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The recent thread about Tommy Tedesco's guitar got me thinking--where are all the historic and iconic guitars that made so much great music? Maybe if we harness the collective wisdom of this forum...
I'll start with one I saw in person:
George Benson's Gibson Johnny Smith with which he recorded Breezin'--at the American Instrument Museum in Phoenix.

I'll throw out a couple of others for you guys to work on:
Scotty Moore's ES-295 he used for first Elvis recordings.
Les Paul's LP prototype.
BB King's Lucille (ES-355).
Bo Diddley's Twang Machine.
Eric Clapton's Blackie Strat.
John Lennon's sanded-down Casino.
Joe Pass's ES-175 used on Virtuoso.
Segovia's 1937 Hermann Hauser SR.
I realize I could do a little googling. I do know the answers to some of these, but thought it'd be more fun to crowd-source.Last edited by Doctor Jeff; 11-12-2018 at 02:15 PM.
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11-12-2018 10:04 AM
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Owned by major Elvis collector Larry Moss.
Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
Links: Scotty Moore's Gibson ES-295 | Vintage Guitar(R) magazine and Scotty Moore - The Moss Collection
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One of Wes Montgomery's L5s (the one with the florentine cutaway and shown on the cover of ?Movin' Wes) is owned by Pat Metheny, who purchased in an auction of George Bensons collection.
Metheny also owns Atila Zoller's personal 1981 Hofner/Zoller AZ Standard.
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The blonde Hofner/Zoller that Jimmy Raney used through the latter part of his career is now owned by a gentleman in Northern Ireland.
There is a thread about the guitar here: Jimmy Raney's AZ Award on Reverb
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Owned by Guitar Center. Purchased in Clapton's 2004 auction for $850,000.
Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
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B.B.King's Lucille? Which one? He had more than a dozen of that particular model. Would be more interesting if the whereabouts of the Live At The Regal" guitar where known. That was an ES 335 ('59 or '60) with a Varitone. On the other hand: it's just a guitar....
John Lennon's Casino probably still in the hands of his son Sean.
Where is Robert Johnson's Gibson L 1? That would probably fetch some BIG money!
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The location of Joe Pass's 1962 ES-175 remains shrouded in controversy.
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Do we know about the custom Gibson single-pickup ES175 "slightly thinner" that he played there at the end of his life?
Originally Posted by Stringswinger
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There were two of them. One went back to Gibson, the other went to Joe's widow and is now in the possession of John Pisano.
Originally Posted by lawson-stone
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Segovia's 1937 Hermann Hauser SR as well as his 1912 Ramirez are at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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Merle Travis's Super 400?
Country Music Hall of Fame
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We know where Jerry Garcia's Wolf is now, as well:
Jerry Garcia’s Wolf Guitar Sells for $1.9 Million – Rolling Stone
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I believe that Segovia stipulated that the Hauser never be played again once it was in the museum. My understanding is that it was damaged during a recording session and then repaired , however Segovia felt that it was a lesser guitar after the repair. Pity that it has not been kept in a playable condition and actually played and the repair been seen as part of the history of the instrument.
Originally Posted by rob taft
Will
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Duane Allman's Les Paul?
JJ Cale's great mongrel guitars ?
Will
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I think one of Wes' L5's is in a museum in Indianapolis.
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Bucky Pizzarelli's first Benedetto 7-string is in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. He played it for many years, from 1978 until he donated it in 2005.
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Junior Barnard's Epiphone Emperor with K&F lap steel pickup - Deke Dickerson
Speedy West's triple-neck Bigsby steel - Deke Dickerson
Link Wray's Danelectro Guitarlin - Deke Dickerson
And maybe, just maybe, Cliff Gallup's Gretsch Duo Jet - Deke Dickerson.
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Blackie and the Crossroads 335 are on prominent display at Guitar Center in Time Square in NYC. Saw them last year and worth checking out if you’re there. They’re on rotating stands in a glass case at floor level so you get a great look at them
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Tons of Allman guitars are on display at the Big House in Macon GA. It’s the house where the band all lived together and was converted now to a full Allman Bros. museum. Here’s a pic of his gold top I grabbed when I was there
Originally Posted by WillMbCdn5
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Needs no introduction. Still with the original owner.
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Anybody know if Charlie Christian's ES-150 and Grant Green's ES-330 are still around and where they might be?
I'm thinking GG's son might have one of the 330's. Benson had GG's D'Aquisto for awhile but sold it. Seems like Benson has had a lot of famous guitars over the years, many of which he has sold. I think I read somewhere that he doesn't like to have a guitar just to possess it. He wants it to be played and displayed properly and is always "thinning the herd."
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There is this interview with the guy who believes he tracked down Charlie Christian’s ES-250.
Finding Charlie Christian’s Guitar: Lynn Wheelwright Interview | Jas Obrecht Music Archive
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Chuck Wayne’s D’angelico?
Kenny Burrells D’Angelico?
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That's a cool article--sounds like a cool guy as well. Great that he's displaying the guitars in public. Apparently there are no other real CC guitars around.
Originally Posted by ThatRhythmMan
Also note that the late Paul Allen had Hendrix' Woodstock Strat. The Monterrey Pop Strat that was torched is reportedly history, but Frank Zappa had and Dweezil now has Jimi's Miami Pop Festival Strat that was burned.
Dweezil Zappa Shows Frank Zappa’s Jimi Hendrix Strat - GuitarPlayer.com
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Tal Farlow's collection was sold by his widow through Rudy's this time last year. I believe they still have his little red ES-140 in the store. The prototype Gibson that Tal played from the '60s onwards is now with a French collector (look up his Instagram account @mattsguitarshop - he owns Jeff Buckley's Telecaster and many other celebrity-owned guitars).
See:
Last edited by David B; 11-13-2018 at 02:37 PM.



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