the guitar collection

the guitar collection
ThE GUITAR COLLECTION
An elite gathering of 150 exceptional guitars
Walter Carter | Photography by greg morgan, John Peden, and marco prozzo
Copyright © 2011 becker&mayer!, LLC
All rights reserved under the Pan American and International Copyright Convention.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from
the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.
Manufactured in China
Double-neck ’05 Edition
ISBN-13: 978-1-60380-169-0
ISBN-10: 1-60380-169-3
Flat-top ’43 Edition
ISBN-13: 978-1-60380-170-6
ISBN-10: 1-60380-170-7
Solidbody ’54 Edition
ISBN-13: 978-1-60380-171-3
ISBN-10: 1-60380-171-5
All images are the copyright of the guitar owner at the time the photograph was
taken unless stated otherwise.
See photography credits on page 509.
Epic Ink
11120 NE 33rd Place, Ste. 101
Bellevue, Washington 98004
www.epicinkbooks.com
Author
Designers
Walter Carter
Todd Bates
Photographers
Greg Morgan
Rosebud Eustace
Joanna Price
John Peden
Editors
Marco Prozzo
Kristin Mehus-Roe
PANELists
Amelia Riedler
Walter Carter
Production coordinators
Alan Di Perna
Leah Finger
Matthew Hill
Tom Miller
Michael Molenda
Diane Ross
Tom Wheeler
Bryan Yates
ADVISORy board
Dave Belzer
Brad Tolinski
Lynn Wheelwright
Photo Director
Shayna Ian
Product developer
Peter Schumacher
Licensing Manager
Josh Anderson
Contracts Manager
Kelley Notter
Associate Managing Editor
Miriam Hathaway
Associate Publisher
Adrian Liang
Publisher
Andrew s. Mayer
contents
About the Book
11
INtroduction
13
Stromberg Master 400 “yellow cloud,”
irving ashby
Wilkanowski
Fender Stratocaster
228
Gretsch “The Twang Machine,” bo diddley
120
Fender Stratocaster, Eldon Shamblin
230
Gibson ES-335TDN
124
Fender Stratocaster “Mary Kaye,”
Gibson ES-335TDC “Crossroads,” Eric Clapton
Stradivarius “The Rawlins” 16
Ro-Pat-In Electric Prototype
128
Fabricatore
20
Elektro A-25 “Frying Pan”
132
Lyre-Guitar
24
Ro-Pat-In Electric Spanish Prototype,
Torres
26
Martin “Stauffer-Style”
28
Martin Custom
32
Haynes-Tilton
Orville Gibson
Gibson Style O Artist
Gibson Style U Harp Guitar
Mary Kaye and Johnny Cucci
Fender Stratocaster “Brownie,” Eric Clapton
Mosrite Double-neck, barbara mandrell
436
332
Coral Vincent Bell Electric Sitar, Rod Richards
440
334
Ampeg Dan Armstrong ARM-G1, greg ginn
442
328
232
Gibson ES-345
338
Ovation Adamas Prototype
446
236
Gibson ES-345TD, Chuck Berry
340
Veillette-Citron “VC Number Six”
448
Fender Stratocaster “Blackie,” Eric Clapton
240
Gibson ES-355 “Lucille,” B.B. King
342
Alembic Exploiter Spyder Bass, john entwistle
452
136
Fender Stratocaster, Jimmie Vaughan
244
Epiphone Sheraton
346
Steinberger XL2 Bass
456
Rickenbacker Vibrola Spanish
140
Fender Stratocaster “Number One,” Stevie
Epiphone Casino, howlin’ wolf
348
B.C. Rich Bich ten-String
460
Vivi-Tone
142
248
Gibson Les Paul Custom
352
Kramer “Frankenstrat,” edward van halen
464
34
Audiovox Model 736 bass
144
Fender Stratocaster “Lenny,” Stevie Ray Vaughan 252
Les Paul Standard Copy, Slash
468
38
Slingerland Songster Model 401
146
Fender Jazzmaster
256
354
PRS “Golden Eagle,” howard leese
470
40
National Electric Spanish
150
Fender Bass VI
260
Gibson SG Special, Pete Townshend
358
PRS Double-neck Dragon 2005
474
42
Gibson ES-150 Prototype
152
Gibson Les Paul Model
264
Epiphone Crestwood Custom
362
Prs Santana I “red coral,” carlos santana
478
Gibson L-5, Maybelle Carter
46
Gibson ES-250, Charlie Christian
154
Gibson Les Paul Custom
268
Gibson EDS-1275, Jimmy Page
366
Yellow Cloud, prince 482
Gibson Super 400
50
Gibson ES-250, Alvino Rey
156
Gibson Les Paul Model “Goldie,” Dickey Betts
270
Gibson Firebird III
