History's most irreplaceable guitars- according to theGuardian

Tall_martin

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/feb/16/10-of-historys-most-irreplaceable-guitars

I've not seen many mentions of some of these guitars on here. Is that because they've not been up for sale recently?

Or just because they are too associated with the artist to be played in anything other than a dedicated cover band?

I can't imagine many people playing covers on a prince symbol guitar

SquireJapan

Odd list that, but very glad of a different take on the usual list. 

RocknRollDave

They deliberately leave off things like Brian May’s Red Special, to generate a debate in the comments and create more traffic to the post….surely?!

Musical_Mystery_Tour

There are quite few MIA from that list, but it's a bit more informed than most similar efforts.

Winny_Pooh

The Kirk Hammett one is silly, so is uncluding Elizabeth Cotton ("let's shoehorn a disadvantaged woman in there to balance it out").

I liked the inclusion of old Black

They did say "Ten of", and not the ten greatest so that's accurate.

How about Django? He was partially disabled and from an ethnic minority so C'mon Gaurdianistas!

guitars4you

Disagree with the word irreplaceable - Iconic is fine but irreplaceable is false IMO - The fact that Macca has had a very successful career, for many years, even decades, without such an iconic guitar proves how replaceable it has become 

Yes it has a place in his heart and he wanted it back - But it has certainly been replaced many times during his Wings + solo career 

I dare say all players have a connection with the guitars listed on that article - But all replaceable if required - Look at EC with Blackie - Used on countless tours, albums, songs etc, but he doesn't look like he is missing now does he 

maltingsaudio

@guitars4you ;;; I would go as far to say the only truly irreplaceable guitar in rock history is the red special. Having said that if Brian’s dad hadn’t installed   central heating , then Brian would probably have  been  just another strat player!

Musical_Mystery_Tour

guitars4you said:

Disagree with the word irreplaceable

Yup, a good example being Page's '59 Les Paul and indeed his doubleneck too, the latter of which was really for live convenience more than its tone. There are a ton of Zep songs which don't feature either of those at all, notably his Telecaster does the business on lots of tracks, including the solo on Stairway to Heaven and some relatively cheap guitars make an appearance on other tracks; a Danelectro Lipstick on Rain Song and a Harmony Sovereign on Stairway to Heaven's acoustic parts.

Again with Hendrix too; most peope think upside down Strat with Jimi, and he went through a lot of them, so they were emminently replaceable, but a large majority of his iconic recordings were done on a Telecaster and not a Strat, so he clearly wasn't as precious about the Strat at all, as we might be led to believe.

guitars4you

maltingsaudio said:

@guitars4you ;;; I would go as far to say the only truly irreplaceable guitar in rock history is the red special. Having said that if Brian’s dad hadn’t installed   central heating , then Brian would probably have  been  just another strat player!

It is not hard to see where you are coming from - I don't know the finer details of his touring rig/gear, but know he has more than one 'replica' of the red special - How good they are, which he prefers etc then I don't know - Certainly appreciate there will be a tremendous bond between him and that guitar, if only for the nostalgia alone - But could he tour and work with the replicas, then I don't know 

Very few, if any, of our guitar hero's have made a career with one guitar but B May with the Red Special is quite close to that 

p90fool

Musical_Mystery_Tour said:

Again with Hendrix too; most peope think upside down Strat with Jimi, and he went through a lot of them, so they were emminently replaceable, but a large majority of his iconic recordings were done on a Telecaster and not a Strat, so he clearly wasn't as precious about the Strat at all, as we might be led to believe.

Really?

ICBM

None of those are even close.

It’s Les Paul’s ‘the log’, Brian May’s Red Special or EVH’s Frankenstrat. 

All home-made.

Sporky

Winny_Pooh said:

The Kirk Hammett one is silly, so is uncluding Elizabeth Cotton ("let's shoehorn a disadvantaged woman in there to balance it out").

She is recognised as hugely influential. Dismissing her as nothing more than  "a disadvantaged woman" is daft.

guitars4you

ICBM said:

None of those are even close.

It’s Les Paul’s ‘the log’, Brian May’s Red Special or EVH’s Frankenstrat. 

All home-made.

But EVH toured and recorded regularly without Frankenstrat - So iconic yes - Irreplaceable no 
And again Les Paul certainly recorded and toured with various guitars, and had a strong connection with The Recording LP - So again iconic but not irreplaceable

Bigsby

Musical_Mystery_Tour said:

guitars4you said:

Disagree with the word irreplaceable

Yup, a good example being Page's '59 Les Paul and indeed his doubleneck too, the latter of which was really for live convenience more than its tone. There are a ton of Zep songs which don't feature either of those at all, notably his Telecaster does the business on lots of tracks, including the solo on Stairway to Heaven and some relatively cheap guitars make an appearance on other tracks; a Danelectro Lipstick on Rain Song and a Harmony Sovereign on Stairway to Heaven's acoustic parts.

