A Brief History of Smashing Guitars 

You know you’ve made it as a rock n roll star when you can easily smash a guitar that tons of people kill for just to own it

My favorite part of the iconic Hendrix performance is when he kisses his guitar before setting it on fire, almost as an apology for what he’s about to do.

"We break stuff as protest against consumerism" "Then what? "We buy more stuff at supermarket and break it as protest against consumerism"

I had a guitar that was no longer playable. I could have thrown it into the trash, but instead, I smashed it and put it into the bonfire as a sacrifice to Saint Jimi.

Krist novaselic throwing his bass in the air and it coming down on his head. 😮😂

I feel like there's something so self-destructive about smashing a guitar, almost like self-harming. Like it's the one companion you've had through thick and thin. It's literally the instrument you use to communicate your feelings and speak you inner dialogue through in a desperate attempt to be understood by anyone. And you symbolically strip yourself of that!!! How Pete Townshend explain it really strikes a cord; that no one seemed to see him, to see the frustration and sorrow he felt by losing something he held dear. That no one put the same devastating meaning into the situation... It probably could have been fixed. But while IN that moment, there's nothing els to do but to make a big, loud and violent scene out of it. Making sure everyone else sees the hurt you're going through. No matter how much you're simply hurting yourself in the process. Metaphorically leaving another cut open to spill your blood and heart out for anyone to notice and feel the traumatic devastation with you... I'm surprised that no one has captured an artist weeping over a broken instrument, but I suppose the genre of rock isn't exactly the vibe for that. At least not on stage.

It's honestly no wonder that London Calling has one of the most iconic album covers ever. Obviously The Clash weren't the first to smash guitars on stage; however, that guitar smash on the album art is like the perfect embodiment of late 70s punk rebellion, and I have no doubt that it inspired a legion of imitators in the process

I heard in interviews that Nirvana was upset that the tour manager wouldn’t buy Dave a better set of drums that could stand up to the rigors of touring… so the lads in Nirvana decided to destroy all of their gear on stage so the managers would be forced to buy them new gear that wasn’t pure garbage. 😂 Kurt is quoted as saying the reason they smashed their guitars was to avoid an encore. No gear, no encore! 😂

The great PS to Paul Simonon smashing his bass, was that he later said he smashed the wrong one. He had two Bass guitars, one he preferred more over the other, and in his fit of rage during that show, he didn't realize that the bass he was smashing was the good one. I have heard later, he would be playing his remaining bass guitar, and would lament that he should have destroyed it over the one he ultimately smashed on stage.

Townshend was an art student and a fan of Gustav Metzger's. To him the guitar smash was some kind of expressionist art performance and he started hating doing it, when it rather became a circus act after some time.

Pete Townsend: smashes guitar Boomers: Hell yeah dude, rock and roll! Phoebe Bridgers: smashes guitar Boomers: oH mY gOd WhY sHe So AnGy?!?!?1

Trent Reznor breaking his keyboards was actually pretty cool. Skrillex breaking his macbook pro and accidentally slipping and falling was hilarious.

Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood smashed everything on stage at Anaheim stadium in the mid seventies. One of their equipment trucks had broken down, so they rented most of the stuff on stage. The sound kept cutting out during the first couple of songs. We could tell that Rod Stewart was getting really irritated, and at some point (I didn't really see this coming) he turned to Ronnie Wood and said something like, "You ready?" They started smashing EVERYTHING. Smashing guitars, stabbing amps with guitars, swinging mics on the cords and smashing them onto the stage. The best part was Ronnie Wood jumped up on the grand piano and started smashing the strings and mechanisms inside. If this was on film it would have gone down as one of the great guitar smashing moments in rock history. The stadium was packed, but I've never heard the story told by anyone else since then.

All those beautiful, broken Strats and 335s make me sad.

The only person that still to this day captures my attention is Pete Townshend. His physical delivery and expression always seemed so intense and incredibly raw. Anyone else who's attempted it just doesn't look and feel right. It was always a spontaneous combustion that was volcanic. Even watching him throw it in the air, twirling it, shaking it, using it as a machine gun was captivating.

