Dave Mustaine doesn't sugarcoat anything—not his gear, not his history, and definitely not the guitar industry.
In this new episode of Career Through Gear, the Megadeth founder and guitarist walks through his personal guitar collection, tracing a path from early B.C. Rich guitars and the Jackson King V to his current work with Gibson, Epiphone, and Kramer.
Along the way, he gets candid about the companies that worked, the ones that didn’t, and the details that matter when you’re designing instruments built for speed, precision, and heavy music. His current Gibson, Epiphone, and Kramer signature models all carry that same DNA: 24 frets, fast necks, aggressive V-style silhouettes, and specs that serve the player first.
In the video, he points to the Gibson prototype that became “the mother,” the Epiphone version with its classic body shape, and the Kramer build that leans into the pointier metal shape he knows many players prefer.
Mustaine also digs into studio choices, from using different guitars to layer rhythm parts to relying on an Evertune-equipped V for hard-picked tracks that need to stay locked in.
It’s a fittingly blunt, funny, and opinionated look at his guitar evolution—one that connects the instruments of his past to the signature models carrying his name now.