Random Most Famous Guitars (25 items)

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  (#1) Jimi Hendrix's Stratocaster

  There are actually quite a few guitars that could be associated with Jimi Hendrix, but the Fender Stratocaster is perhaps the most recognized and notable. Hendrix's most cherished Strat is the one now known as the Monterey Strat, a guitar he painted himself specifically for the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967.

  It's also the guitar he set on fire at the end of his set - something his sister, Janie said she wasn't aware of until well after the fact. The moment has become a staple in rock history, and the guitar has become the stuff of legend. So much so that Fender eventually issued a series of replicas of the coveted axe. 
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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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  (#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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  (#4) Jimmy Page's Double Neck

  From Jimmy Page's Les Paul to his Danelectro to his Yardbirds-era Fender Telecasters, the Led Zeppelin rocker has put many instruments on the map. There might not be a more Page-esque guitar, however, than the Gibson EDS-1275 Double Neck. That's because it's the "Stairway to Heaven" guitar - the one he played live on the band's most cherished song. Every performance of "Stairway," as well as several other songs in their catalog, was played on the dual six and 12-string guitar. It was ultimtely reissued as a signature Page model. 
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  (#5) Brian May's Red Special

  Arguably one of the most recognizable guitars of all time, the Red Special is distinct in that it has no other association than with Queen's Brian May. That's because May built it - along with his father - when he was a young lad in the early 1960s. There's really a combination of factors that create May's singular sound, and the RS is at the center of that recipe. The biggest thing about the guitar is how it's wired:  May had the foresight to see the potential for wiring it in a way that gives it a fat sound, and he included switches that allow him to switch phase on all three of the hand-wired pickups.

  Along with May's use of a coin instead of a standard guitar pick, Queen's guitarist has created a unique sound that is virtually impossible to be replicated with 100% accuracy. 
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  (#6) Angus Young's SG

  It's possible nobody is more associated with the Gibson SG than AC/DC's Angus Young. He's been playing them since before his band even started, and has claimed it was the first big-name guitar he ever bought. It's the sound of everything AC/DC does, and the only model guitar he plays live. There's just something about the combination of Young's stage presence and unmistakable SG. The year of his original SG hasn't been confirmed, though he believes it to be a 1969 or 1970s model. 
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  (#7) Prince's Cloud Guitar

  Prince played many instruments throughout his life, but the most famous of them is perhaps the Cloud guitar he commissioned for the Purple Rain film. Luthier Dave Rusan, who worked at a Minneapolis guitar store Prince frequented since he was a teenager, built the guitar specifically for Prince based on a design he had in his head for the character in the movie. The Cloud guitar went on to become almost as recognizable as the late genius himself. 
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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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  (#9) Bo Diddley's Rectangle Guitar

  Bo Diddley is known for using some oddly-shaped guitars over the course of his career. Perhaps the most known of his axes is the rectangular guitar he built himself to similar specs of a Gretsch electric. Later on, Gretsch actually made him his own signature model with the same rectangular shape. It's now impossible to see that model without thinking of Diddley and his trailblazing rhythmic pattern that not only made it into several of his own songs but numerous features including George Michael's "Faith" and Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away."
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  (#10) Gene Simmon's Axe Bass

  Gene Simmons's Axe bass is unlike any other instrument you've ever seen. It's a bass shaped and designed to look like an axe. It's become just as much a part of the legend and myth of Simmons as the man himself. Simmons even reproduces the bass and sells it on his website, where - in true Simmons fashion - you can also buy other merch items and pay to meet him in person. 
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  (#11) Rick Nielsen's Five-Neck

  Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen has an eye for the weird and quirky. His signature five-neck guitar actually came from the guitar solo section of the band's show in the '70s, when he strapped on five guitars at once and did a bit where he threw one away at a time. From there, he decided he wanted to build a multi-neck instrument and enlisted Hamer to make it happen.

  The specs of the guitar are complex, and include a Les Paul-style guitar, a Strat-style axe, a fretless, a 12-string, and a Les Paul Junior. It's one of the most wild-looking things you'll ever see, made more incredible when you watch Nielsen play it. 
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  (#12) Malcolm Young's Gretsch

  The late Malcolm Young, Angus Young's AC/DC bandmate and brother, was known for a single guitar - an extremely modded Gretsch Jet. The infamous guitar had the wiring redone and pickups removed, with the guitarist never replacting the empty holes where the pickups were. The result is the instrument Young played faithfully up until his passing. Following his end, Gretsch rolled out a production version of Young's Gretsch, built to near-exact specs and done in his honor. 
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  (#13) Keith Richards' 'Micawber' Telecaster

  Originally a fairly standard 1950s Fender Telecaster Keith Richards received from Eric Clapton as a birthday gift, Richards ended up putting a humbucker pickup in it in 1972 and the "Micawber" was born. It's one of the most famous guitars in Richards' collection, and it can be heard on such Rolling Stones songs as "Brown Sugar" and "Honky Tonk Woman," to name a few.

