The Top 100 Most Iconic Guitars of All Time (Numbers 100-51)

From the blues to jazz to rock to folks to nation, the guitar might be probably the most pivotal instrument of the twentieth century, serving as a centerpiece for quite a lot of genres that modified the course of tradition in America and all over the world.

In honor of the stringed instrument that has amped up audiences for hundreds of years, we current Billboard’s record of the 100 Greatest Guitars of All Time.

No, that’s not a typo. This isn’t an inventory of 100 guitarists – although every merchandise on this record is related to a selected guitar slinger. And it’s not an inventory of guitar manufacturers or corporations. This is an inventory of precise guitars, performed by nice guitarists. It places the shine on guitars all through fashionable historical past which have been part of the evolution of in style music. Instead of specializing in guitar enjoying model, we’re trying on the instrument itself as dealt with by numerous luminaries throughout every little thing from bluegrass to heavy metallic.

What is “the greatest”? Iconic, influential, ingenious, well-known, game altering? Unusual, oddball, stunning, even whimsical? Just plain cool? It’s all of that and extra. Some of the guitars that observe are commonplace fashions with minimal modifications; others are one-of-a-kind items which have been endlessly tinkered with. Some are technical and auditory wonders; others have been crushed to hell through the years by overzealous homeowners. But all are vital to the guitar’s historical past and ongoing evolution.

This was a giant endeavor that we didn’t wish to do alone. We invited a panel of ace guitarists throughout quite a lot of genres, in addition to journalists and specialists, to peruse a prolonged record of guitars, compiled by Billboard, and vote on them. We invited our voters to submit their very own picks. After tallying their responses, we despatched it again to the voting panel, solicited further suggestions and included that right into a closing record of the 100 Greatest Guitars of All Time.

In addition to some voters who wished to stay nameless, the voting panel included: Duane Betts, Nick Bowcott of Sweetwater, Carl Broemel of My Morning Jacket, Larry Campbell, Joanna Connor, Michael Doyle of Guitar Center, Alejandro Escovedo, Pete Evick of Bret Michaels Band, Damian Fanelli of Guitar World, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Slim Gambill of Lady A, Kirk Hammett of Metallica, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge and Slash that includes Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr, Dave Mason, Scott Metzger, Bob Mould, Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick, Orianthi, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Joe Satriani, Chris Scapelliti of Guitar Player, Peter Stroud of Sheryl Crow’s band, Matthew Sweet, Mark Tremonti of Creed and Alter Bridge, Seth Walker, Erika Wennerstrom of Heartless Bastards, Jack White, Andy Wood and Oliver Wood.

This week, we’re rolling out the primary half of the record (guitars 100-51), and subsequent week, we’ll unveil the complete 100 (for now, the picture above will function a touch).

This record is way from exhaustive. There are so many legendary guitars that even an inventory of 100 fails to embody all of them. Regardless, we hope what follows spurs some pleasure, debate, discovery and even, maybe, somebody to select up a guitar and begin enjoying.

• 100. Johnny Thunders – ca. 1959 Les Paul Junior TV Model

  The band was the New York Dolls. The perspective was punk rock. And the colour was TV Yellow — which guitar producer Gibson at one level marketed for budding rock stars to face out on black-and-white broadcasts. “Me and Johnny Thunders basically put the Les Paul Junior on the map,” the Dolls’ different guitarist, Sylvain Sylvain, said in 2009. “It was the perfect guitar for the New York Dolls because it was stripped down — like the band was and like our songs were.” Guitar World known as the circa-1959 Junior “minimal, direct and cut-through with the essence of rock ’n’ roll – basically the blueprint for Thunders’ own ethos.”

  Talk of the Town: “I lusted after his TV yellow Les Paul Junior,” The Cult’s Billy Duffy informed Guitar World. “I finally picked up my own Les Paul Junior in 1979, though it was a wine red one. I couldn’t find a yellow one in England at that time.” 

  On Display: The Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas has proven Thunders’ guitar for a number of years.  – STEVE KNOPPER

• 99. Brittany Howard – 1961 Gibson Les Paul SG Custom

  Howard by no means used to love Les Pauls, which she discovered heavy and unfamiliar, till she borrowed an SG from Heath Fogg, the guitarist from her band Alabama Shakes. She ultimately discovered her personal, a 1961 Gibson Les Paul SG Custom in Inverness Green. It’s battered however stunning — a reissue from the early ‘80s, she has suggested — with three pickups. Howard soon had a collection of SGs (at least five, at one point), which she has been known to play through Orange amps, which offer a warmer, vintage-y sound. She played the SG during the Alabama Shakes’ star-making look on Saturday Night Live in 2013.

  Strange But True: The SG (brief for “solid guitar”) was popularized by blues legend Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who performed a white one. Howard inducted Tharpe into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.

  Six-String Stories: “My number one thing for my guitar techs is: Do not clean the pickups,” Howard informed The Guardian in 2020. “I like the sound of pickups that are worn down and kind of degraded – it’s just more interesting-sounding. That is why my SG is so unique, because of how the pickups were wound, and how long it has been since they were cleaned up.” – ALLISON STEWART

• 98. John Mayer – PRS Silver Sky

  When PRS Guitars and John Mayer launched their first collaborative mannequin in 2018, it was one thing that seemed acquainted — and likewise alien — to the guitar neighborhood. Combining a Strat-like physique (or “S-style,” as they are saying within the enterprise) with PRS’ glossy, extra up to date aesthetic, the Silver Sky, like Mayer himself, instantly turned a hot-button subject amongst purists and newer gamers alike. The proven fact that Mayer had spent a lot of his profession as a staunch Strat man solely added to the curiosity of why he had opted to develop the instrument with PRS. His rationalization? His need to make a guitar that was “sort of the future of the classic design.” Just a couple of years later, it’s one of many extra in style signature fashions in the marketplace.

  Shop Talk: According to Mayer, the Silver Sky’s preliminary finishes had been impressed by Tesla automobile colours. “If you look at materials that were available in the 1950s and ’60s, they’re still being used all the time, only for guitars,” he stated in a Guitar Center video. “Things that are sunburst, things that are mother-of-pearl. I wanted to really move it more into this modern period of Tesla, Apple, Leica.”

  Specs: Alder physique, 25.5 scale size, maple neck with 635JM fretboard form, trio of 635JM single-coil pickups, “reverse” PRS trademark headstock form

  Sound Decision: The “635” designation within the custom-designed pickups is believed to reference the truth that tonally they sound someplace in between Mayer’s favored 1963-1964-era Strats, therefore “63.5.” – RICHARD BIENSTOCK

• 97. Adam Jones – 1979 Gibson Les Paul Custom “Silverburst”

  The Gibson Les Paul has a number of well-known finishes, amongst them the red-orange-yellow Sunburst and the elegant ebony that adorns the “Black Beauty” mannequin. Thanks to Tool guitarist Adam Jones, the significantly rarer Silverburst has now joined the ranks of coveted LP colorways. Reportedly conceived to commemorate the Les Paul’s silver anniversary in 1979, and initially produced solely from 1978 till 1982, the Silverburst appeared misplaced to historical past till Jones made a ’79 Les Paul Custom within the distinctive end – a silver middle giving method to darker hues across the physique’s border, with the silver taking up a greenish hue over time on account of nitrocellulose lacquer getting older – his principal guitar with Tool. Its beautiful look, mixed with Tool’s fervid fanbase, led Gibson to associate with Jones on a period-correct Custom Shop recreation, and ultimately a full line of Jones-inspired Silverburst fashions.

  Rarity Factor: Between simply 150 and 200 Silverbursts had been reportedly produced through the mannequin’s unique run. Jones has acknowledged he owns six of those, together with two 1979 examples.

  Strange But True: Gibson initially employed metal-flake paint for the end, and Jones has said he believes the “particular metallic paint does something to the tone or the resonance or the polarity” of the instrument.