370
Hamer Custom Five-Neck, rick nielsen
484
GIBSON Les Paul Standard, Eric Clapton and
Fender Telecaster, Muddy Waters
372
Ibanez Jem 7WH Prototype “Evo,” steve vai
488
272
Fender Telecaster, Clarence White and
Parker Fly Artist
492
gage brewer
Ray Vaughan
Weissenborn Style 1
52
Gibson ES-300, Les Paul
160
National Style 4, Tampa Red
54
Gibson Electric Upright Bass
162
National Style o
58
“The Log,” les paul
164
Gibson Les Paul Standard, Duane Allman
Martin 00-18, Jimmie Rodgers
62
Gibson ES-300, Danny Cedrone
168
Gibson Les Paul Standard “Pearly Gates,”
Paul Kossoff
Martin 00-42, Gene Autry
64
Gibson ES-5, carl perkins
172
Martin D-2, Luther Ossenbrink
68
Gibson ES-175, steve howe
176
Gibson Les Paul Standard, Jimmy Page
Martin 000-42, Eric Clapton
70
Gibson ES-295
180
Martin D-45S, Austin Wood
72
Gibson L-5CESN
182
Billy Gibbons
274
Gibson SG Standard “the fool,” Eric Clapton
and todD rundgren
Marty Stuart
Fender Stratocaster, Mike Mitchell
376
Monteleone Radio City
496
380
D’Aquisto New Yorker seven-String
500
D’Aquisto Centura
502
278
Fender Telecaster, Joe Strummer
384
282
Fender Telecaster, James Burton
388
Gibson Flying V “Number 7,” lonnie mack
286
Fender stratocaster, Jimi Hendrix
390
Index 505
Gibson Flying V “Lucy,” albert king
290
Fender Mustang, Adrian Belew
394
biographies & Acknowledgments
507
Martin D-28, Hank Williams
74
Gibson Byrdland
186
Gibson EMS-1235 Double-neck
294
Fender Competition Mustang, Kurt Cobain
396
photography credits
509
Martin D-18, Elvis Presley
76
Epiphone Emperor
190
Kay K-161 “Thin Twin,” howlin’ wolf
298
Fender Jazz Bass, Aston “Family Man” Barrett
400
Thank yous
511
Gibson Nick Lucas Special
80
Guild Merle Travis
194
Danelectro Deluxe model 6027
302
HÖfner 500/1, paul m c cartney
402
Gibson L-Century
82
Bigsby, Merle Travis
196
Gretsch Chet Atkins Hollow Body
Zemaitis twelve-String, jimi hendrix
406
Stahl By Larson Brothers
86
Bigsby, Hezzy Hall
200
Stella twelve-String, lead belly
90
Bigsby Double-neck, j.b. thomas
202
Gibson SJ-200, ray whitley
94
Fender Esquire, jeff beck
206
Gibson J-200, emmylou harris
98
Fender Broadcaster
210
(Model 6120), Chet Atkins
306
Gretsch Chet Atkins Hollow Body
(Model 6120), Eddie Cochran
Gibson J-45, buddy holly
100
Fender Telecaster, Howard Roberts
212
104
Fender Telecaster, Danny Gatton
216
Gretsch Chet Atkins Country Gentleman
(Model 6121), Chet Atkins
408
412
Guild F-30NT Special, Paul Simon
416
National Glenwood 99
418
312
Guild thunderbird S-200, Muddy Waters
422
314
Rickenbacker 325-12, John Lennon
424
308
Gretsch Chet Atkins Solid Body
Gretsch 150 Artist
G. Stanley Francis twelve-String, pete seeger
Gibson J-160E, John Lennon
Gretsch Synchromatic 400
108
Fender Telecaster “Nancy,” Roy Buchanan
220
Gretsch White Falcon
318
Rickenbacker 360-12, Roger M c Guinn
426
D’Angelico Excel
112
Fender Telecaster “Micawber,” Keith Richards
222
Gretsch Silver Jet, billy zoom
322
Mosrite Ventures
430
D’Angelico New Yorker Cutaway
116
Fender Precision Bass, donald “duck” dunn
226
Gretsch White Penguin
324
Mosrite Ventures II, Johnny Ramone
432
11
About the Book
More than two years ago, when the idea that ultimately became The Guitar
size at which the guitars would be portrayed in The Guitar Collection. John Peden,
Collection first presented itself, it seemed like an impossible endeavor. Not only
Greg Morgan, and Marco Prozzo brought sixty years of collective photographic
would we be creating the biggest guitar book ever made, we would also be
experience and expertise to shoots that required a delicate manner, outrageous
tracking down and photographing 150 of the most important guitars in existence.
