Katatonia’s Anders Nystrom Showcases His Custom Mayones Guitar

Anders Nystrom and Katatonia have been defining death-doom metal for over 10 years. Nyström recently spoke with Total Guitar about how his custom Mayones Legend guitar helps him craft the ulra-heavy sounds the band is known for.

Nyström's custom axe has an all-white alder body with a flame maple top. The band founder said this is the first white guitar he's ever owned. “I've never dared to go white before,” he said. “I've always kept it black or dark.”

Nyström said the guitar is built more for jazz, rock and surf players, but he liked bringing something different into the metal world. He did make some changes, though. First, as he said he does with all of his guitars, he put a Duncan Distortion SH-6 pickup in the bridge position. “It's loud and aggressive, pretty much the heaviest pickup without being an active pickup,” he said.

The neck position holds an unorthodox combination. He has two pickups installed there: a Fernandez Sustainer pickup and a single-coil pickup. The Fernandez Sustainer, when activated, can vibrate the strings for a violin-like sound. It can also generate endless feedback. Controlled by two switches installed on the guitar, it offers many different sonic possibilities. The single-coil pickup is for moments when a song calls for a clean tone.

The guitar's neck features Maltese Cross inlays and an inlay of Nyström's nickname, 'Blakkheim,' at the 12th fret. Other features of the guitar include a set neck, string-through body and lockable tuners.

Mayones is a Polish company that has been making guitars and basses for over 30 years. The company's list of artists include high-profile shredders such as Misha Mansoor of Periphery and Wes Geer, who has played with Korn and Hed PE. For more information on Mayones instruments, visit their website.