Smashing Guitars

Sometimes musicians smash their guitars into several pieces by brute force during their performance.
I allways get a little angry with that, you can better throw it in the public or give it away to a fan.
Is this habitt only done by some professional guitarists or are some of you doing it also and why?
Maybe we can make a top ten of famous guitar smashers.
I know a few:
Jimmy Hendrix
Pete Townsend

i always thought it was pretty cool, but i never could figure out why someone would waste a guitar like that, anyways i've seen pete townshend toss his guitar out to his fans before

I myself haven't got the heart (or lack there of) to smash a guitar.

I COULDN'T DO IT MYSELF... LOVE MY GUITAR TOO MUCH! BUT IT IS DAMN COOL TO WITNESS!:)

GOT ONE FOR THE TOP 10 LIST... KURT COBAIN. NOT ONLY DID THE GUITAR GOTO HELL, BUT EVERY ****ING PEICE OF EQUIPMENT ON STAGE WENT ALONG FOR THE RIDE TOO!!

THINK ABOUT IT...
LATER!

I've gotta agree with Martin up there. As cool as it may look, it pisses me off to see a lot of good equipment wasted in that way. I would be a lot more impressed if they gave their stuff away to their fans instead of burning it, smashing it, whatever.

I remeber Hendrix talking about it. He said guitar was like his soul (as we all feel at some point), and that burning his guitar was like making a sacrifice, to the god of music. He was possibly on acid at the time. Nice comment though.

Originally posted by Martin Spaans
Sometimes musicians smash their guitars into several pieces by brute force during their performance.
I allways get a little angry with that, you can better throw it in the public or give it away to a fan.
Is this habitt only done by some professional guitarists or are some of you doing it also and why?
Maybe we can make a top ten of famous guitar smashers.
I know a few:
Jimmy Hendrix
Pete Townsend

Well, yeah it frustrates me too. For the most part, Ive always believed that every guitar has a soul, :D. I think that there are too many musicians who who feel the need to destroy their set due to the lack of energy on the fans part. I guess in a way they feel that if the music couldn't get the job done, they want to give the fans something to talk about the next time they come around town..[i] I could never destroy a guitar, I'm too self conscious about stuff like that...Sometimes its fun to watch, but after a while, once you analyze it, its really dumb...

-Joseph