confidence, and an artistic vision. The guitars they were handling, such as Stevie
Giant in scale, this book would come with its own guitar case and a companion
Ray Vaughan’s Number One and Paul McCartney’s Höfner, were sometimes valued
book to tell the cultural and historical “stories” of the guitars and the masters who
at close to one million dollars and had even greater historical and cultural value.
played them. There were numerous issues to be solved, from how to produce a
And throughout all of this, our production and design teams were collaborating
book of this sort—was it even possible?—to how to find the guitars themselves.
on an aesthetic vision and a means to source the specialty materials the book
The first question to be tackled, of course, was how to decide which guitars
required. The case would be custom manufactured and The Guitar Collection
to include. Acknowledging that ultimately a list of the top 150 guitars is subjective,
would need to be printed by one of the few companies in the world capable of
we needed to establish a fair and balanced selection process. It became clear
creating a book at this size.
that the best way to do so was with a panel of experts—guitar aficionados with a
The hours spent on this book are difficult to fathom—certainly hundreds by
range of perspectives—as well as the advice of guitar dealers, collectors, makers,
the panelists, printers, and photographers, and thousands by the writers and
and players. In our search, one name came up again and again: Walter Carter.
in-house crew. Our team would ultimately comprise more than twenty people—
A renowned guitar historian and author, Carter had to be a key element of this
and that number doesn’t include the many collectors, museums, photographer and
book, and we were thrilled when he agreed both to be on the panel and to author
technical assistants, printers, lawyers, videographers, consultants, copy editors,
the larger book. The rest of the panel quickly fell into place—Tom Wheeler, also a
and proofers who would contribute their talents. Much more than just a book,
guitar author and the former editor of Guitar Player magazine; Michael Molenda,
the project became the supreme publishing challenge for everyone involved—an
the current editor of Guitar Player; Matthew Hill, curator of the Musical Instrument
example of how impressive a book can be with unlimited creativity, collaboration,
Museum; Bryan Yates, a guitar expert who was instrumental in the production of
and passion devoted to it.
the Experience Music Project guitar display; and Alan di Perna, a noted writer and
editor of Guitar World magazine. We also hired Art Thompson, associate editor
for Guitar Player, to coauthor The Guitar Collection: Stories with panelists Michael
Molenda and Alan di Perna. And we benefited greatly from the insights and advice
of our advisory panel, comprising Dave Belzer, vintage guitar buyer for Guitar
Center; Lynn Wheelwright, vintage guitar expert; and Brad Tolinski, editor of Guitar
World and Guitar Aficionado magazines.
Our panelists and advisory board spent many long months in discussions
(some of them rather heated), including a grueling two-day-long panelist meeting
in Seattle, whittling down a final list of guitars. Even as the debate raged on, our
photographers—all stringed-instrument connoisseurs in their own right—began
traveling across the United States and to England in order to shoot the rare and
fantastic guitars our panelists had agreed upon. Each shoot—thirty-three in
total—required extensive preparation and state-of-the-art equipment due to the
We believe—as we truly believe you will, too—it was all worth it. We present to
you: The Guitar Collection.
—The editors
13
INTRODUCTION
By virtue of its scope—not to mention its physical size—this book presents itself as not
destroyed by floodwaters in 2010. Tsumura’s collection was broken up and sold when
of Guitar Player and the author of the groundbreaking book American Guitars; Bryan
appeal: one is a very early example of the model (when it was still called a D-2) that
just The Guitar Collection but rather as THE Guitar Collection. Despite few limits in the
Japanese authorities discovered he had commingled business and personal funds.
