Random Most Famous Guitars (25 items)

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  (#14) Tom Morello's Arm The Homeless Guitar

  Tom Morello's Arm the Homeless guitar might look relatively standard aside from the custom paint job, but it's secretly a custom-built instrument. Morello recalled the story of how he got the guitar in an interview, explaining it all started in the mid-'80s, before Rage Against the Machine got together.

  "I went to this place in Hollywood that builds guitars. I'm no luthier, I didn't know anything about woods and what have you - you go to this place, check off all these boxes, and they build it for you. They made me the sh*ttiest guitar in the world, but it's what would ultimately become Arm The Homeless," he said. 
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  (#2) BB King's Gibson 335, AKA 'Lucille'

  BB King's Gibson 335, AKA "Lucille," wasn't actually the first guitar he owned with the name. It all started during a fire at a nightclub where he was playing, when he ran back inside to retrieve the guitar he forgot. That guitar was a completely different Gibson model, and he gave it the name Lucille after the woman over whom a fight broke out that caused the fire. King named the guitar after the woman as a reminder to never risk his life for something like that ever again.

  From that day forward, a number of guitars King owned were given the name. Finally, he bought a 335 model from Gibson in the '80s and collaborated with the company on a heavily customized version of it. That guitar was given the name and is now known as the one and only Lucille. 
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  (#15) Kurt Cobain's Jagstang

  The late Kurt Cobain had a thing for Fender guitars - primarily the Jaguar and Mustang models. Not long before his passing in 1994, Cobain dreamed up the idea for the Jag-Stang, a hybrid of both guitars that looks like the most bizarre offset guitar you've ever seen. Fender ended up making him a couple prototypes, and he was able to play them a few times before he met his end. The company later got permission from his estate to carry out plans for production on the guitar, which began in 1996.

  The original Jagstang was given to R.E.M.'s Peter Buck after his passing, which Buck used in the music video for 1994's "What's The Frequency, Kenneth?"
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  (#3) Eddie Van Halen's Frankenstrat

  After playing Strats and Les Pauls, Eddie Van Halen realized he wanted something that could combine the things he loved about both. From there, his Frankenstrat was born. The guitar was built to Van Halen's exact desires, and painted black initially before he put strips of paint on and added the signature stripes. In an interview, Van Halen summed up the reason he decided to build something on his own rather than stick with the standard fare, saying, "If you're happy with what you have then fine, but if not then do something about it. I apply it to everything. Even if there's something about my car I don't like, or anything for that matter, I'll change it, until I like it." 
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  (#17) Johnny Ramone's Mosrite

  Johnny Ramone's original Mosrite guitar was purchased in the early '70s from the legendary Manny's in New York City, while Ramone was searching for a guitar that was both inexpensive and unique. As the story goes, he purchased it for $50 and wasn't concerned with its sound because he figured all guitars sounded the same when they were turned up loud. It went on to become sought after and extremely expensive thanks to the legend of Johnny and The Ramones. The original was stolen in the late '70s, but Ramone ended up playing the model almost exclusively.
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  (#8) Paul McCartney's Hofner Bass

  The members of The Beatles all have guitars that are completely attached to their legacies, but perhaps none are more than Paul McCartney's Höfner 500/1 Violin Bass. His original bass - which he bought at a music store after moving from piano to bass in the early '60s, following the departure of original bassist Stu Sutcliffe - was stolen in the late '60s. He's had another one, however, since around the same time and has been playing it ever since. It's even believed a setlist from the last Beatles tour is still taped to the side of it. 

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