The Guitars That Wrote History: 11 Legendary Instruments and the Music Artists Behind Them
Some Legendary Guitars That Changed Music History
From Hendrix's Strat to Prince's Love Symbol, and the Artists Behind Them
Yes, we make the coolest guitar straps in the business (and we are pretty proud of that), but we love talking about the guitars themselves too. After all, a great strap deserves an equally legendary instrument to hold. From B.B. King's soulful Lucille to The Edge's Explorer that wears our Copperpeace Glovely silver sequined strap, these iconic guitars shaped music history and inspired generations of players. Some were custom built masterpieces. Others were happy accidents found in odd places. All of them became an extension of the artist who played them.
Here are 11 of the most iconic guitars ever played, each with a story as good as the music it helped create. Enjoy!
1. B.B. King’s “Lucille”
B.B. King's guitar got its name from one of the wildest nights in blues history. In the winter of 1949, King was playing a dance hall in Twist, Arkansas. The place was heated by a barrel of burning kerosene sitting right in the middle of the floor, which sounds about as safe as it reads. Two men got into a fight, knocked the barrel over, and the whole wooden building went up in flames. King ran outside with everyone else, then realized he had left his guitar inside, so he ran back into the fire to grab it. He almost did not make it out. He learned the next day that two people died in the blaze and that the fight had been over a woman named Lucille. He named his guitar Lucille to remind himself to never do something that reckless again.
Photo credit: Lisa Poole / Associated Press
2. Jimi Hendrix’s White Fender Stratocaster
Hendrix played a right-handed Fender Stratocaster flipped upside down and restrung, because he was left-handed. That alone broke the rules and opened the door to a whole new era of electric guitar playing.
3. Alanis Morissette’s Gold Crystal Guitar
A glittering, crystal covered guitar that throws light all over the stage, it is a fun visual flip on her raw, honest songwriting. The sparkle outside, the real talk inside. You can spot it paired with a brown and gold Copperpeace Glovely guitar strap, which is a pretty great match for all that shine.
4. Eddie Van Halen’s “Frankenstrat”
The Frankenstrat is a do it yourself masterpiece, built from mixed parts and wrapped in those famous red, white, and black stripes. Eddie wanted the fat tone of a Gibson with the feel and the whammy bar of a Fender Stratocaster, so he just built his own. He started with a cheap factory second Strat style body (about $50) from a company called Boogie Bodies, added a maple neck, dropped in a Gibson humbucker pickup, and painted the whole thing himself using masking tape and spray paint.
Why it mattered: Eddie's tricks, like finger tapping, dive bombs, and squealing harmonics, sounded even bigger thanks to the Frankenstrat's custom build. The striped look became instantly recognizable, and the guitar turned into a true extension of his style.
Photo credit: Rolling Stone
5. Slash’s Gibson Les Paul
The sunburst Les Paul in Slash's hands became the picture of hard rock cool: long sustain, swagger, and a cigarette dangling somewhere nearby.
The fun fact most people miss: the Les Paul Slash used to record Guns N' Roses' huge debut album Appetite for Destruction was not even a real Gibson. It was a replica of a 1959 Gibson Les Paul, hand built by a California luthier named Kris Derrig. The band's manager brought it to the studio at the last minute when Slash's other guitars were not cutting it, and it instantly became “the sound.” Sadly, Derrig passed away from cancer just two months before the album came out, so he never got to hear the impact his guitar made. Slash still calls it his number one recording guitar to this day.
Photo credit: Phillip Faraone
6. Willie Nelson’s “Trigger”
Trigger is a battered Martin N-20, and it might be the most loved guitar in country music. Here is the surprising part: it is a nylon string classical guitar, which is a really unusual choice for a country star. Willie bought it unseen in 1969 for $750 after a drunk fan stomped on his old guitar. He named it Trigger after Roy Rogers' horse, joking, “this is my horse.” A year later he ran into his burning ranch to save it, which tells you everything about how much he loves it.
