I believe this was the guitar Kirk used for Fade to Black and Sanitarium on the Damaged Justice tour, you can see it on the Seattle 89 performances. It’s absolutely insane that you were able to get an opportunity to play it!

A little Les Paul/SG correction: Les Paul didn't "hate" the new body shape of the LP guitars; Les preferred the classic single cut shape because it felt more sturdy. Les' name was removed after 1963 due to his contract ending with Gibson while he was in mid divorce with Mary Ford (re-signing with Gibson would only complicate the divorce). In 1964, the new LP guitars got the new name "SG", then when Les came back on board with Gibson in 1968, the demand for the single cut was gaining momentum and they re-released it with Les' name on it again. However, the "SG" was so popular by that time with it's own fan base, they kept the SG as a stand alone guitar and the rest is history. Fun fact: The 1961 Les Paul (SG body shape) is THE ONLY Gibson guitar that has been produced every single year since it's inception!!!!!!

2:02 Just want to add Kirk Hammett owns this 1959 Gibson Les Paul, previously owned by Peter Green and it is currently his favorite guitar.

Trogly watching this while punching the air saying why couldn't I live in Ireland too see this beautiful Guitar

Really enjoyed making this video with you KDH. Thanks for the opportunity!

Thx KDH. Was fun to see and hear about this guitar. ♥

Thanks for this cool video KDH. That is one awesome piece of history. Excellent playing as usual sir!

Your greatest video yet. That was awesome! Thank you!

Awesome. Very happy for you, must have been a mind blowing experience!!

Damn, now that was pretty figgin' amazing. Thanks for sharing, and thanks to the generous owner for being so cool!

Love the channel- visiting Ireland in a few weeks and am hoping to check out some of the music stores you’ve been featuring. Thanks for the great content!

Great stuff man keep it up! Love the no nonsense style as always.

Your content just gets better and better! Love it

Your videos have been getting better and better.

Awesome Interview, wow!!!! Thanks to the man for sharing his story and the guitar itself.

I’m no expert, but I have listened to a lot of “experts” talk about Les Pauls…as far as I can tell, KDH, you nailed it on the history, details and specs…well done my man!!

wow!!! now that is a special guitar indeed grats to you sir for getting the chance to play it and doing a great job i must say cheers m8

Great video as always! Greetings from Finland.

Right on! What a opportunity man, how cool was it to jam Metallica tunes on the guitar that kurt played em on

That's awesome, such a beautiful-looking guitar and has such a cool history. Definitely jealous you got to demo such a cool piece of heavy metal history

thanks for the vid, learned a lot! Your enthusiasm is cool too

Wowsers!!.. that’s an incredible piece of history right there!!

Pretty sweet guitar, and the video that goes with it is the cherry on top!

You always have great content, Sir! Keep Rocking!

Excellent video, thanks for sharing. You played all the Metallica stuff spot on, it sounded great!

I like how respectful and concise this is.

That's awesome thanks for sharing . I'm going to have to get out my 86 custom and jam it one more time again. 👍😎

pretty cool, man! pret-ty cool! thats crazy how met had an internal barcode tracking system in the 80's! way ahead of their time!

I know its gonna be a good day when i see an upload from KDH

Thank you so much for sharing this!

Awesome video🤘 For Whom The Bell Tolls was the song that got me into metal, or music really. Still one of my favourite song ever 🤘😁

Fascinating video, thanks!

That's a piece of history right there. I would even argue it's a National treasure

Very cool. Great video, too. Trogly will be drooling over this one!

3:43 they're worn out lol if it wasn't such a significant guitar I'd refret it or just give the frets a crown again. But being what it is it should be left alone as long as it's still playable. I'm in the camp of thinking that frets, while not as expendable as strings they are a consumable playing surface that is designed to be replaced.

Great playing on this video. You killed it.

Great video! I really enjoyed this. great job!

one of the best guitar youtubers in the world, great video man

Killer video! Keep it up man.

Man you nailed that solo, great video. Cheers from Mexico

Very informative and your playing is excellent and inspiring. I remember finding a fretless wonder at a guitar shop and thinking that blues bends were just never gonna happen.

I work at the auction company that sold the Kirk Hammett "One" guitar the gentleman in the video spoke of. I got to see it as it was being packed for shipping. It was a beautiful piece! The unfinished wood looked so soft. Very exciting to see that guitar in person.

Still one of my favorite solos of all time!! That and Don't Tread On Me!! I used to rewind and listen to those solos over and over and over and over as a kid.......!🙌🎸🙌

This dudes channel is getting better and better

WOW!!!!!!!!! Awesome guitar!!!! Thanks for sharing!!!!

Awesome Content as always my friend. I bet you enjoyed the sheet out of playing that Black Beauty, sounded incredible 👍

Man, that is a piece of music history right there, and you got to play it!

great video!

oh, cool!! i caught that tour 3 times!! great shows!!

That would be awesome to own or even just play that axe!! Great episode!🤘🏾😎🤘🏾

Great to see Laurence back on the channel!

Killer video, Dude. So interesting.

Good playing man.

The God That Failed solo must be one of my favourite parts on the whole black album. I love that song. Well played. If only I had a spare quarter of a million quid...

That’s a cool find and I love the story

I hope you took time to appreciate just how unique that opportunity was. Good work.