  Signature Style: Gibson sister model Epiphone unveiled the Adam Jones Art Collection in 2024, that includes seven Silverburst fashions emblazoned with paintings from a few of the Jones’ favourite visible artists, amongst them fantasy legend Frank Frazetta and pop-surrealist Mark Ryden. – R. BIENSTOCK

• 96. Jimmy Page – 1959 Telecaster “Dragon”

  Like any legendary beast, Jimmy Page’s dragon-painted 1959 Telecaster boasts an epic backstory. Used nearly solely on Led Zeppelin’s debut album and for the solo on “Stairway to Heaven,” this guitar’s origins hint again to Jeff Beck. Beck, who used it on such Yardbirds hits like “Shapes of Things” and “Heart Full of Soul,” gifted it to Page in 1965 as a token of esteem. Originally that includes a White Blonde end, maple neck and slab rosewood fingerboard, Page initially personalised it by including eight round mirrors to the physique. Shortly after, he stripped the end and repainted it himself, making a psychedelic dragon in a vaguely Japanese model. “I painted it in one go over the course of an evening, finishing it the next day,” Page stated in his autobiography, Jimmy Page: The Anthology. “Once it was created and painted, it became like the legendary Excalibur.”

  Specs: Page changed the Telecaster’s unique black pickguard with a clear acrylic one, inserting a sheet of diffraction grating movie to create a spectrum of colours when hit by gentle.

  Retirement Party: In 1969, Page switched from the Telecaster to a Les Paul as a result of the Tele’s single-coil pickup triggered it to squeal on the volumes wanted for reside performances in greater live performance halls. – BRAD TOLINSKI

• 95. Lzzy Hale – Gibson Explorer

  

  The Gibson Explorer’s angular form was seen as futuristic when it debuted within the late ‘50s, however by the point Halestorm lead singer and guitarist Lzzy Hale started rocking out with the mannequin onstage, it was deliciously retro, evoking the ‘80s metallic bands she grew up idolizing. From her signature Epiphone Explorer with an “Alpine White” end to her Gibson Explorerbird that rocks a “Cardinal Red” colorway, Hale is, in flip, changing a brand new era of shredders to the hard-rocking church of the Explorer.

  As Seen On: Hale flaunts her Alpine White Explorer within the music movies “Freak Like Me” and “The Steeple,” each of that are Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplays No. 1s.

  Six-String Stories: “That’s pretty much my go-to guitar,” Hale informed Harmony Central of her white Explorer in 2018. “Honestly, that guitar, I don’t know what voodoo happened with that one, but it works in any situation.” — JOE LYNCH

• 94. Rory Gallagher – 1961 Fender Stratocaster

  Rumored to be the primary Fender Stratocaster to grace Ireland, its unique proprietor, Jim Conlon, had ordered a crimson Stratocaster from the U.S. however obtained this sunburst mannequin by mistake. When the meant crimson Strat lastly arrived six months later, Conlon bought the sunburst mannequin, which was promptly snapped up by Gallagher for simply £100 in 1963.

  For the subsequent three many years, this guitar was a central piece of Gallagher’s profession till his premature dying in 1995 at age 47. Over the years, the guitar’s end was almost stripped away, which Gallagher’s brother attributes to Rory’s extremely acidic sweat, which aged the paintwork prematurely.

  Strange But True: Dublin’s Temple Bar hosts Rory Gallagher Corner at Meeting House Square, marked with a full-sized bronze recreation of his legendary Stratocaster.

  As Heard On: Rory Gallagher might not be as universally often known as Eric Clapton or Jimi Hendrix, however he made a big impression, promoting over 30 million data worldwide. His 1973 album, Blueprint, which options the ’61 Strat, is usually thought-about his finest work.

  Shop Talk: In a 1984 interview with Vintage Classic, Gallagher shared, “After a while, the original neck went bad on me. That was about 10 years ago, but I took it off and hung it up. After a few months it dried out and was fine again.” – B. TOLINSKI

• 93. Lou Reed – Gretsch Country Gentleman

  Late-’60s images present Reed’s main guitar in his Velvet Underground days was a Gretsch, which he confirmed to Guitar World in 1998. A San Francisco “electronics guy” in-built an echo, he stated, “so I could seem to play faster than I really could.” He tinkered relentlessly, making it stereo, including batteries, till “eventually it just ruined the guitar.” Another key Reed VU guitar: a Kent Copa, bought for about $150 from a catalog, in response to Premier Guitar. As 2021’s documentary The Velvet Underground exhibits, Reed and co-VU axeman Sterling Morrison took turns enjoying it.

  Specs: The Kent Copa, made by Japanese firm Guyatone, had three pickups, three quantity controls, a tone management and a rotary selector change.

  Six-String Stories: “I’d been listening to [avant-garde jazz artists] Cecil Taylor and Ornette Coleman. Of course I was not trained to play like them. I couldn’t read and write music. I couldn’t even begin to think of having technique like that. But I certainly had the energy—and a good ear,” Reed informed Guitar World. “So that’s what I was listening to, along with guitar players like James Burton and Steve Cropper.”  – S. KNOPPER

• 92. J Mascis – 1958 Fender Jazzmaster

  Before they had been re-discovered by ‘80s alt-rock hopefuls with no money, Jazzmasters were best known for their appeal to surf-rock and jazz aficionados. Mascis bought his ‘58 Jazzmaster in a Vermont, or possibly Connecticut, trailer park. He covered its gold hardware with more gold hardware, and made it the engine of Dinosaur Jr.’s lumpy, distorted, magisterial sound. It’s additionally the first inspiration for his one among Mascis’ personal Signature Jazzmasters, an atypically inexpensive, much-desired mannequin by Squier that has gone out and in of manufacturing.

  Strange But True: Mascis went to the trailer park with the hope of shopping for a Stratocaster, however it was too costly.

  Strange But True, Part 2: Mascis discovered tips on how to play guitar on a Jazzmaster, his first guitar.

  As Heard On: Though Jazzmasters are considered foundational to the band’s sound, Mascis doesn’t truly report with them. “There’s hardly ever a Jazzmaster or a Big Muff on any studio recording,” he told Reverb. – A. STEWART

• 91. Jimmie Rodgers – 1927 Martin 00-18

  Before he turned “The Father of Country Music,” Rodgers was a tubercular younger crooner, yodeler, former brakeman and guitar participant identified for his signature Martins. He used an unadorned spruce-and-mahogany Martin 00-18 to make his first recordings through the legendary Bristol Sessions in 1927. Once he had cash, he used a {custom} Martin 00-45 (from both 1927 or ‘28) with a pearlized nameplate, and, for the viewers, the phrase “THANKS” printed on the again.

  As Heard On: Rodgers used the 00-18 to report “The Soldier’s Sweetheart” and “Sleep Baby Sleep.” Both from the Bristol Sessions, they’d be the rocket gasoline that powered Rodgers’ ascent after they had been launched two months after the periods.

  As Heard On, Part 2: Rodgers used one other mannequin, the 00-45, to report his signature hit, “Blue Yodel.”

  Strange But True: Rodgers truly had an endorsement deal — when such issues had been extraordinary — with the Philadelphia-based Weymann firm. Its circa-1931 “Jimmie Rodgers Special Model 890” bought for $90, a fortune through the Great Depression. – A. STEWART

• 90. Ron Wood – Zemaitis Metal Front

  Tony Zemaitis, a London-born luthier, initially made waves within the ’60s by crafting distinctive acoustic guitars for legends like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Donovan. However, within the ’70s, he shifted his focus to electrical guitars, creating designs that drew much more consideration. His exploration into the properties of aluminum on guitars started after a 1969 dialog with Clapton. Zemaitis found that incorporating an aluminum entrance enhanced the guitar by decreasing suggestions and enhancing tuning and intonation—plus, it seemed extremely cool.

  One of his most well-known electrical fashions was commissioned by Faces and eventual Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood. Of the 2 guitars Zemaitis made for Wood, it was the second—with its black physique and hanging central metallic plate—that turned iconic. The design sparked a craze, drawing shoppers like Keith Richards, Bob Dylan, Marc Bolan, David Gilmour and Pretenders’ James Honeyman-Scott.

