As Made Famous By
1934 National Style O Resonator,
Nickel on Brass,
as made famous by Mark Knopfler
OK, his is a 1937, with flat headstock and 14-fret neck. Three years earlier, and these came with open headstock and 12-fret neck. But for that look, that sound, and the experience of playing an absolute icon, this one's hard to beat. A nickel on brass classic!
1963 Gibson J-160E,
Sunburst, as made famous by
John Lennon & George Harrison
Gibson's J-160E, famous in the hands of both John Lennon and George Harrison - and the ambidextrous Paul McCartney. The acoustic behind so many of those early Beatles hits. An absolute original, and a beauty to behold and play.
1974 Gibson Ripper L9-S Bass,
Natural,
as made famous by Krist Novoselic
Come As You Are. The utterly iconic Gibson Ripper bass, as made famous by Krist Novoselic, and the indie rock family tree of close relatives and distant cousins that followed... Queens Of The Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Green Day, and many more.
1962 Epiphone Coronet,
Cherry,
as made famous by Johnny Marr
One of the holy trinity of Gibson-made solid-body Epiphones - beautiful symmetry from open-book headstock to fully rounded body, one P-90, and lashings of mojo. No surprises to find one of these among Johnny Marr's favourite guitars. It really is something.
1964 Harmony Rocket H59, Cherry Sunburst, faded to Honey, as made famous by Billie Joe Armstrong
Hardly in the minority, there were more Harmonys produced in the 60s than Gibsons and Fenders. Now a favourite of indie explorers seeking retro mojo - and Billie Joe Armstrong's choice for Green Day crowd-pleaser Minority: "Without a doubt, singled out, the only way I know."
1966 Vox V251 Guitar Organ,
White,
as made famous by John Lennon
A rare piece of space-age technical genius, the Vox V251 Guitar Organ, a prototype handed to John Lennon, and famous more for its 2014 $305K auction price than him ever playing it. Makes the $87.5K that David Gilmour's sold for in 2019 seem like a snip at the price...
1972 Fender Precision Bass,
Classic Sunburst,
as made famous by everyone!
The first ever electric bass, and still #1 today. If we were trying to be specific, we'd say "as made famous by Roger Waters". But what's the point? This one is really "as made famous by pretty much any bassist". Solid-gold classic!
1962 Fender Duo-Sonic,
Olympic White,
as made famous by Jimi Hendrix
Not only a fabled Pre-CBS Fender, but the first Fender that a stage-named Jimmy James, aka Jimi Hendrix, is pictured with. A shorter scale guitar marketed for the "student", not a bad place to start if you're on the way to rock legend status.