There comes a moment in every great guitarists life when they find an instrument that just speaks to them. Together, guitar and musician share the fame that comes with the combination. In no specific order, here are the worlds most famous guitars.
Trigger - Willie Nelson
Much like Nelson,
Trigger has the honor of being the outcast on this list. It's the only
acoustic Martin guitar that is so famous and even though it's been patched up more times than Willie can count, Trigger is still his favorite guitar. According to Willie, the death of Trigger will be his signal to stop playing.
Iron Cross - James Hetfield
This 1973 Les Paul Custom belongs to the front man of Metallica, and it looks just as vicious as he does. It's definitely not the only guitar he uses, seeing as he's quite the Gibson fan, it's the guitar that has inspired several of their best albums, including Death Magnetic.
Lucille - B.B. King
King fans will know by now that he has quite a few guitars named Lucille, but the first and most famous one is his Gibson ES355. After a fight broke out in a bar he was playing at, which caused a fire, King ran back into the burning bar to save that $30 guitar. Turns out the fight was over a woman named Lucille. This inspired him to call every guitar after that incident Lucille.
Old Black - Neil Young
According to Young's tech assistant, Old Black needs a major do-over. It doesn't want to stay in tune and the fretboard is pretty much redundant, but Young and his Les Paul Goldtop don't want to hear it. He traded it for a Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins in 1968 and never looked back. Young refers to it has a demon instrument, because it has a sound like no other.
Arm The Homeless - Tom Morello
This is a custom built guitar Morello had made, but he openly states everything about it was bad, right down to the sound and the look. Unfortunately he didn't have any money to really do anything about it. Over the course of his career he has made several adjustments. The only original part of the guitar is the wood. Take note that this is still his favorite guitar.
The Twang Machine - Bo Diddley
The Twang Machine was a combined vision between Diddley and Gretsch during the 1958, and the model that ultimately became his trademark guitar was called the Gretsch G6138. His reason for designing a smaller framed guitar was due to a groin injury he had with a Gibson L5.
1965 Epiphone Casio - John Lennon
Out of all the guitars that Lennon played, this was the one the fans loved the most. Harrison also bought the same guitar in order to blend in with the guitar that McCartney was playing. The only special story behind this Casio is the fact that Lennon played on it.
Red Special - Brian May
It's a custom built guitar that took about two years to finish and it gave May the edge he needed. May and his father began building it in 1963 with 18th century wood that used to be a fireplace mantle. The only real changes May made was to switch from a built-in Vox distortion circuit to the Vox AC30.
The Fool - Eric Clapton
This 1964 Gibson SG was the guitar of choice for Mr. Clapton and his band Cream. Along with its unique sound Clapton made more than just a name for himself, but also a great deal of history. It is currently one of the most iconic guitars out there.
Gibson Les Paul Standard - Jimmy Paige
There is no doubt that Paige has an extensive collection of iconic guitars, but the one that might just take the biggest prize is his Gibson Les Paul Standard. Much like Lennon's Casio, it was the combination between Paige and this beautiful sunburst finish Gibson that carried it into stardom.
Backwards Stratocaster - Jimi Hendrix
Let's face it, Fender received quite a lot of attention after Hendrix grabbed hold of one. But to make it more interesting, he played it backwards. For the finely tuned ear there might be some differences in tone, but to Jimi it just felt right. His choice to simply reverse the strings has made the Stratocaster a legend in its own right.