  Specs: Many of Zemaitis’ metallic plates had been intricately tooled by shotgun engraver Danny O’Brien.

  Stage Debut: Zemaitis constructed his first electrical guitar for Tony McPhee of the Groundhogs.

  Sold!: Zemaitis crafted solely eight to 10 guitars yearly. He retired in 2000 and died in 2002. These days, a few of his unique items can fetch upwards of $50,000. – B. TOLINSKI

• 89. Jerry Garcia – Doug Irwin Custom 1979 “Tiger”

  Delighted with the craftsmanship of his {custom} Doug Irwin “Wolf” guitar, Jerry Garcia commissioned one other instrument from Irwin, urging the luthier to “not hold back.” Irwin rose to the problem, making a guitar often known as “Tiger,” distinguished by its “hippie sandwich” development—a lamination of a number of layers of wooden. This distinctive guitar additionally featured a tiger inlay close to the tailpiece, and its stable brass binding and {hardware} contributed to its substantial weight of about 14 kilos.

  Irwin crafted two extra guitars for Garcia, “Rosebud” and “Headless.” But following Garcia’s dying, a dispute ensued between Irwin and the Grateful Dead over the possession of Jerry’s 4 {custom} guitars. The battle was resolved in 2001, granting Irwin possession of each “Tiger” and “Wolf.”

  Stage Debut: Garcia first performed Tiger reside at a live performance in Oakland, Calif., on Aug. 4, 1979.

  Retirement Party: Tiger was the final guitar Garcia utilized in public with the Grateful Dead, throughout a efficiency on July 9, 1995.

  Sold!: Tiger was bought by Jim Irsay, the proprietor of the Indianapolis Colts, for $957,500 in 2002. – B. TOLINSKI

• 88. Zakk Wylde – 1981 Gibson Les Paul Custom “The Grail”

  When Zakk Wylde joined Ozzy Osbourne’s band in 1987, he sought a particular guitar to mark his new function. His selection fell on a white 1981 Les Paul Custom geared up with EMG pickups, which he ultimately obtained by buying and selling a double-neck Gibson EDS-1275 with a pal. But Wylde confronted a problem: the legendary Randy Rhoads was famously related to an analogous white Les Paul throughout his time with Ozzy. Seeking to carve out his personal id, Zakk opted to have his refinished in a novel rectangular “vertigo” sample. The customization resulted in a less complicated, but iconic, black and white bullseye sample as a substitute. Wylde embraced this sudden design, which quickly turned his signature “The Grail.”

  As Heard On: Wylde composed “Miracle Man,” his first tune for Ozzy, on the Grail.

  Strange But True: In 2000, the Grail briefly vanished after accidently falling out of a truck on the best way to a Texas gig. Fortunately, it survived its ordeal and was recovered.

  Retirement Party: In current years, Zakk has favored devices from his personal Wylde Audio guitar line. – B. TOLINSKI

• 87. H.E.R. – Signature Chrome Glow Stratocaster

  H.E.R. is the primary Black girl to obtain a signature Fender mannequin, and it’s a doozy – a chrome-covered Strat that flashes iridescent within the gentle (reportedly in tribute to a nail-polish colour she likes). There’s footage on YouTube of H.E.R. enjoying her first Strat when she was a child, and her trademark guitar combines that very same traditional really feel (its classic vibe features a mid-’60s C-shaped neck) with fashionable touches (a pearlescent glow end).

  Stage Debut: At the 2020 Primetime Emmys, enjoying “Nothing Compares 2 U” through the In Memoriam section, as a tribute to the late Sinéad O’Connor.

  Specs: The Strat has three Fender Vintage Noiseless pickups, meant to make sure a cleaner tone.

  Strange But True: H.E.R. famously performed a see-through Strat on the 2019 Grammy Awards. Crafted out of acrylic and fully clear, it was {custom} constructed by Fender in per week. – A. STEWART

• 86. Billy Gibbons – Dean Z “Fur” Guitar

  By 1984, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill weren’t missing for woolliness. But they turned the hirsute quotient as much as 11 with the Dean Z “fur” guitar and bass they brandished in that yr’s “Legs” video. Gibbons had performed a Dean ML mannequin on the accompanying album, 1983’s Eliminator, and Dean Guitars founder Dean Zelinsky provided to construct {custom} devices for the band for the supporting tour. Gibbons had one request: incorporate some sheepskins he had bought in Scotland into the design. Up for the problem, Zelinsky delivered a white guitar and bass, the Eliminator emblem emblazoned on the fretboards, and (as requested) matching sheepskin finishes. The outcomes even upstaged the video’s star attraction – the assorted pairs of legs showcased all through the clip.

  Strange But True: After masking the guitar and bass with sheepskin, Zelinsky used electrical horse shears to shave a path down the middle of the our bodies to make room for the pickups, tailpiece and strings.

  Strange But True, Part 2: The construct stretched into the eleventh hour. “I remember we were still gluing the fur on the tuning keys when the FedEx driver showed up to pick up the guitars,” Zelinsky recalled. “He waited while we boxed them up; they had to make it to the video shoot the very next day.”

  Strange But True, Part 3: The devices featured an attachment that enabled them to be spun 360 levels from Gibbons and Hill’s waists whereas being performed. – R. BIENSTOCK

• 85. Kurt Cobain – 1959 Martin D-18E

  

  A bungled try by acoustic guitar producer Martin to make inroads into the rising electrical guitar market of the late ’50s, the D-18E — basically a D-18 dreadnought guitar fitted with two DeArmond pickups, two tone controls and a quantity management — was produced for just one yr and would have been nothing greater than a seldom-discussed oddity if Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain hadn’t bought one from Voltage Guitars in Los Angeles within the fall of 1993. When Nirvana got here to New York to report their unforgettable MTV Unplugged efficiency on Nov. 18 of that yr, Cobain performed the guitar (which, a lot to the present’s producer’s dismay was plugged into two results pedals and a Fender Twin amplifier) for the complete epochal efficiency, giving the much-maligned D-18E a belated star flip.

  Middleman: Cobain was not pleased with the sound produced by the D-18E’s DeArmond pickups and had a Bartolini 3AV pickup put in within the sound gap between them, which he used solely for Unplugged.

  Sold!: Cobain reportedly paid $5,000 for his Martin in 1993. In 2022, it bought at public sale for greater than 5 million {dollars}.

  Lucky 7: Martin manufacturing data point out that Cobain’s guitar, serial quantity 166854, was the seventh D-18E produced. – TOM BEAUJOUR

• 84. Wayne Kramer – American Flag Stratocaster

  Inspired by Pete Townshend and The Who’s British-flag pop-art iconography, the guitarist motivated his protopunk band, Detroit’s MC5, to hold American flags over their amps. It was a method of reflecting the counterculture generally and protesting the Vietnam War particularly: “The idea was, it’s my flag, too. It’s not just the right-wing flag,” Kramer informed guitar.com in 2022, two years earlier than his dying. “I decided to have my guitar painted with that motif.” Kramer initially painted his white Strat with crimson stripes, then added the blue-and-white stars sample to the pickguard. He additionally added a humbucker to make his solos louder.

  Strange But True: In the ’70s, Kramer was an addict and provided the guitar to a Detroit music retailer to boost money — solely to be informed he’d ruined it with the celebrities and stripes. To promote it, Kramer needed to repaint it. “I suspect somewhere in Michigan there’s a Stratocaster in a case under the bed that nobody’s seen in 50 years,” he stated.

  Talk of the Town: “I’m a guitar-rock guy,” Kramer as soon as informed Detroit Artists Workshop. “I love loud guitars and that’s the way I still play.” – S. KNOPPER

• 83. Dave Grohl – 1967 Gibson Trini Lopez Standard

  In the swinging ’60s, Trini Lopez made his mark as Gibson’s premier signature artist, charming audiences with uptempo folk-rock hits like “If I Had a Hammer” and “Lemon Tree.” Although Lopez’s reputation has light, Dave Grohl has considerably helped in holding his legacy alive through the use of his signature Gibson guitars throughout his performances with Foo Fighters in a few of the world’s most famed venues.

