Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante talked about his guitar-playing skills, explaining to Metal Rules how he isn’t overly comfortable with shredding the axe onstage.
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I know that you are an accomplished guitar player; do you ever look down from your kit and wish you were playing guitar at the front of the stage with the guys? If so what song?
“No, I do not wish for that! I enjoy playing guitar on my own and not performing with it. I guess because I have played drums for so long on stage that when I’m not playing them, I feel naked. Nothing is surrounding me. I’m confident on playing guitar in the studio, during rehearsal, or for myself but when it comes to being on stage; it’s just not for me.”
I’m curious, what is your go-to guitar and amp?
“Funny story, when we started making some money, one of the first things I bought was a car [laughing], a VOX AC30 amp, and two guitars. One guitar I purchased from Scott, which was an old San Dimas Charvel that I have written most of my Anthrax songs on it from the 80s.
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“I also bought a Howard Roberts signature series Gibson guitar. To this day, I still have the amp and the Charvel. I’ve retired it for a while in place of some other guitars but will pull it out of the case when I get home from this tour.”