Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry has written some of the greatest and most recognizable riffs and leads of all-time. That’s an indisputable fact. Right now, he’s playing them nightly on the “Let Rock Rule” tour. Slash with Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators are supporting them, and it’s turning out to be 2014’s most undeniably rocking tour.
Given Perry’s six-string gravitas, AllAxess.com really wanted to know on which guitar it all began for him though. So, we asked him in this exclusive piece by Rick Florino.
“I actually still have my second guitar,” he laughs. “First, I had a Silvertone acoustic student model. I don’t know what happened to that. Then, I got an off-brand acoustic after that. I still have that somewhere. It’s a bit busted up. It’s got some good cracks on it. It’s not a very good guitar. The neck is way too big. It’s got more of a classic-style radius. It’s not a good rock ‘n’ roll guitar. It’s an acoustic for acoustic-style playing and maybe some blues-based stuff.”
That’s not the only classic axe he’s packing in his arsenal though.
He goes on, “I’m actually surprised by the number of guitars I have left from the Seventies. I put in appendix in my upcoming book, Rocks: My Life in and Out of Aerosmith [Out October 5], with a picture of all the guitars I played in the seventies. There are seven or eight that I still have the originals. I replaced the others with guitars that were as close to the originals as possible.”
Make sure you see Aerosmith and Slash this summer…it’s bound to be remembered as a historical jaunt. How could it not be?
And of course if you’re curious what types of guitars are best suited for you as a beginner, well we’ve got you covered there too!
You can check out the full interview over at ArtistDirect.