Adrian's Axes

[Deleted member 7164]

Gibson Les Paul Goldtop

First guitar, used on Killers tour of '81 and on all tours till Seventh Tour, with Bruce's band, with ASAP, and heavily in the studio.

Dean Baby ML

Used on '81, '82, and '83 tours, and in studio as shown on the POM sleeve.

Charvel Stratocaster black

SSOASS era.

ESP Mirage Custom black with bodyart

Appeared on '88 tour pictures.

ESP Mirage Custom white with black pickguard

Appeared on '88 tour pictures.

Fender Stratocaster cream

Used on 2001 tour.

Fender Stratocaster sunburst

Used on Dickinson's Accident tour, and on all tours and in the studio of the reunion era.

Fender Stratocaster black with white pickguard

Appeared on reunion era pictures.

Fender Iron Maiden Stratocaster

Appeared on reunion era pictures.

Gibson Les Paul custom black.

Played on '01 tour, used in the studio of reunion albums.

Gibson SG black

Used on '83 tour and in the studio.

Gibson SG red with "weird" whammy bar

Used on '83 tour.

Gibson SG cherry

Ocassionaly used on stage throughout the career, used in AMOLAD recording.

Gibson SG oil finish

Appeared on '83 tour and studio pictures.

Gibson (SG/Les Paul ?) Junior black

POM era pictures

Hamer Standard woodgrain

Killers era pictures.

Ibanez Roadstar blue sunburst

POM era pictures.

Ibanez Destroyer woodgrain

'81, '82, '83 tours.

Metalfactory Infernal Machine black

This guitar drifted out from an interdimensional vortex near the Farpoint System, and was discovered by USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D and her crew in the 24th century. H was immediately aware of it's existance, so he beamed himself to Enterprise to retrieve this masterpiece created by unknown race. However, he was worried that his nickname "H" would sound stupid, so he introduced himself as "Q".

Jackson Custom Statocaster white

Appeared on '88 tour pictures. 

Jackson Custom Stratocaster white with MIDI system

Used on '86 tour.

Jackson Custom Stratocaster white with black body art

Appeared on late '90s pictures when Adrian revamped his connection with Jackson and became their endorser.

Jackson Custom Stratocaster creamy white

Appeared on '88 era pictures.

Jackson Custom Stratocaster white with black pickguard

Used on '86, '88, '08 tours, Untouchables gigs, and in studio for SOM and SSOASS.

Jackson Custom Stratocaster black

Appeared on Wasted Years video.

Jackson KV1 black

Used in studio and on stage for Bruce's Chemical Wedding, and used in '99 tour.

Jackson Custom Doubleneck red

Used on the '06 tour.

Lado Earth black

Used in studio for Powerslave and on the World Slavery Tour.

Lado Earth gray sunburst

Used on the World Slavery Tour.

Lado Laser blue sunburst with MIDI system.

Used on the '88 tour and for Clairvoyant promo video.

Roland GR-707 MIDI guitar

Appeared on Somewhere In Time recording pictures.

Ovation Acoustic - 12 strings

Bruce Dickinson era, in studio and on stage.

Taylor Acoustic

Death On The Road tour.

Squier Telecaster red with white pickguard

BNW era guitar.com video interview.

Unconfirmed : White Gibson Flying V, Red Hamer Scarab, Blue Ibanez Destroyer, Jackson RR1 Randy Rhoads.

Adding pictures to this post, and updating information.

 

[Ardius]

Ive also seen him use a Squire Telecaster, but not on tour or anything, just in his little guitar video.

Oh, and whats with calling the latest albums and tours "re-union" tours? Maiden never split up! I think Bruce has made a point about this already.

Plus, wrong forum, this probably should be in the musician's discussion.

 

[Deleted member 7164]

Ok, added some pictures, now you can see the Lado Laser. Snaps from the Clairvoyant video, i still haven't found a single photography of Adrian holding Laser apart from the Clairvoyant and Donington '88 footage.

