Some guitars go down in history, and then there’s Carl, the iconic instrument made from the floorboards of the building where Metallica forged their legendary sound.
James Hetfield’s one-of-a-kind guitar, modeled in the distinctive Explorer shape, was crafted from the floorboards of “Metallica Mansion,” an old rehearsal and living space in El Cerrito, California. It was here that Metallica wrote two of their most influential albums, Ride The Lightning and Master of Puppets.
At the turn of the millennium, Metallica had planned to buy the original garage where they rehearsed and reconstruct it in their new studio. But when they discovered that the garage had been stolen, Hetfield was able to salvage the floorboards. Ken Lawrence, the talented luthier, was the man who transformed these historic pieces of wood into the instrument now known as Carl.
In a recent interview with Guitar World, Lawrence was asked about the biggest challenges he faced in creating the guitar. He explained:
“The Carl guitar was challenging in terms of honoring the woods that James wanted to use. But the real difficulty for me was the inlays—I had to get help with those.”
“I just haven’t been able to master the intricate marquetry-style inlays, where the pieces all interconnect the way experts like Larry Robinson can do. Larry’s a genius at that, so I had him cut the pieces, and I did the rest of the work,” Lawrence added.
When asked about other challenges during the build, Lawrence explained:
“Working in a different order was tricky, especially because of how the top and head cap had to be constructed. My brother Joe, who handles guitar setups and repairs, coined the term ‘headscratchers’—he says, ‘I’ve got a whole room full of headscratchers.’ And that’s what lutherie is all about.”
He continued, “Unless you specialize in one thing and perfect your process, it’s all about figuring out a system that works for you. But when you’re constantly trying to experiment and push new ideas, there’s always the challenge of maintaining consistency and avoiding mistakes. You have to find the best way through that to reach your desired result.”
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