MAX CAVALERA Talks About His Signature ESP Guitar In New Video Interview

A five-and-a-half-minute video clip of Max Cavalera (SOULFLY, CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, SEPULTURA) talking about his signature ESP guitar can be seen below.

When asked in a 2005 interview what prompted him to start exclusively playing a four-string guitar, Max said, "I don't do leads, ya know? More than ten years ago, when those strings broke, a friend of mine said, 'Don't replace them, you don't use them anyway. You are just going to be spending money for nothing. Save the money and buy some beer.' I was, like, 'OK, cool,' and I never put them back. Over the years, it's become a trademark that I thought was kinda cool. It's something that's different about how I do things. The guys that make the guitars that I work with, they must think that I am crazy when their bosses tell them not to put the other two strings on because I don't use them. I can only imagine... They are probably saying, 'What the fuck is wrong with this guy?' (laughs). I am a completely rhythm player... all I do is riffs. Working with so many great guitar players, there is so much talent for playing the guitar, it convinces me further to keep the other strings off."

When asked how, in his opinion, playing with only four strings has changed his overall sound, Max said, "I think it’s changed it in a sense that it's made me a complete riff freak, ya know? Everything that I do when I am writing a song is riff-orientated, which is the foundation of my sound. I love (BLACK SABBATH guitarist) Tony Iommi...his style of playing...he does leads as well, of course, but his riffs, the solid rhythm section that he helps create, that is where I really base my style on, being as solid of a riff player as I can be. Instead of being a player who plays riffs and does a little bit of leads, I say, 'Fuck that!' and just stay completely obsessed with riffs. On every album, I try to play better, more solid, kick-ass riffs as much as possible, ya know?"