Yates, producer of the interviews and audio clips for the Experience Museum Project’s
was used by radio star Arkie, the Arkansas Woodchopper, and the other was played by
choice of guitars for our collection, creating the guitar collection was a surprisingly dif-
A truly astounding collection of instruments—all kinds of musical instruments—
guitar exhibit, entitled The Quest for Volume; and myself, former Gibson historian and
country music legend Hank Williams Sr. Similarly, our representative Gibson L-5 is nei-
author of ten books on vintage guitars and guitar companies.
ther the rare, highly collectible early version with a label signed by designer Lloyd Loar,
ficult goal to execute.
The ultimate collection of guitars would seem easy to define. Just imagine Noah
resides at the National Music Museum in Vermillion, South Dakota. Despite its size,
there is focus—many areas of focus and many true collections—not just a Noah’s
This diversity of the committee led to some interesting decisions. At one point the
nor the late-1930s 17-inch cutaway version that many big-band guitarists played, but a
refinished 1928 L-5 played by “Mother” Maybelle Carter.
gathering one of every model ever made. But that would be the ultimate amass-
ark for instruments. Nevertheless, after walking through room after room of displayed
Stratocaster was in danger of being over-represented. One faction suggested cutting
ment of guitars. A collection is different. A collection has a focus or a theme or
instruments, with the knowledge that thousands more are in storage due to a short-
a pristine 1954 example, but to other committee members that guitar should have
some qualification for inclusion. It doesn’t have to be gargantuan. The collection of
age of display space, the goal of assembling and presenting the ultimate collection
been the cornerstone of any Strat collection. Some who felt the ’54 was necessary
reasons they do now—to be seen and heard. It follows that if you admire guitars of
author Jonathan Kellerman, for example, numbers a little over one hundred instru-
seems overwhelming, if not unreachable.
wondered if we really needed two Clapton Strats. Should we cut Brownie, the guitar
any particular style or era, you admire all guitars. That’s why The Guitar Collection
The musicians who played guitars in the 1700s and 1800s played for the same
ments and is focused on a few areas, the most memorable of which is acoustic
A book, however, has a finite number of pages. The Guitar Collection had to be
Clapton used on “Layla”? In those moments, one might have wondered if it were
features a guitar made in 1700 by renowned violinmaker Antonio Stradivari as well as
Hawaiian guitars. Even more focused is a collection put together by Dallas psy-
limited to a certain number of instruments, and that number was determined to be 150.
really possible to assemble a collection that would appeal to all guitar enthusiasts.
a pawnshop Mustang played by Kurt Cobain. That’s why a 1902 archtop guitar made
chologist Thomas Van Hoose of Gibson Super 400s—one example of each version,
While that number made for a manageable collection, it did not make the job of deter-
Would this book even make it out of committee?
by Orville Gibson (the inventor of the archtop genre) belongs in the same book with
a total of only fifteen guitars. These collections clearly reflect the owners’ personal
mining which instruments warranted inclusion any easier. To do that, we needed to
passions. My own collection has always been similarly defined by my interests as
set an organizational guideline. We decided to present these instruments in a roughly
parlor guitar made by C.F. Martin, for example—we got down to the fundamental
a player, initially in Hawaiian-style guitars (both electric and acoustic) and more
chronological, historical order, as opposed to grouping them by maker, thereby giving
question: What is it about guitars that makes them appealing? For guitar buyers,
recently in mandolas and other mandolin-family instruments.
the collection the broadest of story lines: the history of the guitar.
there are three factors: performance, celebrity, and aesthetics. In other words, how it
can also stand on its own. Each instrument is a vignette from guitar history that opens
plays, who plays it, and how it looks. Our criteria were essentially the same:
a doorway. Each could launch a chapter in a book or, in many cases, an entire book.
In comparing apples and oranges—an Ibanez Jem owned by Steve Vai and a
a 1963 National electric guitar with a green fiberglass body shaped like a map of the
United States.
