Opeth’s lead vocalist and guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt not too long ago had the prospect to go to the Martin Guitar manufacturing facility in Nazareth, Pennsylvania the place he was graced with the chance to play a number of historic devices.
Reflecting on the expertise in a current interview with Revolver, Åkerfeldt stated it “was like visiting the Holy Land.”
A couple of of the devices he was supplied to check out had been so outdated he feared damaging them: “I performed a guitar from the 1800s. I received scared. They held it as much as me and I saved backing away. It’s invaluable, ? I don’t know what the worth in cash can be, nevertheless it’s an artifact. I get nervous round these sorts of issues. However I did play it.”
One of the crucial notable guitars Åkerfeldt had the dignity of taking part in whereas on the manufacturing facility was Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain’s outdated Martin, although he was something however impressed.
“It was very beat up. It didn’t really feel that good. There was nothing particular about it, apart from it had belonged to Kurt,” he stated of the guitar.
In accordance with Åkerfeldt, although, Cobain’s axe has developed fairly a status on the manufacturing facility. “Somebody instructed us that guitar was haunted like individuals who had that guitar had accidents,” he stated, earlier than including: “It was only a common guitar to me.”
Åkerfeldt will not be one to often be wowed by extravagant issues, nevertheless. When requested concerning the “most rock-star factor” he has ever purchased, he stated:
“Possibly a home? Two homes, truly, however since I received divorced my ex-wife received the primary home. However is that rock-star? I’ve received a mortgage, like anybody else. The most costly guitar I’ve purchased was about $3,000, which is excessive, perhaps, however not morbid. And I’ve by no means purchased a drug in my life, other than alcohol.”