Again with Hendrix too; most peope think upside down Strat with Jimi, and he went through a lot of them, so they were emminently replaceable, but a large majority of his iconic recordings were done on a Telecaster and not a Strat, so he clearly wasn't as precious about the Strat at all, as we might be led to believe.

Four studio albums (one a double) and one live album were released in his lifetime. It's said that he played a Tele on a couple of tracks on one of them.... hardly a large majority! Also, AFAIK, there's no record of him playing a Tele live, unlike Flying Vs, Les Paul and SG Customs, and others. 

DrCornelius

p90fool said:

Musical_Mystery_Tour said:

Again with Hendrix too; most peope think upside down Strat with Jimi, and he went through a lot of them, so they were emminently replaceable, but a large majority of his iconic recordings were done on a Telecaster and not a Strat, so he clearly wasn't as precious about the Strat at all, as we might be led to believe.

Really?

I was about to post the same response . I’m a bit of a fan but had never heard this 

Musical_Mystery_Tour

p90fool said:

Musical_Mystery_Tour said:

Again with Hendrix too; most peope think upside down Strat with Jimi, and he went through a lot of them, so they were emminently replaceable, but a large majority of his iconic recordings were done on a Telecaster and not a Strat, so he clearly wasn't as precious about the Strat at all, as we might be led to believe.

Really?

Yup, Purple Haze is a Telecaster. In a manner smilar to Pete Townshend twatting his guitar on a ceiling, which prompted his showman penchant for smashing up guitars, Hendrix put his Strat through the ceiling of the Ricky Tick R&B club in Hounslow, bending the top E machine head. The band had a recording session booked the next day at Olympia Studios, so they had to go and get another guitar, which ended up being a Telecaster, so that's what is on Purple Haze.

Hendrix also borrowed guitars for a few other tracks as well after that, for example, All Along the Watchtower is done on a Les Paul Custom with a Bigsby; the same guitar Larry Lee can be seen playing at Woodstock.

drofluf

Bigsby said:

Musical_Mystery_Tour said:

guitars4you said:

Disagree with the word irreplaceable

Yup, a good example being Page's '59 Les Paul and indeed his doubleneck too, the latter of which was really for live convenience more than its tone. There are a ton of Zep songs which don't feature either of those at all, notably his Telecaster does the business on lots of tracks, including the solo on Stairway to Heaven and some relatively cheap guitars make an appearance on other tracks; a Danelectro Lipstick on Rain Song and a Harmony Sovereign on Stairway to Heaven's acoustic parts.

Again with Hendrix too; most peope think upside down Strat with Jimi, and he went through a lot of them, so they were emminently replaceable, but a large majority of his iconic recordings were done on a Telecaster and not a Strat, so he clearly wasn't as precious about the Strat at all, as we might be led to believe.

Four studio albums (one a double) and one live album were released in his lifetime. It's said that he played a Tele on a couple of tracks on one of them.... hardly a large majority! Also, AFAIK, there's no record of him playing a Tele live, unlike Flying Vs, Les Paul and SG Customs, and others. 

A quick google found this https://www.guitarworld.com/news/jimi-hendrix-telecaster-purple-haze but I agree that hardly constitutes a large majority 

Offset

Nice alt list - but I have to confess I've never heard of Elizabeth Cotton.  Probably says more about me than The Grauniad.

Musical_Mystery_Tour

drofluf said:

A quick google found this https://www.guitarworld.com/news/jimi-hendrix-telecaster-purple-haze but I agree that hardly constitutes a large majority 

Considering Purple Haze is certainly his most well known track and All Along the Watchtower is probably his best track, neither of which are on a Strat, I'd say that does constitute a large majority of his iconic tracks. YMMV.

Cols

I have to say that I’ve never heard of Elizabeth Cotten before today, so I stuck Freight Train on.  The guitar playing’s very nice.  And evidently she’s significant and influential, having won a Grammy in the mid 80s and having had her songs performed by Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and The Grateful Dead.

But I don’t think her acoustic belongs in this list, even if it is in The National Museum of American History.

p90fool

Musical_Mystery_Tour said:

p90fool said:

Musical_Mystery_Tour said:

Again with Hendrix too; most peope think upside down Strat with Jimi, and he went through a lot of them, so they were emminently replaceable, but a large majority of his iconic recordings were done on a Telecaster and not a Strat, so he clearly wasn't as precious about the Strat at all, as we might be led to believe.

Really?

Yup, Purple Haze is a Telecaster.

So not a "large majority" of his iconic recordings then. One in fact.