Top 10 Most Infamous Guitars Of All Time!

Check out the top 10 most infamous guitars of all time!

1. Love Symbol Custom Guitar (Prince)

Custom built by German Luthier and Jerry Auerswald. Built with antique maple with a neck-through-body construction. Prince was big into symbols at the time and decided to have a guitar made to suit his image.

2. "Frankenstein" (Eddie Van Halen)

It's 1975, Eddie Van Halen realizes that no guitar in existence has the features he needs to create a signature sound. With constant tinkering, he sets out to construct a guitar to fit his standards and playing style. He combines different elements of long-established guitar designs into one instrument and fans nickname the custom creation “Frankenstein.”

3. "The Grail" Gibson Les Paul (Zakk Wylde)

Zakk bought this Les Paul when he first got the gig with Ozzy. Scott Quinn, a buddy of his who ran Garden State Music at the time, was a huge John McLaughlin fan and said, “Zakk, I’ll trade you this guitar if you could talk to Gibson and get me a black double-neck." So Zakk got him the black double-neck and he got "The Grail." He then had it custom painted to the famous Bullseye design.

4. "Red Special" Custom Guitar (Brain May)

Custom built by Brian and his father, known for the famous Queen guitar sound. Brian now sells duplicates of this guitar.

5. Gibson SG (Angus Young)

Due to his small stature Angus Young chose the Gibson SG as his weapon of choice since it worked well with his size.

6. Double Neck Gibson EDS-1275 (Jimmy Page)

Jimmy Pages famous double neck guitar used to play Stairway to Heaven live so he could play both parts without switching guitars.

7. Lightning Bolt Dean ML (Dimebag Darrell)

Dime had won this Dean ML in a guitar contest, but ended up having to sell it early in his career. Somehow one of his friends got their hands on it and created this custom paint job and gave it back to Dime as a gift.

8. Polka Dot Jackson Flying V (Randy Rhoads)

Made by Karl Sandoval. The guitar appears to be solid body neck thru or set neck construction, but it's actually a Danelectro neck glued on to the body. There are six Sandoval V's in existence and no two are alike.

9. Upside Down Fender Stratocaster (Jimi Hendrix)

In London during the late 60's Stratocasters were far and few between, and expensive. But because Jimi wanted one he chose to just flip a right handed guitar so he could get the sound and playability he wanted without paying way too much.

10. 1964 JB Hutto Montgomery Airline Guitar (Jack White)

Jack White chose this guitar to go along with the peppermint theme when The White Stripes first started, and because it is like taming a wild stallion because it doesn't stay in tune.

Through the years famous artist have mixed their unique style and sound with unique or custom made guitars. Aspiring guitarists often look to these artist for inspiration, in both music and equipment. Many of these famous guitars went on to have their own artist branded signature series. Takamine Guitars is one such company with signature series acoustics for artist such as Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, and more.

Works Cited

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Mauck, C. (2011, February 8). NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY RECEIVES EDDIE VAN HALEN'S "FRANKENSTEIN REPLICA" GUITAR. Retrieved February 17, 2014, from Fender: http://www.fender.com/news/national-museum-of-american-history-receives-eddie-van-halens-frankenstein-replica-guitar/

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Shadrick, J. (2013, December 4). Zakk Wylde's 5 Favorite Gibsons. Retrieved February 18, 2014, from Premier Guitar: http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/20017-zakk-wyldes-5-favorite-les-pauls