The ambitious axe pays homage to the animated sci-fi cult film, and features intricate airbrushed imagery, a lightning-channeling sword inlay and DiMarzio pickups
Partnering with Heavy Metal Entertainment and Incendium, the company has created a limited-edition custom model celebrating the 40th anniversary of animated sci-fi cult film, Heavy Metal.
Visually, the guitar sports airbrushed artwork depicting Taarna – one of the films characters – atop a dragon as seen on the movie's cover, alongside other futuristic elements. The fretboard dons Taarna's lightning-channeling sword as a single inlay, while the back of the body pays homage to the film's B-17 segment, with an all-metal aesthetic complete with bullet holes and missile artwork.
Construction-wise, the guitar's body is made of Honduran mahogany, while its neck and fingerboard are built using three-piece hard maple and ebony, respectively.
As Minarik explains, Its headstock plate – which features Heavy Metal's blood red logo – incorporates “100s pieces of assorted inlay materials – including stone, mother of pearl, brass, aluminum and acrylics – to depict Taarna's war blade”.
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(Image credit: Minarik Guitars)
(Image credit: Minarik Guitars)
Under the hood, the guitar is fitted with a pair of DiMarzio humbuckers – an AT-1 in the bridge and a Gravity Storm in the neck – controlled via two volume knobs, a master tone pot and three-way toggle.
Other features include a MannMade intonatable wraparound bridge – precision machined from aircraft grade aluminum – a bone nut, gold Gotoh machineheads and a five-ply body binding.
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“The illustrious legacy of Heavy Metal is no better represented than by a custom guitar to celebrate this momentous occasion,” says Matthew Medney, CEO of Heavy Metal Entertainment. “Balancing art and music along with counter culture is and has been our ethos for these 40 years.”
Adds Llexi Leon, CEO of Incendium: “This is the first time we're offering an individually hand-built, painted and crafted product – the resulting instrument is truly a work of art!
“It's a great privilege to be working with the tremendous luthiers, airbrush artists, inlay experts, technicians, and more under the guidance of Marc of Minarik to pull this ambitious vision together. As a player and collector myself, I'm beyond thrilled.”
The Heavy Metal electric guitar is available to order now, though it'll set you back the princely sum of $19,666. It also comes with a hard case, certificate of authenticity and a set of Heavy Metal-branded Dunlop picks.
Sam was Staff Writer at GuitarWorld.com from 2019 to 2023, and also created content for Total Guitar, Guitarist and Guitar Player. He has well over 15 years of guitar playing under his belt, as well as a degree in Music Technology (Mixing and Mastering). He's a metalhead through and through, but has a thorough appreciation for all genres of music. In his spare time, Sam creates point-of-view guitar lesson videos on YouTube under the name Sightline Guitar.
