Bad Religion guitarists talk bringing vintage Gibsons on the road: “It’s a player guitar and it’s beat up – as they should be”
Punk icons Brian Baker and Mike Dimkich of Bad Religion have gone on the record for their penchant for bringing vintage Gibsons out on tour. READ MORE: Eric Martin says Mr. Big are “definitely gonna tour” in 2023 In a new interview with Ultimate Guitar, the guitarists shared their opinion on the valuable instruments, which […]
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Punk icons Brian Baker and Mike Dimkich of Bad Religion have gone on the record for their penchant for bringing vintage Gibsons out on tour.
In a new interview with Ultimate Guitar, the guitarists shared their opinion on the valuable instruments, which are often seen as collector’s items these days. In response to a question about tips for bringing the vintage guitars on tour, Dimkich nonchalantly replied, “One of them has multiple headstock breaks and repairs, so I don’t care so much. The other one I’d prefer it not get broken, but it’s a player guitar and it’s beat up – as they should be.”
“It’s like my car, which is a 2001 Nissan, if there’s a ding in it, I’m like, ‘where’d that come from? Who cares?’. My Nissan has character.”
He explained, “My attitude has always been, why own them if you’re not going to use them?”, while Baker shared that Ron Emory of True Sounds of Liberty had given him some sage advice when it came to bringing the instruments out on tour. Baker recounted, “And he said ‘no, no, you take them and play them. That’s what you do. They’re just guitars.’ That line of thinking was so sage to me because this was before I owned any guitar that had any value at all.”
“And I was like, ‘Wait, you’re right, I’m supposed to play this guitar that was designed to be played, and if it breaks, you just fix it and keep playing it.’”
Bad Religion last shared the previously-unreleased track Emancipation of the Mind from the sessions of their 2019 LP Age of Unreason on 20 January last year to coincide with the inauguration of Joe Biden. The track centred on hopeful themes and served as the band’s thesis against Trumpism, with frontman Greg Graffin explaining in a statement via Rolling Stone, “I think the song really is a celebration of enlightenment values that can be cultivated through enthusiastic learning and open-mindedness.”