‘Jailhouse Rock’, ‘Love Me Tender’, and ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love With You’ bring only one name to mind – Elvis Presley. Even though the 50s and 60s icon was not the greatest of the guitarists of his time, the instrument played a significant role during his performances.

According to the History Channel’s sources, Elvis – the King of Rock N’ Roll – was only eleven years old when he got his very first instrument on January 8, 1946 and began to practice guitar in a space at home. Throughout the years the King accumulated over seventeen guitars including the Gibson J-200 from 1956, and the famous Martin D-18 from 1942. Here we’ll tell you a bit about each of these legendary instruments. 

Elvis Presley’s Martin D-18

Elvis Presley’s Martin D-18

Historical notes indicate that Elvis’ Martin D-18 is a handcrafted masterpiece that was created in the year of 1942. The instrument was designed by Martin guitar factory in Pennsylvania on January 15. Martin produced about 326 style D-18 guitars that year alone, however, that was considered a low number due to restrictions.

Elvis’ Martin D-18 features:

• 40 1/2″ total length
• 20″ body length
• 15 5/8″ body width  and a 4 7/8″ body depth  
• Mahogany neck
• 20 fret Rosewood fingerboard with a 25.4″ scale length
• solid Spruce top
• Mahogany back and sides
• Rosewood bridge
• Black Boltaron® endpiece
• Black/White binding

Elvis’ Martin D-18 was said to be installed with Kluson sealed case tuners, which wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for guitarists in the 50s. The King’s Martin D-18 was given to the Country Music Hall of Fame in the year of 1974 where it resided till 1991 after it was purchased at an auction by a British collector. Only two years later in 1993, the instrument made its way to Michael Malone, who paid $151,700 for it. Since 1998, the guitar has been displayed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Elvis Presley’s Gibson J-200

The Gibson J-200 was purportedly Elvis’s all-time favorite acoustic guitar. Its sound was perfect for the new up-coming mix of blues and country music that was swiftly gaining mainstream popularity in the 1950s.

Elvis Presley’s Gibson J-200

Elvis’ Gibson J-200 features:

• 25 1/2″ scale length
• 17″ x 21″ x 4.5″ body with a solid Sitka Spruce top
• Solid eastern curly maple back, sides and neck
• Rosewood fretboard
• Moustache bridge featuring Mother of Pearl Crown inlays on the fretboard

The Gibson J-200 was considered one of the best of its time, as it produced maximum volume and clarity. The unique sound of Elvis’ Gibson J-200 can be heard in movies like ‘Jailhouse Rock’, ‘King Creole’ and ‘G.I. Blues’.

Interestingly, the King of Rock N’ Roll was drawn to the guitar out of admiration for his predecessors who dazzled the audience with their performances in hopes that he too would accomplish the same, which he certainly has.

– Article by Sally Writes

Elvis Presley’s Acoustic Guitars: Martin D-18 and Gibson J-200 from MyRareGuitars.com

Eddie Cochran: Early Rock Star, Guitarist, Rockabilly Pioneer

Along with Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran was the prototype for the guitar playing, lead singer, an iconic image that we all came to recognize later with players like Eric Clapton, and, Jimi Hendrix. But unlike Holly, Eddie possessed Hollywood good looks, those good looks got Eddie a role in the movie “The Girl Can’t Help it”. Due to his untimely death that was to be Eddies only movie role. The few live performances that I have seen over the years show Eddie to be a consummate performer who was comfortable onstage and in front of a crowd. Eddies voice was also a real treat, versatile and very dynamic as he could transition between uptempo rockers and ballads.

Eddie Cochran was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota on October 3rd 1938, Eddie studied music in school (drums and piano) but Eddie gravitated toward the guitar his family had lying around the house, playing mostly country music. In 1955 Eddie’s family moved to Bell Gardens, California, where he hooked up with a few buddies from his junior high school. It was with that band that Eddie (at an American Legion gig) met Hank Cochran, although they were not related they formed a duo called the Cochran Brothers in an attempt to cash in on the popularity of family acts. Eddie amazingly at the age of only 18 got work as a session musician and also began writing songs. Soon thereafter Eddie went solo and scored his first hit record called Sittin’ in the Balcony one of the few songs Eddie recorded that he did not write.

Eddie Cochran: Early Rock Star, Guitarist, Rockabilly Pioneer

Eddie toured and recorded for almost the entire two years he was famous, it was on one of these tours he met Buddy Holly; they became friends and developed a healthy rivalry. Eddie was heartbroken upon hearing the news of the plane crash on February 2nd, 1959 in which Holly along with Richie Valens and the Big Bopper were killed. Eddie reacted as many songwriters would; he wrote a song called Three Stars dedicated to the fallen rockers, you can hear Cochran’s voice crack during the verse he wrote about Buddy Holly.

