Five Finger Death Punch lead guitarist, Andy James, recently caught up with Guitar World to discuss all things Death Punch, as well as give the lowdown on his new signature BC Rich guitar, including the story behind ‘that’ headstock.
In this exclusive interview with Guitar World, 5FDP’s British shredder reveals what made him jump ship from Kiesel and ESP Guitars, what his last-minute FFDP initiation was really like, and why he couldn’t find any tube amps that “sounded as good and dependable as the Kemper
Explaing how the concept came about, Andy James said, “Seriously, though, I was talking to B.C. Rich about headstocks and they were showing all these different ones they’d made in the past. And I stumbled on this one, which was actually on a 12-string acoustic!”
“Naturally, it took a bit of tweaking to make it work for an electric instrument – James revealing how the headstock was eventually narrowed and lengthened, with the tuning pegs spaced out compared to the original design. Their efforts resulted in quite possibly the most dangerous headstock ever conceived and something that screamed the words ‘heavy’ and ‘metal’ like nothing else in existence. We ended up this mammoth Eye of Sauron-style headstock!” continues James. “It’s very pointy and metal, and very B.C. Rich.”
Check out Guitar World’s full interview with Andy James here.
Watch Andy James discussing his new BC Rich AJ Assassin Signature guitar:
Andy James Signature Assassin Specs:
Body and Construction:
Body: Assassin
Construction: No heel Neck-Thru body
Body Wood: Mahogany “Nyatah Palaquium”
Top Wood: Flame Maple and Solid body
Back Wood: Mahogany “Nyatah Palaquium”
Sides: Black Single Ply binding
Body Finish: Transparent
Orientation: Right Handed
Neck:
Neck Shape: Shredzilla Ultra Slim Contour with Satin Finish For Speed
Neck Wood: 5-piece – Three pieces of North American maple with two center strips of Wenge to enhance stability and stiffness.
Scale: 25.5″
Truss Rod: Dual Adjust
Headstock: 4+3 B.C Rich Pitchfork
Fretboard:
Material: Ebony fretboard
Radius: 14-degree
Fret Size: Extra Jumbo
Number of Frets: 24
Inlays: Andy James Squares “Glow in the Dark”, Lumilay sidedots
Nut: Graphtech
Hardware:
Bridge Type: Evertune 7 Model
Bridge Design: Evertune
Tuning Machines: Grover Locking Rotomatic 18:1 tuners
Colour: Black
Pickups and Electronics:
Pickup Configuration: Dual Humbuckers
Neck Pickup: Fishman® Fluence Modern Humbucker Alnico neck pickup
Bridge Pickup: Fishman® Fluence Modern Humbucker Ceramic bridge pickup
Control Layout: 1 x volume, 3-way toggle
Special Electronics: 500K Linear pots
Other:
Strings: D’Addario NYXL 9-52 high carbon steel strings that further stabilize tuning consistency and are more break-resistant than standard nickel and stainless-steel strings.
Number of strings: 7
Special Features: No Heel Shredzlla Neck cut for easy access to the 24th fret
Accessories: Dunlop Straplok System “Original” strap buttons and strap locking pins
Country of Origin: Korea