Even though I love the Louvin Brothers I have to say that this must be the ugliest guitar I’ve ever seen. Satan is Real is a great album but the cover is just not good enough to put on a Martin, just look at the devil. I could have bought it for the kitsch value and because I like Ira and Charlie, but not for $4,666.00. I found it in the Martin Guitar Anthology eBook that I posted earlier. You can read more about the guitar here Martin D-28 Louvin Brothers.
Gered Mankowitz, Jimi Hendrix “Smoking” taken in early 1967 in Gered’s Masons Yard studio in London, © Bowstir Ltd
Jimi Hendrix past away on this day 44 years ago. If it wasn’t for this awesome guy, I might never had fallen in love with the guitar or dress the way I do, he was a huge influence 20 years ago when I started playing. Earlier Hendrix posts, Guitar of the day and Guitar of the day
Jimi Hendrix 1967 Gibson SG Custom
Jimi Hendrix on his 1967 Gibson SG Custom
Jimi Hendrix playing Redhouse live in Sweden Jan 9th 1969
Peter Green 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard
One of the most famous and highly collectable vintage guitars of all time, the infamous Peter Green Les Paul. Most Blues fans will know that as well as being revered for his amazing tone and unmistakeable vibrato, B.B. King once remarked “He has the sweetest tone I ever heard. He’s the only one who gave me the cold sweats.”, over the years Peter’s Les Paul has built up a similar legend in guitar folklore. Now in the hands of a private collector, it made it’s journey through Peter Greens hands and into the arms of Gary Moore who put it to good use on a number of his albums and live shows. Earlier on in his career, Peter Green played a Harmony Meteor, a cheap hollow-body guitar, but quickly started playing a Gibson Les Paul with The Bluesbreakers after he replaced Eric Clapton in the band. Green’s guitar was often referred to as his “magic guitar”. “I never had a magic one. Mine wasn’t magic…It just barely worked” said Green in 2000. “I stumbled across one when I was looking for something more powerful than my Harmony Meteor. I went into Selmer’s in Charing Cross Road [central London] and tried one. It was only £110 and it sounded lovely and the color was really good. But the neck was like a tree trunk… It was very different from Eric’s Les Paul, which was slim with a very fast action.”
In part, his unique tone derived from a modification to the neck pickup which was reversed and rewired, a modification made after 1967. For anyone looking to modify their guitar in the same way, we found a link to a nice blog here on how to perform the tone mod in detailed steps http://www.geetarz.org/axes/green.htm
It was in the early 70’s when Green passed the guitar over to Gary Moore. Peter was suffering from mental health problems and would put his guitar down for the best part of 8 years. At the time, the Irishman was a friend and close neighbor of Green’s in London. Green initially tried to give the Les Paul to him on the understanding that he could ask for it back when he was well enough to play again but Moore insisted on paying the £110 that it originally cost and Peter Green never did ask for it to be returned. Once in the hands of Gary Moore, the guitar went on to be used on a number of recordings, most notably the ‘Blues For Greeny’ album of Fleetwood Mac covers dedicated to the orginal owner. Green used it extensively until he sold the guitar in 2006.
Peter Green and Gary Moore with the 1959 Les Paul Standard
Gary Moore explained why he parted ways with the iconic instrument: “It’s a long story. The instrument itself was a very special instrument, obviously. But it got to the point where I couldn’t take it anywhere. I didn’t want to sell it. I had to sell it for various reasons because I injured my hand a few years ago and the insurance didn’t pay up, and I had to cover the tour costs for canceled shows with my own money, and I didn’t get paid for any of the shows, obviously, or for anything. I ended up with debt. So it was kind of a financial thing, really, and that was the quickest way to do anything about it. So I never wanted to sell it. I mean, why would I? I kept the other ’59 Les Paul and I sold that one. That guitar was played by Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Rory Gallagher played it, and I’ve played it. It was a very special instrument. Les Pauls are all so different. That one is a big old battle axe. Peter Green never really liked that guitar because the neck was too big. He wanted me to have it because he said he wanted it to go to a good home.” Taken from Interactive Guitar
The Red Special is an electric guitar owned by Queen guitarist Brian May and custom-built by him and his father, Harold. The Red Special is also sometimes named in reviews as the Fireplace or the Old Lady, both nicknames used by May when referring to the guitar. A guitar that would define Brian’s signature style, it was purposely designed to feedback. He has used it on Queen albums and in live performances since the band’s advent in the early 1970s. The name Red Special came from the reddish-brown colour the guitar attained after being stained and painted with numerous layers of Rustins’ plastic coating. The name Fireplace is a reference to the fact that the wood used to make the neck came from a fireplace mantel. The pickups are three modified Burns Tri-Sonic and the tremolo system is known as the knife-edge tremolo as it features a knife-edge. The tremolo rocks on a knife-edge that is linked to a couple of motorbike valve springs in the guitar. The tremolo-arm itself was made from a saddle bag carrier from an old bike and a knitting needle from his mother.. Wikipedia
Roy Buchanan’s 1953 Fender Telecaster named “Nancy”. Taken from the Fender Exhibit. It must have been a fairly well lit exhibition since she looks so pale.
Roy bought Nancy in 1969 from a guy that passed him in the street carrying the guitar.
In 1960 Roy Buchanan replaced Fred Carter Jr. as guitarist in Ronnie Hawkins’ Hawks. After a short period, he left the Hawks and teenager Robbie Robertson took over the lead guitar. Buchanan, one of Robertson’s main guitar influences, also performed as an opening act for the reunited Band on their 1987 tour. Levon Helm mentions in his book, This Wheel’s on Fire – Levon Helm and the Story of The Band, that they thought Roy was an amazing guitar player but he was too weird to have in the band, hence they let Robbie take over once he had taken a few guitar lessons from Roy.
Roy Buchanan – Live from Austin TX 1976
Stevie Ray’s Number One, also known as Vaughan’s ‘First Wife’, was a ’62/’63 Fender Stratocaster used by Vaughan for most of his career; it was “rebuilt more times than a custom Chevy.” Vaughan always claimed it was a 1959 model, since that date was written on the back of the pick-ups; Rene Martinez, who maintained the guitar since 1980, saw the year 1963 stamped in the body and 1962 on the neck. The guitar was given to him by the owner of Ray Henning’s Heart of Texas music shop in Austin, Texas in 1973, it was his main performing instrument and companion. Although the original had a white pickguard and strangely hot ’59 pickups, Stevie replaced the pickguard with a pickguard featuring the now famous SRV lettering. Remarkably, Stevie had the frets replaced with jumbo bass style frets while he played on a reportedly .013 (going as high as .018) guage strings. Number One now resides with Stevie’s brother Jimmie. It’s been permanently retired in memory of Stevie. Here is an interview with Stevie’s guitar tech Rene Martinez.
♪ ♫ ♪ Stevie Ray Vaughan – Little Wing
Stevie Ray Vaughan – Live in Japan, January 24, 1985
Neil Young’s 1953 Gibson Les Paul “Old Black.”
Neil Young with his 1953 Gibson back in 1969
Jimi Hendrix’ “Woodstock” 1968 Fender Stratocaster. Microsoft’s Paul Allen reportedly paid 1.2 million dollars for this guitar in 1998.
Eric Clapton’s 1939 Martin 000-42. Sold at auction in 2004 for $791,500, the highest price ever paid for an acoustic guitar.
Claescaster 