mhen Californian nu-metal pioneers Korn released Blind as their debut single in 1994, they were well aware they’d created something bold, powerful and new. That said, even by their own admission, they had no idea it would start a whole movement of heavy bands from the mid-90s onwards. And a sizeable amount of that sonic originality could be attributed to the instruments in the hands of guitarists James ‘Munky’ Shaffer and Brian ‘Head’ Welch – the very same Ibanez Universe seven-strings which had been co-designed by Steve Vai a few years prior, although rarely seen outside of the world of shredders.