  Grohl acquired his first Trini Lopez guitar in 1992 from a guitar store in Bethesda, Maryland, utilizing his earnings from his tenure as Nirvana’s drummer. He was trying to find a guitar that was versatile sufficient to play acoustically at dwelling and highly effective sufficient to affect audiences in massive venues like Madison Square Garden. The guitar’s distinctive diamond-shaped F-holes and chic headstock significantly drew Grohl’s consideration, main him to develop a deep appreciation for Lopez’s design and grow to be an avid collector of different Trini guitars.

  Shop Talk: Dave Grohl once remarked, “I didn’t really know anything about Trini Lopez when I bought the guitar. I thought it was unusual.”

  Specs: Trini Lopez particularly requested that Gibson incorporate a novel Fender-style six-on-a-side headstock in his design.

  Specs: In 2024 Epiphone launched the Dave Grohl DG-335, designed along with Grohl and boasting diamond-shape f-holes and different distinctive options from his beloved ’67 Trini. – B. TOLINSKI

• 82. Nancy Wilson – Gibson SG Junior with Bigsby

  One of Wilson’s most beloved guitars, she reportedly bought the then-burgundy woodgrain Gibson at a used guitar retailer and modified it with a Bigsby Vibramate and a single Kent Armstrong P-90 pickup that provides the guitar its down-and-dirty sound.

  As Heard On: The SG was Wilson’s go-to guitar for reside variations of Heart’s “Barracuda.”

  Signature Specs: The again of the SG is emblazoned with a big sticker of the U.S. Marine Corps emblem — a tribute to Wilson’s father, who was within the navy.

  Sold!: In 2022, Wilson put plenty of guitars from her assortment on sale by means of the Reverb.com web site, together with the SG, which was listed for $100,000. It’s unclear who bought it. — FRANK DIGIACOMO

• 81. Waylon Jennings – “No. 1” Leather-Covered Fender Telecaster

  Of the 5 guitars that Jennings used onstage, “No. 1” and “No. 2” had been mid-’50s Telecasters. (They’ve been known as each 1953 and 1954 fashions in descriptions.) The first was a present from his band the Waylors within the early ‘60s after they had been enjoying the Phoenix membership scene: a Butterscotch Blonde Tele that they’d coated in black leather-based embellished with a cream-colored floral sample and spiral stitching across the perimeter of the guitar.

  Strange But True: According to Waylon’s son Shooter Jennings, the band paid round $40 for the Telecaster. Other accounts say the band shelled out one other pittance to both a janitor or bartender on the membership they had been enjoying so as to add the hand-tooled leather-based sheath.

  Signature Specs: Jennings used a banjo key on the low E string with a 1:1 ratio — the variety of turns required to alter the pitch from, say, an E to a D (the common is eighteen turns). The key made the change immediate.

  Sold!: No. 1 stays with Jennings household, however Nicole Kidman dropped near $100,000 to purchase “No. 3” — a 1950 Fender Broadcaster — at public sale for her husband Keith Urban. Keith Richards acquired the ’67 Telecaster that was one of many Jennings 5. — F. DIGIACOMO

• 80. Jeff Beck – “Wired” Fender Stratocaster

  Jazz fusion nice John McLaughlin usually praised Jeff Beck because the “best guitarist alive.” The feeling was mutual, with Beck raving that McLaughlin’s enjoying was “unequaled.” Their respect for one another was evident after they toured collectively in 1975. During this time, Beck smashed his beloved ’62 Stratocaster. As a sort gesture, McLaughlin purchased Beck a alternative—a white Stratocaster from Norman’s Rare Guitars in Tarzana, California. Tragically, this guitar, which graced the quilt of Beck’s 1976 album Wired, was stolen quickly after it was acquired. Unfazed, McLaughlin stepped in as soon as extra, buying one other white Strat for Beck. It is believed that this guitar, alongside the repaired ’62 Strat, had been those Beck performed on Wired, an album that showcased his mastery and innovation on the electrical guitar.

  Shop Talk: Jeff Beck expressed his simple view on devices to Guitar World in 2014: “When it comes to guitars, I don’t really give a damn about ‘custom this’ and ‘custom that.’ Most of what I need is in my fingers. You know, let’s hear it for the fingers!”

  Talk of the Town: While Beck’s album Wired is hailed as a seminal work in jazz fusion, Beck himself didn’t determine as a jazz musician. However, he felt a deep honor when jazz legend Charles Mingus counseled him for his delicate rendition of Mingus’s personal “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat.”

  Chart a Course: Wired peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 and was additionally launched in a particular four-channel quadraphonic version. – B. TOLINSKI

• 79. Prince – Auerswald Symbol Guitar

  Prince employed a futuristic-looking Jerry Auerswald guitar – the Model C – on late ’80s efforts like Sign o’ the Times and Lovesexy. In 1993, within the midst of a contract dispute along with his label, Warner Bros., he modified his identify to an unpronounceable image and recruited the German luthier to construct him a guitar in the identical form. Known because the Auerswald Symbol (or Love Symbol) guitar, Prince performed the gold creation through the interval surrounding his 1995 album The Gold Experience. He later used fashions in numerous colours, together with black and white, and capped his 2007 Super Bowl XLI Halftime Show efficiency by enjoying “Purple Rain” with a Schecter-built model – completed, in fact, in purple.

  Specs: Carved maple physique and neck, “arrow” headstock, gold-plated heart-shaped tuning knobs, EMG pickups (single coil and humbucker).

  As Seen On: Prince performs the unique Auerswald within the official music movies for The Gold Experience’s “Endorphinmachine” and “Gold.”

  Rarity: The gold Auerswald, reportedly the one Prince-owned Symbol mannequin nonetheless in existence, resides within the assortment housed at Paisley Park, Prince’s dwelling and studio in Chanhassen, Minn. – R. BIENSTOCK

• 78. Elvis Presley – 1942 Martin D-18 “Sun Sessions”

  Known because the “Sun Sessions” guitar, Presley used this Martin on his early classics at Sam Phillips’ studio between 1954 and 1956. It’s unclear precisely which songs he performed the guitar on, however among the many songs from these periods had been “That’s All Right,” “Good Rockin’ Tonight,” “Blue Moon of Kentucky” and “Mystery Train.” Presley affixed the letters from his first identify on the physique, however the “S” has disappeared over time, so it nonetheless reads: “ELVI.” Presley bought the guitar at Houck’s Piano Store in Memphis, buying and selling in his Martin 000-18 as a part of the value. “There is also extensive wear visible on the guitar due to Presley’s hard strumming,” noticed Guitar World earlier than the Martin went up for public sale.

  Sold!: In 2020, the guitar bought for $1.32 million to an undisclosed purchaser by means of public sale home Gotta Have Rock and Roll.

  On Display: New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art included the Martin in its “Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll” exhibition in 2019. – S. KNOPPER

• 77. Clarence White – Martin D-28 Herringbone

  For an instrument generally hailed as “the Holy Grail of bluegrass guitars,” Clarence White’s Martin D-28 had an inauspicious begin. In 1959, a teenaged White purchased a closely broken, 20-some-year-old acoustic guitar, which was quickly fastened up by a Los Angeles luthier named Milt Owen, who admitted the end result was removed from excellent. But the guitar isn’t well-known for being stunning: It’s the instrument on which the dexterous White – as a part of the people revival outfit Kentucky Colonels — helped popularize the acoustic guitar as a lead instrument in bluegrass (acoustics had been primarily seen as rhythm devices previous to the improvements of White and Doc Watson, amongst others). By the time White started enjoying with the Byrds, the Martin D-28 was out of his life – however its affect on future generations of bluegrass gamers was set. In truth, Tony Rice – a disciple of White’s – owned and performed the guitar for years.

