While many of the most legendary guitarists in rock and metal have expansive collections of guitars, a lot of them have a favorite model that they’ve stuck to over the years, and have thus been identified with.
That isn’t to say that each of them haven’t played a variety of instruments during their career, but more often than not, they stick to a similar body that produces the same tone. Slash doesn’t only play Gibson Les Pauls onstage with Guns N’ Roses, but that guitar in particular is just as big a part of his aesthetic as the top hat is. Eddie Van Halen was a virtuoso who could’ve made music out of any object in the world, but his designated guitar was one that he built himself. Same goes for Queen‘s Brian May.
Rock and metal fans often ask what type of guitar their favorite musician played throughout their career, so we rounded up a gallery of some of the most legendary guitarists and researched which guitar they played most often or have been associated with the most.
We tried to keep it unique and highlight a variety of guitars, so we didn’t include every guitarist that’s known for using each model. You also may not see the No. 1 guitar used by each of them. Jimmy Page, for example, was also a big Gibson Les Paul guy, but since we discuss that guitar with Slash, we chose to focus on another really cool model that Page is known for popularizing during his time with Led Zeppelin.
READ MORE: The 20 Most Expensive Guitars of All Time
We also included an example of a guitar for purchase underneath each guitarist that either resembles the model that guitarist is known for using, or is from their own signature line of instruments that they developed with a manufacturer. Keep scrolling for guitars galore.
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