As the lead guitarist and a founding member of rock group Metric, Jimmy Shaw has decades of experience playing all manner of guitars — but there's no instrument he'd rather play than his 1961 gold Gibson SG.
In this episode of It Goes to 11, meet the electric guitar that Shaw describes as an "absolute monster." At first glance, what you'll notice about the instrument is its metallic-gold paint job, complete with scuffing and marks — all which up its visual coolness factor.
As Shaw explains in the video, many guitars of the era were actually painted using car paint from car manufacturers. "So, this one definitely looks like that — I mean, this is like a Mustang, or a Dodge Dart," he adds. "If I had a '72 Dodge Dart that looked like that, I would be breaking down in winter a lot."
The guitar's custom detailing doesn't stop there; it still has its original vibrola, with Art Deco vibes that Shaw says remind him of the Chrysler Building. Still, that's not the most important reason why it's such a special instrument.
Shaw goes on to say that it's got a powerful, expressive and complex sound that allows him to access any type of musical emotion he wants to when he's on stage.
"I've really found that [with this guitar] — more than, I think almost any of the other ones that I've played — there's just zero hurdle between me and the instrument," he describes. "So whatever I'm playing, thinking, feeling, it just kinda comes out.
"It becomes a pure extension of whatever song you're playing, you know?" Shaw adds. "And that's kind of, ideally, what an instrument should be doing for you."
Check out the video above to get to know more about Shaw's all-time favorite instrument, and keep checking back to GRAMMY.com for more episodes of It Goes to 11.
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