Kurt Cobain usually always smashed a Fender, because replacement necks were pretty easy to get. Kiss would use cheap Norlin era Gibson guitars for smashing, that era of Gibson produced a lot of guitars that were better off in the trash. Phoebe Bridgers was told by Danelectro: “Good luck, these are pretty strong” (the guitar was sold at auction, it was not really smashed that badly.)

As an Italian, I can't help but point to a great local episode: when Placebo played as guests at the Festival di Sanremo, they were forced to lip sync their song, so they played along until the very end, then they smash the guitar: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-szU0ZR3Zm-w.htmlsi=0v8rfjEe87YVpt0E it doesn't make any loud sound, because they weren't actually playing (again: against their will)

As someone who both plays the guitar and has customized a few. I cannot consider smashing one that has stories or a history attached. a guitar I customized with my dad, a guitar I wrote portions of some of my songs on,... If I had to do it, I'd smash a new factory one and hope to destroy the body so badly I can use broken parts of the body, a mold and some epoxy resin to turn one guitar body into two.

The Jimi Hendrix Monterey pop one was classic

I think it's be interesting to talk about what guitar smashing has morphed into in these recent years. First thing that comes to mind is Death Grips smashing the iMacs on stage.

That Clash show was anything but quiet and demure! I was in the balcony, and the floor was a seething mass of pogoing black leather that was going absolutely apeshit! Anytime I stopped dancing, I could feel the balcony flexing up and down!

I was not expecting the Louvin Brothers to be mentioned in a Polyphonic video. Neat!

New Polyphonic just dropped! 🗣🗣

Saw the Manic Street Preachers at Cardiff Castle. Before the last song, the guitar tech bought on cheap Strat, so I knew Bradfield was going to smash the thing. But cheap Stratocaster’s are not what they used to be, and at the end of the song, James dutifully wielding the machine like a literal axe in crashed it onto the deck. It was fine. So he tried again and again to no avail. There is nothing sadder than watching a 50-something punk rocker banging away at a monitor wedge with a guitar someone spent time building, not because he was angry or impassioned, but because that’s what the audience - by now mostly wandering towards the exits - expected. Still, I got to say hello to Charlotte Church while James was being an ineffectual rocker on stage.

also Keith Emerson abused his hammond organs and stabbed them with knives

i often find myself crying from a feeling of wonder and longing to be a part of this culture, thank you for making these videos

im doing an informative speech on the who for my coms class because of you and now im gonna tell people that they were one of the first to popularize smashing guitars in rock shows

"It breaks my hart to see those stars smashing perfectly good guitars" J.H.

No mention of John Hiatt’s Perfectly Good Guitar?? Missed opportunity!

Always makes me anxious. 😮

Always an enigmatic ritual. Thanks for your unapologetic illumination on this subject. Love your videos sir :)

I went to a Bill Frisell concert this week, and it made me think you’d probably really enjoy his music! He’s got a really cool Americana, folk, jazz, blues guitar style going on, and his trio of musicians were excellent!

Richie Blackmore told the camera guy not to get in his face during the show, the camera guy didn't listen and Richie smashed his stat into the camera

Yoshiki from X-Japan was famous for his drum kit destruction bits on live concerts too.

I can't believe you would make a video about guitar destruction, and not touch on its proliferation to Professional Wrestling, and how performers like Jeff Jarrett are synonymous with someone getting a guitar wrapped around their head.

I am surprised you did not mention y John Hiatt's smashing a perfectly good guitar

Piano scene from "Reefer Madness" FTW!

And as a counterpoint is John Haitt's "Perfectly Good Guitar."

From the holy text "The Clash: Before and After”, by Pennie Smith, with annotations: Paul don’t like Rotosound. - J.S. Meanwhile stage right: A girl (Coleen) ran towards me chased by a New York-style bouncer (behind Paul). Before he could reach her I stepped in and whisked her to safety - leaving the stage as the kit exploded into the orchestra pit. This all happened within the space of three minutes. The whole thing felt like a scene from a movie. - M.J.

