There’s just something so cool about a Bigsby vibrato, doesn’t it? Well, not everyone will agree with this, but they look sturdy and go well with most kinds of guitars – unlike Fender-style vibratos (also wrongly known as tremolo arms). 

Two different Bigsby vibratos

Nothing wrong with Fender vibratos – especially the Jazzmaster / Jaguar ones, of course, as any My Bloody Valentine fan will agree. “Floating tremolos” can be fantastic. But can you image a Les Paul with a Fender trem? Exactly – sometimes, only a Bigsby will do!

Besides, Bigsby vibratos were designed so they can be easily retro fitted to most types of guitars – so pretty much anyone with a hardtail guitar can easily modify it with a Bigsby, whereas if you wanted to fit a Fender-style trem, for instance, it’d be more complicated. (Check Bigsby for sale here)

If you still have any doubts about it, here’s our pick of Top 7 very different guitars with Bigsby vibrato, as played by famous guitarists. Post a comment to let us know which one is your favourite, or whether we forgot a guitar that should be here!

7) Airline 3P: PJ Harvey, Ripley Johnson, G. Love, Jeff Wootton

PJ Harvey and her Airline 3p

Polly Jean Harvey is not just an amazing singer and gifted songwriter – she’s got a great taste in guitars, too! After playing Gretsch, Gibson Firebird and Fender Telecaster and Jazzmaster, she chose a (vintage) Airline 3P with Bigsby.

Airline 59 3P DLX

Since then, we’ve seen many more guitarists choosing this model. Users of Eastwood’s Airline 59 3P DLX include Ripley from Wooden Schjips / Moon Duo (who now plays his signature 3P), G. Love (who’s also got his own signature guitar), and Jeff Wootton of Gorillaz.

Whereas some people might thing an Airline 2P looks “too Jack White”, the 3P with Bigsby is even more versatile and ideal for guitarists who want to experiment.

6) 1959 Les Paul Standard, the “Keefburst”: Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor

Keith Richards and his 1959 Les Paul

Some of us (maybe most!) might say that a Les Paul is better with its traditional hardtail bridge, but we perhaps wouldn’t even be talking about Les Paul guitars if not for this model – the legendary Keefburst. Why? Well, for the simple reason Keef was the first notable player to play a sunburst Les Paul. He used it on the Rolling Stones’ first US tour and extensively on TV shows and recordings, such as “The Last Time”. 

A Keefburst-style Les Paul with Bigsby

And more – Keef’s Les Paul might’ve inspired Jimmy Page to get his own sunburst Les Paul, too! As a session musician, Page used Keith’s LP on a version of the Stones’ “Heart Of Stone”. And that’s not the end of it: Eric Clapton is said to have borrowed it for a while circa Fresh Cream, and Mick Taylor also played it.

5) Epiphone Casino w/ Bigsby: George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Johnny Marr

George Harrison and his Epiphone Casino

What can we say? Both George Harrison and Paul McCartney had Epiphone Casinos equipped with Bigsby. They used it on tracks such as “Drive My Car”, “Taxman”, on lots of the “Sgt. Pepper” album, and during the Beatles last tour, which included legendary gigs such as Candlestick Park.

Johnny Marr’s Casino, today – minus trem…

Even though both Keith Richards and Brian Jones also played Casinos, it was The Beatles who truly introduced the model to a wider audience. Which also included an young Johnny Marr – who bought a Bigsby-equipped Casino because of the Fab Four, and used it on one of The Smiths’ best songs, “How Soon Is Now?” (Check Johnny Marr website for more). 

Epiphone Casino with Bigsby, still available from Epiphone

The list of Casino with Bigsby users also includes Thom York from Radiohead, The Edge from U2 and Gary Clark Jr.

4) Harmony H78: Dan Auerbach, Anton Newcombe

Dan Auerbach and his H78 with Bigsby

Make no mistake – Gibson/Epiphone semis are great, but if they are guilty of one thing, is that over the years they’ve become a bit generic. Sounds hard to believe, but so many players still get them all mixed-up: 335, 345, 355, Riviera, Sheraton, Casino… 

With the H78 there’s no mistake! No other semi-acoustic looks like it. The current Airline H78 is a fitting tribute to the original H78, as used by The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach and Anton Newcombe and Matt Hollywood from Brian Jonestown Massacre. Many players who’ve tried both models will testify that the new H78 is even better than the original!

Betterthan the original? The Airline H78, a truly unique semi-acoustic…

3) Supro Dual Tone: David Bowie

David Bowie and his Supro Dual Tone

A fact not always acknowledged by many fans is that David Bowie had a great taste in guitars, as discussed on our dedicated article about Bowie’s guitars. So his choice of instrument for his final tour, in 2003, couldn’t be better: a Supro Dual Tone with Bigsby – a stunning guitar! That was the first time many people saw a Dual Tone, but in fact this vintage classic featured on some of the most influential recordings from the 1950’s… after all, Link Wray used it in classic tracks such as “Rumble”.

