Custom-made "legs" guitar

2005
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 199
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.
Electricity has supercharged the guitar’s eroticism. Whether the instrument assumes a traditional or more creative form, it is often likened to a female body on which the performer, typically male, asserts his will. The actors and musicians Jack Black and Kyle Gass parody hypermasculine guitar culture in the 2006 comedy film Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, which features the notorious "legs" guitar. Its configuration invites the performer to plunge their head between the legs for particularly salacious shredding.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Custom-made "legs" guitar
  • Artist: Art Department, New Line Cinema (American, born 1967)
  • Date: 2005
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Wood, metal, polyvinyl chloride, polyurethane, and polyester paint
  • Dimensions: 69 1/2 x 24 1/4 x 1 1/2 in (177 x 62 x 3.5 cm)
  • Classification: Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted
  • Credit Line: Collection of Kyle Gass and Jack Black of Tenacious D
  • Curatorial Department: Musical Instruments