Which acoustic guitars do your favourite players use? It’s always fun to check out the gear of artists we admire, especially the guitars themselves. I suppose this is because guitars are their direct apparatus for expression; a piece of equipment that they physically wear and perform on.
We spend a lot of time looking at electric guitars, but what of the acoustics? In many cases, acoustic guitars are the ones that the songs themselves are written on, so it’s where the magic begins.
Today, I’ll take you on a brief skip through some of the world’s notable players, and check out which acoustic guitars they’ve used to make their careers.
John Mayer
John Mayer is one of the most popular and visible guitarists of his generation. He fills arenas with his smooth take on bluesy soft rock, and whilst his electric guitars are PRS, he goes for an older brand for his acoustics. John’s a Martin fan, and has a signature Martin OM-JM guitar, with a smaller body that suits his fingerstyle approach.
Neil Young
Everybody knows about ‘Old Black’, Neil Young’s 1953 Gibson Les Paul, but what about his acoustic guitars? He is as much of an acoustic player as an electric one, in my eyes at least, and he does have some famous models. There’s his 1968 Martin D-45, which he used to record the Harvest album, and there’s also ‘Hank’, a 1941 Martin D-28 that used to belong to Hank Williams.
Noel Gallagher
The Oasis main man is a well-known strummer and lover of bigger-bodied acoustics. On the cover of Definitely Maybe you can see an Epiphone EJ-200, though nowadays he opts for the US-made equivalent, the Gibson SJ-200.
Nancy Wilson
Heart’s songwriter uses a number of acoustic guitars to pen her hit songs. Primarily, there’s the Martin HD-35 Nancy Wilson Signature model (of course!), and there’s the Ovation that she gave away to another famous player (see below). On top of those, Nancy’s been seen with a Takamine TAN15C and an Epiphone Masterbilt EF-500RA.
Eric Clapton
Blues rocker Eric Clapton scored big with his MTV Unplugged album, one of the biggest selling records of all-time. This made his acoustic playing more visible than ever, and his main squeeze for that record was an old vintage Martin 000-28. Since then, the company have honoured him with a signature model, the Martin 000-28EC, complete with a V-profile neck.
Eddie Van Halen
Shred pioneer Eddie Van Halen isn’t someone you immediately associate with acoustic guitars. Indeed, he didn’t even own one until his friend Nancy Wilson gifted him her favourite Ovation nylon string guitar. He put it to good use though: Spanish Fly and Little Guitars were played on this guitar, to name but a few!
Joan Jett
Influential rocker Joan Jett pretty much avoided acoustic guitars for most of her professional career. Strange, given how well-suited to the medium her songs are! That changed a few years ago though, when she reinterpreted her back catalogue on acoustic, using a sunburst Gibson SJ-200.
Jimi Hendrix
Jimi is indelibly tied to the Fender Stratocaster of course, but acoustic guitars do pop up in his music, notably his cover of Bob Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower. It’s hard to find details about that particular guitar, but there is an excellent video of Hendrix playing a 12-string Zemaitis guitar for a different song. Could this have been the Watchtower guitar? Another musician, Dave Mason, is credited with 12-string guitar on the recording, but who knows if Jimi played some too?
Robert Fripp
King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp has included acoustic playing in his recorded music from the beginning. Early records like In the Court of the Crimson King saw Fripp utilise a Gibson J-45. Later in his career, Fripp began hosting ‘Guitar Craft’ events, which were a mixture of lessons, philosophical training and musical performance. For these, he requested that attendees use Ovation guitars, for their ergonomic qualities.
Jason Isbell
Lots of Jason Isbell’s music is strongly associated with acoustic guitars. From his Drive-By Truckers days to his solo years and 400 Unit band records, he’s as committed to the acoustic as he is to the electric. On recent solo release Foxes in the Snow, Isbell performed all of the tracks as live takes with only his vocal and acoustic guitar playing. For this, he used a 1940 Martin 0-17. This has led Martin to release a limited edition signature guitar, the Martin 0-10E Retro Jason Isbell.