Powergirl, that site holds great information, but it also has a number of mistakes. For instance, it lists three Lado Earths. The third Lado is not Earth, it's Laser. There are some guitars listed that i haven't seen anywhere on Adrian, and a lot of "researchers" like me haven't too...like the blue Destroyer, the Flying V, and the Jackson RR1. Still, there aren't some guitars listed from the classic era (like the weird whammy SG and the cream-white custom Jackson), and i have pictures of those, but i'll have to find alternatives because they have a Ross Halfin stamp on them. I understand that the site wasn't updated in long time, so there aren't guitar.com Telecaster and AMOLAD era doubleneck Jackson, but some of the "classic era" guitars are missing.

Ardius, the "Lado Stratocaster" wasn't used by Adrian, and probably doesn't even exist. One owner of Lado Earth, while talking to Joe Kovacic, asked about Adrian's Lados, how many of them are there, etc...and Joe said that Adrian ordered two Earths and one Laser. I have never seen a Staratocaster copy or mimic by Lado, the only models that could resemble something of a strat are :

- Lado TL-60 "vintage", crossover between Telecaster and Stratocaster, but it more resembles Telecaster. Avg price is $1550
- Lado GW-702-BL "GoldenWing", C-802-OB "Classic" and R-903-R "Rocker", all are standard superstrat shapes like Jackson Dinky or Ibanez Universe derivates. Prices are $3300, $2600, and $2900.

Btw, thanks about the Squier Telecaster note. I totally forgot about that one.

 

[Ardius]

Ok, added some pictures, now you can see the Lado Laser. Snaps from the Clairvoyant video, i still haven't found a single photography of Adrian holding Laser apart from the Clairvoyant and Donington '88 footage.

Powergirl, that site holds great information, but it also has a number of mistakes. For instance, it lists three Lado Earths. The third Lado is not Earth, it's Laser. There are some guitars listed that i haven't seen anywhere on Adrian, and a lot of "researchers" like me haven't too...like the blue Destroyer, the Flying V, and the Jackson RR1. Still, there aren't some guitars listed from the classic era (like the weird whammy SG and the cream-white custom Jackson), and i have pictures of those, but i'll have to find alternatives because they have a Ross Halfin stamp on them. I understand that the site wasn't updated in long time, so there aren't guitar.com Telecaster and AMOLAD era doubleneck Jackson, but some of the "classic era" guitars are missing.

Ardius, the "Lado Stratocaster" wasn't used by Adrian, and probably doesn't even exist. One owner of Lado Earth, while talking to Joe Kovacic, asked about Adrian's Lados, how many of them are there, etc...and Joe said that Adrian ordered two Earths and one Laser. I have never seen a Staratocaster copy or mimic by Lado, the only models that could resemble something of a strat are :

- Lado TL-60 "vintage", crossover between Telecaster and Stratocaster, but it more resembles Telecaster. Avg price is $1550
- Lado GW-702-BL "GoldenWing", C-802-OB "Classic" and R-903-R "Rocker", all are standard superstrat shapes like Jackson Dinky or Ibanez Universe derivates. Prices are $3300, $2600, and $2900.

Btw, thanks about the Squier Telecaster note. I totally forgot about that one.

Ah, ok. I was just told a while ago that Adrian and Dave had used Lado Strats, and I just assumed there were some because the official Lado site doesn't show all of their guitars ever made.
Cool pics of the Lado Laser, ive never seen that before.

Oh, and another note: Adrian used his Black Lado Earth on the Aces High promo video (I love that gold trim it has).
Also, he used another Black Les Paul with a Black pickguard on the Wicker Man promo video and live in 2000-2001:

 

[Powergirl81]

I remember seeing a red Ibanez arund the NOB album. Zare, you didn't mention it. Unless it's under a different name?