  Battle Scars: For no matter motive, somebody had carved away on the Martin D-28’s sound gap earlier than White purchased it. Perhaps deciding a knife wasn’t sufficient, White upped the ante and shot it with a BB gun earlier than parting methods with the guitar in 1965.

  Talk of the Town: When Tony Rice purchased White’s Martin D-28 within the ‘70s, he could barely believe his good fortune. “I kept waiting to wake up,” Rice told Fretboard Journal. “For days I was thinking, ‘It couldn’t presumably have been this simple.’” – J. LYNCH

• 76. Allen Collins – 1958 Gibson Explorer

  The Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist went by means of a collection of devices throughout his time with the band, however in 1976 switched to the Explorer, in its unique kind one of many rarest and most coveted guitars Gibson has ever made. According to Ultimate Guitar, the corporate made only a handful of them throughout their preliminary run in 1958, and Collins’ Korina wooden version — replicated by Gibson with a 100-axe run in 2003 — turned iconic.

  Strange But True: According to his guitar tech, whereas enjoying within the Skynyrd successor Rossington-Collins Band in 1980, Collins tripped whereas operating out onstage and broke the tip of the headstock off, then glued it again on with Elmer’s glue; when Gibson issued its signature, they recreated that facet on goal.

  As Heard On: Street Survivors, the ultimate album with Skynyrd’s traditional lineup, which was launched three days earlier than the airplane crash that killed three members of the band and nearly claimed the lifetime of Collins. — DAN RYS

• 75. Memphis Minnie – 1941 National New Yorker

  One of the primary electrical guitars in the marketplace, the 1941 National New Yorker Electric Spanish was the guitar of selection for Memphis Minnie when she went electrical within the early ‘40s. The Queen of Country Blues’ enjoying on this hole, sound hole-free guitar helped the blues evolve into early rock n’ roll and impressed artists from Jefferson Airplane to Bonnie Raitt.

  Rarity Factor: One of the few hole guitars with no sound holes, the National New Yorker is moreover uncommon as a result of America’s entrance into World War II necessitated the reallocation of sources used to make that mannequin. The one Minnie wielded featured a sunburst end.

  Talk of the Town: None apart from twentieth century poetry large Langston Hughes had this to say about Minnie’s guitar enjoying: “Louisiana bayous, muddy old swamps, Mississippi dust and sun, cotton fields, lonesome roads, train whistles in the night, mosquitoes at dawn, and the Rural Free Delivery, that never brings the right letter. All these things cry through the strings on Memphis Minnie’s electric guitar, amplified to machine proportions — a musical version of electric welders plus a rolling mill.” — J. LYNCH

• 74. Joe Satriani – 1990 Ibanez JS Special “Chrome Boy”

  

  Joe Satriani, identified for his fluid enjoying approach and his distinctive bald look, has all the time mirrored the glossy and polished model he embodies. His breakout album, 1987’s Surfing with the Alien, notably options Marvel’s Silver Surfer on the quilt, embodying the identical clean aesthetic. It’s no shock that Satriani’s most iconic guitar, the 1990 Ibanez JS-2 Chrome Boy, boasts a brilliantly reflective silver end that enhances this theme completely. Although the unique “Chrome Boy” provided distinctive sound, its end was liable to peeling on account of Ibanez’s then-unperfected chroming approach. Ironically, Satriani noticed that every time the guitar was refinished, its sound improved, ultimately making it one among his favourite devices.

  Specs: Since its inception in 1990, Ibanez has created 5 completely different variations of the Chrome Boy.

  Strange But True: Satriani notes that it wasn’t till the fourth iteration, the JS1CR30, that Ibanez lastly perfected the chroming course of, joking, “They figured it out…it only took 30 years!”

  As Heard On: Chrome Boy’s distinctive sound might be absolutely appreciated on the 2001 album Live in San Francisco. – B. TOLINSKI

• 73. Ace Frehley – 1974 Gibson Les Paul Custom “Budokan”

  The Spaceman has stated he bought the Cherry-burst guitar in 1976 at Manny’s Music on West forty eighth Street — as soon as a part of Manhattan’s much-mourned Music Row. He later modified it with three DiMarzio humbuckers, together with a Super Distortion on the bridge — the Les Paul initially had simply two pickups — which helped give KISS its distinctive roar.

  As Heard On: Alive II

  Retirement Party: According to acefrehleylespaul.com, though the Custom is most related to Frehley and KISS, it was his main guitar for the shortest interval — 17 months between 1976 and 1978.

  Sold!: Frehley’s axe was purchased by uncommon guitar collector Matt Swanson who licensed it to Gibson to create devoted replicas. — F. DIGIACOMO

• 72. Buck Owens –  Mosrite Red, White and Blue Acoustic

  Bakersfield, Calif., was not solely the house of “Act Naturally” author and nation famous person Buck Owens however of Semie Moseley, the luthier behind Mosrite Guitars, favored by the Ventures’ Nokie Edwards and the Ramones’ Johnny Ramone. In 1966, Owens was towards the Vietnam War, but additionally towards protesters burning the American flag, and he wished a (comparatively) refined method to present his response. Together, he and Moseley designed a crimson, white and blue acoustic — and Owens satisfied his fiddle and bass gamers to color their devices the identical colours. When Owens starred on Hee Haw a couple of years later, he stated in his autobiography, Buck ‘Em!, “It seems like everybody wanted to know where they could get one.”

  Mass Distribution: Owens licensed the crimson, white and blue mannequin to Chicago Musical Instruments, which bought every mannequin for $82.95, usually by means of the Sears catalog. Owens’ first verify was for $15,000.

  Six-String Stories: Rev. Ray Boatwright helped fund Moseley’s forays into the guitar-building enterprise, co-signing on a band noticed, tabletop drill press, air compressor and different instruments, which Moseley used to construct Mosrite #1 within the reverend’s one-car storage in 1954, in response to Bakersfield Guitars: An Early History. Among the primary to make use of his fashions: Lorrie and Larry Collins of the Collins Kids, a ’50s rockabilly duo. – S. KNOPPER

• 71. Mark Knopfler – 1937 National Style “O” 14 Fret

  Mark Knopfler caught primarily to Strats and Les Pauls in Dire Straits, however probably the most indelible guitar picture linked to the band is that of his 1937 National Style “O” resonator, famously depicted floating within the blue sky, storm clouds gathering within the background, on the quilt of their Billboard 200-topping 1985 album Brothers In Arms. Knopfler bought the National from guitarist and pal Steve Phillips within the ‘70s and used it extensively within the studio and onstage with Dire Straits and in his solo profession. He has described its tone as “somewhere between the guitar and a piano,” which is just about precisely the way it sounds on his most well-known efficiency with it – the fantastically fingerpicked melody that leads the 1980 traditional “Romeo and Juliet.”

  As Seen On: The guitar additionally seems on the again cowl of Brothers In Arms, this time as a portray by German artist Thomas Steyer.

  Specs: National manufactured the primary resonator guitars in 1927, designed with a metallic physique and inside speaker-like cones to supply extra quantity than acoustics within the pre-amplification days. Three years later, the model launched the Style O, boasting a nickel-plated brass physique, with a “chickenfoot” coverplate on the entrance and an etched Hawaiian island scene on the again.

  Strange But True: In 1973 Knopfler briefly performed with an English pub rock band named Brewers Droop (slang for alcohol-induced erectile dysfunction). Sixteen years later a few of these recordings had been launched on the album The Booze Brothers, the quilt of which parodied the Brothers In Arms artwork — this time with the neck of Knopfler’s National experiencing the dreaded “droop.” – R. BIENSTOCK

• 70. Brian Jones – Vox Mark III “Teardrop”

  Although Rolling Stones co-founder Brian Jones performed many guitars throughout his tenure with the band, he’s most intently related to the teardrop-shaped white Vox Mark III introduced to him by Tom Jennings (of Vox’s father or mother firm, Jennings Musical Industries) in 1964. The guitar, which was a one-of-a-kind prototype constructed for Jones by Mick Bennett, featured two single coil pickups, a chrome pickguard, and ebony fretboard with a zero fret and a spherical vinyl cowl that buttoned to the again of the guitar. Jones would first seem in public with the guitar on July 11 in Bridlington, Yorkshire, and he then used it for subsequent tv appearances selling the Stones’ then-new single “It’s All Over Now.”