You crushed the damn solo bro, well played

Love a good story as much as the next fella but its still just an old les paul. Great vid as ever sir

Great video . Very interesting 👌

Wow. That was a cool story. As a kid I was so much into this album. Even seeing this makes me humble somehow.

This was a cool video to watch man! Great job on "The God That Failed solo as well. It really showcases how Kirk wrote memorable solos. I went to Berklee in Boston and some guys dug Kirk, and some shunned him. I've always been a Metallica fan, so I didn't care! 🎸🎼

Cool video!

Interesting story, and nice playing as always.

Great content

How cool for you to become a part of this guitar's history too. 👍🏻

KDH just found your channel man,,no body is doing the topics you do keep the channel up..could u do an episode on how everybody shits on jackson guitars now?I loved six string tvs episode on why the hate for b.c. rich and figured youd have more info on jackson guitars.

I've had the pleasure of playing a couple of 70s Les Paul Customs and they were beautiful playing guitars, made me feel like a much better player than normal

You've hit the big time bro!!

That guitar is cooler than a snow mans frosty bits! Thanks for sharing its story.

Dude that's bad ass 🤘🔥🤘

2 videos containing Trogly references and then this. ❤️ Would be nice to see a collab 🔥

Sounds awesome. That's a treasure

les paul customs come with a maple top since its reintroduction in 1968, cool vid... and guitar!

Might I add, this is probably what you can see on the most badass concert captured by Metallica (or one of 3 besides '91 Moscow and '92 San Diego) which is '89 Seattle!! If you watch Welcome Home (Sanitarium) and Fade to Black from that show, there's a good chance you're watching this very guitar in action!

Cool video 😎

I absolutely love LPs but I've had a couple surguries and like you mentioned how heavy they are. I found my perfect guitar a few years ago when I saw Herman Li's signature at a local guitar shop, I wanted to try it bc of how thin the body was and the fact that it was a Floyd Rose trem system appealed to me than the price at the time was $799, not cheap by any means but honestly for a signature model that checked all the boxes for me was huge. It's been my main guitar since 2016, I also use an Ibanez Jem and everytime I go from the Egen to the Jem it feels like I'm picking up a boulder lol the weight difference is so significant!

Thanks for sharing this bro. Really fuckin cool

I really enjoyed your channel and all information you do on all guitar stuff and Thank you, I love Dimarzio Super Distortion on all Les Paul Customs and Les Paul Standards to and Studios to, and what gauge strings are you using on the Custom? Thumbs 🆙 Great Video. Thank you so much.

I remember Kirk playing this guitar at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana for the ...And Justice For All Tour 1988. I remember it well because this show was on Thanksgiving Day and my mother wasn't to happy about it. Needless to say, the show was amazing. Metallica didn't have an opening act so they jammed over 3 hours! (and my mother eventually got over it lol) Right on and rock on! \m/

My brother had a beautiful Birds Eye Maple Les Paul 🤩

Kirk had an identical ESP same color and block inlays, it was for sale a few years ago.

Lucky you, KDH! I have a "fretless wonder" SG made in 1967. It's so easy to play. Never understood the need for jumbo frets. And I also forgot how great "For Whom the Bell Tolls" is. "Helpless" is my favorite Metallica song.

Excellent guitar

Wait, do you now own that guitar? Holy sh*t KDH. Even playing on it. That guitar is legendary. I’m assuming otherwise it’s now homed in Ireland?

Just a plain old black Les Paul custom is still in my top three favorite guitars.. I mean Les Paul customs are my favorite guitar it's literally just the finish that puts it in three although I always used to be my first favorite you really can't go wrong with a black Les Paul custom

I'd be very surprised if this Custom were an all Mahogany body. Great video.

I remember in the late 90s I found out James used Earth 3 straps and I looked everywhere for one with no luck. I completely forgot about those straps till this video, so cool.

Interesting how some players have an easier time with lower frets and feeling the wood, while others scallop the board and use jumbo frets to feel as little wood as possible

I love when the lacker starts to yellow.. especially on a silver burst

Kirk is the reason I started playing guitar. He is an all-time great!

Didn't Lawrence have that Strat Jimmy Page played? I think i saw that on here? Good stuff Kelan, thanks man.

I’ve a 77 wine fretless wonder Lovely guitar Kirk used the LP for mostly Fade to Black on the justice tour

I thought that guitar part on "For Whom the Bell Tolls" was played at the 11th position. It is the same shape as the outro to "Children of the Grave" (Black Sabbath).

Love your videos, but man I hate that story about Les Paul being disgusted by the SG body shape. He appeared on several promotional pics with it too! I'm certain that the story about "hey, I'm getting a divorce so we need to end the contract Gibson, so I don't want that too split in half" makes much more sense.

well that is cool!! Thanks for sharing this video!!! Happy birthday James Hetfield (today) by the way! !!

So as a metal player usually we like jumbo frets.. and I do like jumbo frets but I have played fretless wonders before and honestly there's something about them that are really fun to play on

Very cool

seriously one of the coolest guitars ever

Thanks for sharing this piece of Metallica history! I’m guessing the reason why that ESP strat copy went for so much is because it was used in Metallica‘s first music video.. which is a pretty big deal since they refused to make any up until that point!

That guitar sounds awesome as fuck