An original Dual Tone will set you back thousands of bucks, but fortunately, Eastwood’s Airline Twin Tone DLX can give you a taste of the original:

The Airline Twin Tone DLX… as close as it gets to a Supro!

2) Gretsch Triple Jet: Jack White

Jack White and his Gretsch Triple Jet in copper finish

The Gretsch Triple Jet in copper finish is perhaps Jack White’s most iconic guitar, after the red Airline. After years with The White Stripes, White had to really choose a striking new guitar to help setting his new project The Racounteurs apart… and besides an Airline Town & Country (as featured on the ‘Steady As She Goes’ video) he opted for the Triple Jet, which was actually his main axe, live.

Jack White’s Gretsch Triple Jet in copper

A wise choice, too. His customised Triple Jet in copper was a stunning guitar which got many guitarists wondering if they could find one just like it. Sadly, the answer was “no”…

For more about Jack White’s guitars, read our previous blog, A Brief History Of jack White’s Guitar Collection.

1) Gibson Les Paul Black Beauty: Jimmy Page 

Jimmy Page and his Gibson Les Paul Black Beauty

What’s so special about this Les Paul? Besides being a gorgeous instrument, this is the instrument that helped to establish Page’s name: pre-Led Zeppelin, this was the guitar he used on several studio sessions for other artists. He also used it in the early days of Led Zeppelin, but then lost – only to be found more than 40 years later!

Jimmy Page and the Black Beauty

So… we think the Black Beauty with Bigsby deserves the #1 spot: a gorgeous guitar, owned by one of the greatest guitarists ever in legendary recording sessions and gigs, and considered lost for many decades – but miraculously found years later. How cool is that? 

Les Paul Black Beauty with Bigsby

The Top 7 Guitars with Bigsby… As Played by Famous Guitarists from MyRareGuitars.com

The first wheel ever invented to be used for transportation would be obsolete by todays standards. It was probably made out of a chunk of heavy stone, and while it may have made life easier thousands of years ago, to use one today would make you that much more thankful for rubber and spokes. Inventions go through different iterations, and with each one new problems arise that lead to the necessity of improvements.

After “the Frying Pan”, guitarists and guitar manufacturers alike began to electrify their instruments so that they could be heard at new levels. At the time, hollow-body archtops were the guitar of choice – and if you’ve ever plugged in a big jazz box and tried to really crank it, then you know why this could lead to problems. A huge, open, resonant chamber combined with pickups that are mounted rather loosely is a recipe for two electrified problems; a small amount of amplified sustain, and worse, feedback. Guitarists were overjoyed that they could turn up and be heard within a band, but the design of the guitar at the time forced them to stay within a limitation.

A few great minds recognized this, and over the years sought to bring a solution to the commercial world. It’s not fair to give the credit to just one person, so lets go over three of the main contributors, whose efforts led to the success of the solid body electric guitar of the modern world.

1. Les Paul and “The Log”

Les Paul was a tinkerer from a young age. In the 1920’s, he discovered that he could amplify his guitar by using the mouthpiece from a telephone. He also discovered that this method created an unbearable amount of feedback, so he reduced the sound by filling the guitar’s body with plaster. An effective plan, but also effective at making the guitar weigh far too much! He kept experimenting with different builds and ideas,  (including one that involved a body made of steel from a railroad yard) but returned t his hollow-body builds having not yet struck gold.

Some 10 years later, he decided to return to the solid build idea. Les installed a homemade tremolo unit to a 4×4 piece of pine, added a neck and some pickups, and then attached two pieces from a sawn-in-half Epiphone archtop to make it look appealing. He brought his creation to Gibson in the early 1940’s, but in the words of Marty McFly, “I guess they just weren’t ready for it yet.”

The company rejected the instrument, thinking that it looked ridiculous. You wouldn’t think it to look at it, but this 4×4 is what laid the groundwork for what would later become one of the most iconic electric guitars in the industry.

When the 1950’s rolled around, and Fender came out with their “Broadcaster”, Gibson worked fast to come up with their own single-cut solidbody. Les Paul worked alongside Gibson’s Ted McCarty to build the very first “Gibson Les Paul”. It’s been more than 60 years now, and take a look – not much has changed! That’s the sign of a truly great invention.

2. Leo Fender and the Esquire/Broadcaster/Telecaster

Seeing all the same problems that Beauchamp, Rickenbacker, and Paul saw with the state of the electric guitar at the time, Leo Fender wanted to join in the electric solid body fun. There were, however, a few additional issues that Leo wanted to address in his design. For example, players were looking for a guitar neck that made for “faster” play and better intonation to allow them to play impressive lead guitar more accurately.