Photo credit: JustinBeckner ultimate-guitar.com
7. The Edge’s 1976 Gibson Explorer
This sharp angled, natural wood Explorer became The Edge's signature sound and look. At 17, on a trip to New York City, he walked into Stuyvesant Music planning to buy a Les Paul. Then he picked up the strange shaped Explorer, fell in love with the sound, and laid down $248.40 for it instead. That choice helped define U2's chiming, echo soaked sound, and he has used it on the band's early albums and tours since 1978.
The strap on this guitar has changed over the decades, but a recent Premier Guitar rig rundown video showed the Gibson Explorer paired with the one and only Copperpeace Glovely silver sequined guitar strap. An honor to grace such a legendary guitar!
Photo credit: U2's The Edge Rig Rundown YouTube Premier Guitar JustinBeckner [UG Writer]
8. Brian Bell’s Diamond‑Sparkle Gibson Explorer (Weezer)
Talk about a great find. Weezer guitarist Brian Bell discovered this flashy 2001 Gibson Explorer, with its glittery diamond sparkle finish and chrome mirror pickguard, sitting in bandmate Rivers Cuomo's basement. He grabbed it, and it became his go to riff machine for Weezer's modern anthems. Bell likes the Explorer because it sounds great and is built like a tank, perfect for the rough life of touring.
9. Prince’s “Love Symbol” Guitar
Prince had a custom guitar built in the exact shape of his unpronounceable “Love Symbol” name, melding funk, originality, and pure performance art into one instrument as untouchable as he was. German luthier Jerry Auerswald built it in 1993 after Prince gave him one simple instruction: “make it look like my name.”
Photo credit: Jonathan Daniel
10. St. Vincent’s Ernie Ball Signature
This angular, futuristic guitar was sculpted by Annie Clark (St. Vincent) herself. When Ernie Ball Music Man asked if she had ideas for a signature model, she said, “let me draw it for you,” and sketched a slim waisted, retro futuristic shape unlike anything on the market. It is lightweight and built to be comfortable, with three mini humbuckers for tons of tonal options.
Fun fact: she debuted the guitar in public for the very first time on stage at a Taylor Swift concert in 2015, sharing the moment with Beck. She even hand mixed her own custom paint color called “Vincent Blue” instead of picking from a standard color chart.
Photo credit: Guitar.com
11. Phoebe Bridgers’ Danelectro Baritone U2
Ghostly and atmospheric, this guitar matches Phoebe Bridgers' haunting, intimate sound and her black and white, skeleton suit aesthetic perfectly. Her favorite is a Danelectro '56 Baritone in a black sparkle finish, tuned low so even a folk song comes out sounding dark and strange. She loves it so much she plugs it straight into an amp with no pedals when she writes. It is finished off with the iconic Copperpeace silver sequin guitar strap.
Fun fact about the name: you will sometimes see her guitar called the “Danelectro Baritone U2.” That “U2” has nothing to do with the band. It is Danelectro's own model name from 1956, and the “2” simply means the guitar has two pickups. The Danelectro U2 model is actually about 20 years older than the band U2.
Photo credit: Film Magic
Each of these legendary instruments tells a story that goes way beyond the music. Guitars become true extensions of the artists who play them, carrying history, emotion, and a little bit of rebellion in every note. These axes changed the way we hear music forever. And of course, every legendary guitar deserves an equally legendary strap to carry it, which is something Copperpeace knows a thing or two about.
Rock on,
Peace General Store
Subjects covered in this article:
B.B. King and Lucille the Gibson ES-355, Jimi Hendrix's White Fender Stratocaster, Alanis Morissette's Gold Crystal Guitar, Eddie Van Halen's Frankenstrat, Slash's Gibson Les Paul, Willie Nelson's Trigger, The Edge's 1976 Gibson Explorer, Brian Bell's Diamond-Sparkle Gibson Explorer, Prince's Love Symbol Guitar, St. Vincent's Ernie Ball Signature, Phoebe Bridgers' Danelectro Baritone U2, iconic guitars in rock history, legendary instruments and their artists, guitar craftsmanship and innovation, Copperpeace guitar straps
