A lot of people have names for their main axes here a few famous ones..
1.Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
"Duesenberg" ... played by Mike Campbell
2. Eric Clapton
"Blackie" and "The Fool" played by Eric Clapton ...
Arguably the most famous stratocaster ever, Blackie was the nickname for a Frankenstein of a guitar assembled by Eric from three different strats. Purchased from Sho-Bud guitar shop in Nashville, Tennessee, he combined the best components to create Blackie. Eric played it live and in the studio from its creation in 1970 to 1985, when he retired Blackie. Contrary to the many rumors that state otherwise, Blackie was reportedly 100% playable during her retired years. Blackie was sold at auction for a record $959,500 to Guitar Center, who proudly displays the guitar.
3
Bo Diddley
"Big B" was the name Bo gave to his rectangular guitar, with the later version being called "The Mean Machine" ... which it certainly was ...
4
The Ventures
Nokie Edwards of The Ventures, on of the most important and overlooked bands of all time, named his guitar "The Hitchhiker" ... and rightly so.
5
Rory Gallagher
Ex-Sunburst played by Rory Gallagher ...
Called the Ex-Sunburst by fans for its lack of a finish (worn away by heavy use and sweating) as much as for Rory’s refusal to give it a name, this famous guitar happens to be one of the first strats in Ireland in 1961. Rory bought it for an estimated £100. Heavily modified, the guitar had one different tuner, all new pickups, and modified pickguard. The Ex-Sunburst resides with Rory’s brother, Donal Gallagher. It isn’t played.
6
Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia ... 1957 Fender Stratocaster, a classic rock 'n' roll guitar given to him by Graham Nash, with an alligator decal on the body that gave the guitar its name, "Alligator." He also play a guitar call "The Tiger" quite often.
7
ZZ Top
Bill Gibbons calls his 1959 Les Paul "Pearly Gates" or if he's in that magic mood, just "Pearly."
8
Peter Green
"Katmandu" played by Peter Green ...
9
Buddy Guy
"Polka Dot Strat" played by Buddy Guy ...
While not as famous as the other listed here, this guitar deserves recognition if only for its unique paint job. Comprised of white polka dots on a black finish, this strat has been serving as Buddy Guy’s main guitar for years now. Originally a custom artist series, made especially for Buddy, Fender has recently created a similar guitar with an inverted paint scheme and lace sensors.
The Polka Dot Strats remain road worthy and accompany Buddy to most of his live shows.
10
Peter Hammill
Over (1977)
"Meurglys" played by Peter Hammill ...
The name "Meurglys" comes from a 12th Century French poem entitled "Le Chanson de Roland ou de Ronceveaux", later known simply as "Le Chanson de Roland" or "The Song of Roland", originally written in Old French. The poem was first published in 1837, in Paris, by Francisque Michel, although executed, it is believed, between 1130 and 1170. There are several surviving versions and many interpretations, into both modern French and English. It is believed to be set around the time of the first crusade and appears to be a combination of both fact and fiction. Without going into the story in detail, "Meurglys" is the name of the sword belonging to Ganelon, Roland's stepfather and enemy. Ganelon is eventually tried as a traitor and executed ...
According to Peter Hammill Meurglys II was a "Vox Teardrop with built in fuzz and fx, covered in rabbit fur"! "The Generator bought a new 120 Watt amplifier and a Vox guitar which they call Meurglys, after Ganelon's sword in "Roland", which is covered with fur so that it looks like a flying squirrel with strings attached". Now for a small amount of confusion. I believe the above account to be correct and that these two guitars were indeed Meurglys One and Meurglys Two. I should perhaps add that Peter also sold the Vox some time ago so neither of these guitars are in his possession. It has been reported though, in an interview with David Jackson, that the name Meurglys II was in fact given to an ice blue Stratocaster that Peter owned in the Seventies and was stolen along with other band gear in Italy. The theft took place in Rome during the night of the 1st December 1975 and whilst some of the equipment was recovered, the guitar remains missing. This incident greatly upset Peter Hammill as he was very attached to that guitar. The Strat appears on the covers of both Nadir's Big Chance and Godbluff. Peter says that the name Meurglys was not given to the Strat but can't remember why. However, it is believed that this was because the guitar belonged to Rikki Nadir. "An ice-blue Stratocaster spinning through space; Nadir crashing his way through distorted three-chord wonders".
MEURGLYS III ... I'm uncertain when Peter bought this guitar, a black Guild that he still owns, but it came to prominence after the loss of the ice blue Stratocaster and appears in many pictures. It is also very prominent on the cover of the album “Over.” It is also the subject of a song on World Record ...
“Meurglys III, he's my friend,
the only one that I can trust
to let it be without pretence
there's no-one else.
It's killing me, but in the end
there's no-one else I know is true:
there's none in all the masks of men.
There's nothing else
but my guitar...
I suppose he'll have to do.”