  Numbers Game: Once in manufacturing, the “teardrop” Mark III was rechristened the Vox Mark VI.

  Fender Blender: When assembling Jones’ Mark III, Mick Bennett repurposed a Fender Stratocaster bridge that had been sawed off on one aspect to take away the opening for the tremolo arm.

  Twin Tone: Vox constructed a companion 12-string Teardrop that was used through the Stones’ July 1964 appearances on the tv present Ready Steady Go! – T. BEAUJOUR

• 69. Susan Tedeschi & Derek Trucks – 1993 American Standard Telecaster & Gibson Custom Dickey Betts SG

  Both husband and spouse are identified for his or her enjoying prowess, although they arrive at it from very completely different instructions. Trucks has lengthy performed his crimson SG — in actual fact, he’s hardly ever seen with out it — in open E tuning with a traditional thick glass slide, a nod to his guitar hero and Allman Brothers predecessor Duane Allman. Tedeschi, in the meantime, is much less dogmatic and makes use of a rotation of guitars, however has grow to be most identified for her Telecaster, which Fender enshrined with a signature model modeled on her 1993 Caribbean Mist unique.

  As Heard On: Tedeschi’s 1998 album Just Won’t Burn options her unique on the quilt; Trucks has performed his SG on greater than a dozen albums throughout his solo band, three Allman Brothers data (and numerous reside albums) and a slew of Tedeschi Trucks Band releases.

  Strange But True: Trucks’ {custom} SG was modeled on Gibson’s Dickey Betts SG, which itself is a duplicate of a 1961 SG that Dickey gave to Duane Allman, which Allman’s daughter then gave to Trucks. Got all that? — D. RYS

• 68. Rick Nielsen – 1981 Hamer Five-Neck

  

  Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen is a guitarist given to eccentricities each sartorial and musical. One of his favourite absurdist acts of the late ’70s was to don as much as 5 guitars directly, amongst them a Fender Stratocaster and a Gibson Les Paul Junior, for his unaccompanied guitar solo, enjoying every after which discarding it to disclose the subsequent guitar beneath. Wishing to one-up himself, Nielsen initially approached his mates at Hamer guitars with the concept of a six-necked instrument that may twirl like a roulette wheel. He deserted that concept in favor of a five-necked behemoth that included a 12-string on the prime, three commonplace guitar necks within the center and a fretless neck on the backside.

  Three’s Company: Nielsen commissioned two further five-necks from Hamer after the unique 1981 instance: one a Korina wooden hole physique, and one in his trademark checkerboard end that he nonetheless brings on the street.

  Chop Shop: The five-neck was constructed by modifying the our bodies of 5 double-cutaway Hamer Sunbursts and attaching them collectively.

  Early Adopter: Nielsen labored with Hamer from its inception and owns a Hamer guitar with the serial quantity #0000 – T. BEAUJOUR

• 67. Prince – Hohner HG-490 “Mad Cat”

  His Purple Majesty performed some one-of-a-kind axes, comparable to his custom-made “Cloud” and “Love Symbol” guitars, however his flamed maple prime Hohner Mad Cat Telecaster knockoff was his main guitar within the studio and onstage. Hohner, identified for its harmonicas, started producing the Japanese-made Mad Cats within the Nineteen Seventies till it was sued by Fender as a result of its headstock was allegedly indistinguishable from Fender’s Tele.

  Rarity Factor: Prince employed world-class luthier Roger Sadowsky to construct six Mad Cat replicas for him.

  As Heard On: Prince acquired the unique within the late ‘70s — it’s stated that he preferred the leopard-print decide guard as a result of it jibed along with his trend sense — and used it for the recording of Purple Rain, amongst many different traditional albums. He additionally performed a Mad Cat throughout his mind-blowing solo on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” on the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

  Strange But True: Two of the Mad Cat replicas Sadowsky constructed had been geared up with tubing to spray Ivory Liquid through the guitar masturbation scene within the Purple Rain film. Sadowsky informed Ultimate Guitar.com that he dubbed them the “Ejacucasters.” – F. DIGIACOMO

• 66. Dimebag Darrell – Dean ML “Dean From Hell”

  One of probably the most iconic guitars in heavy metallic has a fairly heartwarming origin story. A 14-year-old Darrell Abbott (chaperoned by his mother) received a Dean ML after smoking the competitors at a guitar contest in Dallas. The future Dimebag Darrell bought the guitar to a pal, however it quickly fell into the arms of his pal Buddy Blaze, a proficient luthier who started toying round with it. Among different modifications, Blaze tweaked the neck to emphasise the V form, added a Floyd Rose bridge, moved the inventory pickup to the neck, repainted the maroon axe a darkish shade of aqua and utilized a bitchin’ lightning bolt design. Not lengthy after Phil Anselmo joined Pantera as its singer, Blaze put the guitar again in Dimebag’s arms, who fell in love with the guitar with out realizing it was the identical one he received as a child. When Blaze revealed the fateful full-circle second to him, the guitarist was ecstatic – and metallic would by no means be the identical.

  As Seen On: An energized Dime sports activities the Dean From Hell (phrases that had been scrawled on the guitar in marker) on the quilt of Pantera’s iconic 1990 breakthrough, Cowboys From Hell.

  Retirement Party: The well-loved guitar acquired knocked round onstage a lot that Dime retired it within the mid ‘90s, bringing it out solely from time to time. Fittingly, his beloved Dean From Hell was on show at his funeral after his homicide in 2004. – J. LYNCH

• 65. Hank Williams – 1941 Martin D-28

  The Shakespeare of nation music made “nearly all his popular recordings with his Martin,” a Forties acoustic that had an ebony fretboard, diamond-shaped inlays and the serial quantity 87422, in response to Dick Boak’s Martin Guitar Masterpieces. Not a lot is thought in regards to the guitar’s origins, apart from Hank Sr. bought it from Tut Taylor, the dobro participant who owned a Nashville guitar retailer, and recorded most of his traditional recordings — from “Lost Highway” to “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” — with it. Hank Jr. is alleged to have inherited the guitar, which he reportedly bought for some shotguns.

  Where It Is Now: Neil Young ultimately wound up with the 1941 mannequin and has performed it commonly for years, telling crowds: “This is Hank’s old guitar,” generally introducing his tune about it, “This Old Guitar.” Another mannequin, circa 1944, was on show for years on the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville. Boak known as it “one of the most valuable guitars ever made.”

  Talk of the Town: Nils Lofgren, who performs with Young and Bruce Springsteen, informed guitar.com in 2022: “I think it was on ‘Walking on the Road.’ [Neil] was on an electric piano and he said, ‘Why don’t you try an acoustic guitar?’ and he just happened to have his Hank Williams guitar, ‘Hank.’ So now I’m playing acoustic rhythm on a guitar Hank Williams played. That was a beautiful thing.” – S. KNOPPER

• 64. Vernon Reid – ESP Custom

  Reid had simply shaped Living Colour when he linked with the blokes behind ESP, the Japanese guitar model that had simply launched within the U.S., and commissioned a {custom} mannequin impressed by one he noticed within the ESP workplaces that reminded him of Marvel’s Silver Surfer. The closing model was, in a method, a little bit of a collage of different inspirations: the swirl design he noticed within the workplace; a guitar he had been utilizing as much as that time that was painted by graffiti-inspired artist Keith Haring; and a V-neck impressed by a ’63 Fender he had performed prior to now, with EMG energetic pickups, which had been new on the time.

  Six-String Stories: “The ESP coming into my life at that point was a shift,” Reid informed the ESP site. “It was specifically for the band Living Colour. It was a colorful band name; I thought I should have a colorful guitar, right?”