I wished you mentioned Charles Mingus destroying his bass or Nine Inch Nails smashing keyboards and guitars.

Only Kurt Cobain could make a song out of smashing a guitar.

Israeli rock legend (and one half of the duo "blackfield" with steven wilson) Aviv Geffen still breaks a lot of guitars on stage, it kinda became his thing.

What a fantastic video have a wonderful weekend ❤😊

I wondered whether they were just cheap breakaway guitars which were barely playable. I mean, you wouldn't want to break your best-sounding guitar, would you?

Perfectly Good Guitar John Hiatt he threw one down from the top of the stairs beautiful women were standing everywhere they all got wet when he smashed that thing but off in the dark you could hear somebody sing it breaks my heart to see those stars smashing a perfectly good guitar i don't know who they think they are smashing a perfectly good guitar it started back in 1963 his mama wouldn't buy him that new red harmony he settled for a sunburst with a crack but hes still trying to break his mamas back oh it breaks my heart to see those stars smashing a perfectly good guitar i don't know who they think they are smashing a perfectly good guitar how he loved that guitar just like a girlfriend but every good thing comes to an end now he just sits in his room all day whistling every note he ever played well there outta be a law with no bail smash a guitar and you go to jail with no chance for early parole you don't get out until you get some soul oh it breaks my heart to see those stars smashing a perfectly good guitar i don't know who they think they are smashing a perfectly good guitar late at night the end of the road he wishes he still had that old guitar to hold he'd rock it like a baby in his arms never let it come to any harm oh it breaks my heart to see those stars smashing a perfectly good guitar i don't know who they think they are smashing a perfectly good guitar

One of my favorite Nirvana destruction performances is definitely Live And Loud when they're done playing Endless Nameless. Or in 1990 at Bogarts when he destroyed his hand built Pink mustang and split the body clean in half

Interestingly--or perhaps ironically--The Who, in 1978, actually mentioned destroying one's guitar in one of their songs ("Guitar and Pen" on WHO ARE YOU)

You forgot that Blackmore also blew up his Marshall stack at CalJam ‘74.

This must be a Richie Blackmore documentary . . . .

7:33 hey, that's Mickey Dolenz in the crowd there!

It surprised me that Nine Inch Nails wasn’t mentioned. Even to this day they still smash guitars sometimes, but back in the 90’s they went through tonnes

smashing guitars sounds like a new wave band name, hope it comes to reality one day

Thank you.

Paul Stanley has special guitars setup just to be smashed. He has a large cut made at the neck pocket so they break easily. Sounds like an expensive habit? Paul and Gene both sell every guitar that they play on stage after every show. Even Paul’s smashed guitars will fetch a hefty price tag for some collectors.

3:51 Keith Moon: *Hold My Sticks* Jimi Hendrix: *You ain't seen nothing yet...*

I smashed mine at practice yesterday , the damn thing was cheap and was cutting out , my frustration got the better of me and next thing I knew my guitar was in two. I felt awful about afterwards wouldn’t recommend if you love your guitars but it does look cool

Great video, wonderful history lesson with much needed context to a practice that might mean little to nothing to young people. Seeing all those guitars destroyed did hurt me a bit on the inside, though.

hi polyphonic!! 👋🏻👋🏻

In all my years of gig going, I've actually only seen one person smash a guitar in actual (alchohol fueled) anger (Jason Reece of ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead), though I've seen a few where it was just all part of the show. It had probably run it's course for the most part by the 80s, though maybe it is due a comeback?

ngl Phoebe did look a bit awkward there... I see the vision, she just needed sum more emotion.

Epic!

I kinda have a feeling that John Hiatt may not entirely agree... ;)

That Phoebe Bridgers staged “smashing” was the lamest thing in RnR. It was the equivalent of soap opera RnR.