1950 saw the release of the Fender Esquire, a single-pickup solidbody guitar that did not have the same feedback issues that hollow body electrics had. In addition to this, the Esquire featured adjustable saddles for the strings, so players could raise and lower their guitar’s “action”, as well as fix intonation issues that made them sound out of tune. Instead of gluing the neck into the body, Fender decided to use screws to bolt it on. This made it far easier for manufacturing and future repairs.

Later that year, Fender released a two-pickup version of the instrument and named it the Broadcaster. It was during the production of this model that they implemented a truss rod into both models, giving the ability to compensate for any bowing and buckling the neck experienced. The “Esquire” name was dropped, and the single pickup version adopted the “Broadcaster” name. This didn’t last long, however, as Gretsch had a drum-kit named the “Broadkaster” and wasn’t too thrilled with Fender. It wasn’t long before Fender had to drop this name too, and coin the iconic name the “Telecaster” we know today.

3. Paul Bigsby and the “Travis” guitar

Though the name is most widely associated today with a high-quality tremolo unit, Paul Bigsby has been previously referred to as “the an who could build anything”. In fact, around the same time Les Paul was trying to convince Gibson to take his invention, Mr. Bigsby was working on lap steel, followed by pedal steel builds. Paul wasn’t concerned with mass producing commercially successful instruments – instead, he worked with respected artists of the day and built instruments specifically for their needs. Earl “Joaquin” Murphey and Wesley Webb West are perhaps the two earliest examples, having built lap and pedal steels for both of them. As Paul kept building, he kept coming up with new ideas and inspirations. H began to make pickups, and it was due to these that he caught the attention of Merle Travis.

In 1944, Paul had begun experimenting with the idea of a solid body electric guitar. Merle had contacted Paul around the same time, and expressed his interest in a solid body, noting that he believed such a build would allow for more sustain than a hollowbody electric. Travis planned out a design, and commissioned Paul to bring it to life. The resulting build was dubbed the “Travis” guitar, and featured a hollowed-out bird’s eye maple body, and a headstock with 6-in-line tuners. In looking at pictures, it’s hard to deny the similarities between this guitar’s features and the designs of a couple others that actually came after it:

In fact, it is said that Paul Bigsby, Leo Fender, and Les Paul had meetings to discuss guitar building and design. It wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that these three got ideas from each other, whether they gave it willingly or not. The fact that Fender’s 6-in line headstock on the Stratocaster with such a similar shape was bothersome to Bigsby (so much so that it eventually led to an unsuccessful lawsuit), but not so much that it would slow him down. He maintained his “artist” approach – building instruments by himself for individual clients. While this approach ultimately led to a 2-year waiting list, it may very well be the reason that Bigsby was responsible for revolutionizing so many key elements in guitars – when an artist asked for a customization, he would figure out a way to incorporate it. A guitar built for Jimmy Bryant (purchased by Billy Byrd) for example may have been the first solid body electric to feature a double cutaway:

Another example would be when Merle Travis asked Paul to come up with a tremolo unit that worked well and kept the guitar in tune. That’s what led to the earliest form of what we know today as a “Bigsby” unit. The original featured a fixed arm and a bridge that rocked back and forth, allowing the strings to return to pitch. Guitarists flocked in to get a unit installed, and it wasn’t long before Gibson struck a deal with Bigsby to use his invention (though, slightly modified) on their instruments. Once again, Paul Bigsby had revolutionized the electric guitar.

If it weren’t for these and other tinkerers and inventors, we’d all be playing Hawaiian folk music with frying pans. Not that there’s anything wrong with that… but I think we can all agree and be thankful for the existence of the modern solid body electric guitar, and its contributions to the music world today.

The Origins of the Electric Guitar: Part 3 from MyRareGuitars.com

A wise man once said “measure twice; cut once”, and the same goes for drilling holes. Placing the Bigsby in the right spot will have been all for nothing if you slip, and either scratch the body or drill in the wrong spot. It’s for this reason that I’d like to back up a bit. If you’re worried about ruining the finish, you may want to tape off the body where you’ll be drilling before lining up the Bigsby. In my photo example here I marked my drill spots on the body of the guitar, then covered them with tape.

This works if you want to save tape, but it means you’ll have to line the Bigsby up again and re-mark your drill spots on the tape.