  As Telecasters go, it's unique due to the various modifications made to it over the years. Since its introduction into the Stones's sound, it's maybe the closest associated with the band due to its signature bite and the way it combines with Richards' singular playing style.
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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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  (#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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  (#16) Tom Petty's Rickenbacker 12-String

  Funnily enough, the guitar people may associate most closely with the late Tom Petty isn't even his. The Rickenbacker 620 12-string Petty is pictured with on the band's landmark Damn the Torpedoes actually belongs to his right-hand man and guitarist, Mike Campbell. The story is quite remarkable - Campbell said he was looking for a 12-string during the recording of the album and found one for sale. Thinking it was a larger-bodied model similar to the one owned by his hero George Harrison, Campbell drove to purchase the instrument only to find out it was a completely different model. He was devastated, but bought it anyway and returned home.

  Years later, Campbell said he brought the guitar to the Rickenbacker factory and learned it was actually, by complete coincidence, the very next guitar off of the assembly line after Harrison's own Ric. 
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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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  (#18) Pete Townshend's SG

  The Who's Pete Townshend used numerous guitars over the years, but one of his most sought after tones comes from the combination of a Gibson SG and a Hiwatt amp - he used it on the Live At Leeds album. The live album is one of the band's most popular releases and remains a landmark in terms of the guitar tone. Townshend's SG, which he was using heavily during that period of time, went on to become attached to him as a live player and undoubtedly contributed to an increase in sales for the already-iconic guitar. 
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  (#19) Lindsey Buckingham's Rick Turner Model 1

  Not long after the massive success of Rumours, Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham was looking for something new. He'd already established a relationship with Alembic luthier Rick Turner, who had been building basses for John McVie. The two began collaborating on Buckingham's ideal instrument, a combination of Les Paul and Strat characteristics that could also appeal to acoustic players in terms of tone and playability.

  The Rick Turner Model 1 was born soon after, and became Buckingham's main electric guitar for the decades that followed. He's now attached to the guitar, and it is indeed known as the Lindsey Buckingham guitar. It has a sound all its own. 
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  (#20) Jack White's Airline

  Jack White uses lots of different guitars - often seemingly changing them by the day to suit his mood. For a time though, he was known primarily for using the Montgomery Ward Airline model, a fiberglass guitar that's extremely cheap and became an integral part of The White Stripes's sound. The guitar's popularity soared along with The Stripes and Eastwood Guitars later started reproducing them with slightly different specs. 
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  (#21) Roger McGuinn's Rickenbacker 360/12

  The sound of The Byrds is synonymous with the Rickenbacker 360/12. There's arguably not another band in history whose sound is centered entirely on the 12-string guitar, and Roger McGuinn's playing is unique. It actually comes from his background as a banjo picker, which he incorporated into his 12-string picking. The sound also comes from heavy compression directly into the recording console - something rarely done in the '60s. The result of that combination can be heard in full force on songs like their version of "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Turn! Turn! Turn!" 
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  (#22) The Edge's Gibson Explorer

  U2's The Edge plays a lot of guitars - if you've ever seen an interview with him or a tour video you know he uses a different guitar on just about every song in a set list. But his 1976 Gibson Explorer is a fan favorite. The story goes Edge bought it in New York in 1978 while on vacation with his family and never looked back. It was the guitar he started his band on and recorded some of U2's most successful and recognizable work with. 
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  (#23) Tom Petersson's 12-String Bass

  The concept behind the 12-string bass is quite similar to a 12-string guitar, in that it's groups of strings that have an octave as well as the standard string. In the case of the 12-string bass, there are two high octave strings and one standard pitch string. It's a massive sound, invented by Cheap Trick bassist Tom Petersson in the '70s. Petersson has been playing them ever since commissioning Hamer to build the original, and even got bigger companies like Gretsch to build their own version of his instrument. 
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  (#24) Kim Thayil's Guild S-100

  Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil has used pretty much the same guitars since he started the band in Seattle, WA - the Guild S-100. Guild is a brand better known for acoustics than electrics, but their electric models have become sought after for their oddball-meets-SG shape and tone. Thayil has stuck by them for a long time and continued to use them up until the band's final shows in 2017 just before frontman Chris Cornell's end.
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  (#25) Pete Shelley's Starway

  The Buzzcocks's Pete Shelley, who passed in 2018, was known for a one-of-a-kind guitar that defined not only his sound but his band as a whole. The story goes in the early days of the band, Shelley's guitar was severely damaged - so much so that half of it completely broke off. The break was clean, and he decided to leave it as is. The guitarist played it regularly for many years, even with the top of the body gone. Canadian guitar company Eastwood Guitars reissued the instrument years later and it became a popular model of theirs. 

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