Guilty of destroying a few over the years in anger.

i'd argue against the idea of piano smashing not being as gutteral as guitar smashing, as a ben folds fan the piano has such a long history of being a pompous/classy instrument (as its seen today) that when you throw a stool at it or kicking it like Tim Minchin, it's almost like humiliating it

Thats just pain when my stepsister says, destroy your guitar like a hippie, when im done playing guitar.

I'm not a violent man at all, but the mere idea of someone harming my guitar on purpose sparks a blood-lust beyond reason. I like Malcolm Young and Gretsch, not beaten up on purpose, but through decades of hard playing. He loved that guitar. I imagine the craftsman who made it was happy every time he saw it on yet another album-cover, while his boss bemoaned the fact that the company hasn't earned a penny from him all theses years.

@Polyphonic; John Hiatt said it best - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-d5begHSoQ1s.htmlsi=tcIGoRChVIwIkMeu

There's a slow-motion smash of a Fender-style bass guitar in the final scene of 1996's cult classic Frische Liebesgrotten.

Paul Westerberg put it best when asked why he destroyed one of his Gibson ES335’s, “you cherish the things you love. Me? I destroy ‘em.”

Phoebe Bridgers makes lowkey and depressing music idk why yall expect her to be like the London Calling cover

Can't believe he didn't give a mention to A Place To Bury Strangers ;(

This might be the first video I saw on something so ubiquitous

that dude in bright eyes smashed his trumpet on letterman Hhaha

1:14 Ironically or I guess not surprisingly, Roger Daltrey of The Who played Liszt in Ken Russell's biopic Listzomania.

All I know is that John Hiatt is not a fan 😂

Can't believe you mentioned Wendy O. And the plasmatics God bless you. You are truly the best maker on RU-vid... keep up the amazing work... BTW a video on the plasmatics would be great.

I knew that was a photo of Link Wray before the video zoomed out to show his face!

It's amazing to see how Boomers hace grown: first smashing guitars, then the economy, and now the principles of democracy. Such a glow up!

Hanatarash went a step farther and smashed the venue XD

Have you covered Cake yet?

what about billie joe armstrong at the iheart radio concert

I love guitars, I'd rather destroy them with my ferocious playing.

Cool video but as a aide note Iit might be off the subject but Keith Emerson useed to knife his piano and keyboard

I knew matt was going to be in there somewhere

It's very sad for all the people who would love to have an electric guitar but can''t afford it

Ty Segall - Break a Guitar

THE WHO REFERNCED‼‼‼‼WHAT THE FUCK IS A ROCK OPERAAAAAAA🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Nirvana guitar technician used the same guitars and rebuild them a number of times until they couldn't be rebuild anymore.

The only instance that had actual flare and power to it was The Clash's as it came quite spontaneously. The rest just looked forced, out of place, and ironic coming from acts with relatively soft music and untroubled lives.

Trouble is ,it always looks a bit silly and staged these days....although there's WAY too many guitars being made.. which kind of defeated the "ooh "of it. Now if they fixed one and did a full setup as part of the show ..Id be impressed !!

Liszt! Correct.

The Who were also known to smash cheap guitars like Danelectros.

Lots of iconic moments but you missed the one at the IHeartRadio festival where Billie Joe Armstrong got mad at a timer and smashed his guitar after going on a rant.

Great vid as usual, but you completely missed the opportunity to mention the end of Spongebob's "The Campfire Song Song"

Green day's outrage on IHeartRadio Iconic one

surprised you didnt mention billie joe's iheartradio meltdown

All this guitar talk and no one mentions Keith Moon blowing up his kit on the Smothers Brothers show. That explosion is what damaged Pete's ear. Pull up the video and watch what happens.

I’m not so sure performative mock rage, signed off on by large companies, or preplanned with an expendable stand in instrument is *quite* the epitome of rock n roll. It mostly seems to be people smashing a guitar because that’s what they think they’re meant to do, more than any genuine feeling that may have started the trend

Cake said it best: How much did you pay For the chunk of his guitar The one he ruthlessly smashed at the end of the show? And how much will he pay For a brand-new guitar One which he'll ruthlessly smash at the end of another show?