Whichever route you go, you’ll need to use a thin marker to slip in the middle of each screw hole you see on the Bigsby. With the marks in place, you’re safe to make your pilot holes! From here on out, the installation of the Bigsby is simple – but you’ll still have to be careful with the drill no matter how much you’ve taped up your guitar. Be sure to use a drill bit that’s smaller than the screws provided, and start off slow. As a final confirmation of alignment, after you’ve drilled the first hole, screw the Bigsby down to just that one hole. From here, you can still rotate the Bigsby if it may have tilted a bit during the drilling process. After you’ve made any necessary corrections, you can safely drill the rest of the holes and fully attach the Bigsby to the guitar.

The first time I added a Bigsby unit to a guitar, I found the stringing process to actually be trickier than the installation! One thing you may wonder is when to put the included spring under the arm. It’s really up to you, I’ve done it both before and after stringing with relatively similar ease. The benefit I find with adding it after is that the pins you loop the string ball ends over are slightly easier to reach without the spring.

To start, bend the string at the tip. This will allow you to thread it easily underneath the rotating bar without scratching the finish:

From there you can pull the string all the way through until the ball end lines up with the bar with the string pins. Now you can bend the string again at the ball end, to make it easier to loop it around the bar:

When you’ve got the ball end on, it becomes a game of tension. Unlike a guitar bridge, the pin is not going to just hold the string on unless you pull hard on the string until it’s tuned up to pitch. You may want to physically hold the ball end to the pin with your finger until you can get a good grasp on it.

The first time you do this modification may take a while, and the stringing process definitely takes some practice. After you’ve done it once though, you’ll have no problem doing it again. With a little bit of research and know-how, you can make all sorts of changes and upgrades to an already great instrument. I hope you can take something away from this article, and perhaps even gain the confidence needed to turn this:

into this!

Vincent’s Guitar Workshop – issue 11 from MyRareGuitars.com

If you’ve ever got (or thought about getting) a tattoo, you can probably remember the heated debate that went on in your head. What should it be? Where should it go? How much do I want to pay? Will I even want to look at this 30 years from now?

Any form of permanent modification should be something that is long thought out, and carried out by someone who knows what they’re doing. The same can be said for modifications done to guitars. While just about anything is possible to change or fix, just about anything is possible to mess up too.
In this article I’ll go over the process I use to put a little “spring” in your “string”, to change “still” to “thrill”, and move from “turf” to “surf”. This one’s all about the Bigsby tremolo system, and how to add one to your guitar.

The Bigsby was perhaps the earliest iteration of the now widely known “whammy bar”. It works by wrapping the strings around a cylindrical bar, which is then rotated by pushing a lever or “arm” down to loosen the strings. This creates a drop in pitch. A raise in pitch can be achieved by lifting the arm, thus rotating the bar in the opposite direction to tighten the strings.
With proper installation, you will have a great working tremolo unit that keeps your guitar’s tuning very well. The Bigsby is not meant for extreme drops or raises in pitch, but rather subtle vibrato.
The first thing you’ll need to do is figure out which Bigsby hardware model you want. There are various types, some that come attached with a tailpiece and some that just fasten right on top of the guitar. This decision is mostly based on aesthetic appeal, but make sure there’s enough room on your guitar’s body if you want a larger Bigsby. For hollow body guitars, find out if you have a center block inside the guitar that you will be able to mount screws to. If it does not, you may have to go with a tailpiece Bigsby such as the B70, or B3. Here’s a picture of a B70 followed by one of a B50 that mounts directly into the face of the guitar’s body:

Some guitars feature a tail piece that is drilled into the face of the guitar’s body. If you’re absolutely set on installing a Bigsby on this instrument, keep in mind that you will either need to try using a model like the B70 or B3, or be willing to cover up those unsightly holes left after the installation.
Another thing to keep in mind when making your purchase is that standard guitar bridges are not always designed to function with tremolo units. The strings will tend to catch onto the saddles and just push and pull the bridge as you use the tremolo arm, affecting intonation and just making things sound rigid. It would be a good idea to invest in some kind of “roller bridge” (like the one in the following picture) to allow proper use of your Bigsby:

Alternatively you can use a set of files to lightly file out the grooves in the saddles to “round” them a bit. It won’t work as well as rollers, but it’s better than nothing!
Let’s get the process started. Once the strings are off, you can begin by swapping out the bridge if you have one. Ideally you will have one that fits the old bridge posts. Next you can remove the guitar’s tailpiece to get ready for the new Bigsby. For this example I’m installing a B50 Bigsby to an Airline Tuxedo with center block.

Alignment

Typically your new Bigsby will come with an “alignment string” that you can use to ensure your Bigsby is set properly. For full instructions on how to use it, check out their official install instructions at www.Bigsby.com. The following are the steps I take and some tips you can use in addition to using this string, or without it.

