Smashing Guitars for International Guitar Month

Hey readers,

As western as Quentin Tarantino's 'The Hateful Eight' is, there are some rock 'n' roll vibes scattered throughout as well. Perhaps one of the most memorable scenes is where Kurt Russell's character smashes a guitar. Not just any guitar though, turns out the guitar he destroyed was an authentic 1870s antique Martin guitar loaned by the Martin Guitar Museum. The guitar was supposed to be replaced in the smashing scene for a copy but some poor fellow forgot to make the switch. Hey, at least Tarantino got a genuine reaction out of the performance. 

Accidental guitar smashing isn't just for Tarantino films. The culture of violently destroying guitars on stage stemmed from Pete Townshend, guitarist of The Who. In a 1986 interview with Rolling Stone magazine Townshend revealed that he was playing with The Who at a club in west London when his guitar accidentally hit the ceiling and broke.

“I was expecting everybody to go, 'wow, he's broken his guitar,'” he said. “But nobody did anything which made me kind of angry in a way and determined to get this precious event noticed by the audience.”

He then proceeded to break the guitar, smashing it on stage and throwing the bits around as if he meant to. By 1966 guitar smashing became a Townshend trademark and a major part of the The Who's performances.

“I had no idea what the first smashing of my guitar would lead to, but I had a good idea where it all came from...” he said.

Over the course of his career, Townshend has smashed everything from Fender Stratocasters to Gibson Specials. However, he’s not the only guitar God out there to include guitar smashing as a part of his performance. Although he might have started the brigade, a series of wood flying and strings snapping were to follow as a way to make a performance legendary.

In honor of international guitar month, here are five other guitarists who could split a guitar into pieces to top off their performances.

Kurt Cobain, Nirvana
The runner up in guitar destruction went as far as destroying amps, speakers and cabinets at the end of his performances.

Ritchie Blackmore, Deep Purple and Rainbow
Ah no one smashes a guitar quite like Ritchie. His shining moment can be remembered back in 1987 when he broke his finger in the process of destroying one of his axes during a show.

Paul Stanley, Kiss
Smashin’ since 1975, Stanley knows how to end a killer performance with an ultimate beating to his guitar.

Eddie Van Halen, Van Halen
Not a regular when it comes to destruction but he had a killer smash session during the band’s summer 2004 tour in Tucson, Arizona.

Yngwie Malmsteen
Perfecting the art of destruction one smash at a time, this Swedish guitarist really took his time to wowing the audience with this execution.