“If you’re an older guy who’s into classic rock, that’s gonna put you off!”: Lee Malia explains why his new signature Jackson ships without this one key feature

Bring Me The Horizon are one of the biggest metal bands of the modern age, and the secret to guitarist Lee Malia’s heavy tone lies in his interesting string choice.

Malia uses an unconventional .074 gauge bass string in place of his low E, but has decided against implementing it on his new Pro Series Signature model with Jackson. The guitar – named the LM-87 – is described by the brand as “a shred-ready axe built for heavy riffing and alternative modern metal”.

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The LM-87 offers a Surfcaster body shape, a fast D-profile three-piece okoume neck, Custom Jackson signature pickups (including a bridge humbucker with push-pull coil-split), plus a TOM-style bridge with anchored tailpiece and fine tuners. It comes fitted with nickel plated steel strings, .010-.046 gauges, as standard.

Speaking to Guitar.com in a new interview, Malia explains of his own unusual bass string choice, “It’s because I’m incredibly heavy handed with my right hand, so anything thinner just moves too much. As soon as I found it, I knew that was my gauge.”

He goes on to explain why he decided against adding the string to his signature, stating, “If you’re an older guy who’s into classic rock, and you pick it up and it’s got these silly strings on? That’s gonna put you off. So I said just put 10s on them.” He adds, “People can do what they want – because that’s my thing. It works for me, it might not work for anyone else.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Malia discusses its other unusual design features, including its Surfcaster body shape and its bridge: “I remember trying to look back through their history for some shapes that you wouldn’t necessarily walk in a shop and know straight away it was a Jackson. When I saw the shape, I was ‘I feel like I can make it really cool,’” he says.

“I had an ES-Artist with the Moog circuit, and it had this bridge with fine tuners on. And I were like, ‘Oh, this is just so much easier.’ It’s the same with the locking tuners – they just make changing strings so easy. This stuff is all from touring, finding stuff that just makes life easier.”

The Jackson LM-87 is priced at £849. You can purchase it now via the official Jackson website.