It’s important to first place the Bigsby in a spot that looks right to you. Set it on the body, and look at it from different angles. Does the arm sit in an accessible spot? Is it too close to the controls for your liking? The distance you place the Bigsby from the bridge makes a difference. The closer to the bridge, the steeper the angle from the saddles to the Bigsby. Too close, and you risk having too much pressure on the bridge resulting in it being pulled backward and affecting intonation, as well as poor tremolo functionality. Too far and you simply won’t have as much tremolo control. This can also risk not having enough string pressure on the bridge (when set low), and potentially cause strings to pop out of their saddles when plucked. Here’s a look at what a close B50 placement does to the string angle VS a further B70:

Keep in mind that some bridges (like the one I’m using for this example) are placed on an angle for intonation purposes, and it’s easy for this angle to deceive your eyes. You want the Bigsby to be aligned with the guitar, not the bridge. For this reason, I remove the angled bridge from the posts when first placing the unit.

With the bridge removed, placing a straight-edged block that is sized correctly up against your bridge pickup cover can solve both the straightness issue and distance issue as seen here:

You can cut a block out of wood to use for this purpose, or find something of a good size like I did here.

Of course, distance and straightness aren’t the only factors that come into play when lining up the Bigsby. You want to make sure the strings travel straight from the bridge to the Bigsby string pins. With the bridge back on the guitar, hold a guitar string across the Low E string saddle down to its appropriate pin. Confirm that the string remains straight for this distance. Repeat this process for the High E string, and make any side-to-side adjustments of the Bigsby necessary.

It’s a good idea to repeat this process a few times – adjusting the Bigsby straightness and distance, then the straightness of the string from saddle to pin before getting ready to drill. Once you’re completely satisfied, it’s on to the next step!

That’s it for part one. Next time, I’ll go over the preparations for drilling, the actual drilling, and finally, perhaps the most difficult part: the stringing of the guitar once the Bigsby has been installed!

Happy Playing!

Vincent’s Guitar Workshop – issue 10 from MyRareGuitars.com

Vintage 1960’s Espana Violin Electric Guitar (Sunburst)

This model was an obvious take on the Hofner Beatle Bass from the same era, but a 6 string version. It is an extremely well made guitar (compared to the similar models that were coming from Japan at the time). The components look very similar to most VOX models of that era.

This model was available in 2 pickup configuration, 3-way switch, volume and tone with a Bigsby style tremolo. I have only seen this one model in Sunburst, and a very impressive and detailed Sunburst it is with a wonderfully contrasting white binding everywhere!

Back Catalog Memories: 1960’s Espana Violin Electric Guitar from MyRareGuitars.com

Vintage 1960’s Espana 335 Electric Guitar

This model was an obvious take on the Gibson 335 from the same era and almost identical to the VOX version. It is an extremely well made guitar (compared to the similar models that were coming from Japan at the time). The components look very similar to most VOX models of that era.

This model was available in 2 pickup configuration, 3-way switch, dual volume and tone controls with a Bigsby style tremolo. Here is a fine example in Sunburst, but it was also available in traditional cherry.

Back Catalog Memories: 1960’s Espana 335 Electric Guitar from MyRareGuitars.com

To own an original Bigsby electric you’d probably need a quarter mil of the ready. But maybe not! You might be lucky enough to find one of Bigsby’s Magnatone creations for a heckuva lot less.

1956 Bigsby Magnatone Mark III Electric Guitar

Magnatone’s True Vibrato appeared in 1956, the same year a lesser known event occurred in that storied company’s history. That was when they contracted with one of the legends of guitar history, Paul Bigsby, to design a line of electric Spanish guitars for them. Magnatone had been a major player in the Hawaiian lap steel game ever since its founding by the Dickerson Brothers back in the late 1930s in L.A. We all know Bigsby as the inventor of the hand vibrato that still bears his name. But he also gets credit for making the first ‘solidbody’ electric guitar for Merle Travis in 1947 (it was actually semi-hollow). The same guitar that another amp guy named Leo Fender took quite an interest in shortly before coming up with his Broadcaster.

1956 Bigsby Magnatone Mark III Electric Guitar

Bigsby’s first “commercial” design for Magnatone was the Mark III, a neck-through-body semi-hollow guitar, Bigsby’s take on a Ricky Combo. We know some of these were built because one turned up a few years back at an L.A.-area yard sale (how often have you had that fantasy!). But it appears that Magnatone’s production folks made some changes and almost all that are found with solid bodies and a glued-in neck with a “tongue” extension that slips in under the neck pickup. The formica pickguard and Daka-Ware knobs are a little dated now, but back in ’56 they were strictly the cat’s pajamas!

The Magnatone Mark IIIs are pretty cool, but aren’t truly professional guitars, like the spectacular Mark V that followed in 1957. These actually garnered a bunch of professional endorsements. Nevertheless, all these Bigsby Magnatones were among the better guitars of the 1950s.