I think I'm remembering watching the Beast Over Hammersmith show from Early Days. Doesn't H use a red guitar? I thought it was an Ibanez...

@Ardius: Dave used Lados too? I never seen a picture of him with one. He used that black Fender exclusively from like 1976-1990! Then I saw that red one (Jackson?) after Janick joined the band.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa127/Paschengirl/Murray/ironmaiden_colour353-1.jpg

I'm sorry, this is a Ross Halfin picture.

 

[Ardius]

I remember seeing a red Ibanez arund the NOB album. Zare, you didn't mention it. Unless it's under a different name?

I think I'm remembering watching the Beast Over Hammersmith show from Early Days. Doesn't H use a red guitar? I thought it was an Ibanez...

@Ardius: Dave used Lados too? I never seen a picture of him with one. He used that black Fender exclusively from like 1976-1990! Then I saw that red one (Jackson?) after Janick joined the band.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa127/Paschengirl/Murray/ironmaiden_colour353-1.jpg

I'm sorry, this is a Ross Halfin picture.

No, Dave didnt use a Lado it turns out, Zare just showed how I was wrong, lol, 

Zare hasnt missed the Ibanez, its up on his list, with a picture, lol. Its called an Ibanez Destroyer, Dave used one too, you can see it on Beast Over Hammersmith.

 

[Forostar]

I really thought that I have seen the famous Goldtop one time (or more) in the 1999-2007 period, on a Maiden stage. But I can't remember when exactly, nor can I produce photos of it... 

Very nice topic, by the way, and nice that you add pictures as well. I'd appreciate it if you would do something like this for Dave and Janick as well, some where in the future.

 

[Powergirl81]

I really thought that I have seen the famous Goldtop one time (or more) in the 1999-2007 period, on a Maiden stage. But I can't remember when exactly, nor can I produce photos of it... 

Very nice topic, by the way, and nice that you add pictures as well. I'd appreciate it if you would do something like this for Dave and Janick as well, some where in the future.

I have lots of pix of both H and Dave. I can team up w/Zare and Ardius and we can start a thread on Janick and Dave I bet 

And Forostar, I have seen H talk about his Goldtop, on that making of AMOLAD series of You Tube videos. Studio stuff. He said he paid $200 back in like 1974 when he got it. I don't recall seeing any live shots of it recently. Just the 80's stuff.

 

[Ardius]

I have lots of pix of both H and Dave. I can team up w/Zare and Ardius and we can start a thread on Janick and Dave I bet 

And Forostar, I have seen H talk about his Goldtop, on that making of AMOLAD series of You Tube videos. Studio stuff. He said he paid $200 back in like 1974 when he got it. I don't recall seeing any live shots of it recently. Just the 80's stuff.

Actually, it cost him £235 
And, yeah, he said he's used it on every recording he's ever been on I believe, or at the very least, every Maiden recording.

On the subject of Adrian's goldtop, I do remember seeing it live somewhere, between 1999-2008, but I cant remember. I think its likely Adrian doesn't like to use it live anymore because of the weight of the damn things, so he goes for his Strats and SG's, like everyone else. Its likely he uses it as a backup though, and that might have been caught on live footage, but I cant remember.

Id like to see some for Dave's and Janick's gear too. Also, it would be VERY nice to try and find exactly what equipment they all use in regards to Amps, Racks, Effects pedals, tunings, etc. Adrian's are fairly well documented, but not so much Dave's or Janick's.

 

[Powergirl81]

Marshall. 

Don't ask me about anything other than that. Marshall is like, the standard 

 

[Deleted member 7164]

Uploaded some more pictures and some more guitars. Now counting 32 guitars (i haven't listed the black Les Paul that Ardius brought up, i'll put it when i find a more hi-res picture, but she's counted in), and 4 unconfirmed.