While the collection is impressive as a whole, each guitar in The Guitar Collection
On the other end of the spectrum are collections that are virtually unlimited—at
History is only a general framework, though, and not a focus. Furthermore, the
least by the collector’s financial resources. The Scott Chinery collection, for example,
history of guitar models is only one facet of the guitar story. In imagining the audience
was put together in the 1990s by a millionaire who bought every collectible fretted
for this collection—people with a passion for guitars—we would certainly want to
Historical “performance”: These guitars could be prototypes, “workhorse”
story with diverse “plot lines,” from carved tops to metal resonators to solid bodies,
instrument he could find. Chinery’s passion for guitars seemed to be more strongly
appeal to the curator of a recent exhibit on the art of guitars, who once dismissed a
production models, or even evolutionary dead ends, but they have played an
and a cast of interesting characters ranging from C.F. Martin to Slash, from Stradivari
expressed in the blue guitars he commissioned from leading archtop makers than in
Gibson ES-150 (Gibson’s first electric model, made famous by pioneering jazz guitar-
important role in guitar history or music history.
to Clapton, all connected by one common thread—a passion for the guitar.
the excesses of his vintage collection. Roy Acuff, the country music icon, seems to
ist Charlie Christian) as “just another brown guitar.” And we would want to appeal to
have bought every odd or unusual instrument he saw as he assembled a collection
the prominent vintage guitar dealer who asked “Who gives a ****?” about a refinished
Celebrity: Guitars would be nothing without the artists who played them, of
over his lifetime. With instruments as diverse as a Vivi-Tone bodyless electric mando-
Gibson SG Standard, even if it had been owned by rock guitar god Eric Clapton.
course. The Les Paul wouldn’t be the Les Paul without Page, Allman, and Slash.
cello and an ultrafancy Washburn flat-top guitar, his collection was almost impossible
Taken together, the vignettes in The Guitar Collection tell a fascinating story. It’s a
—walter carter
To reach these disparate guitar enthusiasts, we felt that the guitars for this collection
to describe, except to say that it comprised instruments that caught Roy’s attention.
should be chosen by experts from their ranks. So a committee was formed—a panel
Aesthetics: This is the “cool” factor, the “wow” factor, exemplified by
Akira Tsumura, heir to a Japanese cosmetics empire, collected enough Jazz Age
who would choose which 150 guitars to include. On the far historical end, Matthew Hill
the scrolled body bout of a Gibson Style O Artist, the violin features of a
banjos in the 1980s and 1990s to publish a weighty tome called 1001 Banjos, but it
is an organologist, an academic term for one who studies the science of musical instru-
Wilkanowski, or the Foam Green custom-color finish on a Fender Bass VI.
struck me not so much as the banjo collection, only the largest.
ments (and a term that has not yet made its way into the everyday lexicon of guitar
As impressive as these collections were, they did not command the level of
buffs). At the other end of the spectrum, Michael Molenda is the editor of Guitar Player
Few guitars were as easy to agree on as Tampa Red’s National Style 4 tricone,
respect or awe that the collection should have. The proof lies in the simple fact
magazine, a position that requires him to put together a commercial product every
which qualifies for all three criteria. In most cases, a guitar that qualified under only
that many no longer exist. Chinery’s instruments were sold off individually after his
month that appeals to the largest number of guitarists. Alan di Perna, an associate edi-
one criterion did not make the final cut. For example, there is no pristine example
death in 2000. Acuff’s were taken off display at Nashville’s Opryland complex within
tor for Guitar World magazine, also has a background in writing for today’s young guitar
of a Martin herringbone D-28, which would qualify as a model of immense histori-
a few years of his death in 1992 and stored in a basement room, where they were
crowd. In the middle of the historical-commercial axis are Tom Wheeler, former editor
cal importance. The two herringbone D-28s that we did include have even greater
ThE GUITARs
16
Made in 1700
Stradivarius “The Rawlins”
| From the collection of the National Music Museum, The University of South Dakota, Vermillion |
The most celebrated violin maker of all time, Antonio Stradivari of Cremona, Italy, made at least
four guitars. Unlike the violin, which reached its pinnacle of design in Stradivari’s hands, the
guitar was only midway through its evolutionary journey in 1700, when this Stradivarius guitar
was built.
The Rawlins, named for the benefactors who acquired it for the National Music Museum,
has an ancestral relation to the lute that is apparent in this instrument’s courses of paired
strings—a configuration that would prevail on the modern mandolin but would disappear on the
guitar around 1800. However, the hourglass body shape, with a waist delineating upper and
lower bouts, distinguished even the earliest guitars of the mid 1500s from the pear-shaped lute.
