Mike Riggs of Rob Zombie Talks Guitars, Chaos, and Festivals

Some guitar designs are born out of precision. Others out of pure chaos. For Riggs, a guitarist known for pushing both sonics and visuals to the edge, the idea was simple: make something wild enough to leave a mark.

“I had the idea for the hollow one so you could put stuff in it,” he laughed. “I was thinking rotten stuff, bugs, maggots… Rob was like, ‘Are you out of your mind?’” Well, we got to catch up with Riggs at Welcome to Rockville 2025 to talk all about his collaboration with Schecter and the chaos that involves playing with Rob Zombie. Check it out! 

That out there approach eventually led him to Schecter, a company with a reputation for giving artists real creative freedom. The timing was tricky three years ago, supply chains were shut down and factories were stalled. But when Riggs came to his longtime friend Scum Love with a vision, Schecter stepped up.

“They said, take the biggest body we make, cut your own shape out of it, and we’ll go from there,” Riggs explained. “They sent me the Ultra, I liked it, and then we just changed the headstock to something that looked like devil horns or a scorpion tail. Easy.”

From there, the experiments only got stranger. Riggs pitched a Lucite-style guitar that could be filled with stage props. He wanted to pour blood into it mid-show. The challenge? Making sure it didn’t leak everywhere.

“It was trial and error,” he admitted. “It took a few months to get it sorted out. But now, with CNC machines, we can do it with just two pieces. That’s the next project.”

Schecter’s willingness to say “yes” is part of why so many artists stick with them. “They get it. The president, Mike Ciravolo, is super cool. He’s out on tour himself as much as he’s in the office, so he understands what we need.”

Of course, designing outrageous guitars is only half the story. On stage, Riggs embraces what he calls “organized chaos.”

“It’s not like you’re playing AC/DC songs,” he said. “There are sound effects, explosions, monsters; you’ve got to know where the edges are. But the more chaos, the better for me. We know our way around it.”

That philosophy keeps the shows exciting, but it doesn’t mean things spin out of control. “Beleive it or not, no train wrecks,” Riggs said. “We pay attention. We know where not to go.”

Hopefully you caught Riggs and crew navigating that chaos across some of the country’s biggest stages. They planned to hit the Boardwalk Rock with Def Leppard, filling in for Alice in Chains, then moving through the Danny Wimmer festival circuit with stops at Louder Than Life, Aftershock, Upheaval, and Rockfest: seven major festivals in all.

And whether the crowd is full of Slayer die-hards or Def Leppard fans, Riggs knows the band fits right in. “We could play Slayer or Def Leppard. Those are the two poles.”

For Riggs, the balance of chaos and creativity on stage and in the shop with Schecter is exactly where he thrives. If you want to experience the creativity and chaos like Riggs check out the Schecter Ultra and other Schecter gear at American Musical Supply. And don’t forget to subscribe to the AMS YouTube Channel for more content just like this!