1956 Bigsby Magnatone Mark III Electric Guitar

How many early Magnatones were actually produced is a mystery, and they didn’t seem to do that well. They were gone by 1958 and replaced in ’59 by a new line designed by former National exec Paul Barth, though no Magnatone guitars ever conquered the guitar world, even when guitar ace Jimmy Bryant endorsed them in the mid-1960s.

So, next time you?re prowling a back rack or a yard sale, keep your eyes peeled for one of these Magnatones. It’s a genuine Bigsby and, when you push the large single-coils through True Vibrato, you get a classic ’50s sound that takes you to paradise! True words of love!

Buddy Meets Bigsby (1956 Bigsby Magnatone Mark III Electric Guitar) from MyRareGuitars.com

Eric Clapton Live… with his trustworthy Strat!

Hi everyone I hope you have been enjoying my column, here’s more stuff to ponder. It seems every time you turn around there’s another list, 100 best this, 10 worst that’s. Well here’s another list for ya! But at least this one does not involve Paris Hilton. I now that some of my listings may be a bit controversial (one in particular) as I said before these are my opinions based on my experiences. Like all things in music they are not right or wrong, just some good-natured opinions that will hopefully stimulate your own thoughts on this subject.

Fender Stratocaster Electric Guitar

#1 Fender Stratocaster: The guitar that defined rock and roll music.
This guitar is as crucial a design and tool as can be expressed. It is unparalleled in it’s uniqueness and sound. Nothing sounds like a Strat, the bridge pickup sounds similar but not the same as a Tele bridge pickup. The same can be said for the neck pickup, and the middle pickup is so unique I cannot think of another guitar sound that can be mistaken for it. And the “between the pickups” sound is what it is truly Strat-esque. Leo was a god among men.

Fender Telecaster Electric Guitar

#2 Fender Telecaster: The most versatile guitar ever made.
The Telecaster, Leo Fender’s maiden voyage into the uncharted world of guitardom. The only guitar that can be credibly used as a rock, blues, country and yes, jazz guitar (even with the stock single coil in the neck position). The best way I describe the Tele when asked why it is my favorite guitar is that my ideas on the Tele are mostly musical ideas not sonic ideas (like the Strat). The Telecaster don’t play itself brother, it’s all there for the taking, but you must be man enough to take it. It’s low maintenance and very consistent from Tele to Tele.

Martin D-28 Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar

#3 Martin D-28: The standard of what an acoustic guitar should sound like.
I dunno I guess I must have been a real jerk when I was young, because I thought Martins were overrated and inconsistent. I was so brainwashed that one day I went into a guitar shop in New York with the sole intention of buying a J-200. While I was there the proprietor said I must check out this Martin D-28, and I did. Let me tell you this guitar was a dream come true, it came alive when you strummed a chord. The top vibrated so strongly I checked to see if it was cracked. It sounded even and true, it sounded so good that I thought to myself “I ain’t good enough to play this guitar.” So I bought the J-200 with the fancy clouds on the fretboard that sounded like a surfboard. BTW I recently contacted the guy who bought that J-200 and it still sounds like a surfboard 20 years later. The D-28 works for all kinds of music, bluegrass, rock and even blues as it is a very underestimated slide guitar ( not many of us have the scratch to play a 28 for slide only though).

Gibson ES-175 Electric Guitar

#4 Gibson ES 175: The best amplified arch top.
I am sure Joe Pass could have played an L5 if he wanted to, and after playing the ES 175 live I understood why many jazz guitar players chose the mid line maple top box. I have found them to be consistent and manageable at higher volumes or when you are set up close to your amp. I also own a Gibson Tal Farlow and have found it to be an ornate version of the 175. I also like the Lawsuit Ibanez 175 copies very much if you don,t mind the narrow neck profile.

Gibson SG Electric Guitar

#5 Gibson SG: The ultimate rock and roll guitar.
Short and sweet here. It’s easy to play, it’s light, it looks amazing, it cuts through like no other humbucking guitar on the planet, and it sounds good with virtually any decent amplifier. Here we go, Young, Iommi, Zappa, Clapton, Harrison, Santana (early w/ P90’s), Townsend (also P90’s). Great lead guitar, awesome rhythm guitar. SG Suggestion: Try a hi-output Humbucker in the bridge position like a DiMarzio Super Distortion it will amaze you; it will still cut like a knife.

Gibson L5 Archtop Guitar

#6 Gibson L5: The standard for what an acoustic arch top is.
I am speaking strictly about the acoustic L5 model only. This is the model that greats like Freddie Green played so well in the big band setting. A little background on the non amplified arch top, I always felt that the guitar player in early big bands served as a chord voice in the rhythm section just as the banjo player did in the New Orleans jazz bands in the early 20th century. They kept the rhythm for the musicians and were barely heard by the audience. Just say it, Gibson L5. Ahhh!