Like virtually all Stradivarius violins, this guitar has been modified. The embedded ebony
frets are highly suspect in an era when guitars typically had tied-on gut frets, and these frets
are not in the correct positions. The scale length of more than 29 inches is so long that gut
strings would break before they could be tuned up to standard pitch.
The prominent name and date on the back of the headstock, the too-long scale, and the
misplaced frets suggest that this instrument may have been made to showcase Stradivari’s
artisanship rather than to be played.
100
Made circa 1944 and played by buddy holly
gibson j-45
| From the collection of michael J. malone |
Buddy Holly was always seen onstage with a Fender Stratocaster, but offstage this Gibson
J-45 was his main guitar, as indicated by the heavy pick wear around the sound hole. Inspired
by the leather covering that Elvis Presley used on a Martin D-28, Holly made his own tooledleather covering for the J-45, featuring the titles of his 1956 Decca recordings “Love Me” and
“Blue Days Black Nights” along with his home state of Texas.
Holly’s J-45 was made during World War II, a period in which Gibson put a decal on the
headstock proclaiming “Only a Gibson Is Good Enough.” Wartime metal shortages limited
Gibson’s guitar production, and by 1944 the company could not procure the material for the
adjustable truss rod, which had been used in the neck of virtually every Gibson since the
company patented the invention in 1921. As indicated by the lack of a truss-rod cover on
the headstock of Holly’s guitar, Gibson made some guitars toward the end of the war without the adjustable rod in the neck.
After only eighteen months in the spotlight, Holly died at age twenty-two in a plane crash
on February 3, 1959. His influence on rock and roll remains strong, and the J-45 remains the
flagship model of Gibson’s dreadnought line.
132
Made circa 1932
Elektro A-25 “Frying Pan”
| From the collection of Bobby Carlos, courtesy of the Museum of Making Music |
The company known as Rickenbacker had identity problems in its first year of existence. It
started as Ro-Pat-In in 1932 with the brand name Electro, then switched to the Electro String
Instrument company with the brand name Rickenbacker (or Rickenbacher, as the 1930s
headstock decals said). This guitar, one of the earliest known examples of Ro-Pat-In’s original
electric Hawaiian guitar, illustrates the state of confusion with the brand name Elektro—with
a k—engraved into the headstock.
Aside from the brand name, this guitar is easily identifiable as Electro/Rickenbacker’s
famous Frying Pan model. Officially, it was the A-25. The number refers to the scale length of
25 inches; the company also offered the A-22, with a 22-inch scale.
As this guitar shows, the company immediately abandoned the wood-bodied design
of its prototype in favor of a one-piece cast-aluminum unit. Hawaiian-style guitarists had no
problem with its nontraditional shape or its inelegant nickname, as they embraced the extra
volume provided by the distinctive horseshoe-magnet pickup.
Although the Frying Pan would soon be overshadowed in the Rickenbacker line by a new
Hawaiian model made from another nontraditional material—thermoplastic Bakelite—this
pioneering model would remain in production essentially unchanged for twenty-five years.
196
Made in 1948 and played by merle travis
bigsby
| From the collection of the Country Music Hall of Fame and museum |
Through a career that spanned from the 1930s to the 1980s, influential finger-picking guitarist
Merle Travis played many recognizable instruments, from a gaudy Guild archtop to a Martin
flat-top with a Bigsby neck. Of all those guitars, his most important was this solidbody model
made by Paul Bigsby in 1948, predating the earliest Fender solidbody guitars by two years.
Bigsby, based in the Los Angeles suburb of Downey, was better known as a motorcycle
enthusiast than a guitar maker when Travis gave him a drawing of a guitar and asked, “You can
make anything, right?” Bigsby’s famous reply: “Any damn thing.”
The headstock, with all six tuners on the same side, was designed by Travis to provide
a straight-line string pull and inspired by the European instruments of the 1800s (including
the earliest Stauffer-style guitars of C.F. Martin). The Bigsby would in turn inspire Fender’s
headstock design. The body originally had no cutaway, but Bigsby added it soon after the
guitar was completed. The ornamental pieces are Bigsby’s design, inspired by the armrests
on banjos.
Though Bigsby is often cited as the true father of the solidbody guitar, the honor comes
with qualification. The back plate covers a heavily routed body, but the routing is for weight
relief and does not alter the guitar’s functionality as a solidbody.
