Hammett got this guitar around 1984, coinciding with the Ride the Lightning era. It represents Kirk’s entry into the “Super Strat” market – a trend popularized by Eddie Van Halen involving Stratocaster bodies modified with high-output electronics and advanced tremolo systems.
Specs and Modifications
Unlike Kirk’s factory-standard Gibson (his main guitar prior to this), this Fernandes was heavily modified. Most notably, it was fitted with a Floyd Rose tremolo and a locking nut.
This double-locking system clamps the strings at both the bridge and the nut, allowing for the extreme pitch dives and harmonic flutters heard on tracks like “Creeping Death” – techniques that were mechanically impossible on his fixed-bridge Gibson.
The guitar was also modified with three Fender Lace Sensor pickups featuring black covers. These pickups were designed to reduce 60-cycle hum while retaining the clarity of a single-coil, suggesting this guitar was likely used for specific clean passages where the high-gain noise of standard single-coils would be problematic.
Usage
The guitar saw occasional use during the Ride the Lightning tour. Given its specific configuration (floating bridge and noise-canceling single coils), it likely served as a dedicated instrument for songs requiring specific whammy bar textures or cleaner tones that the Gibson Flying V could not provide.
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