Sean Long has shared a clip of the heartwarming moment he met Tom Morello, which gave him the opportunity to give one of his biggest electric guitar heroes his own signature guitar as a gift.
In a short video posted to social media, the While She Sleeps virtuoso can be seen handing over his personal Charvel Pro-Mod San Dimas as a token of appreciation, and to say thanks for Morello’s endless inspiration.
“This is my signature guitar, and I feel like I owe you this because I don't think I would be in this position without you,” Long says. “We all love you and have been fans for years.”
“That is so awesome and so thoughtful,” says Morello. “Thank you so much, that’s really beautiful. That’s really sweet.”
Long did issue one condition, though: “You better fucking play it!” Morello, clearly rather taken aback by the gesture of the gift, assures his fellow fretboard trailblazer that he will.
Morello and his music have been a hugely influential force on Long, who went viral last year for his bonkers dual Whammy pedal setup. Indeed, Long’s affinity for the DigiTech device can clearly be traced back to Morello, whose own use of the Whammy is the stuff of legend.
As heir to Morello’s Whammy throne, Long drew headlines for his ability to manipulate his tone and navigate two Whammy units at once, stringing together a series of expression pedal stomps and toe taps on the ‘Momentary’ footswitch. The results were, as you’d expect, quite something.
“The Whammy has always been a go to pedal for inspiration,” Long told Guitar World at the time. “It allows me to create things that sound impossible and in some cases are.
“More importantly, though, it’s just fun-as-fuck to use, which is really the main attraction for me.”
This isn't the first time a famous fan has gifted Morello a guitar – Matt Bellamy handed him a custom Manson model after the RATM firebrand supported Muse on tour.