  As Heard On: Reid most famously used the guitar in writing “Cult of Personality,” the Grammy-winning first tune off Living Colour’s 1988 debut Vivid. — D. RYS

• 63. Jack White – 1964 Valco Airline Res-O-Glas

  Jack White has by no means been one to observe the crushed path, and his style in guitars illustrates that. Those idiosyncrasies had been particularly evident throughout his years with The White Stripes, a interval the place White was usually seen wielding a hanging red-and-white 1964 Valco Airline Res-O-Glas. The angular guitar, crafted from fiberglass, was initially marketed by means of Montgomery Ward division retailer catalogs. The guitar was difficult to play, however it produced a uniquely jagged tone that resonated with White’s contrarian aesthetics. “If you want it easy, buy a new Les Paul or a new Stratocaster,” White once quipped, emphasizing his desire for devices with character over ease of play.

  Specs: The Valco Airline guitars lack truss rods; as a substitute, their necks are bolstered with metal to take care of sturdiness.

  Sold!: The worth for a Valco Airline in 1964 was $99. These days they will fetch as much as $3,000.

  Under the Influence: During his time with the White Stripes, White additionally performed a Nineteen Fifties-era Kay Hollowbody, favored by bluesman Howlin’ Wolf, and a Gibson L-1 acoustic, identified for its affiliation with blues legend Robert Johnson. – B. TOLINSKI

• 62. Carlos Santana – Custom 1980 Paul Reed Smith

  Before Paul Reed Smith established PRS Guitars, now one of many premier electrical guitar and amplifier producers globally, he was a modest luthier in Maryland. Smith had already crafted guitars for musicians like Peter Frampton and Ted Nugent when he focused Carlos Santana, celebrated for his distinctive sound and selective selection in devices. In 1980, Smith managed to safe a gathering with Santana, who was instantly impressed with a {custom} guitar Smith introduced. The endorsement from Santana not solely put Paul Reed Smith on the map but additionally kickstarted a long-lasting collaborative friendship.

  Shop Talk: Carlos Santana initially remarked that the primary guitar Paul Reed Smith crafted for him was so distinctive it should have been an “act of God,” and challenged Smith to copy the feat. “After the fifth instrument, which was a doubleneck, he called me up and said, ‘Okay, you’re a guitar maker,’” Smith recalled to Premier Guitar in 2023.

  Strange But True: In the early 2000s, Santana challenged PRS to design a high-quality but inexpensive guitar, resulting in the creation of the Santana SE (Student Edition) in 2001.

  Specs: At Santana’s behest, Paul Reed Smith designed a revolutionary new tremolo system that included miniature rollers on every string to cut back friction. – B. TOLINSKI

• 61. Courtney Love – 1994 Fender Venus

  Love’s trademark guitar, constructed for her within the Fender Custom Shop, takes its cues from a Rickenbacker and a classic inexperienced Mercury she used to play. The Venus (in Surf Green, with an identical headstock and a single pickup) was later replicated and bought because the Squier Venus.

  Rarity Factor: It was {custom} constructed for Love by grasp luthier Larry Brooks, who had beforehand collaborated with Kurt Cobain. According to Brooks, Love’s “ballsy-toned” Venus was constructed with out a quantity knob at her supervisor’s request, so it couldn’t be broken or grabbed when crowdsurfing.

  Sold!: The Venus bought on on-line instrument market Reverb for $68,289.95 in 2022. – A. STEWART

• 60. Bruce Springsteen – ca. 1953 Fender Esquire-Telecaster Composite

  Springsteen was 22 when he purchased this Frankensteined Fender from New Jersey luthier Phil Petillo for $185, which he later called “the best deal of my life.” An early-’50s composite of an Esquire (the neck) and a Telecaster (the physique) housed in honeyed blonde wooden, it had been closely refashioned with 4 pickups and a wood chunk behind the black pickguard eliminated. It was a “mutt,” Springsteen stated, however he discovered tips on how to make it speak, and the guitar has accompanied him on his storied ascent from Jersey golf equipment to stadiums, even making an look on the Born to Run album cowl.

  Six-String Stories: “This feels like my arm,” Springsteen informed Stephen Colbert in 2021. “If I have this guitar, I don’t have anything on. This became an extension of my actual body.”

  Strange But True: To make sure the guitar made it by means of a typical sweat-a-thon Springsteen live performance, Petillo had it waterproofed.

  Retirement Party: Springsteen hasn’t introduced the now-fragile guitar on the street in years, preferring to make use of dupes as a substitute, although he nonetheless data with it, and performed it throughout his 2009 Super Bowl halftime present. It has additionally been on show on the Metropolitan Museum of Art. – A. STEWART

• 59. Pete Townshend – 1976 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe “#5”

  Some of probably the most classic-Who-ish images of Townshend performing reside within the late ’70s — windmilling, leaping, sneering — concerned this wine-red guitar stamped with a big white “5.” Although Townshend was identified within the ’60s for his Gibson SGs, he shifted to Les Pauls within the ’70s for a heavier sound, and performed quite a lot of them, sticking numbered decals on the our bodies so he might shortly choose one with distinctive capo settings throughout reside exhibits. He had one downside with the mannequin: its neck. “Under the rough treatment I give them, they don’t seem to last very long,” he told Sound International in 1980.

  As Seen On: The Who’s performances in The Kids Are Alright documentary, together with “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” from Shepperton Studios, U.Ok., in 1978.

  Talk of the Town: Townshend switched from the SG to the Les Paul Deluxe after Gibson took the SG of the market, which triggered logistical issues for the harmful guitarist. “I don’t break them deliberately anymore, but when I spin them around, when I’ve had a few drinks, I bang them and they crack and they break.” Eventually, he contacted Gibson for {custom} fashions, and the corporate responded with 4, at $3,000 a pop. He was displeased with them and picked up the Deluxe as a substitute. – S. KNOPPER

• 58. Eric Clapton – Gibson Les Paul Standard “Beano”

  Clapton was a 21-year-old British guitar phenom when he recorded Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. The 1966 album (nicknamed “Beano” as a result of Clapton is studying a Beano comedian ebook on its cowl) kickstarted a worldwide blues-rock revolution. Throughout, Clapton performed a ‘59 or ‘60 (probably a ‘60, due to the shape of its neck) Les Paul Standard with a sunburst finish, also nicknamed Beano, plugged into a topped-out Marshall amp, a sound that would change history. The Burst disappeared from a church basement in London during rehearsals for the first gig by Clapton’s subsequent group, Cream, additional cementing its journey into fantasy. Beano’s whereabouts stay unknown.

  Strange But True: According to Clapton, whoever stole Beano got here again to steal its case a couple of weeks later.

  Six-String Stories: Few clear footage of Beano exist, which is able to make authentication troublesome if it ever turns up. Clapton has described it as red-gold in colour, with one cutaway and cigarette marks pocking the entrance. “Just magnificent,” he informed Guitar Player in 1985. “I never really found one as good as that. I do miss that one.” – A. STEWART

• 57. Lead Belly – ca. 1930 Stella 12-String

  The guitar that modified the world was a workmanlike 12-string Stella, canonized by Louisiana blues and folks artist Huddie Ledbetter, often known as Lead Belly. Writer Ross Altman once called Ledbetter, whose music would show foundational to the event of rock n’ roll, a “one-man heavy metal band.” Everything in regards to the Stella was heavy (the load of its strings and physique) and rumbly (Ledbetter most likely used a decrease model of ordinary tuning, however nobody actually is aware of for certain). The Stella was massive and long-scaled, its strings extensively spaced, as a way to accompany Lead Belly’s massive arms.

  Sold!: On Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged efficiency, Kurt Cobain describes being approached by the Lead Belly property to purchase the Stella for $500,000, which even Cobain couldn’t afford. (Would David Geffen purchase it for him? Cobain puzzled. He wouldn’t.) According to representatives from the bluesman’s property, Lead Belly’s niece wished to promote the guitar to Cobain, however requested to fulfill him first, so he might reassure her he wasn’t going to smash it. The assembly by no means passed off.

