Gear Gods

Albert King's Flying V Lucy, left-handed upside-down technique, and Stax Records blues legacy. The string-bending master who influenced everyone.

BB King's Lucille, Gibson ES-355, and the finger vibrato that defined blues guitar. 300 shows a year for sixty years.

Brian Setzer's Gretsch 6120, TV Jones pickups, and the rockabilly revival. The guitarist who rescued hollowbody guitars from obscurity.

Buddy Guy's polka-dot Stratocaster, Chicago blues legacy, and the wild stage energy that influenced Jimi Hendrix.

Carlos Santana's PRS signature, Mesa Boogie partnership, and the sustained singing tone that defined Latin rock for fifty years.

Chet Atkins — Mr. Guitar. The fingerpicker who co-designed the Gretsch 6120 and Country Gentleman and created the Nashville Sound.

David Gilmour — Pink Floyd's guitar voice whose soaring bends and atmospheric tone on Comfortably Numb defined emotional guitar playing.

Derek Trucks' 1961 Gibson SG, minimalist rig, and open E slide mastery. One guitar, one amp, infinite expression.

Dick Dale's Fender Showman, surf rock invention, and Misirlou. The King of Surf Guitar who pushed Leo Fender to build louder.

Duane Allman's slide guitar, Coricidin bottle, and Les Paul tone. The four-year career that defined Southern rock.

Eddie Van Halen — the most influential rock guitarist of his generation, inventor of the brown sound, builder of the Frankenstrat.

Eric Clapton's Blackie Stratocaster, woman tone, and the gear evolution from Bluesbreakers to Slowhand. Guitar into amp, volume up.

Eric Johnson's obsessive tone quest, Virginia Stratocaster, and Grammy-winning guitar mastery. The definitive Stratocaster virtuoso.

Frank Zappa's modified guitars, Marshall JMP rigs, and laboratory approach to guitar tone. Every instrument rewired beyond recognition.

Gary Moore's Peter Green Les Paul, Parisienne Walkways, and the journey from Thin Lizzy to Chicago blues. Melodic lead guitar at its finest.

George Thorogood's Gibson ES-125, White Fang, and the Destroyers' 8,000-show blues-rock legacy.

Jack White's Airline guitars, analog purism, and the philosophy of fighting cheap gear. The White Stripes and Third Man Records.

Jeff Beck's Stratocaster mastery, finger-style innovation, and genre-defying career. Three albums, three genres, one guitarist.

Jimi Hendrix artist profile — the greatest guitarist who ever lived. Feedback, wah-wah, and the Stratocaster sounds that changed music forever.

Jimmy Page's 1959 Les Paul, violin bow technique, and the studio production genius behind Led Zeppelin's sound.

Joe Bonamassa's gear collection, tone, and blues-rock legacy. Explore the instruments behind the most prolific blues artist of his generation.

Joe Satriani's Ibanez JS, Marshall tone, and instrumental rock legacy. The teacher who taught Hammett and Vai, then outsold them all.

John Mayer's vintage Stratocaster collection, PRS Silver Sky, Dumble amps, and the gear obsession that educated a generation.

Les Paul — inventor of multi-track recording and the solid-body electric guitar. The man who built The Log and changed music forever.

Mark Knopfler's fingerstyle Stratocaster tone, Dire Straits legacy, and clean-amp philosophy. No pick, no effects, all fingers.

Mike McCready's 1959 Stratocaster, Hendrix influence, and the blues-soaked guitar heroism that defined Pearl Jam's sound.

Peter Green's mysterious 1959 Les Paul, out-of-phase tone, and Fleetwood Mac founding legacy. The guitar sound nobody can replicate.

Robin Trower's Stratocaster, Univibe, and Bridge of Sighs. The guitarist who developed Hendrix's sonic territory into his own.

Rory Gallagher — Ireland's blues-rock hero whose battered Stratocaster and incendiary live performances made him a guitar legend.

Steve Vai's Ibanez JEM, seven-string innovation, and virtuoso legacy. From Zappa transcriber to the most technically ambitious guitarist of his era.

Stevie Ray Vaughan — Texas blues virtuoso who reignited electric blues with staggering Stratocaster tone and raw emotional power.

The Stray Cats' rockabilly revival, Gretsch 6120 tone, and the MTV-era comeback that proved America's own music wasn't dead.

Yngwie Malmsteen's neoclassical shred, scalloped Stratocasters, and Marshall obsession. The guitarist who fused Paganini with Hendrix.