STUCK MOJO Guitarist Parting With 'Dear Friends'

STUCK MOJO/FOZZY guitarist Rich Ward has posted the following message on his official message board:

"With recording costs of [STUCK MOJO's upcoming] 'Southern Born Killers' album continuing to escalate, I have decided to part with two of my dear friends. Those of you who know me well will find this shocking, but I have decided to sell my 1976 Natural Top Les Paul Standard. This guitar was used to record most of [STUCK MOJO's] 'Snappin' Necks', all of 'Pigwalk', all of 'Rising', most of 'Declaration of a Headhunter', all of the SICK SPEED material, all of the first FOZZY, most of 'Happenstance', most of 'All That Remains', some of THE DUKE and used most recently on the new 'Southern Born Killers' record. It was the guitar I used in the 'Not Promised Tomorrow', 'Pigwalk' and 'Rising' videos. It was virtually the only guitar that I used on stage from 1991 to 2003, when after one of my guitars was stolen from a club and another was lost by an airline, I decided to retired it from the road and used exclusively as a recording guitar. Now, with the completion of the new MOJO record my only focus, this is a sacrifice that I must make. This guitar has been played by Dime, Zakk, Devin Townsend, Robert Flynn, Andy Sneap and many other notables, who all have claimed it, as one, if not the best playing and sounding Les Paul on the planet. Part of the guitar's unique and aggressive sound comes from a hard-to-find body, made up of a thin layer of walnut, sandwiched between two pieces of mahogany. The other key element of this guitar's tone is its maple neck, which was only found on a few Les Pauls manufactured between 1976 and 1982. These Paul hard-to-find maple necks were made from leftover stockpiles of maple that were originally intended to be used for maple tops and had been sitting in the Gibson factory since the 1950s. Ever wonder why new Les Pauls sound like shit and old ones can make you slap your Mama? Good pieces of old, dry wood. Over the years, I have modified the guitar to match my playing and my tone. It has a Duncan Jeff Beck in the bridge and a Duncan 59 in the bridge. Spertzel tunig kets, a graphite nut and a volume knob that was modified by Dime's tech Grady in 1998. There is also a small 'hip pad' on the back of the guitar's body, because I used to severely bruise my hip bone while slinging this huge piece of wood around for 15 years. This guitar has been on the cover of several magazines, including Metal Edge, Terrorizer and a photo of me from 1998's Dynamo festival appeared as the cover shot on an issue of Aardschok (Holland and Belgium's biggest metal mag).

"Equally as surprising is the fact that I am selling my 1982 'duke of metal' Marshall JCM 800. Every album that I have ever recorded was done so with this amp. This amp was modified by Bob Bradshaw himself and is the best-sounding JCM 800 in the world. Again, don't take my word for it, there have been many world class players (Dime, Zakk, Dev, Flynn, Stephen from the DEFTONES, but the list is endless),who have flipped out and claimed this amp 'KING' when giving it a test drive. Take one listen to the guitar tone on 'Rising' or 'Declaration' and all non-believers will be converted.

"With this message, I am reaching out to those of you on the MOJO/FOZZY/DUKE boards who would be very familiar with these items. I will leave this post up for a few days, to give you first 'dibs' on them before listing them on eBay.

"Anyone interested can contact me by private message through this board. This will be a silent auction and bids for the Les Paul will start at $2,500 and $2,000 for the Duke Of Metal JCM 800."

STUCK MOJO, who recently announced the addition of vocalist Lord Nelson to the group's lineup, have posted another new track, entitled "Metal is Dead", on their MySpace page. Also available at the same location is the song "That's When I Burn".

Most of the initial "Southern Born Killers" tracks were recorded at Backstage Studios in Derbyshire, U.K. with producer Andy Sneap (NEVERMORE, ARCH ENEMY, MACHINE HEAD, EXODUS).

Joining Lord Nelson and guitarist Rich Ward in STUCK MOJO's current recording lineup are FOZZY/DUKE bassist Sean Delson and drummer Eric Sanders.

"Southern Born Killers" projected track listing (in no particular order):

01. I'm Back
02. Southern Born Killers
03. Metal Is Dead
04. Born For This Moment
05. Friends
06. The Sky Is Falling
07. That's When I Burn
08. The Fear Is All Around Me
09. Open Season
10. In My Mind
11. Home
12. Invincible
13. Rhythm and Bullshit

"Southern Born Killers" is tentatively scheduled for release in early 2007 through an as-yet-undetermined label. The band was previously signed to Century Media Records.