  As Heard On: Lead Belly used the Stella on a few of the best-known variations of now-standards together with “Goodnight Irene,” “The Midnight Special” and “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” (although many variations of every tune exist). – A. STEWART

• 56. Buddy Holly – 1954 Fender Stratocaster

  

  Holly was struggling in geometry, and responded to this downside by buying and selling his acoustic Les Paul (and a borrowed $1,000) for a brand new Fender mannequin known as the Stratocaster, altering the trajectory of rock n’ roll endlessly. (OK, fellow Strat aficionado Carl Perkins, and others, had one thing to do with it, too.) Holly used the axe he bought at Adair Music, in his hometown of Lubbock, Texas, to play these well-known downstrokes on mid-’50s classics “That’ll Be the Day,” “Peggy Sue” and the remainder. Holly misplaced this mannequin after a tour-bus theft in Michigan — so the guitar didn’t die with him within the deadly airplane crash of 1959 that claimed the lives of Richie Valens and the Big Bopper, too.

  Where Is It Now?: Nobody is aware of, however a 2019 documentary, The ’54, suggests an Australian producer and collector bought it by random likelihood in Lubbock in 1979.

  Talk of the Town: Fender called him “the first high-profile rock n’ roller to adopt the Fender Stratocaster as his guitar of choice.” Holly-inspired Strat forebears embrace George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. – S. KNOPPER

• 55. Bob Marley – 1958 Les Paul Special

  In May 1973, Bob Marley poked his head into Top Gear, a cool music store in London identified for its second-hand guitars. Among the percentages and ends, he observed an uncommon Les Paul Special closely modified by its earlier proprietor, Dan Armstrong, the inventor of the well-known Ampeg Dan Armstrong Lucite acrylic guitar. Armstrong put fingerboard markers the place dots had been and a white plastic binding across the headstock. Captivated, Marley purchased the guitar and used it as his main stage and studio instrument for the remainder of his profession.

  Yet, the modifications didn’t finish there. Marley admired Jimi Hendrix and reached out to his tech, Roger Mayer, to see if he might create one thing that may make the Les Paul distinctly his personal. Mayer informed Reverb in 2021 that he advised an elliptical aluminum plate underneath his pickup change that may “be like a third eye looking out from the guitar,” and including an identical brushed aluminum pickguard. Marley used it till his dying in 1981.

  Strange But True: Before Marley acquired it, the guitar was briefly owned by Marc Bolan of T. Rex, who exchanged it again to Top Gear for a Les Paul geared up with humbucking pickups.

  Icon Status: Following Marley’s dying, his Les Paul Special was declared a nationwide treasure by the Jamaican authorities.

  Retirement Party: The Bob Marley Les Paul Special is at the moment on show on the Bob Marley Museum in Kingston, Jamaica. – B. TOLINSKI

• 54. Jerry Cantrell – 1984 G&L Rampage “Blue Dress”

  Jerry Cantrell’s 1984 G&L Rampage, affectionately nicknamed “Blue Dress,” is a seminal piece from the grunge period. With Alice in Chains, Cantrell has wielded this guitar since he bought it in Dallas in 1985, and it has featured on almost all his recordings, together with iconic tracks like “Man In the Box” and “Would.” The guitar’s design, impressed by Eddie Van Halen’s iconic Frankenstein, features a distinctive circle and sq. sample. Notably, it incorporates a pinup woman in a blue gown—a sticker designed by the famend French painter Alain Aslan, sourced from the grownup journal, which supplies the guitar its nickname.

  Strange But True: G&L was the creation of former Fender masterminds Leo Fender and George Fullerton (“G” for George and “L” for Leo).

  Rarity Factor: The Rampage was launched in 1984 and was one among G&L’s earliest fashions.

  Shop Talk: “It’s nothing fancy,” Cantrell informed Total Guitar in 2014. “There’s plenty of fancier, cooler guitars, but it’s always felt comfortable for me to play from the get-go.”

  Missing In Action: Cantrell’s Rampage was regarded as stolen in 2024, however it was merely misplaced whereas in transit between a photograph shoot and his recording studio. – B. TOLINSKI

• 53. Buddy Guy – Fender Stratocaster “Polka Dot”

  

  For somebody whose profession dates again to the Nineteen Fifties, it’s notable that the guitar mostly related to the Chicago blues legend wasn’t created till 4 many years later. Guy had been enjoying Strats for the reason that ‘60s — he claims that Clapton and Jeff Beck picked them up because of him — but the polka dot design was crafted by his request in the early 1990s, as a tribute to his late mother; it first appeared on the album cover of 1994’s Slippin’ In, and he’s performed it in live performance ever since.

  Six-String Stories: “I promised [my mother] that I was going to buy her a polka dot Cadillac to make her feel better, because she had had a stroke and she never saw me play … I was going to get famous and drive back to Louisiana in a polka dot Cadillac to show her I’d made it,” he informed Guitar World in a 2015 interview. “So I finally got the guitar company, Fender, to make me a guitar with the polka dots, and they’ve made quite a few of them now.”

  As Heard On: Guy performed Strats for years, however the polka dot motif exhibits up on Slippin’ In, Heavy Love, Rhythm & Blues and The Blues Is Alive and Well. — D. RYS

• 52. Peter Frampton – 1954 Les Paul Custom “Phenix”

  Gifted to him in 1970 at a Humble Pie gig in San Francisco, “Phenix,” a closely modified 1954 Gibson Les Paul, would grow to be Peter Frampton’s go-to guitar for a decade. Appearing on albums like Humble Pie’s Rock On and Performance Rockin’ the Fillmore, the black Les Paul would grow to be lodged within the in style tradition firmament in 1976, when it was pictured with the guitarist on the quilt of his eight-times platinum Frampton Comes Alive! double album. The guitar was presumed destroyed in 1980, when a airplane carrying Frampton’s tools crashed throughout takeoff on the island of Curaçao, however it had in actual fact been recovered from the wreckage by a customs agent. Spotted by a neighborhood luthier, the guitar was returned to Frampton in 2012. As it had actually risen from the ashes, it was dubbed “Phenix” by its rightful proprietor.

  Triple Threat: When it left the Gibson manufacturing unit in 1954, Phenix was initially geared up with one P-90 and one “staple” pickup, however it had been carved out to suit three humbucking pickups earlier than Frampton acquired it.

  Less Is More: In their literature of the interval, Gibson referred to Les Paul Customs as “Fretless Wonders.”

  Hiding In Plain Sight: During the just about quarter century that Phenix was MIA, it was seen being performed by a neighborhood guitarist in Curaçao. – T. BEAUJOUR

• 51. Eric Clapton – 1964 Gibson SG “The Fool”

  Eric Clapton’s 1964 Gibson SG, dubbed “The Fool,” is a vibrant testomony to the psychedelic period. Painted by Marijke Koger and Simon Posthuma of the Dutch design collective The Fool, this guitar turned synonymous with Clapton throughout his time with Cream. The paintings on the SG was commissioned by Robert Stigwood, the band’s supervisor, as a part of a broader undertaking (that additionally included {custom} designs for Ginger Baker’s drum package and Jack Bruce’s Fender Bass VI) in preparation for Cream’s debut U.S. tour.

  The Fool was greater than only a showpiece; it performed a vital function within the manufacturing of Cream’s second album, Disraeli Gears, contributing to iconic tracks comparable to “Sunshine of Your Love” and “Strange Brew.” The guitar’s journey didn’t finish with Clapton. After Cream disbanded, he handed the SG to George Harrison, who subsequently handed it right down to Apple Records artist Jackie Lomax. Later, it discovered its method to Todd Rundgren.

  Specs: The Fool was painted with oil-based enamel paint, within the gaudy DayGlo of the day.

  Lookin’ Good: The centerpiece on the face of the guitar is a cherub whose curly hair was impressed by Clapton’s coiffure on the time.

  Strange But True: The unique design prolonged onto the fretboard, which Clapton later had cleaned to keep away from interference along with his playability. – B. TOLINSKI

 

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