What i would like to know, is why Adrian switches guitars so much? He's officially a Jackson endorser, so i understand why he has all those Jacksons. Well here are some facts;

- His first guitar was Top Twenty Woolworths, he bought it from Dave, and it wasn't working,
- He worked all summer on the construction spot to buy that Gold Top,
- His third guitar was Ibanez Destroyer, which he bought when he started playing with Maiden.
- His favourite solo from his first record, Killers, is Prodigial Son.
- At that time he used Marshall 50W heads, Marshall and Mesa Boogie 4x12 cabinets, and a Yamaha echo, flaner, wah and booster pedals.
- During the Killers tour, he got himself a Hamer Standard, and only played it until the ending of the tour.
- For TNOTB he acquired atleast one Gibson SG, and a Dean Baby ML. Still, he mostly used the Destroyer.
- For POM he acquired several more SGs and an Ibanez Roadstar. He never used the Roadstar officially.
- POM was the last appearance of the Destroyer. Before the Powerslave sessions, he got the Lado Earth, and recorded with that axe.
- World Slavery Tour featured another Lado Earth and the Gold Top. It was the first and the last appearance of the both Earths.
- Now all of his previous guitars "went offline". Jackson era begins. He used Jackson MIDI Strat, white-black Jackson strat, and the all-black Jackson Strat for the SIT studio.
- SIT tour featured first two Jacksons. It was the last appearance of the Jackson MIDI Strat, apart from some Live Aid footage.
- SSOASS; two more Jacksons featured on pictures, together with ESP Mirage. None of those were used on stage or in studio.
- Seventh Tour introduced the Lado MIDI Laser. Again, first and the last appearance of that particular axe. Most of the tour was played on white-black Jackson strat.
- The white-black Jackson strat appeares in the ASAP era, and the Gold Top reappeares.
- Psycho Motel era and it's guitars remains a mystery.
- Accident Of Birth introduced sunburst Fender Strat, the white-black Jackson dissapeares, and the Gold Top usage continues.
- Sometime between 97 and 98 he became a Jackson endorser, and got at least one more Jackson which hasn't been active in recording or live.
- Chemical Wedding saw the Jackson Kings V.
- For the Ed Hunter Tour, he used Jackson Kings V and the sunburst Fender.
- Sometime in the BNW era, he acquired two more Fenders used live on the BNW tour, and a black Les Paul used live too. Together with the sunburst Strat, and video interview from that era shows Squier Telecaster.
- No change for the Dance Of Death. This time, he uses exclusively the sunburst Strat.
- AMOLAD recording revamped the Gold Top and the new doubleneck Jackson. That Jackson was used live, but again most of the time he used the sunburst Strat, this time featuring mount-on MIDI system.
- SBIT tour - two Fenders, the "old" white-black Jackson strat, and the new all-white Jackson (addition to list pending).

It looks to me that only guitars that survived the times are the Gold Top, white-black Jackson (used constantly for 6 or 7 years, then revamped again this year), and the sunburst Strat (used in the last 11 years, at least). Weird, considering that most of the people connect Adrian Smith to exotic guitars (Lado Earth pops out instantly), and his "favourite three" are classic guitars. Two Strats and one Les Paul.

Ardius, i heard one guy talking about Dave's custom Lado. There's only one way to find out - i was intending to contact Mr. Kovacic to check out the price for one custom guitar (i will be getting that, sooner or later), i'll ask him directly.

Forostar, i'd be glad to open topics for the Dave and Janick, but consider this. Janick has a couple of Fender Stratocasters that vary only in color, and the acoustic guitar. Dave, on the other hand, has some interesting pieces like the Dean ML, Destroyer, custom Jackson strats, custom ESP strats, but it would be extremely difficult to categorize his guitars, and i'm talking only about ones that are featured on pictures. God knows how many Fender Stratocasters he has. And he has changed configuration of some during the years, top plate, locking systems, etc...so we even don't know if it's another guitar or modified one. And, the last but not the least, he has color changing Strats. One DOD era picture might show a darkblue-black Strat, one AMOLAD era might show a pale red Strat, and how could you know that's not the same guitar?