222
Fender Telecaster
“Micawber”
| From the collection of keith richards |
Made in 1953 and played by keith richards
Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones usually played Gibsons throughout the 1960s, but in
1971 he bought this 1953 Telecaster. After a series of modifications, this guitar, nicknamed
Micawber after a character in Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield, became one of his favorite and most famous instruments.
The most important alteration is the most obvious—the neck pickup. Richards brought
some of his familiar Gibson sound to the Fender by replacing the original single-coil pickup
with a Gibson humbucker. He replaced the bridge pickup, too, but with a similar unit from a
Fender lap steel.
Richards tuned this guitar to an open G chord, and because he did not use the lowest
string, he removed it, making it a five-string. He replaced the Tele’s standard three-segment
saddles with a brass bridge plate featuring an adjustable saddle for each string, and he
removed the unneeded sixth-string saddle. The tuners have also been replaced.
Richards would buy several more Telecasters and set them up with humbuckers, but he
continued to rely heavily on Micawber, as evidenced by the wear and tear on the body.
His heavy strumming has worn through the finish on the body and the end of the neck,
and has caused one of the black fingerboard markers to pop out.
240
Fender Stratocaster
“Blackie”
| From the collection of guitar center |
Made circa 1956–1957 and played by eric clapton
In 1970, on a break from filming the Johnny Cash TV show at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium,
Eric Clapton walked around the corner to a guitar shop, Sho-Bud, where he bought a halfdozen vintage Fender Stratocasters and parts. Clapton then put a black-finished body from
1957—a date confirmed by the serial number on the neck plate and by the single-ply white
pickguard (which would be replaced in 1959 by a multi-ply unit)—together with a maple neck
of about the same age (most later necks would have a rosewood fingerboard).
Blackie (as he dubbed the guitar) replaced Clapton’s 1956 Strat, Brownie, and Clapton used it extensively for almost fifteen years, as shown by the heavy finish wear on the
body and the cigarette burns in the headstock. Along the way, Clapton and bandmember
Albert Lee began calling themselves the Fabulous Duck Brothers—Clapton was Peking
Duck and Lee was Bombay Duck—and Clapton’s crew stenciled “The Duck Bros.” on
Blackie’s road case.
Blackie was the star attraction at a 2004 auction to benefit the Crossroads Centre in
Antigua, an addiction treatment facility founded by Clapton. The Guitar Center retail chain
paid a then-record $959,500 for Blackie and immediately commissioned a limited-edition
replica from Fender, complete with the Duck Bros. case.
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gibson flying v
“number 7”
| From the collection of lonnie mack |
Made in 1958 and played by lonnie mack
Lonnie Mack, a 17-year-old country guitarist from southern Indiana, was probably not one
of the target customers for Gibson’s new, modernistic Flying V model of 1958, but in Mack’s
hands, the Flying V became an icon of rock music.
Mack bought the seventh Flying V made by Gibson from Glen Hughes Music in Cincinnati, and he soon asked the store to install a Bigsby vibrato. The store had to bend a strip of
metal to mount the Bigsby to the guitar’s unconventional body.
An ancient capo has left its marks on the back of the neck, revealing the original lightbrown shade of the Korina wood (African limba). Mack painted his guitar purple and then
had the Sho-Bud company of Nashville refinish it in cherry red (removing the original serial
number and the headstock logo) to match Gibson’s SG models of the 1960s. The white nylon
saddles of the Tune-o-matic bridge are also replacement parts from the 1960s.
Mack used this guitar on his 1963 hit “Memphis.” The record introduced his self-described
“roadhouse” style to a national audience and revived interest in a model that Gibson had
abandoned. Moreover, Mack and his Flying V created a blueprint for the blues-influenced guitar
style that would become modern rock and roll.
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Made in 1955
Gretsch White Penguin
| From the Bachman Gretsch collection of Gretsch Guitars |
The White Penguin was one of only two Gretsch solidbody models (the Chet Atkins being the
other) to have counterparts in the hollowbody line. The Penguin was the solidbody equivalent
of the White Falcon, sharing such appointments as engraved fingerboard inlays, a “Cadillac”style tailpiece, and gold-sparkle binding. Even the winglike ornaments on the headstock—
appropriate for a falcon but not so much for a penguin—were dutifully copied. In typical
Gretsch fashion for the period, the serial number was scratched onto the back control plate.