Much respect to The Quiet Rebel for this one ...
11
Jimi Hendrix
"Betty Jean" played by Jimi Hendrix ...
Jimi had a Strat painted red with "Betty Jean" emblazoned on it ... the name of his high school sweetheart.
12
Black Sabbath
"The Old Boy" played by Tony Iommi ...
13
Albert King
"Lucy" played by Albert King ...
His preference was for a Gibson Flying V.
14
B.B. King
"Lucille" played by B.B. King ...
The famous story behind the famous name is that one night in 1949, B.B. was playing in a bar when two men got into a fight over a girl and knocked over a kerosene heater (basically a barrel full of lit kerosene). The place went up in flames and everyone ran out. However, B.B. realized that he left his guitar inside and ran to save it. He nearly lost his life, but named his guitar and subsequent guitars Lucille after the girl the two men fought over.
The modern and most famous iteration of Lucille is a custom black Gibson ES-355 with Lucille printed on the headstock. B.B. has been playing this version for nearly 25 years.
15
Queen
"Red Special" played by Brian May, of Queen ...
"A little over 40 years ago, largely because we could not afford to buy a high quality electric guitar, and partly because we enjoyed a challenge, my Dad and I decided to make an electric guitar. I designed an instrument from scratch, with the intention that it would have a capability beyond anything that was out there, more tunable, with a greater range of pitches and sounds, with a better tremolo, and with a capability of feeding back through the air in a "good" way - i.e. in a self-sustaining mode.
Previously (ironically) electric guitars had been designed NOT to feed back, but in the hands of Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend and Jimi Hendrix, they were forced to! My Dad had the technical knowledge and skills to make the dream come true. The result, after two years of spare-time work, exclusively with hand tools, was the instrument I now call my "Red Special" - or the "Old Lady" - the guitar which has been a part of me through 30 years of live concerts and studio work with Queen, all around the world.
Through the years there have been a multitude of replicas of the Red Special, built by amateurs and professionals, including two major commercial issues, with Guild Guitars of the USA, and Burns Guitars of the UK. As of 2006, the commercial Red Special has at last come home. I was concerned that it ought to me personally who controlled the manufacture of these instruments, and so I have teamed up with Barry Moorhouse of House Music, and Pete Malandrone, my long-time tech man, and we have created BRIAN MAY GUITARS, our aim being to make the absolute best product at an affordable price, so that all may enjoy the special sound and feel of a Brian May guitar."
Cheers, Brian May
Thanks to Gary for bringing this one to my attention.
16
Black Sabbath
"Harpoon" played by Randy Rhoads ...
17
Van Halen
"Frankenstein" played by Eddie Van Halen ...
Eddie named his guitar "Fankenstein" because as in the movie, his guitar was compiled from three or four other guitars. He sometimes referred to his guitar as "Frankenstrat" as well.
18
Willie Nelson
"Trigger" played by Willie Nelson ...
19
Steve Vai
"Lasher," "Bad Horsie II," "Bad Horsie," "Evo II," "Evo," "Flo," "Neville" and "Red Lace" ... played by Steve Vai.
20
Stevie Ray Vaughan
"Number One" played by Stevie Ray Vaughan ...
Stevie Ray’s Number One was a 1973 sunburst model traded for at Ray’s Music Exchange in Austin, Texas with Stevie’s old ‘63 strat. Beaten and bastardized, the guitar remained his main axe since that day. Although the original had a white pickguard and strangely hot ‘59 pickups, Stevie replaced the pickguard with a pickguard featuring the now famous SRV lettering. Remarkably, Stevie had the frets replaced with jumbo bass style frets while he played on a reportedly .013 (going as high as .018) guage strings. Number One now resides with Stevie’s brother Jimmie. It’s been permanently retired in memory of Stevie.
Though his signature guitar was called "Lenny."
21
Neil Young
"Old Black" played by Neil Young ...
Thanks to Gypsy for reminding me of this one.
Oh kayo naman! Whats your guitars name ba? And the story behind it.
1.Genesis Series Guitar: "GandyDancer "
-Song by the Ventures I played in some guitar competition where I won a new electric guitar..a Squier Strat..may nakasulat sa likod using pentel pen yung name niya na kupas na kupas na..
2.Fender Squier Strat: "Red"
- Dahil sa Body Color
3.Gibson LP Special Faded: The K
-Named after the guy who gave me this guitar. A industrial rock-IT american expat when he left he gave me his stuff...may chinese elect/acoustic din..named her "Mel" named after sa syota niya na friend ko din..hahaha though di ako gaano masaya sa sound niya..
4. Squier '51= Si "51"
-dahil sa model name niya..love hate relationship..kasi everytime ko siya nakikita naalala ko yung ungas na store clerk na tinaga ako sa presyo..highway robbery I culdve gotten a Ash Bodied COrt with Mighty Mite and Wilkinsons for the same price..