Gretsch 6120 Electric Guitar

#7 Gretsch 6120: Eddie Cochran and Chet Atkins, what else needs sayin?
The match of a visionary guitar player and a Gretsch 6120 seems to very common in guitar lore. This guitar has an arch top design, that combined with the Bigsby tremolo and the Filtron pickups give this guitar a sound that is rockabilly yet with a tweak of the tone controls can be tamed into a great accompaniment guitar as well. I always felt that the sound from this Gretsch was somewhere between an ES series Gibson and a Telecaster (not a bad neighborhood). My experience also tells me that the 6120 sounds damn good plugged into almost any amp I ever heard it with. One of my faves was my 6120 plugged into a Lab Series L5 amp housing a 15 inch JBL E130 speaker. This guitar is great for rockabilly, country, surf, chordal rock rhythm guitar, and any ensemble music.

Martin 000-28 Acoustic Guitar

#8 Martin 000-28: The ultimate blues and finger style acoustic guitar.
Also the OM-35 the long scale version of the 000 body size. I know this might be a somewhat controversial choice but, this comes from my own playing experience as well. I always marveled how the great bluesman would manhandle the guitars they played, in lieu of the fact that many of them had these enormous hands. I always felt that the mass of these hands in comparison to the at most times low budget guitars they played led to the sound they produced. This particular mortal (me!) who did not sharecrop or toil as many of these great men had to do just can’t seem to be able to get that sound from a dreadnought, but when I play a 000 size guitar I feel like Big Bill (Broonzy) himself. I can fingerpick with ease and muffle and mute just like Lightning Hopkins. The even sound of the 000 also lends itself to the unaccompanied nature of solo blues guitar. You may ask “why have I not seen some of these great bluesman play a 00-28?” My answer to that question is two-fold I believe economics is one, and the fact that many of our legendary bles pickers preferred more ornate guitars, and stayed away from the “country guitars.” The Martin 000-28 is a true classic!

Danelectro Solid Body Guitar

#9 Danelectro solid body: The best cheap guitar ever made.
As far a the Danny is concerned, I ask you will it compete with the Les Paul or Strat as your primary guitar? Obviously not, but I ask you is there a more versatile/ quality “off the wall” guitar. It’s an unreal slide guitar (see Lindley in your guitar dictionary). A great rootsy rhythm or lead guitar, and how many of the great Chicago bluesman have you seen playing these guitars? They cut through very well when played alongside other guitars. And the shielding and pickups were very ahead of their times. They look god awful cool, they stay in tune when set up decently. And again I will say that I have never heard a Danny not sound like a Danny through any amp, actually the cheaper the amp the better they sound. I actually prefer the two pickup model for slide and the three pickup for regular application. The twelve strings and odd ball models like the sitar and bellzouki and Guitarlin also sound awesome. The reissues are as good as the originals, and actually play better, although I like the sound of the old pickups better. Go out and buy a half dozen of them right now!!!

Gibson Les Paul Jr Electric Guitar

#10 Gibson Les Paul Junior: Turn it up and bang away a no frills no brainer.
The name “Junior” almost demeans the stature of this guitar. When I say perfect I mean that perfect for the application it is used for. Ask anyone who has ever owned one they all say the same thing – “I should have never got rid of that Jr.”; I am also including all the Les Paul Junior variants as well as the early SG Jr.s as they all serve the same purpose to me. I have always felt that when guitar god Leslie West played his Junior his technique was so strong that it compressed the sound like he was squeezing a golf ball through a garden hose. The guitar reacted so well to his hands, there had to be a reason Leslie played the Junior for so long. First of all has anybody ever heard a bad sounding ones? The only difference I have heard was that I prefer the fatter neck Jr.s as they seen more stable and have a bit mote chunk and sustain. These guitars sound great coming through any amp, although they obviously do not sound as good through a solid state amp. I sometimes wish that I could play my Jr.s more often, but my particular style demands a bit of a more versatile guitar. Yes, the Jr. is not a very versatile guitar, but its still perfect as far as what it does, and what it does is kicks ass!

The Best Of The Rest…

These guitars are great, but not perfect. Let’s say… they are a respectable 9 out of 10!

Les Paul model
Too inconsistent, too many variables great ones are great, bad ones suck. Some are way too heavy, I have seen Les Pauls that weighed in excess if 12 lbs, that’s too much and way too inconsistent. I have always believed from the over 30 years of guitar worship that the Les Paul was the red headed stepchild at Gibson and did not get the attention it deserved. Here’s a hint or two on picking a good Paul – from me to you: #1 if the neck pickup has a high endy squawky “cut” you are well on your way. #2 if it could replace a Tele in a pinch it’s a winner in my book. Muddy, low mid laden Pauls give the model a bad name.