The line drawing of a squat, upright bird on the pickguard posed the question that Gretsch
never answered: Why would anyone name a guitar after a penguin?
Sightings of the Penguin were rare, even in Gretsch literature. It appeared only in a 1958
flyer and a 1959 price list. At $490 it was more than $100 higher than any other solidbody, but
still more than $100 cheaper than the White Falcon.
Production of the White Penguin is estimated at only a dozen. At one point in the early
1990s, it was a Penguin—not a Gibson sunburst Les Paul—that set a record price for the sale of
an electric guitar. It remains one of the most highly sought “rare birds” in the vintage guitar world.
366
Gibson EDS-1275
| From the collection of JIMMY PAGE |
Made in 1971 and played by JIMMY PAGE
On Led Zeppelin’s classic “Stairway to Heaven,” Jimmy Page used an acoustic Harmony
guitar, a Fender Telecaster, and a Fender electric twelve-string. That made it impossible to
recreate the recording in live performances, where Page was limited to one guitar at a time.
However, he found a partial solution in Gibson’s EDS-1275 double-neck, which allowed him to
switch from six strings to twelve strings without changing guitars.
Gibson’s double-neck model started off in the late 1950s with a unique hollowbody carvedtop design, but when Gibson transformed the Les Paul line to the pointed-horn SG body style
in 1961, the double-neck models followed suit. The lighter body weight of the SG design made
the EDS-1275 more comfortable to play than the earlier version. Due to increased popularity,
what had been a custom-order model became a regular production guitar.
Page replaced the humbucking pickups on the six-string side of his EDS-1275 with
coverless Seymour Duncan units, but otherwise this is the stock production model—despite
the “Custom” inscription on the truss-rod covers.
Gibson stopped offering the EDS-1275 in 1969—this guitar was special-ordered in 1971—
but thanks to its use by Page (and later by Slash of Guns N’ Roses), demand for doublenecks did not go away. Gibson revived the model in 1977, and it remains in production today.
390
Made in 1968 and played by jimi hendrix
Fender Stratocaster
| From the collection of Experience Music Project |
No guitar represents a greater convergence of artist, event, and instrument than this 1968
Fender Stratocaster played by Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock.
Taken alone, the instrument is rather unremarkable. For starters, it was made during
CBS’s ownership of Fender, a period of declining quality. It’s a stock right-handed Stratocaster
with Olympic White finish. Although the maple fingerboard appears to be integral with the
neck, as it was on 1950s Fenders, it is actually separate; the giveaway is on the back
of the neck, where there is no evidence of the walnut “skunk stripe” that is present on all
Fender one-piece necks. Hendrix played left-handed, but rather than special-ordering a
lefty, he simply flipped the guitar over and reversed the strings, so that the heavier bass
strings would be on what is normally the treble side.
Although the Strat had some degree of notoriety in rock and roll music, thanks to Buddy
Holly and the surf bands, it was overshadowed in the Fender line in the early-to-mid 1960s by
the more expensive Jazzmaster.
The film Woodstock featured Hendrix’s screaming, pyrotechnic version of “The StarSpangled Banner,” which set the course for the future of rock guitar and instantly raised the
Stratocaster to the iconic status that it enjoys today.
468
Made in 1986 and played by slash
Les Paul Standard copy
| From the collection of slash |
With the release of Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction in 1987, the band’s guitarist,
Slash, emerged as one of the most influential guitarists of the 1980s and ’90s, with a style—
and a guitar—that harkened back to the classic blues-based rockers of the 1960s.
Ironically, this vintage-looking Les Paul—the one Slash used on Appetite for Destruction—
is not a Gibson. It is a replica made by Kris Derrig of MusicWorks, a guitar store located in
Redondo Beach, California. The top, like those of the most sought-after original Les Pauls,
features highly figured book-matched maple, but with no cherry tint around the edges of the
top. The serial number is ink-stamped in the style of a 1959 Gibson, but the neck profile is
actually that of a ’58. The special sound of this guitar comes from a pair of Seymour Duncan
Alnico II humbuckers with black-and-white “zebra” coils and some vintage electronics that the
maker had in his shop.
Despite the fact that Slash’s favorite Les Paul was a replica, his influence on sales of real
Gibson Les Pauls was so great that Gibson welcomed him as an endorser and in 2010 introduced a replica of this replica as the Slash Appetite for Destruction Les Paul.