Guitar

Guitar
Weapon type	Close Combat Weapon
Technical specifications
Rate of fire	0.9s per hit. 18s to kill a Tank

"Grabbing a guitar!"

―The Survivors

The Guitar is a close combat weapon found in Left 4 Dead 2. The Guitar is a rare weapon even in the few campaigns in which it spawns.

It is found in the following campaigns:

• Dark Carnival
• The Parish
• Dead Air (Left 4 Dead 2 only)

Official Description

Ready to shred some infected? This six-string melee weapon will let you make beautiful music on any nearby zombie skulls you happen to connect with.

Melee Mechanics

Melee weapons replace Pistols in the secondary weapon slot. Unlike Pistols, close combat weapons never need to be reloaded and cannot run out of ammo (excluding the Chainsaw). They have two main drawbacks: a limited reach and (with a few exceptions) relatively long cooldown periods. Close combat weapons cause minimal friendly fire damage to the Survivors, even on Advanced and Expert difficulty levels (the Chainsaw is an exception).

These weapons are extremely effective. All melee weapons, on all difficulties, kill Common Infected and most Special Infected in one hit, aside from the Charger (which takes two—but see point below), the Witch (which takes four), and the Tank (which takes twenty, excluding the Chainsaw). Due to their death effects, it is generally advised to melee neither the Boomer (unless there is no choice) nor the Spitter (unless it is possible to move away immediately from the resulting acid splash).

The melee weapons appear to do more damage if an Infected's head or upper body is targeted. With the correct timing it is possible to kill a Charger with one hit while it is charging, allowing a Survivor to "level" a charge without first dealing damage to the Charger and to gain the achievement "Level a Charge".

The Guitar is classified as a blunt weapon, and will splatter blood onto the screen. As a blunt weapon, it can knock an Infected's head off. Aside from causing this decapitation, it generally doesn't gib infected.

Pros and Cons

Rochelle holding Guitar at "Dark Carnival"

Pros

• Good reach.
• Predictable animations.
• Hit detection is very consistent.
• Attacks are less obstructive to the user's vision.

Cons

• Slow attack rate.
• Low spawn rate.
• Only found in 3 campaigns.
• Cannot cut a Smoker's tongue.
• Not recommended for killing Boomers due to bile showering the attacker and any nearby Survivors.

Achievements

Main article: Achievements

	CONFEDERACY OF CRUNCHES	(30G)
	Finish a campaign using only melee weapons.

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	HEAD HONCHO	(15G)
	Decapitate 200 Infected with a melee weapon.

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	TANK BURGER	(30G)
	Kill a Tank with melee weapons.

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	BEAT THE RUSH	(15G)
	In a Survival round, get a medal only using melee weapons.

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	CLUB DEAD	(15G)
	Use every melee weapon to kill Common Infected.

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	LEVEL A CHARGE	(15G)
	Kill a Charger with a melee weapon while they are charging.

Notes

An Ibanez GAX-70 the basis for the weapon

• The Guitar is based on an electric guitar. The model used in-game appears to be based on a GAX-70 made by Japanese guitar brand Ibanez albeit with some minor differences.
• When first released, the Guitar did not have any visible strings, but still made a characteristic vibrating strumming sound when connecting with an Infected. This omission was fixed subsequently and the Guitar now has three remaining strings. It also sounds as though it is plugged in―but this is obviously an artistic license consistent with the game's B-grade movie context.
• Occasionally, Ellis will refer to this weapon as an axe, referencing the many rock artists who refer to their guitars as "axes".
• The Guitar, Frying Pan and the Crowbar have the same swing speed.
• Guitars never break in Left 4 Dead 2, most likely for gameplay reasons. Several are made with wood. If one was to smash it on a hard surface (in this case, the floor, walls, the Charger or Tank, or many Infected), the guitar would eventually break apart.
• The finale of Dark Carnival has many Guitars for the Survivors to use since they are on a stage where the Midnight Riders were going to play. Oddly, they are all the same model and none of them are bass guitars. This is highly unusual because it suggests both guitarists play the same model and the band has a third guitarist instead of a bassist. More puzzling still is the fact that a bass amp is nonetheless present on the stage.
  • This is likely because the guitar only has one model in the game. There would probably be different guitars and certainly a bass or two as the band has a bassist and bass amps.
• The Guitar was rated 9th in the Left 4 Dead 2 Top 10 FTW Weapons on Machinima.
• The noise the Guitar makes when hitting an enemy is re-used in the Engineer's update in Team Fortress 2 as the sound for his Dischord taunt.
• The Guitar is featured in Dying Light as part of the Dying Light - Left 4 Dead 2 Weapon Pack DLC released on October 25, 2019, along with the Frying Pan and the Golf Club.

External Links

• Electric Guitar gameplay