The Edge
U2’s master of echoes and chimes likes to use a large number of guitars, both in the studio and on tour. Acoustic guitars factor into this, and over the years there have been a few. During the 90s ZOOTV era, Edge would play a Washburn EA20. Since then he’s been seen armed with a Taylor 714ce and a Gibson SJ-200.
Joni Mitchell
One of the world’s foremost acoustic guitar singer-songwriters, Joni Mitchell is famed for her percepting writing and inventive playing. Joni has played a number of guitars throughout her career, though most would agree that her most-associated one is her 1956 Martin D-28. She’s also a fan of the D-45 and of certain Collings models.
Steve Vai
Steve Vai isn’t a man to play off-the-shelf guitars. His electric guitars are of course his family of JEM, Universe and PIA models, but he doesn’t stop there. Steve’s acoustic is the Ibanez EP5 Euphoria model, a relatively thin bodied guitar with 24 frets, a florentine cutaway, sparkly black finish and Vai logos around the soundhole.
Keith Richards
Rolling Stone/pirate Keith Richards has contributed some classic acoustic riffs to the canon over the years, not least Street Fighting Man and Jumpin’ Jack Flash. These days you’ll mainly see him playing a 1946 Martin 00-21, but back in the day his main squeeze was a Gibson Hummingbird. Here’s some wisdom from Keef on the application of acoustics:
“When in doubt, if something doesn’t sound right, just brush on an acoustic guitar and see what happens. What it does, if you’re recording a band, is fill the air between the cymbals and all the electric instruments. It’s like a wash in painting. Just a magical thing. If something sounds a little dry or heavy or tight, put on an acoustic, or maybe just a few notes of piano—another acoustic instrument. Somehow it will just add that extra glue.”
Some wild trivia for you: ALL of the rhythm guitar parts on Jumpin’ Jack Flash are acoustic guitars! Yes, with a mic stuck right into the soundhole so that it overdrives, then recorded to a tape that further distorted it, and then played back through the desk and mixed.
Slash
Guns n Roses supremo Slash is a Gibson guy through and through. In addition to his unending armada of Les Pauls, Slash favours the J-45. Classic taste for sure, although he does make sure that his own signature models are available in unusual colours!
David Gilmour
Gilmour loves a Martin acoustic. His Wish You Were Here guitars were a 1969 Martin D-35 and a 1971 Martin D12-28 12 string (for that ‘radio’ intro). That said, one of his most celebrated compositions - Comfortably Numb - was written on an Ovation Legend 1619-4.
Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page is another electric guitar hero who has actually contributed loads to the world of the acoustic. In addition to the expected Martin D-28, Page used a borrowed Gibson SJ-200 (reissued recently as a signature model), a Harmony Sovereign H1260 and a Giannini Craviola 12-string.
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Is it any surprise that SRV was also a great acoustic guitar player? We don’t often see pics or videos of him with an acoustic, but ‘Life By the Drop’ is an obvious example. He even did an MTV Unplugged, where he made deft use of a Guild F-412 12-string, and he also used a 1930s Gibson L-1.
Pete Townsend
In addition to being a notorious Rickenbacker-smasher, Pete’s a famous strummer of acoustic guitars. Pinball Wizard surely ranks as one of the greatest acoustic guitar moments ever, right? On that track, Townshend played a 1968 Gibson SJ-200, a model he’s pretty closely associated with. That said, he’s been seen with loads of acoustics, including a Gibson J-45 and a Martin D-35.
Molly Tuttle
Molly Tuttle is an excellent fingerstyle player, and has a signature guitar with Preston Thompson guitars which is a custom hand-made model. Aside from that, the Bluegrass expert has played a variety of Martin acoustics, including custom models and vintage Pre-war examples.