 

[Forostar]

Again, nice trivia!

- Psycho Motel era and it's guitars remains a mystery.

No pictures exist?? This makes me curious! I'll try to get into that as well.

Forostar, i'd be glad to open topics for the Dave and Janick, but consider this. Janick has a couple of Fender Stratocasters that vary only in color, and the acoustic guitar. Dave, on the other hand, has some interesting pieces like the Dean ML, Destroyer, custom Jackson strats, custom ESP strats, but it would be extremely difficult to categorize his guitars, and i'm talking only about ones that are featured on pictures. God knows how many Fender Stratocasters he has. And he has changed configuration of some during the years, top plate, locking systems, etc...so we even don't know if it's another guitar or modified one. And, the last but not the least, he has color changing Strats. One DOD era picture might show a darkblue-black Strat, one AMOLAD era might show a pale red Strat, and how could you know that's not the same guitar?

You can´t know. You can only say what you see. So I wouldn´t have a problem with that. This would be a challenge!

 

[Ardius]

^The only Psycho Motel pictures that I can find anywhere do not feature any guitars.

The only guitar confirmed from Adrian's 1990-1993 era is his White Jackson Strat with the Black pickguard, as it is seen in the one and only Untouchables video for "City Of Dreams".

Also, Zare, Adrian used at least one Gibson SG on the AMOLAD tour, he used it on some songs, and he used it as a backup for his strat.
His equipment for the AMOLAD tour was:
2 Fender Strats (one main, one backup)
2 Gibson SG's (one main, one backup)
Im 100% sure on this one, because I saw his Fender screw up for the These Colours Dont Run solo, and he ran off and grabbed his SG for the rest of the song.
The SG he used was a red one with black pickguard and a Peace symbol on it, I dont know what the SG backup looked like, might be exactly the same.
The AMOTB tour he used the Jackson Custom, Im pretty sure he didnt use it in the AMOLAD tour from what I remember.

 

[Forostar]

^The only Psycho Motel pictures that I can find anywhere do not feature any guitars.

You guys own the booklets? Perhaps there are no instruments inside indeed.

 

[Ardius]

You guys own the booklets? Perhaps there are no instruments inside indeed.

Yup, I have both booklets, I grabbed the CDs in shop ages ago, it was pretty funny, I was all like "oh sh!t!, rare albums!" and my mates were rather amused. Ive never seen either album in a shop ever again, so Im doubly glad I grabbed them when I saw them.

 

[InfiniteDreamer]

Zare,

you rock hard man ! Thanks a lot for this post...probably one of the best in here !

Adrian is king, guitars rule and I can't help myself with G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome)....now I need a red Ibanez Destroyer just like his for my humble collection !


cheers

 

[Powergirl81]

Zare check your messages! This is a totally awesome thread! Hopefully Murray and Janick will get one soon 

 

[Forostar]

Jackson Custom Stratocaster creamy white

Appeared on '88 era pictures.

?! That 2nd picture sure isn't from the SSOASS era.

 

[Powergirl81]

Looks like about 2001 to me hehe

EDIT: Same guitar? This is from the current tour!

 

[Ardius]

Looks like about 2001 to me hehe

EDIT: Same guitar? This is from the current tour!

He's had a few new ones recently. Adrian has the same problem as Dave and Janick, its still very hard to distinguish some guitars, all of them have very old and very new guitars which look exactly the same or have re-painted their old ones etc. Fortunately for this thread, he's had many unique ones, which Dave and Janick lack. The guitars that I know Adrian has at least 10 of are:
Fender Stratocasters
Jackson Strats
Gibson SGs
He has many backup guitars that look almost exactly the same and he probably has many more guitars which he has probably never used on stage (but might end up in a promo picture or something).