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Iconic Guitars – The Most Iconic Of All Time, In My Opinion

I am NOT a guitar player…I wish I was. I would love to be able to play guitar, it fascinates me. I do have a small collection of guitars, and I love looking at them, and imagining all the possibilities they possess. I was in my late teens and early 20’s in the 80’s/90’s, and this era was magical to me.

I was VERY much a fan of HAIRBANDS!

Great songs, with larger than life personalities doing stuff on a piece of wood with six metal wires that I have never been able to comprehend. How the heck do they do it?

For example, the GREATEST guitar player to ever come out of Australia (And one of the best in the world) has to be Tommy Emmanuel. Tommy often plays on his own what usually needs two people to play. Check him out playing both the rhythm and melodies of The Beatles songs Day Tripper and then Lady Madonna.

I am always looking to expand my collection of iconic guitars. I have done some searches today for articles about the most iconic guitars, and I must say, most of these article miss quiet a few. The first article I read said the number one guitar of all time was Angus Young’s black Gibson, and Steve Vai’s Gem and Universe weren’t even mentioned.

This is when I began to realise this topic is subjective. Everybody will see it differently. We all have different opinions, and we are all entitled to our own opinions. This is my opinion, and I would really love to hear your opinions in the comments. Lets just do it with respect ok.

In my opinion, the most iconic guitar ever is easily, and with out doubt, Frankenstrat.

I really love the EVH Steinberger. It is actually the most recent addition to my collection. As a Lolcats fan, and a EVH fan, imagine my delight when I came across this pic today whilst researching this article.

Once again, here are the most iconic guitars in my opinion. The EVH Trio.

From here on, guitars appear in no particular order. They are just the most iconic guitars to me.

Steve Vai is Explosive. Brilliant. The Ibanez Gem and Universe are definitely on my wishlist. The 7 String Universe’s sound on the Passion and Warfare album (Particularly the song The Animal) was like nothing I had ever heard before.Whilst on the topic of Vai, the Heart guitar he played with David Lee Roth was pretty Cool too!

Next, is my most FAV guitar player of all time. I first heard him doing Mozart in the Bill and Ted movie, and he has continued to stun me ever since. I especially loved his efforts at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. Nuno Bettencourt and the Washburn N4

The Girls were very well represented in the 80’s as well. Lita Ford’s B.C Rich was another classic for me.

Previously, on the other side of the world, Mark Knopfler’s National Acoustic was pretty iconic to me. I loved it on the cover of the Brothers In Arms album.

Before I got my Steinberger, my favorite guitar in my collection was my Paul Reed Smith Tremonti Blackbird. Mark’s Charcoal Burst PRS “Dimebag” Tribute Blackbird is one of my all time favs.

The “Funnest” guitar player I have ever seen live is The Clown Prince, Rick Nielsen from Cheap Trick. Now this guy knows how to put on a show! Here is Ricks Hamer 5-neck. My guess is that the 5 necks are from top to bottom, a 12 string, a regular tuned fixed bridge, and regular tuned with tremolo, another fixed bridge with alternate tuning (maybe drop d) and a fretless.

Jason Becker is an incredible musician who I most remember being referred to as “Beyond Prodigy”. His playing on David Lee Roth’s album A Little Aint Enough was brilliant. Carvin have recently released Jason’s Numbers Guitar.

Jimmy Hendrix and The Flying V – what more can I say

One of the loudest and most “In Your Face” guitar players would have to be Zakk Wylde. I absolutely LOVED his work on the movie Rockstar, and he is a perfect fit for Ozzy Osbourne as well. This is Zakk’s Gibson Bullseye.If you are reading this article, you will be familiar with Stevie Ray Vaughan’s SRV Fender Strat. A truly Iconic guitar in so many ways. I saw this guitar first hand in San Francisco a number of years ago, and the photos really don’t do it justice. The wear and tear on this axe is astonishing, Stevie must have notched up thousands and thousands of hours playing it.

Defining cool, here is Bo Diddley with his Gretsch

Brian Setzer has become one of my favs over the years. I love the 50’s Rockabilly sound and image. Gotta love those Gretsch guitars! If you haven’t already heard it, do your ears a favour and check out his Brian Setzer Orchestra Live In Montreal album. You won’t regret it!

Brian May’s Red Special is a interesting guitar. Brian built it himself in 1963. I read recently that when Brian travels by air, he also buys the first class seat next to him for this guitar.

No list on iconic guitars is complete without Michael Anthony’s Jack Daniels Bass

Prince had some interesting looking guitars over the years. Here is his Cloud Guitar

Prince had another super interesting axe, the Symbol guitar

Bon Jovi has had a few iconic guitars over the years. Here is Jon’s New Jersey Kramer

And this is Richie Sambora’s Kramer Double Neck. I remember this one most from the beginning of the “Lay Your Hands On Me” video clip.

And on the topic of Bon Jovi, James Hetfield from Metallica had the “Kill Bon Jovi” guitar, which I have been unable to find a picture of. If anybody has a pic, please sent it in and I will add it to the list. In its abscense, here is James’s  “Eet Fuk” Explorer.

**UPDATE MARCH 2023** – 8 Years after writing this article, I was finally contacted by a reader who found a photo of James Hetfield’s “Kill Bon Jovi” guitar from the April 1989 edition of guitar player. Thanks so much Mike for sending this!

One of the most iconic pairings in guitar history would have to be Slash and Gibson.

B.B. King and Lucille are another iconic duo for Gibson.

Vivian Campbell’s Kramer Nightswan was all the rage for a while in the 80’s. Still a cool looking guitar.

John Lennon and Rickenbacker made a pretty iconic pairingAnd rounding out the list, is again, Tommy Emmanuel and his Maton Acoustic

I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane, looking at some of the great guitars the made music what it is today. Please let me know in the comments if there is anything you think should be added.