Mosrite Ventures
Great look and design, great sound but, Too thin neck and too small frets, bad tremolo (arm too short and too close to the body and gets “mushy” fast, Not great woods that many times don’t match in weight and density. For a more modern take on the design, make sure to check the Eastwood Sidejack series, which is getting even more popular than the originals!

Gibson ES-335
Some with necks that are unplayably thin. Bridge pickups are not trebly enough (not pickups themselves I believe it’s a design flaw). Great blues guitar in the right hands. A one trick pony.

Gibson ES-345 and 355
The Varitone need I say more? I own several of them but they cannot be my only guitar at a gig.

Gibson L5 CES
Too much pickup for a spruce top arch top. The guitar explodes out of your hand when played proximate to an amp, Useless treble pickup. Yeah I know Wes Montgomery played one (his was a one pickup model), well lets not compare ourselves to Wes okay? I also heard from a reliable source that Wes altered his guitars so they wouldn’t feedback, and that his left hand technique restricted this problem also.

Gibson acoustics: J-200/ J45/J160
Inconsistent, too long to break in, by the time you know whether you have a good one or not you are ready to retire. Buy a used one that sounds good and be happy you got a good one.

Rickenbacker V64 12-string
Aside from the string spacing being too close this is a perfect 12 string electric, but not perfect. Check out the Carl Wilson model if you can find one. George, how did you do it?

10 Perfect Guitars & Their Applications from MyRareGuitars.com

Custom Longhorn Guitar by Bill Wagoner (Plymouth, IN)

Here is one of my solutions to the problem. I bought a 1968 Coral Longhorn Body off of EBAY for 65 bucks. It had never been used, no neck, not even a neck pocket, no routing for pickups, no wiring, no pickguard, nothing but a body. Enclose is a pic of the body as I got it and the guitar I made out of it. I did all the wiring, inlays, designed and made the pickguards by hand, assembly, set up, everything.

My inspiration for this project was the old BIGSBY guitars made by Paul Bigsby back in the late 40’s and early 50’s and also the gaudy Cool Italian guitars of the 1960’s. Also I was thinking of the original handmade Mosrite stuff where Semie Mosley would include a fancy pickguard, arm rest and so forth.

My first step was to decide on pickguard material. I went with the white pearloid, or what I call Mother of Toilet Seat, in other words, fake pearl. My pickguard material came from ALL PARTS. I sell their stuff in my store and it is great quality. I knew that I wanted to cover the entire headstock with it but that presented a problem. The neck is basicaly a generic strat type neck but since you cannot bend the thick pearloid I had to make it two pieces. I decided to make the second piece double as my truss rod cover. The neck came from a low priced strat style guitar called a Palmer. Great neck for almost no cost and it plays like a dream.

Next was attaching the neck and body. Since this body had never had a neck, there was no neck pocket. After observing what I call the First rule of guitar repair, I routed out an area to attach the neck about an inch of so deep and also removed part of the material under the fingerboard to get the proper slant to the neck in relation to the body. Due to the fact that I was going to use a rosewood archtop bridge I did not need to worry about where I placed the neck since I could position the bridge anywhere I wanted after the guitar was together.

What is “The First rule of guitar repair?” For every minute you DO something to your guitar, you THINK ABOUT IT for 20 minutes FIRST. If you take your time and approach guitar repairs this way you will make a lot less mistakes in the long run! After attaching the neck, I started on my Inlays. All it had when I started was the boring and traditional plastic dots. I drilled those out of the neck and replace them with real abalone dots. Next I used diamond shaped abalone pieces that I bought from RESCUE PEARL Company and cut them into triangles. Then I routed the fingerboard and added them to make the pattern you see now. You can do a search and find Rescue Pearl on the net, nice folks and very helpful and reasonable prices too. I then started to design the pickguard. I wanted it to follow the lines of the F-hole rather than hide the F-hole as they do on so many hollow body guitars. I used old file folders and cut the patterns from them with scissors after drawing them free hand and then copied them in pearloid. The arm rests and the control plate were done the same way. I used an old Seymor Rail pickup I had laying around and kept the electronics simple since there is a limited amount of space on the body anyway. I also made sure to position all the electronics where they can be worked on easily from the F-holes in the future.

Finally I strung her up and added the ALLPARTS Rosewood bridge. Incredibly, the intonation on this guitar is perfect, no need for tune-o-matic bridge saddles at all. It has a wonderful warm woody tone that is different than any of my other guitars and I just love it. Add to that the fun of making it myself and I have a guitar that will never leave my collection.

Post by: Bill Wagoner (Plymouth, IN)

Frankenstein Longhorn Guitar from MyRareGuitars.com