Though it’s unquestionably the most played-out, overdone bit of pseudo-iconoclastic poseur behavior, smashing a guitar is one bit of rock ‘n’ roll stagecraft that just won’t die. Think of all the great vintage axes that have been reduced to splinters over the years by overzealous Townshend impersonators. Let’s take a look at some rock ‘n’ roll auto-destruction from our interactive memorabilia website.
We’ll divide guitar smashing into two main categories – spontaneous demolition of a high-quality instrument, and contrived destruction of a cheap axe.
The undeniable lord and master of the former category is, of course, The Who’s Pete Townshend. Pete is so identified with this maneuver that his name has become a verb. Here’s a fun thing to do: go into your local guitar store, pickup some super-expensive guitar and tell the salesman you need to “Townshend” the thing a couple times before deciding to buy. See how that works out for you. Bonus points for screaming “Hard Rock rules!” while they escort you out.
Here’s our best smashed Townshend guitar. It’s a ’73 Gibson Les Paul that Pete tomahawked at the Newcastle Odeon on December 7th, 1973.
What makes this guitar extra-special is that an iconic photo was taken of Pete just moments before he reduced it to its current state. The image was used in the famous print ad for the film The Kids Are Alright – with the caption, “This Guitar Has Seconds To Live”. Check it out:
Another proponent of the “destroy something beautiful” school is Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple and Rainbow fame. Ritchie has destroyed hundreds of Fender Stratocasters over the years. It’s frightening to think what all this carnage has cost – Strats aren’t cheap. This is all that’s left of a Strat he smashed in ’82 during Rainbow’s Straight Between the Eyes tour:
Most guitar smashers had roadies that would collect the pieces of the instruments and cobble them back together for the next gig. In fact, many of our Townshend guitars have some very hasty, yet clever, repair work. Sometimes the damage is just too great, though. Here’s a Jackson Flying V that Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine reduced to kindling:
Nine Inch Nails’ main man Trent Reznor did a number on this Les Paul during the 1999 Fragile tour. Though it seems like a goner, a capable guitar tech could fix this one up in no time:
Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe is a student of both the “smash a killer instrument” and “smash a piece of crap” schools. Lately, it seems frugality has caused him to destroy cheapies, but early on, he pulverized some great basses like this custom Hamer. He smashed it and tossed it into the audience on the Theater of Pain tour in ’85. Incredibly, it was caught by someone who would later work for Hard Rock. Dig it:
These days, Nikki’s auto-destruction is much less spontaneous. He switches to a cheap Squire bass when he’s going to pull a Townshend. This one’s from the 2005 Red, White, and Crüe tour:
The Wallflowers’ Jakob Dylan can be seen playing a variety of lovely vintage Telecasters in the video for “Sleepwalker”, but when he smashes and jumps on one at the end of the clip, it’s actually this cheap copy:
When smashing stuff in the spirit of rock, anything is fair game. Gonzo journalist mega-icon Hunter S. Thompson showed this typewriter who’s boss:
Now it’s your turn. Go smash the hell out of something to show your rebellion. Or don’t. Guitar smashing is about as rebellious these days as eating your vegetables and getting a good night’s sleep. If any wanna-be rockers want to try something truly subversive, they should build a guitar at the end of the set. Much more difficult, much more impressive.
We’re going to leave you with John Hiatt’s musical lament, “Perfectly Good Guitar”. We think it sums the whole thing up quite nicely.