll but few are.

Nirvana being one of my biggest influences I quite like the idea of smasher guitars. If you’re feeling like smashing an instrument to to a pawn shop and buy the cheapest one they got, grab it at the end of the set and just *abuse it*

You are one the few youtuber great musician who likes KISS please do more vids on the appreciation of their music

pual stanley was endorsed by gibson and they gave him a bunch of gibson marauder's to smash, because the marauder was one of the few times gibson made a bolt on, budget friendly guitar and supposedly paul didn't care for them, he just needed a bunch of guitars to smash

Never was a fan of guitar 🎸 smashing lol just as you stated buddy, I've loved this instrument since I first picked it up. If I didn't like one I'd just go back to the store and swap it for one that worked better for me. Now that my band days are behind me and I'm collecting more gear than ever. Definitely wouldn't destroy any of it. Probably get a cheap guitar and amp to give lessons, but that's about it.

The first guitar smash I ever saw in concert was when I was 8 years old and it wasn’t a rock band either. It was Chris Martin from Coldplay. After their (mixed reviewed) 5th album Mylo Xyloto came out I was lucky to see the tour. On that tour they did a version of one of their songs from their 2nd album (and my personal favorite Coldplay song of all time) God Put A Smile Upon Your Face where it was a heavy grungey version and probably the hardest Coldplay ever rocked! At the end Chris Martin would throw his fender telecaster deluxe in the air and it would come crashing down on the ground and show a slow motion instant replay on the Jumbotron. Years later I found a video of the exact concert I went to and when I watched the guitar smash clip years after being so speechless of seeing it in real life I noticed the neck had completely snapped. It didn’t separate from the body but it was definitely cracked. Looked like the titanic!

I've never been a fan of smashing guitars. First it felt weird as an aspiring musician short on cash to see a perfectly good instrument being destroyed for street cred points or something. And second I would have a hardtime voluntarily breaking any crafted objects anyway. Whether it's a guitar, a chair, or even a pen, it just feels wrong somehow to me.

Ive smashed a bunch of super strats in the 90’s but I play gibsons and fenders now. So far only broke 1/4 gibson headstocks, total accident. But ill chalk up to karma

Similar to yours, Mike, I had this crappy little classical guitar with half steel strings on that my sisters friend found in the dump and gave it a pink paint job. It was my first real guitar, so when I got another one from my parents on Christmas, I immediately went outside with the pink one and just smashed it every where. Broke first try, surprisingly! Haven't broken one since, though.

The Plasmatics were a classic punk act that was full force.