Toni Iommi
What does the rifflord himself choose when it’s time to chill out and put down the crucifix-encrusted SG? Taylors! Iommi has been a Taylor guy for a while, favouring more top-end models such as the 816ce and the 914ce as well as the more affordable (but still pretty fancy) 614ce.
Tim Henson
Polyphia's lead guitarist had one of the most popular signature guitars of last year…and it wasn’t an electric guitar! No indeed, it was a thinline nylon string electro-acoustic model, complete with a ‘Tree of Death’ inlay! The Ibanez TOD10N has been a huge hit, though I should stress that ownership of said guitar will resolutely not transform your playing skills to the level of Henson!
Prince
Prince Rogers Nelson could make music out of anything. He could play everything and sing anything, which of course included acoustic guitars. Whenever the Purple One went acoustic, he could be seen with a succession of custom-built Taylors (mostly 612ce styles). In earlier footage, you'll see him with an Alvarez 5055 (a pretty straight copy of a Gibson SJ-200), a Gibson L48 and even an Ovation bowlback acoustic, which are popping up on this list waaay more than I expected!
John Frusciante
The Chili Peppers guitarist and solo artist is a big fan of vintage guitars. He’s another Martin aficionado, favouring a pair of small bodied 0-15 mahogany models. I believe one is a 1940s model and the other is from the 50s. Earlier in his career (back in the Blood Sugar Sex Magik days), he was easier to please, favouring an old Kay K-230 - a humble guitar by anyone’s standards - to record major label albums with.
Johnny Marr
‘Ultimate sideman’ Johnny Marr uses a variety of guitars in his work for colour and texture. As far as acoustics go, he’s another star who is mostly associated with Martins. He’s been honoured with a pair of signature models: the Martin M-6 Johnny Marr and the relatively unique ‘seven string’ Martin M-7. I put that in quotes there because it’s not your typical low B string here: instead, there’s an additional G in there - like you’d get with a 12-string guitar - to offer a little of that chime and shimmer in an otherwise regular 6 string guitar.
Going back in time, you’d see Marr playing mostly Martin models (D-28, D-35, D-12-28 12 string) and also a Gibson J-160E.
Kurt Cobain
What are the most expensive guitars in the world?
Anything that Kurt Cobain played. I never saw that coming as a kid who listened to Nirvana, but that’s what has happened, and his famous ‘Unplugged in New York’ Martin D-18E sold in auction for over 6 million dollars a few years ago. His Mustang went for not much less either, which says a lot about just how widespread Nirvana’s appeal really was.
Kurt was famous for playing whatever he could get his hands on, being that he was a left-hander with a very measured disdain for too much in the way of gear reverence. This makes it doubly interesting that people are willing to pay world-record prices for his guitars!
Anyway, his Martin D-18E was pretty unusual in that it had very rare factory-fitted DeArmond pickups, which weren’t doing the business for him. Instead, he had the guitar modded with a Bartolini soundhole pickup. At the end of the day, it’s still a Martin acoustic, but it’s also something of a self-consciously ‘outsider’ choice, which is very much in keeping with Cobain’s public persona.
The Artists’ Choice: What Did I Learn?
So there’s a fair cross-section of well-known players and the acoustic guitars they prefer. What did I learn?
I learned that pro players overwhelmingly use Martins. This could be a historical thing, with older musicians sticking with brands that were around in the 60s, when there was less choice. It may be imitation: artists like to use the gear of people they admire just as much as everybody else, I suppose!
I was also surprised to note how often Ovation showed up! Nobody really talks about that brand any more, and I suspect that’s because acoustic pickup technology has developed significantly since the 70s and 80s when Ovation had their heyday. What do you think? Is it time to see plastic bowls on the backs of our guitars?
Those were my take-aways from this. The rest was pretty predictable: the big brands dominate, dreadnoughts are the most popular, the J-200 (or SJ-200 as it’s called now) is a heavy hitter in more ways than one, and people generally like their acoustics to be straightforward.
After all, it’s all about the songs, isn’t it?
Click to Browse our Acoustic Guitars
