Wanted: Rock Star (No Experience Needed)

They stood in line, these 315 guitarists, like so many rosary-clutching supplicants seeking an audience with the pope. Yet deep down they knew they were more like six-string-wielding lambs to the slaughter.

Each patiently waited his or her turn Monday at the Guitar Center in Hollywood for that one brief, shining moment (in this case, roughly 60 seconds): a shot at wowing the members of hard-rock band Limp Bizkit.

The band, which has sold more than 16 million albums in the last five years with its aggressive musical style, says it is hoping to hire its new guitar player through an audition process in which professional experience is neither necessary nor even desired.

Of roughly 5,000 musicians who have showed up since the tryouts began in Fresno last month, one may win that spot. The band isn’t guaranteeing it will anoint any of them after the last barre chord has faded to silence. Still, those odds struck most of the comers as far better than hitting the lottery.

“I think I’m in there,” said Phil Lopez, 33, who had driven from Rancho Cucamonga, one of 600 guitarists who turned up at the Sunset Boulevard store. The first 315 were allowed into the pre-audition; of those, a handful were to be selected to jam with the band during the evening’s final session.

“I must have practiced my stuff 300 times,” said Lopez, who said he is in the automotive business and at one time had been part of a band. “A lot of guys just played one riff--chunka-chunka-chunka-chunka--

but I knew they wanted to hear something different. If anybody gets called back to play with tonight, I’m sure it’ll be me.”

‘I Think I’ve Got a Shot’

“The whole thing is just being a part of this,” said Jerry Gurrola, 25, of South Gate, with a “#167” inked on the back of his right hand in black marker to show his place in line.

“I think I’ve got a shot,” said Gurrola, who works in a warehouse and plays in bands that pay tribute to Jimi Hendrix and Black Sabbath. “There is a lot of competition, but the thing that’s cool is that if I don’t make it, then I’ll know that the guy they do pick really deserves it. And if I don’t make it, then that’s just motivation for me to get better.”

Hundreds of hopefuls like Lopez and Gurrola, from teens to fortysomethings, most toting battered brown Gibson cases or with sleek black Fender gig bags over their shoulders, turned out for the final stop on a 22-city tour. It’s Limp Bizkit’s way of holding out the brass ring to guitarists around the country, if not the Western Hemisphere, to fill the vacancy that occurred when Wes Borland quit last fall.

The overwhelmingly male crowd was a remarkably diverse-looking bunch, some with straight, long hair and faded blue jeans, others outfitted in camouflage and sporting punkish dyed spikes, still others with a clean-cut GQ look.

All they had in common was the sturdy ego that seems to be part of every rock guitarist’s standard equipment--and a willingness to go down in flames.

One complained that he was rebuked when he made a move to change the dials on one of the rehearsal room amplifiers. Another smarted from being cut off mid-solo when he ran over the time limit.

After Borland quit the band, declaring he wanted to get back to making music, not just money, the remaining members decided to open the spot to a young unknown. They happily brushed off any skeptics who suggested the whole campaign was a scheme to keep Bizkit’s name before the public in the lull between albums.

“We haven’t said we’re definitely going to pick somebody out of these auditions,” said Limp Bizkit road manager Yeti Ward. “Every day we run into somebody saying, ‘C’mon, you guys aren’t really going to choose one of these guys, are you?’ I wouldn’t be sitting in Oklahoma City if we weren’t really looking for somebody.”

Said singer Fred Durst: “I hope we find somebody. I really hope we do. But you can’t force it. It’s like if I were looking for my soulmate and I was going on 4,000 dates in one month. I might find her, but I might not. It’s more the vibe. There’s no technical skill level we’re looking for. I’ll know when it happens, but it hasn’t happened yet.”

The band has no specific timeline for announcing audition results but Durst says members are eager to go to work on a new album.

Chance for Someone’s Dream to Come True

The band came up with the unusual “every guy” approach because Durst and the rest of Limp Bizkit remember when they were “a bunch of nobodies” in Jacksonville, Fla.

“So while they are looking for somebody who has a unique way of playing that can bring something different to the band, at the same time they want to give some musician their ultimate dream.”

Eighteen-year-old Chris Romero of Ventura liked the odds.

“Definitely better than hitting the lottery,” he said. “Besides, with the lottery it’s just luck. This is skill.... I’d like to think they really are going to pick someone from the auditions. But like my dad told me, ‘Just go and see what it’s like and don’t get your hopes up.’”

In at least one case, quantity was as much a factor in applicants’ hopes as quality.

Mike Morgan came from Durham, N.C., with his seven-string guitar, akin to the customized instrument Borland played. He was accompanied by a friend, Carlos Ollervides, who was convinced Morgan’s instrument gave him an inside track.

“Why would they want to go down in quality [by choosing a six-string player]?” Ollervides asked from their spot on the sidewalk near the end of the line. “They won’t.”

In the end, the band chose three musicians to jam with Limp Bizkit in front of several dozen people inside the guitar store Monday night: Jonas Anderson, 25, of Fresno; Monte Pittman, 26, who lives about a block from the Guitar Center, and Anoush Saboktakin of West Hollywood, who was the 300th guitarist in line.

It was impossible to gauge Saboktakin’s age. He listed his birthdate on his application form as summer 2002.