Eddie’s influence on guitar players is enormous, just check out guitar genius Brian Setzer (Stray Cats) strutting around the stage playing Eddie’s signature Gretsch 6120 model guitar. Eddie was also the first rock guitar player to modify his guitar when he added a Gibson Dog Ear P90 pickup to his Gretsch 6120 axe.

Eddies life ended on that fateful night in April of 1960 while a passenger in a London taxi cab that hit a lamppost on Rowden Hill in Chippenham, Wiltshire. Eddie was the only fatality of the crash; the other passengers were Eddie’s fiancée songwriter Sharon Sheeley and fellow rocker Gene Vincent. The cab driver George Martin was convicted of dangerous driving, fined 50 pounds, sentenced to 6 months in jail and had his driving privileges suspended for 15 years.

Eddie Cochran, meteoric figure, promising multi media mega-star, and without question, Legend of Rock and Roll.

Peace to all in Rock and Roll Heaven……you know they got a helluva band!

Eddie Cochran: Early Rock Star, Rockabilly Pioneer from MyRareGuitars.com

Slinky: Link Wray & the Wraymen

Link learned the guitar at the age of nine from a carnie named Hambone, in town with the Barnum and Bailey Circus. They began their friendship when Hambone noticed Link strumming an old acoustic on his parents’ front porch. As an army brat, Link was used to a nomadic lifestyle. By the age of fifteen he was paying twenty dollars a night to sit in with country-great Tex Ritter, so he could continue to learn his craft.

Lacking the technical know-how of the jazz luminaries of the day, TalFarlow and Django Reinhardt being his favorites, and unable to sing due to the loss of a lung to childhood tuberculosis, Link began to experiment with his sound. He tried such original ideas as poking holes in his amplifier speakers to get a new kind of distortion. Teaming with his brother Doug and first cousin Shorty, The Wraymenwere born. Prestigious venues and Top 20 success followed in 1958, when Rumble (actually titled Oddball by Link) made the Charts.

Link Wray

This ushered in the era of the guitar instrumental, and Link stayed ahead of the pack by using unique guitars and the electronics of the day, creating probably one of the first home studios. He called it the Three Track Shack because it was housed in a shed and had only one three-track tape recorder, ;state of the art for the time. By merging chugging blues, surf twang, and psychedelia into a sound that was soulful, irreverent, and individual, Link Wray created a new music. Some people call it Rock and Roll.

A friend of mine had every Link Wray album. My education began by playing each of these albums over and over. So when Link came to town, it was the show I had been waiting. We plotted and planned, bought tickets and then lost them, bought them again. Two nights later we were ready to go. I slicked up my shoes and slimed up my hair in true Rockabilly fashion, donning a western shirt embossed with tigers. My friend was dressed to dazzle in a late 50s ruby red velvet dress and a pair of knee-high stiletto boots.

Link Wray with a Supro Dual Tone Guitar

We arrived as Link roared into Rumble. The thrust and the volume of the song was even more powerful live. Link stood firm and anchored the band with ultra-fuzz arpeggio riffs, keeping the trio in tow. With his lanky lumbering frame, a fierce ponytail, and motorcycle jacket, he hunched into his guitar. It was incredible that the man producing this wall of brute sonic strength was in his seventies. As he roared along, I realized that this timeless music has never been more alive. After Jack the Ripper, Rawhide, and Ace of Spades (some were played twice during the evening), he launched into one of his more way-out songs. He cranked it all the way up and I realized this was probably the last song of the night.

Link Wray concert ticket (October 2000)

My friend and I rushed forward to witness the rollicking rave-up. We slid in next to the stage, and with a wail of his guitar he seemed to play off of us alone, looking our way with an expression of childlike wonder. I figured he had his eye on my lady friend. Then something remarkable occurred. He walked over to face me, continuing to play. As the eyes of a shaman stared into mine, he strummed with his right hand and motioned for me to play the neck. And there I was, dear reader, simultaneously reaping the riffage with the legend himself. As tom toms rolled and cymbals crashed and the electric bass pounded to a climax, Link looked directly at me and nodded as though we had shared an intimate secret. In the next moment he was center stage again, commanding the final surge of power and sound to ecstatic applause. My friend also reveled in the moment, a firsthand witness to a dream come true.

Link Wray on stage

All the greats have come across Link at one point in their musical development. He didn’t live to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but was inducted into its Rockabilly counterpart. Bob Dylan, hearing of Link’s death, covered Rumble last week. Neil Young once said, if he could see any band in the world, he would chose Link Wray and The Wraymen. Simply put, the king is gone, but he is not forgotten.

Post by: Devin Patrick

The Night I Played Link Wray’s Guitar from MyRareGuitars.com