Adrian Smith might have started his Iron Maiden career with a Gibson Les Paul – alongside a rarebreed Ibanez Destroyer – but he’d soon be converted to playing Jacksons. It was a switch, he says, that came about for one big reason.
Smith and Richie Kotzen are currently on tour, supporting their second album as Smith/Kotzen, Black Light / White Noise, with Bruce Dickinson joining them in London for a run through of Wasted Years. As such, Guitarist linked up with the pair for a set of rig tours – and Smith has revealed what convinced him to trade Les Pauls for Jacksons.
“It's a slim neck,” he says of his Jackson signature guitar, the X Series SDXQM, which comes loaded with a Seymour Duncan JB humbucker in the bridge. “I don't really like chunky necks. That's why I don't like old Les Pauls. Or, you know, some Les Pauls. So the Les Pauls that I have have got slimmer necks.
“This has a flat profile that's modeled off an old Strat,” he adds of his Jackson. “When I first hooked up with Jackson, I took an old Strat to the factory, and they copied the neck dimensions, because it was really comfortable.”
Indeed, it was company founder Grover Jackson himself who delivered Jacksons backstage to an Iron Maiden show in the 1980s in a bid to tempt Smith to his camp. And Smith, struggling with many fatter neck LPs, was open to change.
His custom-built Jackson uses a Charvel San Dimas body and a Floyd Rose. His latest signature model came in December, with Iron Maiden getting a band-wide drop to celebrate their 50th anniversary.
But that doesn’t mean his rig is completely free of Les Pauls.
“When I was a kid, I had a Black Les Paul copy, and I loved it,” Smith continues. “I modded it, put Gibson pickups in it, and maxed it out as much as I could. Eventually, I sold it, and I wish I hadn't.”
In its place, he shows off a Gibson Les Paul Classic reissue, which he bought in New York: “Its neck is chunkier,” he admits, “but I'll use it for a few songs. It's just got that mojo factor.”
In related news, Smith has ruminated on his failed Def Leppard audition and what could have been, and has told Guitar World that his collaborations with Kotzen have been a success because they come from completely different worlds.
